[Rant] Tech Whine Like a baby thread
- Thread starter DarkAudit
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GasBandit
Staff member
And of course. I'd taken them to the office and forgot I'd left them there.
I'm getting an itch to build a new system to replace this 2500K box I've been running for nearly 8 years. But why? Other than seeing all those pretty benchmark numbers what purpose does it serve beyond shoving a nicely working system into the background? Besides, food > new GPU.
And that doesn't even count the i7 Dell that used to be my hackintosh. It's been gathering dust ever since the move for lack of a linux-compatible wifi stick.
And that doesn't even count the i7 Dell that used to be my hackintosh. It's been gathering dust ever since the move for lack of a linux-compatible wifi stick.
Do you actually use a PC for anything besides streaming anime?
As always, depends on what you want to do with it.
You can build a newer system equivalent in computing power to your 2500k that uses only 1/3 the electricity--less, really, since you would save even more power thanks to the additional advances in SSD and GPU technology. Also, it would be 4k capable, if you're into that.
--Patrick
i3wm looks like the FOTM for linux desktops these days. Let's check out some configs. Hey, a full tutorial on how to customize with all the needed settings posted to github!
Wait, why isn't anything working? I've got all the settings adjusted for my directories and everything.
Oh. The videos and config files were posted in 2015. Upstream either changed all the syntax or flat out broke shit since then. Evening wasted.
Wait, why isn't anything working? I've got all the settings adjusted for my directories and everything.
Oh. The videos and config files were posted in 2015. Upstream either changed all the syntax or flat out broke shit since then. Evening wasted.
A story I found an hour after I did just that...
https://www.techspot.com/news/77846-microsoft-admits-non-insiders-beta-testing-windows-updates.html
tl;dr: Don't press that Check for Updates button.
https://www.techspot.com/news/77846-microsoft-admits-non-insiders-beta-testing-windows-updates.html
tl;dr: Don't press that Check for Updates button.
For context: Dell Inspiron 660 desktops REALLY don't want you swapping shit out. The hard drive is screwed into a bracket, where one of the screws is essentially inaccessible, and the bracket is riveted to the case. You'd need to permanently damage the case to take the hard drive out. So removing the old hard drive and plugging it into the new unit isn't really feasible. That's why I spent the last of the Xmas money on a 4TB external HD. It was on sale for $109.99 at best buy, apparently they're usually like $199.99.
Whatever happens, if you get it to where you can see the files, grab them. Don’t ask questions, just GRAB AND MOVE as if it might be the last chance you get. Because sometimes, it is.
Most office computers are made to be easily swapped out quickly by IT staff IF you know ahead of time what it is you have to do. Here, check this out:
—Patrick
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My dual-slot Black X dock died months ago, leaving me a spare USB3 cable. That doesn't fit in the single-slot BlackX. Meaning the WD/SanDisk branded cloning software won't recognize the drive as one of theirs. Off I then go searching for free cloning software that isn't a crippleware demo. Found EaseUS ToDo. It did the job, but beware of the "system clone" option. It backed up my Windows 10 setup, but that's it. The repair partition was missing. So I decided the hell with it. I haven't done a clean install since I bought the machine, so I guess now is a good time to start over. Nothing lost since I have the original HDD with everything on it right here.
The Chrome on the reset laptop has run into the Establishing Secure Connection bug. It never did that on the previous install or on the desktop. Quickly opening Edge for a moment breaks the seal, but I shouldn't have to do that. Messing around with Crypto items in the registry? I REALLY shouldn't have to do that.
More whines.
That BlackX dock? Works great with eSATA. Too bad it's dead tech. Just like that firewire port that was on my old Athlon 2500+ system. The other connection is USB... 2.0. The dual dock is 3.0, but died just as the warranty expired. Looks like I'm going to be busy consolidating and curating old files in preparation for the new build.
That BlackX dock? Works great with eSATA. Too bad it's dead tech. Just like that firewire port that was on my old Athlon 2500+ system. The other connection is USB... 2.0. The dual dock is 3.0, but died just as the warranty expired. Looks like I'm going to be busy consolidating and curating old files in preparation for the new build.
figmentPez
Staff member
Can't you just add an eSATA port to the back of your computer with a <$10 cable/bracket?
figmentPez
Staff member
My (10 year old) monitor has developed an issue:
Not the greatest photo, but that's not glare on the screen it's a single column of red pixels that goes about 85% of the way up the screen. Started as flickery and intermittent a couple days ago, now it's solid red, all the time. It's definitely the monitor, since it shows up both when using my computer, and when switching over to the monitor's HDMI input with the signal coming from a Blu-ray player.
I really don't want to have to shop for a monitor right now, so I might just live with it for as long as possible. Among the issues I want to avoid:
- My desk perfectly fits my 21.5" monitor. It's a weird desk with shelves on either size of the monitor, so a 23"+ monitor would not fit in the same position. I might be able to set it closer to my face, in front of the shelves, but I dunno....
- Since my parents are supporting me I'd feel a lot of pressure to get the cheapest reasonable option. I lucked out in getting a decent refurbished desktop, but I'm worried my luck will not hold out again. I've been burned before by trying to go too cheap. My parents have been burned, too, but they've never seemed to learn their lesson, especially when it comes to tech. They think all tech fails "as soon as the warranty runs out" anyway.
- I like that this monitor has both DVI and HDMI inputs. Most cheap monitors, if not all, are not going to let me have my computer and my Blu-ray player connected at the same time.
- I don't really want to figure out how cheap a monitor has to be before the image quality annoys me. My monitor isn't all that amazing (Asus VH222H, $175 ten years ago) and it's okay, but my TV is bad enough that it annoys me (I've never been able to get the color/gamma adjusted right). It would irk me every day if I were stuck with a monitor as bad as my TV.
Plus, I'm sick with some sort of cold/flu right now, and I just don't want to be thinking much at all.
That said, I'm glad that what I consider decent has come down drastically in price over the years. I remember splurging to get a 17" Trinitron monitor for my first PC, and later spending like $400+ for a 19" IBM monitor with a Trinitron tube (weighed ~60lbs). Anything less than 85Hz was headache inducing, and I'm so glad the days of worrying about screen geometry are gone (well, if you're not using a projector).
Not the greatest photo, but that's not glare on the screen it's a single column of red pixels that goes about 85% of the way up the screen. Started as flickery and intermittent a couple days ago, now it's solid red, all the time. It's definitely the monitor, since it shows up both when using my computer, and when switching over to the monitor's HDMI input with the signal coming from a Blu-ray player.
I really don't want to have to shop for a monitor right now, so I might just live with it for as long as possible. Among the issues I want to avoid:
- My desk perfectly fits my 21.5" monitor. It's a weird desk with shelves on either size of the monitor, so a 23"+ monitor would not fit in the same position. I might be able to set it closer to my face, in front of the shelves, but I dunno....
- Since my parents are supporting me I'd feel a lot of pressure to get the cheapest reasonable option. I lucked out in getting a decent refurbished desktop, but I'm worried my luck will not hold out again. I've been burned before by trying to go too cheap. My parents have been burned, too, but they've never seemed to learn their lesson, especially when it comes to tech. They think all tech fails "as soon as the warranty runs out" anyway.
- I like that this monitor has both DVI and HDMI inputs. Most cheap monitors, if not all, are not going to let me have my computer and my Blu-ray player connected at the same time.
- I don't really want to figure out how cheap a monitor has to be before the image quality annoys me. My monitor isn't all that amazing (Asus VH222H, $175 ten years ago) and it's okay, but my TV is bad enough that it annoys me (I've never been able to get the color/gamma adjusted right). It would irk me every day if I were stuck with a monitor as bad as my TV.
Plus, I'm sick with some sort of cold/flu right now, and I just don't want to be thinking much at all.
That said, I'm glad that what I consider decent has come down drastically in price over the years. I remember splurging to get a 17" Trinitron monitor for my first PC, and later spending like $400+ for a 19" IBM monitor with a Trinitron tube (weighed ~60lbs). Anything less than 85Hz was headache inducing, and I'm so glad the days of worrying about screen geometry are gone (well, if you're not using a projector).
I feel your pain. Our entertainment center has a center spot that JUST fits a 32in television. We just upgraded to 4k-capable stuff, but is there such a thing as a 32in 4k television? Nope. You can get 4k-capable monitors in 32in. Heck, you can get 4k-capable monitors in 21in. But the TV industry is apparently all, "4k TV under 40in? What kind of strange deviant person wants a 4k television that doesn't cover at least half an entire wall?"
--Patrick
same problem, custom built home theater unit was built before LCD/LED took off, so now i have to get rid of it if I want 4k for the space. i dont use the damn thing so it stays with a high end panasonic crt from 15 years ago.I feel your pain. Our entertainment center has a center spot that JUST fits a 32in television. We just upgraded to 4k-capable stuff, but is there such a thing as a 32in 4k television? Nope. You can get 4k-capable monitors in 32in. Heck, you can get 4k-capable monitors in 21in. But the TV industry is apparently all, "4k TV under 40in? What kind of strange deviant person wants a 4k television that doesn't cover at least half an entire wall?"
--Patrick
GasBandit
Staff member
If you want the same exact monitor for space concerns, Ebay's probably the way to go. Just make sure the seller has high reputation. Asus makes good monitors, I've owned several over the years (my secondary monitor at home right now is an Asus VW226TL), so if it were me, I wouldn't feel too antsy about grabbing this preowned one for $99 for example.
I’ve only ever had a problem with one ASUS monitor which developed a cloudy “halo,” but it was within the warranty period and the only reason it was not resolved was because it was my father’s monitor and I could never get him to set up the RMA. It always had that cloud, but it still lasted almost 10 years.
—Patrick
—Patrick
figmentPez
Staff member
Doesn't seem like a good deal to spend $100 on a ten year old used monitor when I could get a new monitor for the same price.
GasBandit
Staff member
That's true. It's just the best option if you need a certain specific outdated monitor. If you can make a newer one work, all the better (And you can probably get a new 21.5" for less, as long as you don't mind Acer or Lenovo, which can be a crap shoot).
fade
Staff member
You know what bugs me? When some new version of tech comes out and the tech/IT/dev media acts like it's the first of its kind when it is not. Like Facebook, for example. Why does everyone act like this was some genius first move on the board? There were popular commercial alternatives, and before that, there were local network versions (e.g. CDE's catalog). Docker is one that comes to mind now. Virtual environments are nothing new...they go back to the very early days of unix. I mean, it's a nice application of virtualenvs, and it deserves praise, but it's not the first, and a lot of the stuff I read treats it like it's some earth-shattering new discovery. Or I'm taking a Julia tutorial, and the official tutorial acts like Julia is the first programming language to come up with polymorphism. They don't call it that. They call it "multiple dispatch", but it's just polymorphism. Maybe it's just the tutorial author (who on the previous page had admitted no knowledge of C, which Julia can call out to natively like Fortran). Again, don't get me wrong, Julia is a nice language (if you're unfamiliar, it's basically "fast python for math and science nerds who like Matlab"), that definitely fills a niche.
Thought I'd hit a nice stable 4.1Ghz overclock. 1.3500v and made it through 4 hours of AIDA64 and about a 20 minute run in Zuldazar in WoW at near-max settings.
Then I ran OCCT, and it barfed after a mere 7 minutes. Bumped to 4.0Ghz and 1.3375v and trying again. As of this writing, it's passed the 35 minute mark and counting.
One interesting thing, it appears the Cool n' Quiet power saving feature (comparable to Intel's Speedstep) didn't properly kick in until I lowered the voltage to 1.3375v. At 1.3500v, the CPU stayed pegged at max clock.
Then I ran OCCT, and it barfed after a mere 7 minutes. Bumped to 4.0Ghz and 1.3375v and trying again. As of this writing, it's passed the 35 minute mark and counting.
One interesting thing, it appears the Cool n' Quiet power saving feature (comparable to Intel's Speedstep) didn't properly kick in until I lowered the voltage to 1.3375v. At 1.3500v, the CPU stayed pegged at max clock.
Somehow (probably related to the OC testing lockups) both Photos and the Microsoft Store got hit with the "invalid value for registry" error. And of course the recommendations from Microsoft were either years obsolete thanks to changes in the software, or insultingly obvious to even a 5 year old. Eventually I was directed to try a "repair reinstall" that keeps apps and files. That worked to get Photos working, but not the store. A little more digging found how to remove the store outright via Powershell. I'll try putting it back after work.
My 2TB storage drive I bought not 6 months ago up and died after causing some massive issues with my desktop's startup and shutdown times. After some dead cables, a DOA motherboard, a short-lived SSD and some other crap, I feel lately like anything I buy at Fry's has a 50/50 shot of being utter garbage.
Finally broke down and bought a Thrustmaster Ferrari Challenge Wheel for PC, so I can play BeamNG.drive properly (i.e., without the keyboard).
Guess what error comes up when I try to launch the game on Steam?
Guess what error comes up when I try to launch the game on Steam?
Our engine could not initialize a valid DX10/11 device.
It is possible that your hardware does not meet the minimum requirements.
Please contact our support team.
It is possible that your hardware does not meet the minimum requirements.
Please contact our support team.