HardwareComputer stuff

  

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 From:  CHYRON (DSMITHHFX)   24 Jan 12:28 
 To:  william (WILLIAMA)       13 of 22 
43007.13 In reply to 43007.12 
Pretty sure most users get Windows through single-use disposable computers (tossed when the slightest problem or perception of slowness manifests). Buying retail copies is where it can get expensive, unless you go to the dodgy dealers.
"Many Old, Distant Galaxies Look Like Surfboards"
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 From:  william (WILLIAMA)    24 Jan 18:29 
 To:  CHYRON (DSMITHHFX)      14 of 22 
43007.14 In reply to 43007.13 
Here's a bit of fun. Couldn't install Windows 11 because my system disk is MBR and not GPT. So I tried a partition manager, AOMIE, to convert it. System now unbootable. Anyway, I've got backups of all I need so I thought, clean install time since it's what I should have done anyway. So I stick in a Windows 10 installation USB stick and boot from it. Lo and behold, my Windows 10 pro starts instead of the installer. It's like it's using the USB bootmgr to get to start Windows on the C Drive. In fact that's all it does. It refuses to go to the installer menu.

So I wipe the boot disk. Does this help? Not really. It still tries to load - something. Anything but the installer. Eventually when I elect to "use another operating system" I get to the installer. Will it work? No. It looks like I have to pull all the drives except the target.

Tomorrow.

 

He May Be Your Dog But He's Wearing My Collar
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 From:  william (WILLIAMA)    25 Jan 11:52 
 To:  CHYRON (DSMITHHFX)      15 of 22 
43007.15 In reply to 43007.14 
Looks like the problem was the partition manager (AOMIE). Not sure how it fucked the drive, but at least one thing it did was to leave it set to MBR, which in my view is below the minimum requirement for a partition manager's "convert to GPT" function.

 

He May Be Your Dog But He's Wearing My Collar
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 From:  CHYRON (DSMITHHFX)   25 Jan 15:35 
 To:  william (WILLIAMA)       16 of 22 
43007.16 In reply to 43007.14 
Yeah the GPT/MBR thing is a Win 11 deal-breaker for me, also the TCM thingy, which I haven't activated on my ~5-yo motherboard because multiboot hassles. Everything I read about 'converting' a drive from MBR to GPT indicated the drive would be effectively wiped.

I accidentally formatted a pair of drives for a RAID 0 to GPT, which seems to work ok, but fdisk complains every time that the "primary GPT table is corrupt, but the backup appears OK, so that will be used." After some googling about it, I concluded let sleeping dogs lie.
"Many Old, Distant Galaxies Look Like Surfboards"
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 From:  william (WILLIAMA)    15 Feb 10:47 
 To:  CHYRON (DSMITHHFX)      17 of 22 
43007.17 In reply to 43007.16 
Anyhoo, my main takeaway lesson, from this and the "phantom disk" thread, is to beware of false economy.

I had a decent Plex server running for 3 to 4 years using >10 yo bits which was fine. However, when this started to go wrong, penny-pinching made me invest in a large number of ineffective remedies to try and rescue what I had. I now have a decent Plex server on a modern(ish) AM4 board with a Ryzen 3, 16GB of DDR4, enough disk space for the time being, and a new (very old design) Coolermaster case. This should last a while. The downside is that the ancient case design means that the cabling is a total rat's nest. Plus I have a semi-operational SATA card and no obvious way to expand.

If I'd just bitten the bullet straight away, I could have bought something like the much better MSI PRO B550M-VC WiFi motherboards, which has 8 SATA ports and 2 M2 slots, all of which can be used, and a fabulous case like a Fractal Design Meshify 2. When I include things like cables, brackets, case fans (included with the Fractal Design case) etc etc , I'd probably still have change from what I spent.

*Also, I wouldn't have tried to cram everything into the original case, causing a plastic tab to snap off one the SATA drive data connectors so that I now have one drive with a cable that has to stay in place and not be knocked or shaken or the drive stops working!

He May Be Your Dog But He's Wearing My Collar
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 From:  ANT_THOMAS   18 Feb 08:45 
 To:  milko      18 of 22 
43007.18 In reply to 43007.2 
Go laser. Colour lasers are a reasonable price these days.
Won't get away from the connection issues (though getting network printer might help), but god they're better. Toners don't dry out from infrequent printing. Just run and run.
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 From:  william (WILLIAMA)    18 Feb 10:37 
 To:  ANT_THOMAS      19 of 22 
43007.19 In reply to 43007.18 
It's a thought. They look as though they're getting better at photo-prints as well, although from what I've seen they can be a pain to set up for this. But most of our printing is documents anyway.

He May Be Your Dog But He's Wearing My Collar
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 From:  ANT_THOMAS   18 Feb 13:23 
 To:  william (WILLIAMA)       20 of 22 
43007.20 In reply to 43007.19 
I fairly recently got a "broken" Brother B&W laser printer off Facebook marketplace for free. Owner said they couldn't connect over Bluetooth/WiFi, app didn't work, cable wouldn't connect.

A quick search told me it wasn't a smart printer in any way shape or form, so attempting a wireless connection was a pointless endeavour anyway.

USB socket was bollocksed. Removed that and soldered an old cable directly to the PCB and it's running perfectly now.

I did buy some replacement USB sockets but that would mean taking it apart again, and my bodge job with the cable is still working. So they're in a drawer waiting to never be used.
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 From:  william (WILLIAMA)    18 Feb 22:41 
 To:  ANT_THOMAS      21 of 22 
43007.21 In reply to 43007.20 
Free is the charm as they say. 

I used to do the occasional soldering repair, but recently when I've tried on a couple of components I made a total bollocks of it. I don't know whether it's because I'm older and less "steady of hand" than I was, or the soldering stuff is different, or just that it's a skill you need to keep practicing.

I recently accidentally buggered a 3TB HDD by snapping of the little plastic tab over the data port. Lost the tab somewhere in the mess of my desk. I took an old 120GB donor drive and cut the matching tab off. This is nearly impossible to hold over the flapping pins while pushing a cable on, but it can be inserted into the female cable and then this is wiggled over the pins to make a decent contact. The cable is then glued in place with a hot glue gun. I know that I can make a "proper" repair by swapping the whole HDD circuit board (it's only held on with screws) with a matching donor board with intact SATA connectors. With this HDD, as with most, there's a BIOS chip which has to be desoldered from the original and used to replace the donor BIOS chip. 

1) my recent inability to solder, even though this is a really simple hot-air and flux job is a real blocker. 2) that people have cottoned-on to how straightforward this repair is (for all kinds of issues not just clumsy twats like me) and crappy old circuit boards are being ripped off dead disks and ebayed for silly money, doesn't help 3) but mainly the fact that my bodgy fix works, has stopped me seriously considering this.

He May Be Your Dog But He's Wearing My Collar
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 From:  CHYRON (DSMITHHFX)   19 Feb 10:20 
 To:  ANT_THOMAS      22 of 22 
43007.22 In reply to 43007.18 
The profit (your cost) is in the consumables, the printers are sold below cost.
"Summary: All these "influencers" are f'ed up degenerates."
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