Subj : USB locking up To : Ky Moffet From : Barry Martin Date : Mon Oct 05 2020 10:01:00 Hi Ky! > > > > > > Sure; remember when you had amnesia?! > > > > > KM> Is that what I forgot?? > > > > > We don't recall now... > > > > KM> Wait, now we both have amnesia? > > > > Maybe - what do we compare it to? > > > KM> Why are you asking *me*??! > > > You were handy. :) > > KM> But I'm way over here! > > Physically -- who knows where your mind is!! > KM> It should be right here... somewhere... > Check behind the pillows again. KM> Was that lazy bugger lounging on the couch again?? I'm not so sure he got up in the first place much less again! > > Played a bit with a thumbrive last night: no lockups and no voltage > > spikes/dips ... caught! One second is an awfully long time! Don't know > > if can change the time to less than a second, plus need to log. Will > > continue fiddling with that later. > KM> Most of these things take times in milliseconds...?? > That long?! Yes, that was a thought was it probably takes longer to > write the file than the lockup action takes. And I wrote last night the > log file disappears on boot, so even if I did happen to catch the error > the information escaped. KM> Or the logfile is never written?? usually when it's hardware KM> blipping, there's no chance to write one. The logfile was being created and updated: I saw it incrementing prior to the lockup. Script has an '>>' to append to the original file. > Will try with the USB Tester -- difficult to see a spike but may > discover something. And of course the problem seems to be with the > Southbridge, so no work-around other than a new motherboard eventually KM> Yeah, seems like it. :( Oh well. > KM> So... have you popped the lid and looked for bad capacitors? When > KM> I did so, they were so obvious you couldn't miss 'em... had > KM> boiled up what looked like a rod sticking out of 'em! Yes, my > KM> computer threw a rod. > Haven't been inside for a while. If I do see 'capacitor throw-up' > that'll hasten the search for a new motherboard! KM> Won't it tho! Too often they act like something else is wrong for KM> a while... video gets iffy, works for a while then locks up, KM> locks up if you do the wrong thing (Barry! No touchee the USB!) KM> ...but soon enough one checks the caps and well, there's the KM> problem!! And swapping out part used to be relatively easy, though I've never done with a computer. Soldering those teeny-tiny surface-mount components, or if through the board multiple trace layers.... KM> While back I was testing some of the old old stash (P3 era) and KM> had several come up dead... on closer inspection, guess what was KM> wrong!! Ummm. power supply fuse blown?! No? ...Bad capacitors? > > KM> Anyone care to guess whether they're associated with the > > KM> southbridge chip?? > > Oo! Oo! Oo! Pick me! Pick meeee! > KM> Barry, can you tell us the answer? :D > Ugh-ugh, I just gotta go to the can, man! (Autumn, our KM> I suppose that has to be signed -- MDM5 or SHA-256? > granddaughter, is in first grade and has done some remote learning here > as well as playing School. Every once in a while that line from the (I > think) Sister Mary Elephant skit pops in [but I don't dare say it > aloud!].) KM> I have no idea who this Sister Mary Elephant is... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDaCNA3pink ('Pink'?) No idea where I originally heard it -- maybe on the radio. One of those things people don't expect me to know much less like because it's the opposite of me -- I am a Gemini! > KM> Well, that's what happened with Tarnish -- USB no workee, and it > KM> also refuses to boot with more than 4GB RAM (normal max capacity > KM> 8GB, but at a guess that much overloads the bogus circuit) but > KM> it's perfectly fine with PCLOS as a media streamer that never > KM> sees USB nor serious work. > Although based on the Wikipedia article it seems that's a little > dangerous as the Southbridge deals with just about everything: USB, > Ethernet, hard drives, BIOS accesses.... Almost seems more important > than the CPU! KM> Well, all Tarnish does right now is be a secondary media KM> streamer, using Cash's PCLOS setup. I don't think that install KM> has written a file to disk, other than the odd screenshot or KM> whatever logs it keeps, in close to 3 years. And I'm not KM> expecting ReactOS to do real work as yet (tho it's reached a KM> state where it's usable enough, if one had to -- decent choice KM> for, say, an old 32bit laptop with limited RAM). KM> But I wouldn't trust it with My Precious Files, for sure. Right. I'm trying to come up with usages here, which of course are different from your potentials there. Sort of could use a new network storage device -- yeah, let's archive to a known defective motherboard!! Only non-critical application I can think of right now is as a MythTV Frontend. > KM> I do note that everything loads slower than the same hardware > KM> with 8GB RAM, but once loaded you can't really tell, given all it > KM> does is stream baseball. Or sometimes run ReactOS, which can > KM> scrape by on 128mb RAM and doesn't like over 4GB anyway. > Something like the MythTV Frontends here: the computer could take a > couple of minutes to load and get in to Myth but once it's loaded runs > just as well as any other. As long as a decent video card, of course. KM> How decent does it need? Depends on the various quality specs -- SD vs. HD vs. 4K -- but a decent video card with 2 GB video RAM is probably as low as I'd want to go: on lateral camera panning I'd occasionally notice a tearing strip: like if someone took scissors and cut the picture I'd notice the top third of the picture would have a slight bit of lag/advance compared to the bottom but only when panning. Barely noticeable. When I replaced the CPU's heatsink/fan assembly also upgraded to a 4 GB video card and that took care of the issue. ...They also semi-suggest passively-cooled video cards: quieter (no fan noise). I've had some Frontends with fan-cooled video cards where the fan has frozen and has not caused a problem: only knew about the fan not working when I went inside because of something else. > > be fine as long as don't touch USB, and even then if plug in a USB > > device and it does lock up seems to be fine on reboot (the USB device > > is connected at boot). OTOH talk abouit overkill: eight core CPU. And > KM> Eight core or four cores with hyperthreading?? AMD got in trouble > KM> for 'confusing' the two in its marketing... > I'm not sure: it's using an AMD FX8320, which is "8 cores" and I didn't > see anything about hyperthreading in various advertisements, though did > skim through some debate in a Tom's Hardware thread: a couple of posts > said it used hyperthreading, a couple said no, eight separate cores, > while a couple other seemed to indicate it was a eight cores with a form > of hyperthreading.... KM> Ah, that family. What I've read is that it's not really 8 cores, KM> but rather that was AMD's usual ... too enthusiastic ... KM> marketing; I found this: KM> "All Bulldozer and its revision (Steamroller, Excavator, etc) KM> have 4 processor modules composed of 2 integer and 1 floating KM> point processor." KM> Meaning it's really 4 cores, but 8 threads. I have seen that type of information. Ubuntu's "System Monitor" reports as 8 cores; have seen System Monitor report other computers around here as half the cores listed/advertised and on a bit of research they are doubling up. ...Think on new 'main stuff' I'll stick with Intel. > Also noted the FX8320 (maybe the whole FX series) is marketed toward > gamers. I think I had the idea a 'gamer computer' would be fast overall > when really it is probably fast in video. KM> Yeah... gaming benchmarks are not realworld benchmarks; they are KM> indeed geared toward best frames-per-second in high-end games, KM> rather than CPU-actual-work as done in business apps and the KM> like. But it sounded logical! Really needed to open that Black Box and discover there were a few more boxes inside and one was marked 'Video' and another 'Thinking'. KM> That's why I pay less attention to Passmark benchmarks KM> nowadays... it too is geared toward the fps wars. CPU-Z just does KM> raw run-everything, which oughta be more accurate for the CPU KM> alone (no influence from the video subsystem). I won't skimp on the video card but it definitely won't be the $500 and $1000 ones out there! Wow: my text document scrolled through at 72 pages per second! > > could swap for a single core but AMD and the new motherboard would want > > Intel. > KM> Yeah, not worth messing with. Also, single-core AMDs are > KM> painfully slow with today's OSs. In fact were painfully slow with > KM> antique OSs. WinXP was beyond 'em. Leave well enough alone, I > KM> say. > One of the posts I had skimmed though for the hyperthread question had > mentioned a 3 GHz Intel is faster than a 4 GHz AMD. The post used more > specific speeds like 3.2, but that was the idea. KM> That's my experience too -- the AMD, nominally 25% faster, is KM> actually about 40% slower than the Intel. True of every one I've KM> benchmarked, across about 18 years of AMD CPUs. There seems to be a point of commonality there! > Did have to unplug the speaker (yes, had a speaker) in one years ago > because for some reason the sound from MythTV came through! AFAICT KM> Oh my... usually you have to go out of your way, special driver KM> and everything, to get an application's sound to come through the KM> case speaker!! Leave it to me! I don't recall doing anything unusual -- was an older Mythbuntu (barebones Ubuntu and MythTV mixed together to create an OS; now MythTV is an application to the Ubuntu OS). And pretty sure it wasn't a quirk of the MythTV part as also got sound with speakertest. ....New/current installation -- Ubuntu 18.04 + MythTV v30 -- speaker only has sound on boot with a single beep as it's supposed to. > everything was configured correctly; couple of options to quiet the > speaker also stopped the HDMI audio so reluctantly unplugged the speaker > -- and taped a note inside to remind me it was unplugged just in case I > needed it for troubleshooting noises. KM> Linux is weird. And it turns us all into weirdoes, with weird KM> PCs. But we're loveable! Just don't bother us when we're working on a problem! > KM> Yeah, I have some random AMDs that fell on my head, but closest > KM> I've come to buying one is a $15 upgrade for Westworld, since the > KM> one that came with the board is just painful. Newer one is still > KM> 40% slower than the equivalent Intel, but at least it's not > KM> masochism to use anymore. > So overall a low-cost fix. KM> Yeah. I could gain ~20% with the fastest CPU that board supports, KM> but it would still be no better than the quad-core Intels, which KM> I already have more of than I need. And all the faster CPUs still KM> cost $60+ used!! So I settled for roughly tripling performance KM> for $15. :D Yup! I like that too! KM> Paint It Black (which unfortunately is BIOS-locked, so stuck at KM> quite a bit slower than the board otherwise supports) ... could KM> take what's supposed to be a 10% speed upgrade, but per all the KM> benchmarks I found, that upgrade CPU actually runs slower! WTF. I KM> should actually bench it with Westworld's original CPU, given KM> it's the same board otherwise. Maybe the slowdown is due to it checking it's work before passing it on! > > KM> Wait, tell me about VNC? > KM> Ah, so sort of Remote Desktop for your local network. > It will also work on the outside: port 5900, make the Firewall exception/ > allowance, probably a couple other things. (Looked it up, I haven't > needed to do that here.) KM> I wouldn't either! I can see where the option would be handy. > KM> tho I have one of those dim-the-lamps 1000W PSUs in the parts > KM> pile, just in case someday I need to power a huge pile of HDs. > KM> (It has about 25 connectors and weighs 8 pounds!) > Or use that one 1KW (well, 1,000 equals!) to power several of your > computers! I'd leave the original 'wimpy' PSUs in place as backups. KM> LOL! Friend in Canada does something like that... PSUs are sort KM> of daisy chained between boxen, so one might support this here KM> mainboard and that there pile of HDs. Adding to the confusion he KM> uses Stacker modular cases, which can take two PSUs. Is he trying to emulate Watson?! > ..Wonder if they make PSU cable extensions?! KM> They do, but I've not seen any more than about a foot long. Well I suppose then a foot + a foot + a foot.... > I'm lost. MotionEyeOS doesn't seem to be able to handle partitioning a > card greater thaan 32 GB. The only reason the drive got changed from > /dev/sdi to /dev/sdg was because the 64 GB card was seen at I and the 32 > GB card at G. KM> Now my brain hurts. As long as I don't try to write to /dev/sda or /dev/sdb then my brain really REALLY hurt!! (Boot drive and data drive.) > KM> NOthing prevents you from cloning the card... > True: copy over the (say) 16 GB original and then s-t-r-e-t-c-h the > storage partition to - oo! - 1 TB! KM> LOL, I do that sort of thing with Ghost all the time... Maybe that's what they do. I went with a little bit different way and put the OS on a 16 GB card and storage on a 128 GB thumbdrive -- that works fine! > Actually have been mostly doing on this system (64bit Ubuntu 18.04, AMD). > Wonder if gparted hasn't been updated or just still working on it: > there's a format chart and the exfat line does not allow to create, > grow, shrink, check, label, UUID. Does allow moving and copying. KM> https://gparted.org/ KM> Looks like the main requirement is enough RAM. KM> [Oh, I see they've updated it...] Something to keep me busy later! And 32 GB RAM should be sufficient (only using a little over 6). > KM> I don't even know what MotionEye IS... KM> some sort of home surveillance system> > I'm causing you to learn all sorts of things!! (I'll try to be a good > influence!) KM> Sister Mary Elephant: SHUUUT UUUP!! Thank you! > > I've got an old PSU for a Sanders 720 with capacitors about 4" in > > diameter by about the same in height!! > KM> Holy crap!! you don't want to touch those for a month or two > KM> after powering down... > Might make a good battery backup for an emergency lighting > system - wonder how long it would power a few LEDs?! KM> Probably not very long, actually. Possibly not. Some years back I was playing with some of the larger (probably electrolytic) capacitors I have stored in a plastic shoe box -- size was right for the coin envelopes I have the 'regular sized' resistors and capacitors in so bought several for consistent storage. Anyway, charged up a few of the big value ones and discharged via pilot lights -- filament. Some of the caps did power the pilot lights several seconds! (Yes, there are times I'm very easily amused!) > KM> Is there some linux util that IDs hardware by brand and model > KM> number, like SIW or Speccy for Windows?? > 'hwinfo' might work. At this point would just be easier to pull the > unit from the storage stack and look at the label - would have to plug > in power and monitor anyway!! KM> Hmm. Synaptic says it's installed, but it does not want to run. KM> (Might be objecting to Chrome streaming stuff at the same KM> time...) I originally read that as "Chrome stealing stuff"! > > KM> I can't find the M51 on their site at all. Closest is the M53. > I might have something incorrectly set in the BIOS, or just limited > because of something in the way the motherboard is wired. At this point KM> Or might need a BIOS update? Maybe. At the time I was using it (probably an M58 -- I has mis-marked it as an M51 when putting in storage) as a major/primary system and at the time accidentally bricking it would not be a good idea. Did have a back up laptop, could have moved the hard drive to another system, but overall a major bother at the time. > an old and slow system doesn't do me much good, though reluctant to get > rid of it as good for a back up or test unit. KM> Yeah, I have this whole pile like that... One, two, three..... > > > > Sounds like winter projects! > > > KM> At least, after the baseball season. > > > But now they're showing reruns! > > KM> Not yet! > > You sure? Maybe your memory... > KM> I still have all 8GB! > But did it pass MEMTEST86?! KM> What is this "test" of which thou speaks?? ?? "MEMTEST86"? It's a utility (included with Ubuntu installs the past several versions -- access via GRUB screen) to test memory/RAM. Option 1 is a sort of quick test, Option 2 goes much more in depth. Option 1 you could probably pass. > > but think it was Chopin Chusacks who lived on the wrong side of the > > road: across the street was able to get some service but he could not. > KM> I remember him but not these woes! > May have been someone else. Seems like the person I'm trying to recall > lived in a warehouse. KM> I have a fictional character who lives in a warehouse. Is he living there because where house?! KM> Who was it whose packets went from the midwest to a California KM> BBS ... by way of Singapore?? No wonder my ping is so slow! > While I think of it CenturyLink apparently changed their name to > 'Lumen'. Called one of their Billing numbers and got an announcement > which indicated it was for business customers and half-heard something > that sounded like 'Lumen'; checked out later and is their new name. > BTW, did get a credit for the five days without telephone service -- > almost 32x what I calculated! KM> Oh, that explains the very confused postcard I got from them. KM> Your account number will change, your account number won't KM> change, you need to do this, you need to do nothing. Bah. I plan KM> to ignore it. I haven't seen anything like that - yet. ,,.Checking today's e-mail from the Post Office (!) - nope, nothing for today anyway. Hmm: just noticed two ad pieces are in colour while the rest is in monochrome. > As for $100K per unit, sure it's an expense, but here they've (CL/Lumen) > have lost customers because of not supplying. KM> No doubt. They lost me for Internet and probably going to be loosing me for telephone. > .. Devote your spare time to neglecting your duties. KM> Oh, THAT'S how you get spare time! If you didn't work for yourself you'd know that first-hand! ¯ BarryMartin3@ ® ¯ @MyMetronet.NET ® .... 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