Subj : Slimmed down Debian To : Ky Moffet From : Barry Martin Date : Mon Jul 27 2020 09:03:00 Hi Ky! > KM> Hey, I actually needed that RAM the other day.. haven't quite > KM> given up on the D20 board that died of a bent CPU pin (worked > KM> fine with one CPU; put in the second and PFFZT! bent pin was very > KM> subtle, can't blame the seller for missing it. RMA'd and refunded > KM> and returned, and then he refused the shipment so I got the board > KM> back, a clever way for him to avoid paying return postage on a > KM> "free return".) Anyway with your RAM it at least powers on, tho > KM> so far haven't got any further. Need higher-powered magnifier and > KM> better light so I can see if there's something else making > KM> contact in there that shouldn't be. At least the power on > KM> indicates it's not shorted to the point of totally dead!! > Well good on the RAM, bad on the vendor -- he authorized the return with > the RMA and then refused, so not honouring his own RMA?! KM> No, no, no... KM> Discover problem, do RMA, get free-return label from eBay, send KM> it back. Get refund. Thought that was the end of it. A few days KM> later here comes the board, marked "refused". KM> So he got proof that it was bad (because I sent it back) but he KM> didn't have to pay the return postage (because he refused it). Sort of something like when a household appliance fails and the manufacturer just wants the cord sent back. If the cord is integrated (hardwired) then if the consumer snips at the attached end essentially disables the unit. OTOH if snips a foot away could splice in a new cord, but the manufacturer measures the cord and finds doesn't meet the RMA requirments, so no refund. ...This does sort of make sense with your RMA: he got proof of the bad part. > As for the finding the contact (or possibly non-contact) point -- good KM> Need higher magnification! Need a microscope! > luck!! Sort of reminds me of the problem with inserting a USB device > here and the machine locks up -- occurred yesterday and I used the > built-in USB 2.0 front panel port, usually the USB 3.0 add-on front > panel. Have to go back to that project, But First! KM> Yeah, tho think yours is different sort of flaw... Probably. Need to work on that, but first! > > I think it's "measure twice, cut once", not the other way around! > KM> I cut it three times, and it's STILL too short!! > But is it getting better? KM> No, but the pile of sawdust is getting bigger! The termites are impressed with your work! > And received a postcard (!) yesterday advising > me the DSL service will be increased $6 per month. No reason, no > promise of better nor faster service. Just 'because'. KM> Supposedly CenturyLink is a lifetime price... didn't specify KM> whose lifetime... and today only getting 4.0Mbps down and power KM> cycle didn't improve matters, but did take a couple tries to KM> reconnect. Grrr... The postcard did mention the lifetime option and special rate packages would show a credit. 4 Mbps: I wonder if there is line noise? Of course the trick is to prove and find where. Or at least whose side. Vaguely recall the "ATM" test -- per CISCO if one area of values the problem is on your side, if another it's 99.9% probabilty on the provider's side. I kept hammering away at Qwest (it was before they were bought by CenturyLink) and they eventually moved my line from one computer to another - no more issues! > > KM> Mine is embarrassing... > > You're also "out in the boonies" IIRC. > KM> Only a mile from town and 15,000 feet from the junction box... > KM> tho yeah, I used to be where to see civilization, you needed a > KM> good telescope! > So slowly accustoming yourself to civilization! Though KM> It's embarrassing I can't decide between visualizing you as the male version of Goldilocks/ Cinderella/some Disney character in a flowing gown and the birds singing and landing on your shoulders or a snarling werewolf-like caveman -- either would work in the privacy of a forest but not so good in town. > Several months ago had the CenturyLink technicians out here for noise on > the line (could hear) and eventually a dead line. Somewhere one of the > two wires broke -- they could semi-pinpoint the location of the break > with their testers: was in one of two junction boxes side-by-side two > blocks from the house. Could either try to find (apparently the boxes > are a mess) or move me to a different pair. I don't really care which > wires I use as long as it works. KM> Had similar problem... flaws they could tell were there but not KM> where, and fixing this didn't fix that... their guy finally gave KM> up and just rewired the house, AND buried new cable out to the KM> street. Too bad he didn't use waterproof cable! > KM> Can't you assign it one address on your router? I can do that on > KM> mine and it only has half a brain cell. (I don't bother, tho, cuz > KM> nothing here needs it. Also it tends to keep the same one per > KM> device anyway.) > Do have it all updated. The main problem was the DSL Router used > 192.168.0.x and the fiber optic router 192.168.4.x -- sort of like right KM> Who ever heard of using .4.x ??! Metronet I guess! Or EERO - the router manufacturer. > building, wrong floor. Did call tech support - the gentleman I talked > said he was the one who brought over the router when he as hired (so 'up > there', not a troubleshooting manual reader); we did try a few things > but not able to change the IP address range from 4 to 0. KM> Yeah, usually that's hardwired. Probably -- not disagreeing, just don't know so giving general agreement. The tech support guy did indicate what he was seeing on the various webpages was sometimes the same and sometimes different form what I was seeing on my end because of security levels. He did suggest something to try but I didn't have the option. > sudo ip addr add 192.168.0.199/24 broadcast 192.168.0.199 dev enp1s0 > This will give the 'working' computer with the 192.168.4.x address > another one at 192.168.0.199 so it can see that LAN. Change the device > as required (per ifconfig). KM> My brain hurts. I'll just let the switch handle it... :D The only thing I needed that command for was to get one of the .4.x computers to talk to the .0.x computer so I could see the configuration screen to update. > KM> He went from donkey to jet plane and complains about the speed of > KM> freight. :D :D :D > I like whine with my cheese!! KM> Swiss? :) It has a lot of holes but does the trick! > KM> [Speaking of freight: we're on day 12 for a priority parcel from > KM> the Bay area, tho it's finally made it to Billings... 9 days for > KM> the previous two from CA... methinks CA's mail system is totally > KM> busted.] > Overnight -- you didn't specify which night!! KM> Apparently not! Ever get it? > KM> Yeah... did I mention Win10 deciding to nuke the partition table > KM> on a USB-attached HD? I *think* what happened is that it saw the > I remember you having that problem. Nothing like an OS just assuming > stuff! Yeah, it would be on The List real quick! KM> Yeah. STOP FIXING STUFF ALREADY!!! No, fixing/correcting is fine, it's the breaking of stuiff that used to work is the problem! > KM> I do need to find some SODIMM 4GB or 8GB DDR3 sticks, as they're > KM> all sadly under-RAM'd. > I know I don't have any laptop-sized memory 'in stock'. KM> Heh... neither do I. Well, from this century, anyway. Even if was twenty years old and it might work I'm sure you would have tried it. > KM> Silly Blinky Tricks: don't have a 2-pin speaker for the > KM> Thinkstation board. Do have a 2-pin LED, and remember someone > KM> using an LED instead of a speaker, for a deaf user. It works! > Makes sense! As long as the 'impendence' of the LED is within a range > acceptable to the speaker driver circuit. KM> It's just 5v power. And it only knows on/off -- all the speaker KM> has to do is beep, and will do so every time power comes through KM> the pins. And so does the LED. Well, blink. If it beeped I'd be KM> alarmed. OK - I'm thinking a constant voltage applied to the speaker would just move the cone once and no sound, wheras the same constant voltage to the LED would light it constantly and so be useful. Speakers need an oscillating or pulsing voltage, which applied to the LED would cause it to flicker, though fast enough would appear on but possibly dim. > KM> [What idiot uses oo pins for the speaker, instead of oxxo like > KM> the whole rest of the world??] > For a speaker-speaker oo would make sense: no polarity. For a piezo- > speaker ox-o would make more sense to make it easier than to guess the > polarity. KM> When it doesn't bloody matter, just make it match everyone else! KM> Some do 3 pins like that, but one is a dummy pin. And pointless KM> if the speaker's doohickey doesn't also have a blocked hole. True! One sometimes has a 50-50 chance if plugged in right. If the speaker doesn't beep and it's supposed to flip around. Preferably before buttoning up the case! > KM> [Razor Case] > > KM> exposed edges. (In fact I still have one in the basement, sitting > > KM> empty.) > > Empty except with your blood! ..You really should have refrigerated it > > for a potential transfusion! > KM> Haha... yeah, if I ever use that case, I'm gonna name it Vampire. > Black, with red trim! KM> Haha, if only... sadly, it's plain beige. Maybe some spray KM> paint... I think they do make (spray) paint for plastic. I'd probably just leave it as beige. > KM> blood on the components. > So that begs the qyuestion: can dried blood be used as a electrical > insulator? And what's it R thermal factor? KM> Probably not... might contain enough iron to be micro-conductive. KM> R is probably about the same as 'thermal grease', toothpaste, and KM> vegemite (no real difference). Never tasted thermal grease -- wonder if better or worse than vegemite? KM> Only so-called thermal grease I've seen that's actually better KM> than just filling any air gaps with literally any handy goo KM> (toothpaste, vegemite, spit...) is copper-based. Should get some KM> more of that.... If you order a Raspberry Pi 4 kit by Viros and it's the one with the metal heatsink case it comes with a small tube of thermal compound. Don't know what it's composition is. > > Probably because a lot of people use their cell phones and tablets as if > > they were computers cut into that market. > KM> Something like 60% of the market is now cells and tablets. And > KM> PCs became more and more disposable. So yeah, not much market > KM> anymore. > I can see their convenience. OTOH I'd hate to be doing a lot of reading > on a six or seven inch screen. ...Typing a reply like this one - ha! KM> Well, most people only use a PC, and therefore a phone, for KM> internet... which nowadays mostly means watching Youtube and KM> trawling Facebook. No experience with Facebook other than occasionally looking at something based on a Google hit. > KM> Yeah, that's how Dink and Wedgie got their names -- DNK on the > KM> case, and WedgTek on the case. > I don't feel quite so bad for my lack of name creativity! KM> Trouble is, whatever a person thinks of first invariably KM> sticks... "Peezapoop"?! KM> Right now I have Confusion. Cash is doing Silver's old job, using KM> Silver's old HDs. Silver is now called Tarnish, but at the moment KM> has Cash's old PCLOS in it (which fortunately doesn't call itself KM> Cash, so no network-names conflict). Silver's old case with new KM> guts is now called Silver II, but presently has Lightfoot's Win7 KM> in it (Lightfoot being semi-retired). So do your computer cases have name tags on them?! > > "ThermalTake". And I have a case for a project that's been on hold > > from Raijintek - oh poop! > KM> It's better if you can pronounce 'em... > Maybe that will be it's name: "Unpronounceable" or maybe "Mumble"! KM> Hahaha yes... just don't complain when it doesn't come when KM> called! Unless it's the robotics project! > Wait until you get in a car with the rear window wiper switch is on the > right sticky-out thing: accidentally pull on it while rotating to > activate the (front) windshield wipers!! KM> I remember first time I drove one with switches on the stalk... KM> could not for the life of me figure out how to turn on the KM> headlights or run the wipers!! And of course one doesn't think of figuring out where those controls wre until it's dark or raining! > KM> Look over there. See? It's right there. Geesh!!) > Wasn't in the path. :( Yes, rather annoying when something used to > work and no longer works just because of an upgrade. KM> Such as... apparently Fireball has no IDE support. Add-on card is KM> seen but not heard... won't boot with IDE anything attached. Did KM> finally get XP64 installed, but had to switch SATA to IDE mode KM> (then why do we not support IDE HDs?), and apparently it required KM> part of a failed install to be there first. I swear it finally KM> installed by sheer failure to remember that it had decided it was KM> impossible. Good Grief!! As for the IDE card beding seen but not heard, that sort of makes sense. I had a external HDD adapter which I used occasionally; suddenly stopped working. Problem was the 'identification code' was no longer listed so the operating system didn't know what to do with it. (The 'list' was on the OS side -- could have plugged the external drive into a system with an older OS version and it would have worked.) KM> And now need to find Intel C600 SAS driver for XP64 (and for KM> Win7)... Lenovo's provided SAS driver is for the wrong chip (LSI, KM> which is not what it is). PCLOS found it just fine... well, it is KM> an old chip. Sounds similar to mey external HDD adapter issue. > I've got a laptop (OK, they call it a notebook) which has a problem > staying connected via wireless. Could install a new WiFi card, which > wouldn't be a bad idea as the current one only does 2.4 GHz, but I don't > know for certain the card is the problem, and I'm not going to be a > happy camper if the problem is somewhere else and now I have a dedicated > card which can do 2.4 and 5 GHz but is still dropping out. Decided to > get a dongle with USB 3.0 capabilities -- at least can be used with > other devices easily. KM> I have a few of those $3 USB WiFi dongles... if you get 'em with KM> RealTek chip often you don't even need to drag out the driver KM> disk. Never had any trouble with 'em staying connected. Onboard KM> network chips fail fairly often (I've had to replace 3 of 'em KM> with cards) so why wouldn't the notebook's WiFi card possibly KM> fail? OK , so that pretty much verifies it's 'them' and not 'me'. Haven't had any other connection issues so was pretty sure the problem was in the notebook. ...Still waiting for the dongle: ordered super-cheap from Amazon from an overseas vendor; wasn't in any big rush. And what I think is funny is my old-probably-antique Lenovo T61 laptop (possibly 2007) has 5 GHz Wifi and the HP notebook doesn't. > KM> Well, I could use two laptop drives in the single 3.5" internal > KM> bay, and an NVMe on an adapter in the 4x PCI3 slot, but... since > KM> I have other options, why?? still inflexible once you put the lid > KM> back on. > Duct tape and 3D printing come to mind! KM> There's the next generation in PC cases!! Custom create your own!! > > KM> Yeah, I have no patience anymore. Either it works easily or out > > KM> it goes. > > Time is money! LIS I've done the same over the years with my various > KM> If time flies when you throw a clock, I want to come back as DB > KM> Cooper. > Assuming he was able to spend his money! KM> Well, they never found the money... and I don't have it... :( Some day someone will be exploring a bear or wolf den... > KM> Snipping rest or I'll never get this sent... > KM> "Did you write the Great American Novel?" > KM> "No, just an average reply on the BBS." > Really! I'm showing 491 lines, which I think would be about 8 pages if > printed out -- just a phamphlet! KM> A mere short story.! I/we did snip some! I'm showing this is line 389. :) > .. ERROR: Computer is way too old for this nonsense. KM> ERROR: User is way too old for this nonsense. All this nonsense is way too old! ¯ ® ¯ BarryMartin3@ ® ¯ @MyMetronet.NET ® ¯ ® ¯ (Humans know what ® ¯ to remove.) ® .... 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