Subj : Re: USB lock up - poo! To : Barry Martin From : Ky Moffet Date : Sat Feb 26 2022 20:16:00 BARRY MARTIN wrote: > Hi Ky! > > That and probably not staying up with current pricing. > KM> Some stuff, scalpers snarfed up and it's not even available > KM> elsewhere. The problem has been so severe that one of the vidcard > KM> vendors tried to make no-resale a condition of sale, but of > KM> course that didn't fly (not legal in the US, either). > > And if was legal probably could get around by giving the item for free > but charging a huge shipping fee. Ah, but that's a well-known tactic for selling known-dead junk (and for money laundering). > KM> Or why I have a box full of crappy AMD heatsinks, aka scrap > KM> aluminum. (of course I didn't buy them, but they fell on my head > KM> along with some AMD mainboard, since deceased.) > > I figure the fans might be worthwhile for auxiliary cooling in the case. That too :) > KM> Probably the minimum any everyday system should have nowadays. > KM> And this way when you see another 32GB at a good price, you can > KM> upgrade it sufficient to last the life of the system. > > That's the plan! (OMG! You read my mind!!) Buying sufficient RAM now > gets the system going, plus isn't so stressful on the credit card bill. > Plus the addition later should give a nice little speed boost later,to > make the additional money spent visually worthwhile. Yep. Just make sure whatever you get for the other 32gb is an exact match. And be sure to use the paired slots. I buy used RAM at about half new price, and it all works fine. > KM> Theoretically we can get by with 2GB, the OS specs tell us so. > KM> The moment you start running a browser, that goes out the window. > > Same as one can get by with a bicycle for transportation but when it > rains or snows one is going to appreciate the extra covering of a car. > Not sure if "carrying groceries/etc." is a good arguement after seeing > some of those what-they-do-in-India pictures! Remarkable balance... then again, I used to haul 50 pound feed bags on a bicycle, so... > Sort of like the bit of a shock I would get from wandering the Hardware > Department at the store: some of the tools diameters were bigger than my > electronic tool's length! I've got #2 nuts and bolts - their diameter > is still smaller than the spring on some of those tools! Barry! What were you up to??! > KM> One might think this went too far when I ordered a matched pair > KM> of motherboards... but they became Gremlin and Dink and I got > KM> many years use of them. (And now they're worth more than I paid.. > KM> Tyan 440BX boards with lots of slots. Once in a while I get > KM> someone wanting to buy 'em.) > > How do those people find out what you have?? (OK to respond privately.) http://twilightasylum.com/pc/the_borg.htm Rather outdated, but you get the idea. I need to separate out the laptops, having collected enough of 'em to be a visual nuisance. Started as a way to keep track of hardware... got out of hand Note the status column; some are reduced to parts or no longer with us. > They probably could just about care less what I have: IMO nothing all > that special. Now some of the daughtercards.... (I did a quick look > while in the basement -- put the snow stuff down there to hang. Got > about 2«" of light fluff snow overnight. Didn't see but then probably > in the bottom box of the short stack.) Oh, for a moment I thought there was snow in your basement! > > > Heard of twice-baked potatoes? We now have twice baked CPU! > KM> That was literally true. Someone gift me a PC that persistently > KM> crashed ... their "tech" couldn't fix it. (No wonder, obviously > KM> had never opened the case. Sorry, your tech is either incompetent > KM> or a scammer, and considering the guy supposedly built this POS > KM> too, I vote scammer.) So I opened it up and... the CPU fan was > KM> PACKED with cig smoke residue, and the fan was seized, but when I > KM> powered up I found the motor was still running, and it had been > KM> so hot for so long that the whole assembly crumbled at a touch. > > Ouch -- on several points! I miss the tech I used occasionally: got a > job on the East Coast so moved. He was almost overly honest: could not > give him a tip. (Was a sole proprietor shop so not like had to follow > the boss's rules.) Good for him! > KM> Bakelite is temperature-stable up to about 325F, and even then > KM> takes a while to go brittle. So THAT is how hot it had been... > KM> for a LONG TIME. > > Ow-ow-ow-ow!!! Campfire clones will you boot up tonight... > KM> The mainboard was also corroded and magic smoke came out of the > KM> onboard video... anyway, Gremlin needed a CPU upgrade. So I > KM> swapped in this one, and... power blip, then nothing. > KM> Restarted... powered on, but nothing. Restarted again, and after > KM> a long delay it came up ... and was perfectly fine. CPU was in > KM> use til Gremlin was retired ten years later, and NEVER CRASHED. > > They just don't make 'em like that any more! OTOH could have been the > thermal shutdown in the CPU saved it. The several reboots and then Probably. Thermal shutdown on a P3 was somewhere around 180F. The fan didn't get the message. Damn wonder it didn't start a fire. > worked could have been (I'm guessing) the system trying the original > BIOS configuration, then retrying, maybe retrying again with a minor > alternation, then finally retrying but this time from bare-bones > scratch. Nope, BIOS would have spit up a message. I've seen this before, tho -- abused hardware sometimes takes a few tries to get going, or needs some time off. I wonder if proper electrical conditions does something to realign gates, or something. I remember when CDROM drives that had apparently failed could sometimes be resurrected simply by sitting without power overnight. > > KM> I was astonished. No AMD CPU of the era survived an overheat > KM> event, but this old Intel survived a nuclear apocalypse!! > > Ta-daaaaa! Hopefully no issue like that here! Thermal design limit on current Intel CPUs is 200F, just saw somewhere. They're actually pretty tough. Was looking for the design limit on P3 to refresh memory, didn't find that but did find a couple other interesting things: NASA testing of P3 and K6 CPUs: https://nepp.nasa.gov/DocUploads/8A499785-90F7-4A77-B90913144A0402D1/MAPLD02_Howard_P3.pdf https://nepp.nasa.gov/DocUploads/412CE442-9CC9-4E93-B83F616BC4FD6A1F/MAPLD01_P3.pdf design considerations for heat pipes: https://celsiainc.com/heat-sink-blog/heat-pipe-design-guide/ þ RNET 2.10U: ILink: Techware BBS þ Hollywood, Ca þ www.techware2k.com --- QScan/PCB v1.20a / 01-0462 * Origin: ILink: CFBBS | cfbbs.no-ip.com | 856-933-7096 (454:1/1) .