From jasonb at edseek.com Sun Jan 1 16:33:49 2006 From: jasonb at edseek.com (Jason Boxman) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:33 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Windows and application sandboxes? Message-ID: <200601011633.49836.jasonb@edseek.com> While packing for my move to Tampa, I was dumping Linux from my laptop since I never use it and fixing the MBR so it would boot straight up into Windows. While waiting for the recovery console to appear, a thought occurred to me: Why can't Windows offer some kind of security sandbox for legacy applications, so for example in Windows Vista, legacy apps -- including Microsofts own apps that don't work properly unless run as Adminstrator -- can be 'safely' run in a sandbox? I mean, it works for wine and winelib on Linux on x86, why not for WoW? (Note: I rarely use Windows in any capacity, so I might be missing something obvious.) -- Jason Boxman http://edseek.com/ - Linux and FOSS stuff From b.j.smith at ieee.org Mon Jan 2 16:55:15 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:33 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] It's not AMD, it's not Intel, but Sun is first with true multi-threading ... Message-ID: <1136238915.4714.197.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> This one definitely caught me by surprise! http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2657 It's Sun, not AMD or Intel, addressing the real issue of efficiency across multiple cores. And it seems to be done _exactly_ like I have always recommended. -- Bryan J. Smith mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ------------------------------------------ Some things (or athletes) money can't buy. For everything else there's "ManningCard." From justinkz at gmail.com Mon Jan 2 23:34:25 2006 From: justinkz at gmail.com (Justin M. Keyes) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:33 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Windows and application sandboxes? In-Reply-To: <200601011633.49836.jasonb@edseek.com> References: <200601011633.49836.jasonb@edseek.com> Message-ID: <53b562310601022034r56fdfe08k5dfc31adbf7b4d1@mail.gmail.com> On 1/1/06, Jason Boxman wrote: > applications, so for example in Windows Vista, legacy apps -- including > Microsofts own apps that don't work properly unless run as Adminstrator -- > can be 'safely' run in a sandbox? I mean, it works for wine and winelib on > Linux on x86, why not for WoW? I don't think there is a reason, except performance and (before Vista) reluctance to rewrite the entire OS (I don't know if Vista is really a complete rewrite, as I've only seen a single article that says so, and I am not sure if it was credible). After all, Mac OS X ran OS 9 programs in a virtual machine (but it was slow). From damien at mc-kenna.com Tue Jan 3 21:07:25 2006 From: damien at mc-kenna.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:33 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] WTB: SCSI enclosure, 68pin, 5.25" full-height Message-ID: <43BB2DDD.9050007@mc-kenna.com> I'm in need of a 68pin SCSI enclosure to hold a 5.25" full-height drive. Anyone have one to spare they'd sell cheap? Thanks. -- Damien McKenna, husband, father, geek. damien@mc-kenna.com - http://www.mc-kenna.com/ From b.j.smith at ieee.org Tue Jan 3 21:37:43 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:33 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] WTB: SCSI enclosure, 68pin, 5.25" full-height In-Reply-To: <43BB2DDD.9050007@mc-kenna.com> Message-ID: <20060104023743.69444.qmail@web34110.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Damien McKenna wrote: > I'm in need of a 68pin SCSI enclosure to hold a 5.25" > full-height drive. Anyone have one to spare they'd sell > cheap? Thanks. All I have is 50-pin stuff. Although you can use an internal adapter. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ---------------------------------------------------- *** Speed doesn't kill, difference in speed does *** From damien at mc-kenna.com Tue Jan 3 22:20:34 2006 From: damien at mc-kenna.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:33 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] WTB: SCSI enclosure, 68pin, 5.25" full-height In-Reply-To: <20060104023743.69444.qmail@web34110.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <20060104023743.69444.qmail@web34110.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <43BB3F02.6030906@mc-kenna.com> Bryan J. Smith wrote: > All I have is 50-pin stuff. Although you can use an internal > adapter. > With a 68pin drive and a 68pin card, would that work? -- Damien McKenna, husband, father, geek. damien@mc-kenna.com - http://www.mc-kenna.com/ From b.j.smith at ieee.org Tue Jan 3 23:44:39 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:33 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] WTB: SCSI enclosure, 68pin, 5.25" full-height In-Reply-To: <43BB3F02.6030906@mc-kenna.com> References: <20060104023743.69444.qmail@web34110.mail.mud.yahoo.com> <43BB3F02.6030906@mc-kenna.com> Message-ID: <1136349879.4767.4.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Tue, 2006-01-03 at 22:20 -0500, Damien McKenna wrote: > With a 68pin drive and a 68pin card, would that work? Er, depends. Either the drive needs to be set to terminate the upper 8- bits (narrow mode), or the adapter needs to terminate them. Then it would work. Otherwise the card-drive might have some phantom 8-bits they can't see. -- Bryan J. Smith mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ------------------------------------------ Some things (or athletes) money can't buy. For everything else there's "ManningCard." From dmckenna at thelimucompany.com Wed Jan 4 09:17:13 2006 From: dmckenna at thelimucompany.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:33 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] WTB: SCSI enclosure, 68pin, 5.25" full-height Message-ID: <5C9DC445A45FEC4185D272DAF6AF37D19F1E9D@tlc001.tlcusa.thelimucompany.com> > > With a 68pin drive and a 68pin card, would that work? > > Er, depends. Either the drive needs to be set to terminate > the upper 8-bits (narrow mode), or the adapter needs to terminate > them. Then it would work. I'll try the shoebox tonight, then go from there. I'm starting to really wish I just got an external DLT drive... Especially when I broke the cover of my case putting it in. -- Damien McKenna - Web Developer - Damien.McKenna@thelimucompany.com The Limu Company - http://www.thelimucompany.com/ - 407-804-1014 #include From dmckenna at thelimucompany.com Wed Jan 4 14:06:35 2006 From: dmckenna at thelimucompany.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:33 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] 6-pin SSI EEB WS and 6-pin PCIe Power are NOT the same(and can destroy hardware!) Message-ID: <5C9DC445A45FEC4185D272DAF6AF37D19F1EC8@tlc001.tlcusa.thelimucompany.com> Bryan, Looking at some current motherboards I'm seeing that the PCI-E power connector is the same size as the old ATA power connector, is that different to the 6-pin one you mention in your blog? -- Damien McKenna - Web Developer - Damien.McKenna@thelimucompany.com The Limu Company - http://www.thelimucompany.com/ - 407-804-1014 #include From dmckenna at thelimucompany.com Wed Jan 4 14:40:21 2006 From: dmckenna at thelimucompany.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:33 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] SLI + power supplies Message-ID: <5C9DC445A45FEC4185D272DAF6AF37D19F1ECD@tlc001.tlcusa.thelimucompany.com> Here's a question for y'all. If you have an SLI motherboard that says it has a 4-pin PCI-Express power connector would there still be a need to plug in the separate power connectors on the cards themselves? Also, if you have video cards that both have power connectors do they both have to be plugged in? -- Damien McKenna - Web Developer - Damien.McKenna@thelimucompany.com The Limu Company - http://www.thelimucompany.com/ - 407-804-1014 #include From hescominsoon at emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com Wed Jan 4 15:40:44 2006 From: hescominsoon at emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com (William Warren) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] SLI + power supplies In-Reply-To: <5C9DC445A45FEC4185D272DAF6AF37D19F1ECD@tlc001.tlcusa.thelimucompany.com> References: <5C9DC445A45FEC4185D272DAF6AF37D19F1ECD@tlc001.tlcusa.thelimucompany.com> Message-ID: <43BC32CC.1040303@emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com> yes. All of them would need to be plugged in. Damien McKenna wrote: > Here's a question for y'all. If you have an SLI motherboard that says > it has a 4-pin PCI-Express power connector would there still be a need > to plug in the separate power connectors on the cards themselves? Also, > if you have video cards that both have power connectors do they both > have to be plugged in? > -- My "Foundation" verse: Isa 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD. -- carpe ductum -- "Grab the tape" CDTT (Certified Duct Tape Technician) Linux user #322099 Machines: 206822 256638 276825 http://counter.li.org/ From dmckenna at thelimucompany.com Wed Jan 4 15:53:57 2006 From: dmckenna at thelimucompany.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] SLI + power supplies Message-ID: <5C9DC445A45FEC4185D272DAF6AF37D19F1EDE@tlc001.tlcusa.thelimucompany.com> > yes. All of them would need to be plugged in. Thanks, that's what I was suspecting. -- Damien McKenna - Web Developer - Damien.McKenna@thelimucompany.com The Limu Company - http://www.thelimucompany.com/ - 407-804-1014 #include From philb at philb.us Wed Jan 4 23:50:38 2006 From: philb at philb.us (Phil Barnett) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Temporary patch for the WMF vulnerability. Message-ID: <200601042350.38357.philb@philb.us> Quoting SANS article: "Microsoft has not yet released a patch. An unofficial patch was made available by Ilfak Guilfanov. Our own Tom Liston reviewed the patch and we tested it. The reviewed and tested version is available here (now at v1.4, MD5: 15f0a36ea33f39c1bcf5a98e51d4f4f6): http://handlers.sans.org/tliston/wmffix_hexblog14.exe PGP signature (signed with ISC key) here: http://handlers.sans.org/tliston/wmffix_hexblog14.exe.asc THANKS to Ilfak Guilfanov for providing the patch!!" -- "In communism, man exploits man. In capitalism, it's the other way around." From damien at mc-kenna.com Thu Jan 5 00:29:46 2006 From: damien at mc-kenna.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Temporary patch for the WMF vulnerability. In-Reply-To: <200601042350.38357.philb@philb.us> References: <200601042350.38357.philb@philb.us> Message-ID: <43BCAECA.9070400@mc-kenna.com> Phil Barnett wrote: > "Microsoft has not yet released a patch. Actually it seems that it was leaked online. Interestingly Microsoft is admitting that it is theirs but is telling people to not use it... and they're also telling people to not use the currently available patch you mentioned. -- Damien McKenna, husband, father, geek. damien@mc-kenna.com - http://www.mc-kenna.com/ From philb at philb.us Thu Jan 5 01:19:05 2006 From: philb at philb.us (Phil Barnett) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Temporary patch for the WMF vulnerability. In-Reply-To: <43BCAECA.9070400@mc-kenna.com> References: <200601042350.38357.philb@philb.us> <43BCAECA.9070400@mc-kenna.com> Message-ID: <200601050119.05425.philb@philb.us> On Thursday 05 January 2006 00:29, Damien McKenna wrote: > Phil Barnett wrote: > > "Microsoft has not yet released a patch. > > Actually it seems that it was leaked online. Interestingly Microsoft is > admitting that it is theirs but is telling people to not use it... and > they're also telling people to not use the currently available patch you > mentioned. How do you know that the leaked one came from Microsoft? -- "In communism, man exploits man. In capitalism, it's the other way around." From ozz at ozz.is-a-geek.net Thu Jan 5 06:28:24 2006 From: ozz at ozz.is-a-geek.net (Austin Denyer (Ozz)) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Temporary patch for the WMF vulnerability. In-Reply-To: <200601050119.05425.philb@philb.us> References: <200601042350.38357.philb@philb.us> <43BCAECA.9070400@mc-kenna.com> <200601050119.05425.philb@philb.us> Message-ID: <20060105062824.7b7b1ea0.ozz@ozz.is-a-geek.net> On Thu, 5 Jan 2006 01:19:05 -0500, Phil Barnett wrote: > > On Thursday 05 January 2006 00:29, Damien McKenna wrote: > > > > Actually it seems that it was leaked online. Interestingly Microsoft is > > admitting that it is theirs but is telling people to not use it... and > > they're also telling people to not use the currently available patch you > > mentioned. > > How do you know that the leaked one came from Microsoft? Micro$oft said so. http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/912840.mspx In our effort to put this security fix on a fast track, a pre-release version of the update was briefly and inadvertently posted on a security community site. There has been some discussion and pointers on subsequent sites to the pre-release security update. Microsoft recommends that customers disregard the postings. Note - you need to click the "Frequently Asked Questions" bit to get this. Regards, Ozz. -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/pgp-signature Size: 189 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://lists.matrixlist.com/pipermail/pc_support/attachments/20060105/1aac40d6/attachment.bin From b.j.smith at ieee.org Fri Jan 6 09:17:17 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] SLI + power supplies In-Reply-To: <5C9DC445A45FEC4185D272DAF6AF37D19F1ECD@tlc001.tlcusa.thelimucompany.com> References: <5C9DC445A45FEC4185D272DAF6AF37D19F1ECD@tlc001.tlcusa.thelimucompany.com> Message-ID: <1136557037.4705.3.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Wed, 2006-01-04 at 14:40 -0500, Damien McKenna wrote: > Here's a question for y'all. If you have an SLI motherboard that says > it has a 4-pin PCI-Express power connector would there still be a need > to plug in the separate power connectors on the cards themselves? Also, > if you have video cards that both have power connectors do they both > have to be plugged in? Never seen a 4-pin PCI-Express power connector, just the 6-pin (2x3) +12/+12/+12V PCI-Express. Unless you mean a standard 4-pin (4x1) +5/+12V Molex, or a standard 4- pin (2x2) +12V/+12V "P4" connector. -- Bryan J. Smith mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ------------------------------------------ Some things (or athletes) money can't buy. For everything else there's "ManningCard." From jasonb at edseek.com Fri Jan 6 12:08:51 2006 From: jasonb at edseek.com (Jason Boxman) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Linux RAID 1+0 on Pri/Sec Mast/Slave Setup? Message-ID: <33145.216.134.200.78.1136567331.squirrel@nebula.internal.foo> I'm curious how much of a performance hit you'd take from running Mast/Slave on a Pri/Sec ATA setup with Linux RAID 1+0 on top? Mainboard is a basic A8V from ASUS: http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=15&l3=68&model=478&modelmenu=1 None of its mine, I am just curious if it makes any sense for a production box. Thanks. From jasonb at edseek.com Fri Jan 6 12:08:51 2006 From: jasonb at edseek.com (Jason Boxman) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Linux RAID 1+0 on Pri/Sec Mast/Slave Setup? Message-ID: <33145.216.134.200.78.1136567331.squirrel@nebula.internal.foo> I'm curious how much of a performance hit you'd take from running Mast/Slave on a Pri/Sec ATA setup with Linux RAID 1+0 on top? Mainboard is a basic A8V from ASUS: http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=15&l3=68&model=478&modelmenu=1 None of its mine, I am just curious if it makes any sense for a production box. Thanks. From wam at HiWAAY.net Fri Jan 6 19:02:35 2006 From: wam at HiWAAY.net (William A. Mahaffey III) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] [OT] (for Linux) KVMP question .... Message-ID: <43BF051B.4000607@HiWAAY.net> .... I am looking for a KVMP 4-port (my nomenclature) switch, all PS/2 & VGA hookups, to work w/ 2 Linux boxes & 1 Win2K box, & liberate 2 of 3 19" monitors from duty. I have looked around on NewEgg, still a bit antsy about what I see. IOGear units look good (by ratings from buyers), but most lack 1 thing or another that I want (audio support, apparent reliability/compatibility). Does anyone have any specific recommendations, pro or con (con *definitely* appreciated :-) ), on KVMP switches ? TIA -- William A. Mahaffey III --------------------------------------------------------------------- "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." -- President Ronald Reagan From b.j.smith at ieee.org Fri Jan 6 18:56:54 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Linux RAID 1+0 on Pri/Sec Mast/Slave Setup? In-Reply-To: <33145.216.134.200.78.1136567331.squirrel@nebula.internal.foo> Message-ID: <20060106235654.15600.qmail@web34111.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Jason Boxman wrote: > I'm curious how much of a performance hit you'd take from > running Mast/Slave on a Pri/Sec ATA setup with Linux > RAID 1+0 on top? What is the [PC/]AT Attachment (ATA)? It's the modern version of the Enhanced System Disk Interface (ESDI). ESDI is a drive with integrated drive electronics (IDE) that talks to the 16-bit @ 8MHz PC/AT bus -- point-to-point. It's literally that simple -- the drive controls the bus, and it talks to the I/O. The CPU controls the transfer in a Programmed I/O (PIO) operation. Then companies like Western Digital got fancy. They decided that you could have 2 devices on the same bus. Hence Western Digital's Enhanced IDE (EIDE) with a master/slave setup. They came out with new 8MHz Programmed I/O (PIO) modes -- mode 4 being 16.6MBps. What WD didn't tell you is that each device can_not_ talk directly to each other, despite the marketing. Transfers must go from the drive to memory, because only *1* IDE can be active at any time. To transfer from once device to another, one device must take control of the bus, the other give up the bus -- then transfer to memory -- then the reverse must happen to get the data back to the other device. ATA is _not_ SCSI, where you can have direct device-to-device transfers. This becomes very crucial with the introduction of newer ATA standards, such as Direct Memory Access (DMA). With DMA, no longer is the CPU involved, but the IDE of the hard drive itself (_not_ the controller, it's just the "bus arbitrator" between 32-bit PCI and 16-bit PC/AT) is the "bus master." Having 2 "bus masters" on the same cable is a problem -- especially when they cannot communicate simultaneously. The legacy master/slave is _only_ provided for legacy system compatibility with EIDE and other vendor PIO modes. It is _not_ designed for DMA. Just like most drives ship with 16 cylinders and not LBA. It's a legacy consideration. So figure your performance is directly cut in half, then subtract another 20+% for "well behaved" (i.e. same vendor make/model) overhead. Not worth it. Serial ATA uses the _exact_same_ ATA specificatons as parallel. But because SATA is _only_ DMA capable, they don't even offer the master/slave setup. That was the smartest thing they did. > Mainboard is a basic A8V from ASUS: http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=15&l3=68&model=478&modelmenu=1 > None of its mine, I am just curious if it makes any sense > for a production box. Oh hell no, not on a production box. ;-> Then again, I don't trust the Linux (or not even NT's for that matter) kernel when it comes to production software RAID. Too many variables. One of the worst ones just came up on the CentOS list again. E.g., people think that you can use 3Ware cards and gain hot-swap for JBOD drives. Sigh (HINT: it only works when in hardware arrays). Hmmm, any reason why a $300 3Ware Escalade 8506-4LP isn't be considered for a _production_ system? ;-> -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ---------------------------------------------------- *** Speed doesn't kill, difference in speed does *** From jvsmith at digitalmatter.us Fri Jan 6 23:52:02 2006 From: jvsmith at digitalmatter.us (Jason Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] [OT] (for Linux) KVMP question .... In-Reply-To: <43BF051B.4000607@HiWAAY.net> References: <43BF051B.4000607@HiWAAY.net> Message-ID: <1136609523.2730.38.camel@athlon.bedroom.lan> On Fri, 2006-01-06 at 18:02 -0600, William A. Mahaffey III wrote: > .... I am looking for a KVMP 4-port (my nomenclature) switch, all PS/2 & > VGA hookups, to work w/ 2 Linux boxes & 1 Win2K box, & liberate 2 of 3 > 19" monitors from duty. I've worked with a four port Raritan model before. I thought it was pretty nice. The one I have at home is a two port Belkyn that does the job. The only think about the Raritan is that I felt that it was a little expensive for a home setup at the time (4+ yrs ago). Here's the link to the 4 port Raritan Switchman. http://www.raritan.com/products/kvm_switches/switch_man/switchman/prd_cms_index.aspx?currpg=prd_cms_index&name=SwitchMan&content_category=1&overview_flag=Y&features_flag=Y&spec_flag=N&support_flag=Y&status=4 Jason -- Jason Smith jvsmith at digitalmatter dot us http://www.digitalmatter.us From jasonb at edseek.com Sat Jan 7 00:03:35 2006 From: jasonb at edseek.com (Jason Boxman) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] [OT] (for Linux) KVMP question .... In-Reply-To: <1136609523.2730.38.camel@athlon.bedroom.lan> References: <43BF051B.4000607@HiWAAY.net> <1136609523.2730.38.camel@athlon.bedroom.lan> Message-ID: <200601070003.35235.jasonb@edseek.com> On Friday 06 January 2006 23:52, Jason Smith wrote: > On Fri, 2006-01-06 at 18:02 -0600, William A. Mahaffey III wrote: > > .... I am looking for a KVMP 4-port (my nomenclature) switch, all PS/2 & > > VGA hookups, to work w/ 2 Linux boxes & 1 Win2K box, & liberate 2 of 3 > > 19" monitors from duty. > > I've worked with a four port Raritan model before. I thought it was > pretty nice. The one I have at home is a two port Belkyn that does the > job. The only think about the Raritan is that I felt that it was a > little expensive for a home setup at the time (4+ yrs ago). Here's the > link to the 4 port Raritan Switchman. I picked up an old Belkin OmniView with serial and PS2 mouse connectors and PS2 keyboard connector for around $40 on Ebay, with two sets of cables. It was quite a steal. It's been working great with three Linux and one Windows 2000 box. I had previously been through three cheaper consumer KVM solutions and only Belkin's cheap two port consumer KVM was any good, although it took up a disgusting amount of desk space with cables coming from all angles. (I also then wanted two additional ports.) -- Jason Boxman http://edseek.com/ - Linux and FOSS stuff From b.j.smith at ieee.org Sat Jan 7 00:51:58 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Car stereo with MP3, posssibly other accessories? Message-ID: <1136613118.4774.27.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> I'm in the market for a new car stereo. I just had my 2nd Aiwa car stereo go in under 4 years. For some reason, Warner Bros CDs really seem to toast Aiwa players for some reason. I guess I shouldn't have bought a 2nd Aiwa brand after the first one went, but it was cheap. I really need to get away from CDs (yes, I was a fool last time, thought I got a MP3-ROM player, ended up I didn't, it was a misprint in the St. Louis ad, long story). Although I should mention the 1/8" input "AUX" input still works, which means I _could_ get an iPod and just plug-in. But I'm not sure I want to do that. There's a lot of stereos with MP3-ROM support for $150 or less these days. Furthermore, I'm seriously considering a satellite subscription. A number of sub-$200 decks have Sirius or XM Radio support. And what are "satellite-ready" decks, just ones with the 1/8" input "AUX" or is it more than that? And God would I kill for one that had a CompactFlash support, especially since I have a 5MB Seagate ST1 1" drive that I like to use. But I haven't seen anything like that. Which means maybe I should just use my "AUX" port with a portable that takes a CompactFlash. Decisions, decisions. Any suggestions? -- Bryan J. Smith mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ------------------------------------------ Some things (or athletes) money can't buy. For everything else there's "ManningCard." From philb at philb.us Sat Jan 7 01:18:57 2006 From: philb at philb.us (Phil Barnett) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Car stereo with MP3, posssibly other accessories? In-Reply-To: <1136613118.4774.27.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> References: <1136613118.4774.27.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> Message-ID: <200601070118.57963.philb@philb.us> On Saturday 07 January 2006 00:51, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > I'm in the market for a new car stereo. > > I just had my 2nd Aiwa car stereo go in under 4 years. For some reason, > Warner Bros CDs really seem to toast Aiwa players for some reason. I > guess I shouldn't have bought a 2nd Aiwa brand after the first one went, > but it was cheap. I really need to get away from CDs (yes, I was a fool > last time, thought I got a MP3-ROM player, ended up I didn't, it was a > misprint in the St. Louis ad, long story). > > Although I should mention the 1/8" input "AUX" input still works, which > means I _could_ get an iPod and just plug-in. But I'm not sure I want > to do that. There's a lot of stereos with MP3-ROM support for $150 or > less these days. > > Furthermore, I'm seriously considering a satellite subscription. A > number of sub-$200 decks have Sirius or XM Radio support. And what are > "satellite-ready" decks, just ones with the 1/8" input "AUX" or is it > more than that? > > And God would I kill for one that had a CompactFlash support, especially > since I have a 5MB Seagate ST1 1" drive that I like to use. But I > haven't seen anything like that. Which means maybe I should just use my > "AUX" port with a portable that takes a CompactFlash. > > Decisions, decisions. Any suggestions? I just got a Pioneer 3700 which does all of the things you are talking about. My wife found it for me before christmas over the internet for $125 shipped. Shop around. Shaun got the Pioneer 7700 for $269 a week before. I didn't need all those bells and whistles. -- "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next. From b.j.smith at ieee.org Sat Jan 7 04:51:47 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Car stereo with MP3, posssibly other accessories? -- Pyle PLCD65WXMU? In-Reply-To: <1136613118.4774.27.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> References: <1136613118.4774.27.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> Message-ID: <1136627507.4774.44.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Sat, 2006-01-07 at 00:51 -0500, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > Although I should mention the 1/8" input "AUX" input still works, which > means I _could_ get an iPod and just plug-in. But I'm not sure I want > to do that. There's a lot of stereos with MP3-ROM support for $150 or > less these days. > Furthermore, I'm seriously considering a satellite subscription. A > number of sub-$200 decks have Sirius or XM Radio support. And what are > "satellite-ready" decks, just ones with the 1/8" input "AUX" or is it > more than that? > And God would I kill for one that had a CompactFlash support, especially > since I have a 5MB Seagate ST1 1" drive that I like to use. But I > haven't seen anything like that. Which means maybe I should just use my > "AUX" port with a portable that takes a CompactFlash. So far, no one has CompactFlash. I'm sure it's just too big of an interface. But I did find one vendor who has several USB models, 2 on the market with several more available soon. The vendor is "Pyle", who's MSRPs are almost _double_ what I'm finding on-line. I'm wondering if that's another country's dollar? The manuals do list both European and US frequencies. The one that interested me the most is the Pyle PLCD65WXMU: http://www.pyleaudio.com/itemdetail.asp?model=PLCD65WXMU Manual is here: http://www.pyleaudio.com/manuals/PLCD65WXMU.pdf The list is $262.71, but I'm finding prices half that with resellers (and not just eBay types). Maximum power out is 160W, lists 4 x 50W peak channels. Lists "XM Compatibility" (control set?) as well as AM/FM. CD-R/RW for MP3/WMA, Joliet or Romeo extension compatible. Has a full USB insert for storage device USB, says it reads anything Windows can. Can _record_ from any source to USB storage device (WMA format). Ack, just read the fine print -- maximum 1GB size on USB storage. I might as well go with a MP3-ROM (CD) capacity. -- Bryan J. Smith mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ------------------------------------------ Some things (or athletes) money can't buy. For everything else there's "ManningCard." From b.j.smith at ieee.org Sat Jan 7 05:24:38 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Car stereo with MP3, posssibly other accessories? -- neat (but too cheap) stuff? In-Reply-To: <1136627507.4774.44.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> References: <1136613118.4774.27.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> <1136627507.4774.44.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> Message-ID: <1136629478.4774.47.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Sat, 2006-01-07 at 04:51 -0500, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > Ack, just read the fine print -- maximum 1GB size on USB storage. > I might as well go with a MP3-ROM (CD) capacity. BTW, I've been looking out for in-dash DVD players that can do MP3 on DVD-R, but most of them are clearly DVD-Video and go out of their way to say they don't do DVD-R. So that's rather useless. But this site has some neat, but too cheap (and crappy quality?), solutions that I found interesting: http://www.mp3playerstore.com/ A lot of 4 x 40/50/60W designs claiming MP3 DVD-R capability for $149+. And they even had a 7" LCD bundle for $249+ with the player. Never heard of "Innovatek" and it sounds like it's something to be wary of, especially at the price. But the capabilities did seem "neat enough" to mention. -- Bryan J. Smith mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ------------------------------------------ Some things (or athletes) money can't buy. For everything else there's "ManningCard." From b.j.smith at ieee.org Sat Jan 7 05:26:45 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Car stereo with MP3, posssibly other accessories? -- neat (but too cheap) stuff? In-Reply-To: <1136629478.4774.47.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> References: <1136613118.4774.27.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> <1136627507.4774.44.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> <1136629478.4774.47.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> Message-ID: <1136629605.4774.49.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Sat, 2006-01-07 at 05:24 -0500, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > But this site has some neat, but too cheap (and crappy quality?), > solutions that I found interesting: > http://www.mp3playerstore.com/ > A lot of 4 x 40/50/60W designs claiming MP3 DVD-R capability for $149+. > And they even had a 7" LCD bundle for $249+ with the player. Just FYI, I do have 2 DIN space in my truck, so I could take the combo. But I'm wary to even look at this stuff -- too good to be true. -- Bryan J. Smith mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ------------------------------------------ Some things (or athletes) money can't buy. For everything else there's "ManningCard." From b.j.smith at ieee.org Sat Jan 7 05:34:18 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Car stereo with MP3, posssibly other accessories? -- neat (but too cheap) stuff? In-Reply-To: <1136629478.4774.47.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> References: <1136613118.4774.27.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> <1136627507.4774.44.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> <1136629478.4774.47.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> Message-ID: <1136630058.4774.53.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Sat, 2006-01-07 at 05:24 -0500, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > But this site has some neat, but too cheap (and crappy quality?), > solutions that I found interesting: > http://www.mp3playerstore.com/ > A lot of 4 x 40/50/60W designs claiming MP3 DVD-R capability for $149+. > And they even had a 7" LCD bundle for $249+ with the player. > Never heard of "Innovatek" and it sounds like it's something to be wary > of, especially at the price. But the capabilities did seem "neat > enough" to mention. Hmmm, mixed reviews here: http://www.mp3playerstore.com/ I don't plan to use external amps, a guy who did ended up frying stuff. Although he did mention they do have features and the LCD was good. Another guy had a RMA never get replaced. Probably something/somesite to stay away from. -- Bryan J. Smith mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ------------------------------------------ Some things (or athletes) money can't buy. For everything else there's "ManningCard." From wam at HiWAAY.net Sat Jan 7 10:13:09 2006 From: wam at HiWAAY.net (William A. Mahaffey III) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] [OT] (for Linux) KVMP question .... In-Reply-To: <1136609523.2730.38.camel@athlon.bedroom.lan> References: <43BF051B.4000607@HiWAAY.net> <1136609523.2730.38.camel@athlon.bedroom.lan> Message-ID: <43BFDA85.4080706@HiWAAY.net> Jason Smith wrote: >On Fri, 2006-01-06 at 18:02 -0600, William A. Mahaffey III wrote: > > >>.... I am looking for a KVMP 4-port (my nomenclature) switch, all PS/2 & >>VGA hookups, to work w/ 2 Linux boxes & 1 Win2K box, & liberate 2 of 3 >>19" monitors from duty. >> >> > >I've worked with a four port Raritan model before. I thought it was >pretty nice. The one I have at home is a two port Belkyn that does the >job. The only think about the Raritan is that I felt that it was a >little expensive for a home setup at the time (4+ yrs ago). Here's the >link to the 4 port Raritan Switchman. > >http://www.raritan.com/products/kvm_switches/switch_man/switchman/prd_cms_index.aspx?currpg=prd_cms_index&name=SwitchMan&content_category=1&overview_flag=Y&features_flag=Y&spec_flag=N&support_flag=Y&status=4 > >Jason > > Thanks, does this one support audio for each box as well (couldn't tell from the link) ? -- William A. Mahaffey III ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "The M1 Garand is without doubt the finest implement of war ever devised by man." -- Gen. George S. Patton -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.matrixlist.com/pipermail/pc_support/attachments/20060107/1ec84813/attachment.html From damien at mc-kenna.com Sat Jan 7 12:07:05 2006 From: damien at mc-kenna.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Car stereo with MP3, posssibly other accessories? In-Reply-To: <1136613118.4774.27.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> References: <1136613118.4774.27.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> Message-ID: <43BFF539.1060008@mc-kenna.com> I saw a stereo at Target last weekend that had a USB port, maybe you could use a cheapo USB reader to give you Compact Flash support? It was only $100 too! -- Damien McKenna, husband, father, geek. damien@mc-kenna.com - http://www.mc-kenna.com/ From paddy at ij.net Sat Jan 7 12:12:54 2006 From: paddy at ij.net (paddy) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Bryan's Blog Message-ID: <43BFF696.9080207@ij.net> Bryan; I have lost the address for your blog, will you please post or send it to me. thanks Paddy From paddy at ij.net Sat Jan 7 12:11:53 2006 From: paddy at ij.net (paddy) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] [OT] (for Linux) KVMP question .... In-Reply-To: <43BFDA85.4080706@HiWAAY.net> References: <43BF051B.4000607@HiWAAY.net> <1136609523.2730.38.camel@athlon.bedroom.lan> <43BFDA85.4080706@HiWAAY.net> Message-ID: <43BFF659.8030606@ij.net> William A. Mahaffey III wrote: > Jason Smith wrote: > >>On Fri, 2006-01-06 at 18:02 -0600, William A. Mahaffey III wrote: >> >> >>>.... I am looking for a KVMP 4-port (my nomenclature) switch, all PS/2 & >>>VGA hookups, to work w/ 2 Linux boxes & 1 Win2K box, & liberate 2 of 3 >>>19" monitors from duty. >>> >>> >> >>I've worked with a four port Raritan model before. I thought it was >>pretty nice. The one I have at home is a two port Belkyn that does the >>job. The only think about the Raritan is that I felt that it was a >>little expensive for a home setup at the time (4+ yrs ago). Here's the >>link to the 4 port Raritan Switchman. >> >>http://www.raritan.com/products/kvm_switches/switch_man/switchman/prd_cms_index.aspx?currpg=prd_cms_index&name=SwitchMan&content_category=1&overview_flag=Y&features_flag=Y&spec_flag=N&support_flag=Y&status=4 >> >>Jason >> >> > > Thanks, does this one support audio for each box as well (couldn't > tell from the link) ? > >-- > William A. Mahaffey III > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > "The M1 Garand is without doubt the finest implement of war > ever devised by man." > -- Gen. George S. Patton > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >_______________________________________________ >Pc_support mailing list >Pc_support@matrixlist.com >http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support > > I have a 4 port Belkin /w all of the cables. If you are interested, write me at my address. Paddy From b.j.smith at ieee.org Sat Jan 7 13:05:54 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Bryan's Blog In-Reply-To: <43BFF696.9080207@ij.net> References: <43BFF696.9080207@ij.net> Message-ID: <1136657154.4774.62.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Sat, 2006-01-07 at 12:12 -0500, paddy wrote: > Bryan; > I have lost the address for your blog, will you please post or send it > to me. It's at the bottom of every one of my e-mails. Note, for some reason, Blogspot's archiving is not working correctly to view older archives from the month-year links. So use the "search" at the top to find older articles. -- Bryan J. Smith mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ------------------------------------------ Some things (or athletes) money can't buy. For everything else there's "ManningCard." From paddy at ij.net Sat Jan 7 14:35:08 2006 From: paddy at ij.net (paddy) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Bryan's Blog In-Reply-To: <1136657154.4774.62.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> References: <43BFF696.9080207@ij.net> <1136657154.4774.62.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> Message-ID: <43C017EC.1090807@ij.net> Bryan J. Smith wrote: >On Sat, 2006-01-07 at 12:12 -0500, paddy wrote: > > >>Bryan; >>I have lost the address for your blog, will you please post or send it >>to me. >> >> > >It's at the bottom of every one of my e-mails. > >Note, for some reason, Blogspot's archiving is not working correctly to >view older archives from the month-year links. So use the "search" at >the top to find older articles. > > > > Thanks Paddy From damien at mc-kenna.com Sat Jan 7 23:09:01 2006 From: damien at mc-kenna.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] HD-DVD peep lambasts Blu-Ray Message-ID: <43C0905D.20209@mc-kenna.com> http://www.betanews.com/article/HD_DVD_Bluray_Has_Problems/1136673259 -- Damien McKenna, husband, father, geek. damien@mc-kenna.com - http://www.mc-kenna.com/ From b.j.smith at ieee.org Sun Jan 8 04:12:39 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] HD-DVD peep lambasts Blu-Ray In-Reply-To: <43C0905D.20209@mc-kenna.com> References: <43C0905D.20209@mc-kenna.com> Message-ID: <1136711559.4774.77.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Sat, 2006-01-07 at 23:09 -0500, Damien McKenna wrote: > http://www.betanews.com/article/HD_DVD_Bluray_Has_Problems/1136673259 Sounds like BluRay could be a repeat of the 3 phase @ 3 year: - Japan-only 3.0GB DVD-R+W - 1st gen DVD+RW without DVD-R, then without an update to DVD+R - 2nd gen DVD+RW/+R, but virtually player compatibility at release Sony has a nasty habit of aiming far, reducing compatibility, reducing reliability and really not giving a crap when they miss, let alone not explaining it to the vendors. Furthermore, I'm sure HP's (among other vendors') weariness is because they got their butts sued because they promised DVD+R via a firmware upgrade for their DVD100i (1st gen DVD+RW), and ended up having to replace consumers' drives with free DVD200i as a result. Then there is the "studio influence" that just makes me wonder. Especially since the BluRay Java-application tie-in and filesystem are preferred over HD-DVD's DHTML markup and the UDF existing standard. -- Bryan J. Smith mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ------------------------------------------ Some things (or athletes) money can't buy. For everything else there's "ManningCard." From b.j.smith at ieee.org Sun Jan 8 12:17:14 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: nforce4 topology In-Reply-To: <20060108162948.21007.qmail@web52911.mail.yahoo.com> References: <20060108162948.21007.qmail@web52911.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1136740634.4774.84.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Sun, 2006-01-08 at 08:29 -0800, Jimmy V. wrote: > Hello! I've been reading your blog since I came across it not to > long ago and find it very informative! > However, I'd like to make a slight correction regarding the device > topology of the Nforce4 chipsets: > None of the onboard devices are actually PCI-E devices i.e. sata/net/usb/p2p > bridge/etc > They are logically (but not physically) pci devices individually brigded to HT > via their proprietary internal MCP bus, so there are > no lanes allocated for them out of the x20 total per root-complex (each Nforce > chip/MCP .. "CK8-04" or the extra "IO-4" echnically). > In fact you can verify this yourself with lspci. Using lspci -tv > will show that the onboard devices are all top level devices. Any > PCI-E device *must* be under one of the four possible root ports > (virtual bridges) in each root complex, which would have a device of 0x5D and > located at one of bus,dev,func: 0,E/D/C/B,0.. unless > it has changed for the nforce 410/430 versions. Furthermore, pci > config registers will also indicate if a device is PCI-E or PCI. > Just letting you know so you don't think they are bottlenecked by > a x1 link :D Interesting. So they are directly gluing the logic to the HT? I'll have to research this more, thanx. -- Bryan J. Smith mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ------------------------------------------ Some things (or athletes) money can't buy. For everything else there's "ManningCard." From wam at HiWAAY.net Mon Jan 9 10:05:43 2006 From: wam at HiWAAY.net (William A. Mahaffey III) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Adding 400 GB HDD to SuSE 9.2 system .... Message-ID: <43C27BC7.1080802@HiWAAY.net> .... I am preparing to add a 400 GB Samsung HDD to my 2.4 GHz P4, running SuSE 9.2, all stock. I already have a 160 GB Samsung, mounted as /home, which I installed a couple of years ago. I am a bit fuzzy on the process of making a filesystem on that drive :-). The last time (on the 160 GB drive), I called mkreiserfs (8) on the whole drive, /dev/hdb, not a partition (/dev/hdb1), since I was using the whole drive & didn't divide it into partitions :-). I have had intermittent reliability problems w/ that drive ever since, more of them recently. I also have the same situation on this machine (933 MHz PIII, SuSE 8.2, all stock, 20 GB second drive mounted as /home, but addressed as /dev/hdb1 even though that partition is in fact the whole drive), w/ absolutely *NO* reliability/stability issues. Would someone refresh me on the steps to get this drive (the 400 GB) up & going :-) ? TIA -- William A. Mahaffey III ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "The M1 Garand is without doubt the finest implement of war ever devised by man." -- Gen. George S. Patton From b.j.smith at ieee.org Tue Jan 10 22:38:29 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: LUNA: Adding 400 GB HDD to SuSE 9.2 system .... In-Reply-To: <43C27BC7.1080802@HiWAAY.net> References: <43C27BC7.1080802@HiWAAY.net> Message-ID: <1136950709.4729.8.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Mon, 2006-01-09 at 09:05 -0600, William A. Mahaffey III wrote: > .... I am preparing to add a 400 GB Samsung HDD to my 2.4 GHz P4, > running SuSE 9.2, all stock. I already have a 160 GB Samsung, mounted as > /home, which I installed a couple of years ago. I am a bit fuzzy on the > process of making a filesystem on that drive :-). The last time (on the > 160 GB drive), I called mkreiserfs (8) on the whole drive, /dev/hdb, not > a partition (/dev/hdb1), since I was using the whole drive & didn't > divide it into partitions :-). I have had intermittent reliability > problems w/ that drive ever since, more of them recently. I also have > the same situation on this machine (933 MHz PIII, SuSE 8.2, all stock, > 20 GB second drive mounted as /home, but addressed as /dev/hdb1 even > though that partition is in fact the whole drive), w/ absolutely *NO* > reliability/stability issues. Would someone refresh me on the steps to > get this drive (the 400 GB) up & going :-) ? TIA Use "fdisk" or "parted" to slice (partition) the drive. You can then use format individual slices with filesystems. E.g., "mke2fs -J /dev/hdc1" to format the first slice with Ext3. - Insider track ... There are disk labels (partition tables) and disk slices (partitions). Inside of each slice you can have another disk label. The legacy PC BIOS/DOS disk label (aka "Basic Disc" in NT5+/2000+ terminology) only allows 4 slices (primary partitions). Linux enumerates those slices as "1-4". Latter DOS versions (which mean all current Windows versions) allow you to put another disk label (an extended partition) in one slice (one primary partition) so you can have more slices (logical partitions). Linux enumerates those slices as "5+". The new Logical Disk Manager (LDM) disk label (aka "Dynamic Disc" in NT5 +/2000+ terminology) now sets up 1 slice (one primary partition) as this format. I wouldn't recommend it for Linux because while the kernel supports LDM and can read slices/filesystems in it, most Linux support tools (including fdisk, parted and GRUB) cannot. These are enumerated in different ways by Linux. For Linux, you may want to consider using the Logical Volume Manager (LVM) disk label in Linux to setup up 1 slice (one primary partition) for advanced slice management. You use a different set of tools for that -- a 3-tier pv* (physical volume), lv* (logical volume) and vg* (volume group) suite of tools. These are enumerated logically, typically under /dev/vg#/vol## (depending on the configuration, long story), by Linux. -- Bryan J. Smith mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ------------------------------------------ Some things (or athletes) money can't buy. For everything else there's "ManningCard." From wam at HiWAAY.net Wed Jan 11 01:45:48 2006 From: wam at HiWAAY.net (William A. Mahaffey III) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: LUNA: Adding 400 GB HDD to SuSE 9.2 system .... In-Reply-To: <1136950709.4729.8.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> References: <43C27BC7.1080802@HiWAAY.net> <1136950709.4729.8.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> Message-ID: <43C4A99C.5060409@HiWAAY.net> Bryan J. Smith wrote: >On Mon, 2006-01-09 at 09:05 -0600, William A. Mahaffey III wrote: > > >>.... I am preparing to add a 400 GB Samsung HDD to my 2.4 GHz P4, >>running SuSE 9.2, all stock. I already have a 160 GB Samsung, mounted as >>/home, which I installed a couple of years ago. I am a bit fuzzy on the >>process of making a filesystem on that drive :-). The last time (on the >>160 GB drive), I called mkreiserfs (8) on the whole drive, /dev/hdb, not >>a partition (/dev/hdb1), since I was using the whole drive & didn't >>divide it into partitions :-). I have had intermittent reliability >>problems w/ that drive ever since, more of them recently. I also have >>the same situation on this machine (933 MHz PIII, SuSE 8.2, all stock, >>20 GB second drive mounted as /home, but addressed as /dev/hdb1 even >>though that partition is in fact the whole drive), w/ absolutely *NO* >>reliability/stability issues. Would someone refresh me on the steps to >>get this drive (the 400 GB) up & going :-) ? TIA >> >> > >Use "fdisk" or "parted" to slice (partition) the drive. >You can then use format individual slices with filesystems. > >E.g., "mke2fs -J /dev/hdc1" to format the first slice with Ext3. > >- Insider track ... > >There are disk labels (partition tables) and disk slices (partitions). >Inside of each slice you can have another disk label. > >The legacy PC BIOS/DOS disk label (aka "Basic Disc" in NT5+/2000+ >terminology) only allows 4 slices (primary partitions). Linux >enumerates those slices as "1-4". > >Latter DOS versions (which mean all current Windows versions) allow you >to put another disk label (an extended partition) in one slice (one >primary partition) so you can have more slices (logical partitions). >Linux enumerates those slices as "5+". > >The new Logical Disk Manager (LDM) disk label (aka "Dynamic Disc" in NT5 >+/2000+ terminology) now sets up 1 slice (one primary partition) as this >format. I wouldn't recommend it for Linux because while the kernel >supports LDM and can read slices/filesystems in it, most Linux support >tools (including fdisk, parted and GRUB) cannot. These are enumerated >in different ways by Linux. > >For Linux, you may want to consider using the Logical Volume Manager >(LVM) disk label in Linux to setup up 1 slice (one primary partition) >for advanced slice management. You use a different set of tools for >that -- a 3-tier pv* (physical volume), lv* (logical volume) and vg* >(volume group) suite of tools. These are enumerated logically, >typically under /dev/vg#/vol## (depending on the configuration, long >story), by Linux. > > As hazy recollections are revisited, I am almost certain that I did the 160 GB (about 2 years ago) w/o fdisk or equivalent (I expected mkreiserfs to fail if there were problems ....). I redressed that this time. I setup the 400 GB drive as ext3, after fsidk-ing it into 1 large partition. I then moved everything off of the 160 GB & re-did it (fdisk/mkreiserfs, rather than just mkreiserfs) & moved everything back. We'll see about reliability, stay tuned :-) .... -- William A. Mahaffey III ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "The M1 Garand is without doubt the finest implement of war ever devised by man." -- Gen. George S. Patton -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.matrixlist.com/pipermail/pc_support/attachments/20060111/7aac5c53/attachment.html From b.j.smith at ieee.org Wed Jan 11 08:25:09 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: LUNA: Adding 400 GB HDD to SuSE 9.2 system .... In-Reply-To: <43C4A99C.5060409@HiWAAY.net> References: <43C27BC7.1080802@HiWAAY.net> <1136950709.4729.8.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> <43C4A99C.5060409@HiWAAY.net> Message-ID: <1136985909.4729.20.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Wed, 2006-01-11 at 00:45 -0600, William A. Mahaffey III wrote: > As hazy recollections are revisited, I am almost certain that I did > the 160 GB (about 2 years ago) w/o fdisk or equivalent (I expected > mkreiserfs to fail if there were problems ....). I redressed that this > time. I setup the 400 GB drive as ext3, after fsidk-ing it into 1 > large partition. I then moved everything off of the 160 GB & re-did it > (fdisk/mkreiserfs, rather than just mkreiserfs) & moved everything > back. We'll see about reliability, stay tuned :-) .... In Linux, you can probably get away with that. All you get is an extra cylinder 0 (~8MB for 63/255 sectors/heads) in capacity that is normally used for the Legacy BIOS/DOS disk label (partition table), master boot record (MBR), etc... -- Bryan J. Smith mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ------------------------------------------ Some things (or athletes) money can't buy. For everything else there's "ManningCard." From wam at HiWAAY.net Wed Jan 11 09:45:15 2006 From: wam at HiWAAY.net (William A. Mahaffey III) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:34 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: LUNA: Adding 400 GB HDD to SuSE 9.2 system .... In-Reply-To: <1136985909.4729.20.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> References: <43C27BC7.1080802@HiWAAY.net> <1136950709.4729.8.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> <43C4A99C.5060409@HiWAAY.net> <1136985909.4729.20.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> Message-ID: <43C519FB.90708@HiWAAY.net> Bryan J. Smith wrote: >On Wed, 2006-01-11 at 00:45 -0600, William A. Mahaffey III wrote: > > >>As hazy recollections are revisited, I am almost certain that I did >>the 160 GB (about 2 years ago) w/o fdisk or equivalent (I expected >>mkreiserfs to fail if there were problems ....). I redressed that this >>time. I setup the 400 GB drive as ext3, after fsidk-ing it into 1 >>large partition. I then moved everything off of the 160 GB & re-did it >>(fdisk/mkreiserfs, rather than just mkreiserfs) & moved everything >>back. We'll see about reliability, stay tuned :-) .... >> >> > >In Linux, you can probably get away with that. All you get is an extra >cylinder 0 (~8MB for 63/255 sectors/heads) in capacity that is normally >used for the Legacy BIOS/DOS disk label (partition table), master boot >record (MBR), etc... > > > > I apparently *did* sorta get away with it, for a while, until I started using the 160 GB drive more heavily doing X-LAN backups, then the reliability issues cropped up. I am now doing those backups onto the 400 GB drive (ext3, more space), so we'll see. So far, so good w/ the new setup .... -- William A. Mahaffey III ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "The M1 Garand is without doubt the finest implement of war ever devised by man." -- Gen. George S. Patton -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.matrixlist.com/pipermail/pc_support/attachments/20060111/9b7f0f85/attachment.html From b.j.smith at ieee.org Fri Jan 13 12:35:36 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Antec TruePower ATX 2.0 550W, nVidia SLI certified, for $89.99 - $10 rebate ... Message-ID: <20060113173536.10167.qmail@web34112.mail.mud.yahoo.com> For those looking for a nVidia SLI-certified power supply: http://dealnews.com/deals/Antec-True-Power-2-0-TPII-550-W-Power-Supply-for-80-shipped-after-rebate/106893.html http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10405472 -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ---------------------------------------------------- *** Speed doesn't kill, difference in speed does *** From dmckenna at thelimucompany.com Fri Jan 13 12:49:10 2006 From: dmckenna at thelimucompany.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Antec TruePower ATX 2.0 550W, nVidia SLI certified, for $89.99 - $10 rebate ... Message-ID: <5C9DC445A45FEC4185D272DAF6AF37D1C1CFEA@tlc001.tlcusa.thelimucompany.com> Apparently CheapGuys have a 500W PSU from Ultra (ultraproducts.com) for about $50. I'd still go for the Antec though. -- Damien McKenna - Web Developer - Damien.McKenna@thelimucompany.com The Limu Company - http://www.thelimucompany.com/ - 407-804-1014 #include From b.j.smith at ieee.org Fri Jan 13 15:26:55 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: [LeapList] CISC vs RISC In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20060113202655.1168.qmail@web34110.mail.mud.yahoo.com> George Laiacona wrote: > Can anyone give a summary of CISC vs RISC processing power, > clock rates, etc., Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) and Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) are rather abstract terms that aren't in the real-world. Even some RISC designs have CISC features and some CISC designs have RISC features. Probably the most bloated CISC is IA-32 (x86), especially with its sprawling set of extensions. It's because of its complexity that timing and scheduling is very, very difficult to do. Intel hasn't redesigned a new IA-32[e] core since the 1994 Pentium Pro. AMD has not modified it's IA-32/x86-64 core since the original 1999 design. Probably the most anal RISC was AXP (Alpha), which only worked on 32-bit or 64-bit data (and even lacked 8 or 16-bit loads until the 21064A), and only added 5 extensions to avoid holding up timing/pipes. CISC is a 1970s concept. RISC is a 1980s concept. In the 1970s, physcists and engineers did little other than design transistors and substrates. Computer scientists designed combinational boolean logic (CBL) to do things, including the first Intel 4004 microcontroller. As such, it's instruction set was designed by and for programmers. Hence CISC. In the 1980s, physcists and engineers started to realize the limitations of CISC at the digital gate level. Variable instruction and flexible operands lead to a massive inefficiency in MEAGs/one-hot/selects and other control logic. Berkeley RISC (the father of the SPARC) and Stanford MIPS showed that using a fixed instruction size (typically 32-bit), with instructions of a shorter fetch-decode-execute timing on fixed operands (typically select registers, instead of various registers/memory) could result in much higher performance than CISC -- even though several instructions were required versus only a few. Physcists and engineers also had an alterior motive than efficiency, but wants RISC out of sheer design effort -- especially timing. The more simplistic the logic, the easier it is to time and execute. Especially when today's modern superscalar architecture where instructions are not only pipelined one after another, but there are multiple pipes executing their own pipelines at any time. The key component required for the adoption of RISC was the compiler. Computer scientists would not accept something that would require them to write 2-10x as many instructions as RISC would versus CISC. But compilers were commonplace, so physcists/engineers had a solution. In fact, I _regularly_ have to remind people (especially people who wrote assembler in the 80s) that it's virtually _impossible_ to "out-smart" the instructions from an optimizing C compiler with direct assembly in today's superscalar CISC (let alone RISC) designs. There are newer, even "more RISC" designs like the Very Large Instruction Word (VLIW) in designs like Transmeta's 128-bit VLIW that reduces fetch/decode even more, and almost completely replace any requirement for it. It makes IC design even easier and more flexible, and took "binary translation" to a whole new level beyond what the AXP RISC could do. Intel's IA-64 is sometimes referred as a 128-bit VLIW, but it's _nothing_ like Transmeta's design. It's a 41-bit RISC instruction word optimized at compile time into 3 instruction words (plus 5-bits), known as Explicitly Parallel Instruction [Set] Computation (EPIC). The idea was that EPIC could keep the superscalar pipes fuller than the typical 40-50% and 60-70% of CISC and RISC, respectively. The problem with EPIC in the first two IA-64 Itanium revisions is that compile-time optimizations are not enough, and Branch Predication (executing both paths a branch could take and discard the result) was worse than a 95% (19 out of 20 time) accurate Branch Predictor. IA-64 Itanium3 is retrofitting more traditional RISC design, largely those obtained from AXP licensure/ownership. This includes the same binary translation approach used by AXP and Transmeta to run x86 (as the IA-64 hardware x86 emulation support is slower than binary translation in software). > and why this might matter to a *nix installation? > (Bryan probably could.) Software is software, including OSes. C code is C code and today everything boils down to virtually C. Whether the C compiles into object code of CISC, RISC, EPIC, etc... like instructions matters little. 99.99% of programmers learn all they need to know about optimizing software, system organization and "raw programmer interfaces" from 3rd Generation Language (3GL) C-level code. You don't want to touch assembly unless you want to spend 2+ years learning the ins-n-outs of how a _specific_ multi-pipelined, superscalar architecture works to write efficient code for it. I can't stress that enough, even *I* can't and don't want to code at 2GL assembler other than for bootloader or other, low-level code (possibly an occassional in-line assembler) as I can _not_ optimize and schedule like today's C compilers. You have the optimizing C compiler which is like having the engineers who designed the architecture writing your assembler code, building it to schedule and time separate tasks fairly efficiently. Learning how to optimizing in C -- especially for those using 4GL languages (Java, .NET, etc...) -- will by far have the greatest improvement in their code writing. Especially in new arena of multiple-cores *AND* multiple-threads over those cores, scheduled _dynamically_ by the chip(s) overseeing logic for all cores. God knows C just knowing the POSIX standards for threaded C code writing goes a very, very long way towards performance. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ---------------------------------------------------- *** Speed doesn't kill, difference in speed does *** From wam at HiWAAY.net Sun Jan 15 10:20:43 2006 From: wam at HiWAAY.net (William A. Mahaffey III) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Linux sh question .... Message-ID: <43CA684B.6000009@HiWAAY.net> .... as part of my elaborate (Rube Goldbergian ?) backup protocol, I have a 2.4 GHz P4, running SuSE 9.2P, all stock, w/ 2 largish (for me anyway) HDD's, 1 160 GB mounted as /home, ReiserFS, and another 400 GB mounted as /work, ext3. I backup stuff up across my LAN onto the 400 GB drive, then (try to) copy selected bits to the 160 GB drive. When I try to do that copy (from a bash script), I get the following: cp: cannot stat `/work/archive/wam/*.new.tgz': No such file or directory Some more particulars: [wam@INTC2400A, test, 9:10:17am] 434 % ll /work/archive/wam/*.new.tgz 29016073 8012272 -rw-r--r-- 1 wam users 8196544481 2006-01-15 01:44 /work/archive/wam/Darkstar.new.tgz 29016071 841308 -rw-r--r-- 1 wam users 860650529 2006-01-15 01:02 /work/archive/wam/Indigo.new.tgz 29016070 1538080 -rw-r--r-- 1 wam users 1573446048 2006-01-15 01:19 /work/archive/wam/SSE.new.tgz [wam@INTC2400A, test, 9:10:27am] 435 % !df df ; w ; /sbin/swapon -s ; free -m ; uname -a ; date Filesystem Type 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on /dev/hda2 reiserfs 17140784 1916132 15224652 12% / tmpfs tmpfs 1033304 12 1033292 1% /dev/shm /dev/hdd1 ext3 384578164 25330936 339711788 7% /work /dev/hdb1 reiserfs 156283544 12348704 143934840 8% /home 09:11:12 up 5 days, 20:54, 1 user, load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00 USER TTY LOGIN@ IDLE JCPU PCPU WHAT wam pts/0 Mon13 0.00s 0.37s 0.00s w Filename Type Size Used Priority /dev/hda1 partition 2409708 5264 42 total used free shared buffers cached Mem: 2018 2002 15 0 31 1921 -/+ buffers/cache: 49 1968 Swap: 2353 5 2348 Linux INTC2400A 2.6.8-24-smp #1 SMP Wed Oct 6 09:16:23 UTC 2004 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux Sun Jan 15 09:11:12 CST 2006 Am I doing something wrong in my backup shell script ? Can bash not parse the following line: \cp -p /work/archive/wam/*.new.tgz /home/archive/wam/ which is the last line in my backup script ? TIA -- William A. Mahaffey III ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "The M1 Garand is without doubt the finest implement of war ever devised by man." -- Gen. George S. Patton From damien at mc-kenna.com Sun Jan 15 11:42:37 2006 From: damien at mc-kenna.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Linux sh question .... In-Reply-To: <43CA684B.6000009@HiWAAY.net> References: <43CA684B.6000009@HiWAAY.net> Message-ID: <43CA7B7D.2010900@mc-kenna.com> You might do better to ask Linux questions on the LEAP general discussion list, which focuses on all things Linux: http://leap-cf.org/mailinglist.php3?list=leaplist -- Damien McKenna, husband, father, geek. damien@mc-kenna.com - http://www.mc-kenna.com/ From wam at HiWAAY.net Sun Jan 15 21:42:26 2006 From: wam at HiWAAY.net (William A. Mahaffey III) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Linux sh question .... In-Reply-To: <43CA7B7D.2010900@mc-kenna.com> References: <43CA684B.6000009@HiWAAY.net> <43CA7B7D.2010900@mc-kenna.com> Message-ID: <43CB0812.3000803@HiWAAY.net> Damien McKenna wrote: > You might do better to ask Linux questions on the LEAP general > discussion list, which focuses on all things Linux: > http://leap-cf.org/mailinglist.php3?list=leaplist > Roger that, thanks, just subbed, we'll see :-) .... -- William A. Mahaffey III ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "The M1 Garand is without doubt the finest implement of war ever devised by man." -- Gen. George S. Patton From wam at HiWAAY.net Mon Jan 16 15:35:31 2006 From: wam at HiWAAY.net (William A. Mahaffey III) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: LUNA: Linux sh question .... In-Reply-To: <43CBFE34.1050600@yahoo.com> References: <43CA684B.6000009@HiWAAY.net> <43CBFE34.1050600@yahoo.com> Message-ID: <43CC0393.6010300@HiWAAY.net> Rob Lemley wrote: > William A. Mahaffey III wrote: > >> >> cp: cannot stat `/work/archive/wam/*.new.tgz': No such file or directory >> >> Some more particulars: >> >> [wam@INTC2400A, test, 9:10:17am] 434 % ll /work/archive/wam/*.new.tgz >> 29016073 8012272 -rw-r--r-- 1 wam users 8196544481 2006-01-15 01:44 >> /work/archive/wam/Darkstar.new.tgz >> 29016071 841308 -rw-r--r-- 1 wam users 860650529 2006-01-15 01:02 >> /work/archive/wam/Indigo.new.tgz >> 29016070 1538080 -rw-r--r-- 1 wam users 1573446048 2006-01-15 01:19 >> /work/archive/wam/SSE.new.tgz > > >> \cp -p /work/archive/wam/*.new.tgz /home/archive/wam/ > > > Hmmmm. Have you somehow turned of 'globbing' in the shell? Do you > have anything with a "-f" or "noglob" somewhere? Like > > #!/bin/bash -f > > or > > set -o noglob > > or > > set -f > > or > > GLOBIGNORE=... > > or > > ?? > > -Rob > Oooooohhhh, I *think* we have a winner. I do indeed have '#!/bin/sh -f' as the 1st line of the script. I thought that just disabled my .profile settings & nothing else, but I am *wrong*, no ? I will try removing the offending '-f' & see how it runs this evening, thanks :-). -- William A. Mahaffey III ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "The M1 Garand is without doubt the finest implement of war ever devised by man." -- Gen. George S. Patton From b.j.smith at ieee.org Mon Jan 16 15:38:55 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: LUNA: Linux sh question .... In-Reply-To: <43CC0393.6010300@HiWAAY.net> Message-ID: <20060116203855.89773.qmail@web34106.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Rob Lemley wrote: > Hmmmm. Have you somehow turned of 'globbing' in the > shell? Do you have anything with a "-f" or "noglob" > somewhere? Good catch, globbing setting. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ---------------------------------------------------- *** Speed doesn't kill, difference in speed does *** From wam at HiWAAY.net Mon Jan 16 17:46:31 2006 From: wam at HiWAAY.net (William A. Mahaffey III) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: LUNA: Linux sh question .... In-Reply-To: <011620062046.1581.43CC061B000113890000062D219791332902019C9D0E0A9F009F@mchsi.com> References: <011620062046.1581.43CC061B000113890000062D219791332902019C9D0E0A9F009F@mchsi.com> Message-ID: <43CC2247.7050204@HiWAAY.net> pfpearson@mchsi.com wrote: >I don't know about sh, but the '-f' setting is a csh argument to not read in the >startup file (.cshrc). > >-- >We all laugh in the same language > > > > > >>Rob Lemley wrote: >> >> >> >>>Hmmmm. Have you somehow turned of 'globbing' in the shell? Do you >>>have anything with a "-f" or "noglob" somewhere? Like >>> >>>#!/bin/bash -f >>> >>>or >>> >>>set -o noglob >>> >>>or >>> >>>set -f >>> >>>or >>> >>>GLOBIGNORE=... >>> >>>or >>> >>>?? >>> >>>-Rob >>> >>> >>> >>Oooooohhhh, I *think* we have a winner. I do indeed have '#!/bin/sh -f' >>as the 1st line of the script. I thought that just disabled my .profile >>settings & nothing else, but I am *wrong*, no ? I will try removing the >>offending '-f' & see how it runs this evening, thanks :-). >> >> >>-- >> William A. Mahaffey III >> >> Yep, old csh habits die hard .... -- William A. Mahaffey III ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "The M1 Garand is without doubt the finest implement of war ever devised by man." -- Gen. George S. Patton From b.j.smith at ieee.org Tue Jan 17 15:55:55 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Buy a Dell 24" LCD, get a Pentium D 280 for almost free ... Message-ID: <20060117205555.22965.qmail@web34112.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Although you can get the Dell 24" for around $879 after various coupons, for $1,199 you can get it with a Dell Pentium D 280 system. Not a bad setup if you ask me for the total price: http://dealnews.com/deals/Dell-Dimension-9150-Pentium-Dual-Core-PC-w-24-LCD-for-1-199/107255.html -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ---------------------------------------------------- *** Speed doesn't kill, difference in speed does *** From b.j.smith at ieee.org Tue Jan 17 16:46:13 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] We're hiring: LAN Admin, (2) C/GUI Coders, (x) Field Engineers Message-ID: <20060117214613.41686.qmail@web34108.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Our website won't be updated for awhile, and I'd rather you contact me directly so I can pass you on with a thumbs up (no, there is no referral bonus ... at least not yet ;-). We're looking for a number of people, so please let me know if you are looking. These are with my company in the Orlando (Lake Mary) area. o LAN Administrator Attitude on this is MCSE+CCNA minimum, so if you have the paper, great, if you don't, please have the experience (on 2003 products no less). Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Exchange Server, MS SQL Server 2000, SharePoint, Office, etc... administrative environment. Cisco 5500 series core, various networking technologies, you need to have an basic grasp of switching and routing for a SMB (small-to-medium business) network, DNS, ActiveDirectory. Linux and Open Source technologies are definitely a major plus because we not only have Linux capabilities, but our products utilize Linux too. [ INSIGHT NOTE/WARNING: Must work well with non-technical, executive management. Although we are a major R&D firm (our end won't give you too much trouble), we also a product and services company and filled with a sales and management team that will make a lot of IT requests. Feel free to e-mail me back and inquire more about what I mean by this. ] o C/GUI Developers (2) We're looking for C developers with GUI experience, preferably cross-platform GUI development and not just WinForms or .NET. Yes, that's C, not C++, although knowing C++ is not going to hurt you (as long as you have real experience in C projects). We're trying to avoid pigeon-hole'ing our newer codebases and work, especially with the great amount of embedded system development we do (raw GUI objects on framebuffer, etc...). Knowing Delphi is a major plus because we have some existing Delphi code that needs to be re-written in C for portability. o Field Engineers (x) [ travel: 50+% ] We can always use more field engineers, especially creative field engineers. When we deploy in disaster areas there is virtually NO INFRASTRUCTURE to speak of, and we're it. That occasionally means you often are tasked by the clients to do all sorts of IT work, which we've made a great name for ourselves with the US Coast Guard. That means you need to be strong in all disciplines, including basic networking and various OSes (especially our Linux-based command center). We pay extra when you are deployed to disaster areas (although you'll eat well, have all the Internet you want, etc...). -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ---------------------------------------------------- *** Speed doesn't kill, difference in speed does *** From b.j.smith at ieee.org Wed Jan 18 13:40:56 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] nVidia announces GeForce 7300 Message-ID: <20060118184056.5884.qmail@web34113.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Conflicting information from Anand and Tom's: http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2674 http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/01/18/nvidia_announces_7300gs/ But the commonalities are first 90nm process, sub-$100 price, better than GeForce 6200 TurboCache performance (competitive with ATI X1300 HyperMemory), and similar TurboCache approach (more frame buffer than is actually on-card). -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ---------------------------------------------------- *** Speed doesn't kill, difference in speed does *** From b.j.smith at ieee.org Wed Jan 18 18:41:57 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Is Cygwin still available FREE from RedHat .... In-Reply-To: <43CED269.8030804@HiWAAY.net> Message-ID: <20060118234157.27383.qmail@web34101.mail.mud.yahoo.com> [ FYI, one of the _main_ reasons we created the PC_Support list from LEAP was because of Windows-centric questions like Cygwin. As such, I've CC'd PC_Support _instead_ of LEAP. ] "William A. Mahaffey III" wrote: > .... or anyone else for that matter ? If so, what version > are they up to ? TIA Yes -- http://www.cygwin.com They've added a full X server, "seemless Windows" (Citrix-type terminology ;-) support and even XDMCP logins too. Remember, Cygwin is all about the DLL (which is GPL, not LGPL, FYI ;-) that makes it cake to port most applications from Linux. If you want a "more Windows native" porting environment that requires more Windows consideration at the source code, then consider MinGW instead: http://www.mingw.org/ When I need a Linux subsystem on Windows, I use Cygwin. When I want to develop GNU/POSIX applications on Windows, I use MinGW. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ---------------------------------------------------- *** Speed doesn't kill, difference in speed does *** From wam at HiWAAY.net Wed Jan 18 19:43:35 2006 From: wam at HiWAAY.net (William A. Mahaffey III) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: LUNA: Re: Is Cygwin still available FREE from RedHat .... In-Reply-To: <20060118234157.27383.qmail@web34101.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <20060118234157.27383.qmail@web34101.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <43CEE0B7.9080005@HiWAAY.net> Bryan J. Smith wrote: >[ FYI, one of the _main_ reasons we created the PC_Support >list from LEAP was because of Windows-centric questions like >Cygwin. As such, I've CC'd PC_Support _instead_ of LEAP. ] > >"William A. Mahaffey III" wrote: > > >>.... or anyone else for that matter ? If so, what version >>are they up to ? TIA >> >> > >Yes -- http://www.cygwin.com > >They've added a full X server, "seemless Windows" >(Citrix-type terminology ;-) support and even XDMCP logins >too. > >Remember, Cygwin is all about the DLL (which is GPL, not >LGPL, FYI ;-) that makes it cake to port most applications >from Linux. > >If you want a "more Windows native" porting environment that >requires more Windows consideration at the source code, then >consider MinGW instead: > http://www.mingw.org/ > >When I need a Linux subsystem on Windows, I use Cygwin. When >I want to develop GNU/POSIX applications on Windows, I use >MinGW. > > > > > Thanks, I went to www.redhat.com & poked around there, but couldn't find any free downloads .... clear why now :-). I have & use an older version, and am probably going to update that box (GTW WIN2K) to WinXP 2003 in the near future, & figured I'd update cygwin along with it. Thanks again. -- William A. Mahaffey III ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "The M1 Garand is without doubt the finest implement of war ever devised by man." -- Gen. George S. Patton -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.matrixlist.com/pipermail/pc_support/attachments/20060118/91ba3b8c/attachment.html From b.j.smith at ieee.org Wed Jan 18 19:47:00 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: LUNA: Re: Is Cygwin still available FREE from RedHat .... In-Reply-To: <43CEE0B7.9080005@HiWAAY.net> Message-ID: <20060119004700.69659.qmail@web34112.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Bryan J. Smith wrote: > Yes -- http://www.cygwin.com > ... "William A. Mahaffey III" wrote: > Thanks, I went to www.redhat.com & poked around there, but > couldn't find any free downloads .... www.redhat.com is clearly their commercial front, and has been for quite awhile now. It's more a trademark/legal issue than anything. You can thank companies like Cobalt and Sun for much of that, long story. They used to standardize all the GPL stuff under sourceware.redhat.com and a few other subdomains, but now it's largely left to other domains for various legal reasons. They still keep fedora.redhat.com up, but they are still transitioning things off-site. lists.redhat.com hasn't changed though, and it's not likely to change in the future either. > clear why now :-). ??? Didn't get your point there. Regardless of the domain name, Red Hat foots the bill. Even all the various Fedora infrastructure. And Red Hat employees work on non-Red Hat products as their paid functions -- especially in MA (not so much NC anymore). > I have & use an older version, and am probably going to update > that box (GTW WIN2K) to WinXP 2003 in the near future, & > figured I'd update cygwin along with it. Cygwin is basically the DLL that everything else uses. Setup.exe is what you use to update. Just grab the latest and update. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ---------------------------------------------------- *** Speed doesn't kill, difference in speed does *** From wam at HiWAAY.net Wed Jan 18 20:29:16 2006 From: wam at HiWAAY.net (William A. Mahaffey III) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: LUNA: Re: Is Cygwin still available FREE from RedHat .... In-Reply-To: <20060119004700.69659.qmail@web34112.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <20060119004700.69659.qmail@web34112.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <43CEEB6B.2030400@HiWAAY.net> Bryan J. Smith wrote: >Bryan J. Smith wrote: > > >>Yes -- http://www.cygwin.com >>... >> >> > >"William A. Mahaffey III" wrote: > > >>Thanks, I went to www.redhat.com & poked around there, but >>couldn't find any free downloads .... >> >> > >www.redhat.com is clearly their commercial front, and has >been for quite awhile now. It's more a trademark/legal issue >than anything. You can thank companies like Cobalt and Sun >for much of that, long story. > >They used to standardize all the GPL stuff under >sourceware.redhat.com and a few other subdomains, but now >it's largely left to other domains for various legal reasons. > They still keep fedora.redhat.com up, but they are still >transitioning things off-site. > >lists.redhat.com hasn't changed though, and it's not likely >to change in the future either. > > > >>clear why now :-). >> >> > >??? Didn't get your point there. > > cuz I was looking on the wrong website :-). i.e. looking for free on the commercial site .... >Regardless of the domain name, Red Hat foots the bill. Even >all the various Fedora infrastructure. And Red Hat employees >work on non-Red Hat products as their paid functions -- >especially in MA (not so much NC anymore). > > > >>I have & use an older version, and am probably going to >> >> >update > > >>that box (GTW WIN2K) to WinXP 2003 in the near future, & >>figured I'd update cygwin along with it. >> >> > >Cygwin is basically the DLL that everything else uses. >Setup.exe is what you use to update. >Just grab the latest and update. > > And you presage my next question: Is there a Linux equivalent tool to setup.exe ? My WIN2K box has no internet access, just this (SuSE 8.2, 933 MHz PIII) box. I can't remember what I did last time, cuz I had the same problem then .... -- William A. Mahaffey III ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "The M1 Garand is without doubt the finest implement of war ever devised by man." -- Gen. George S. Patton -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.matrixlist.com/pipermail/pc_support/attachments/20060118/e69b576a/attachment.html From justinkz at gmail.com Thu Jan 19 23:00:14 2006 From: justinkz at gmail.com (Justin M. Keyes) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] "All in one" DVD R/W/RW/-/+/RAM/ETC.: GSA-4167B Message-ID: <53b562310601192000o7140da5fvb8eeb285e3b46819@mail.gmail.com> Just bought this drive and it "just works" under debian: http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp?item=N82E16827136071 Just thought I'd point out another great DVD all-in-one option for linux. Justin From b.j.smith at ieee.org Fri Jan 20 00:46:09 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] "All in one" DVD R/W/RW/-/+/RAM/ETC.: GSA-4167B In-Reply-To: <53b562310601192000o7140da5fvb8eeb285e3b46819@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <20060120054609.27039.qmail@web34110.mail.mud.yahoo.com> "Justin M. Keyes" wrote: > Just bought this drive and it "just works" under debian: http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp?item=N82E16827136071 > Just thought I'd point out another great DVD all-in-one > option for linux. That's too coincidental! I was just buying a new one of these drives just about 15 minutes ago and I saw "Justin" as a reviewer on 12/18 (I was looking around to see if I had left a review in the past -- I don't think I did). So I wondered if it was you. Guess it was? -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ---------------------------------------------------- *** Speed doesn't kill, difference in speed does *** From b.j.smith at ieee.org Fri Jan 20 01:51:02 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] For Sale: Abit BP6, (2) 466MHz, 768MB Reg ECC in ATX w/350W ATX 2.0 PS Message-ID: <20060120065102.66953.qmail@web34109.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Okay, change of plan here. I decided to recycle my extra S754 Sempron 2800+** into a build server since it can take 2GiB of RAM (long story on work). So I'm bringing home my current Linux build server that I was using ... Enclosure: 3-month old Antec SLK2650-BQE w/350W ATX 2.0 PS http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=92650 Mainboard: The infamous Abit BP6 http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/products.php?categories=1&model=109 CPUs: (2) P2-Celeron 466MHz (66MHz x 6.5) Memory: (3) 256MiB PC100 Registered ECC (run at 66MHz) Video: 3-month old MSI GeForce MX4000 (NV19) 64MB AGP x4 http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=G4MX4000-T64&class=vga My usage: - 2000-2001, main workstation - 2001-2003, main server (with 3Ware Escalade 6410/7800) - 2003-2005, training server - late 2005, Linux build server (for work) I have a Panasonic Toughbook with a P4 1.8GHz, 512MiB RAM and 60GB 4200rpm disk. This system has 2x 466MHz, 768MiB RAM and I use much faster (let alone more swappable/flexible) disks. I'm only replacing it with the Sempron 2800+ for my build server at work because I need 2GiB to build (it's a slouch under 1GiB, and the 512MiB versus 768MiB on this BP6 ended up being slower). The responsiveness and build-times of the 2x 466MHz is why I kept using it. The only reason I replaced it with a 1x 1.2GHz Athlon in 2001 was because of single-processor gaming performance. The 2x 466MHz was clearly more responsive as a desktop and for running desktop applications. Compared to today's P4 and A64 systems, no, it's not going to be a better desktop. But as a SOHO server or a build/test system, it's pretty nice IMHO. As long as you don't need more than 768MiB of RAM (the maximum SDR SDRAM you can use). As such, this still makes a good SOHO server, especially with the 768MiB of Registered, ECC RAM. (4) ATA channels (2xUltra33 via the PIIX4 of the 440BX, 2xUltra66 via the HPT368 -- the latter boots even fine in any distro of the last 4 years). You're not going to be able to push serious disk I/O over the legacy 32-bit @ 33MHz PCI bus, but then again, unless you have PCIe, 64-bit PCI or PCI-X, it's really no different than desktop mainboards before 2005 either. I also upgraded the video card to the fastest card still available that is compatible with its AGP 1.0 (x1/x2) slot, a NV19 (GeForce4 MX series) AGP 2.0 (x2/x4). It's a value board with only a 32-bit DDR bus, instead of the 64-bit DDR busses of the older NV17/18 (also GeForce4 MX series) that are no longer available. But it's still faster than the older NV11 (GeForce2 MX series) despite their 64-bit DDR (or 128-bit SDR) design. It _is_ supported by the latest nVidia G75+ drivers, whereas most other NV1x cards are not as of G75 (G75 = 1.0-75xx driver in Linux). The all-black enclosure is also nearly new (3 months), a great ATX case, very quiet with a large 120mm fan sucking out air at only 1,000rpm (about 40CFM, typical of a 80mm at 3-4x the spindle and noise). The side has a "duct" that reaches down to the CPUs, and can add an optional 80mm fan to it (I found this unnecessary, the Celeron fansinks pull the air from the duct above them). The front can add an optional 80mm fan intake (again, unnecessary unless you run 7200rpm drives just above it IMHO). (4) 5.25" and (4) 3.5" drive (2 are internal). The 350W ATX 2.0 PS works great for this ATX 1.0 mainboard, but has dual-rail ATX 2.0 for future use. And it's one of the lightest steel cases being that it's short'n stocky for a full-size ATX. -- Bryan **NOTE: For that previous post/inquiry, see here: http://lists.leap-cf.org/pipermail/leaplist/2005-December/004324.html -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ---------------------------------------------------- *** Speed doesn't kill, difference in speed does *** From b.j.smith at ieee.org Fri Jan 20 02:00:01 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: For Sale: Abit BP6, (2) 466MHz, 768MB Reg ECC in ATX w/350W ATX 2.0 PS (overclocking) In-Reply-To: <20060120065102.66953.qmail@web34109.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <20060120070001.71467.qmail@web34112.mail.mud.yahoo.com> "Bryan J. Smith" wrote: > Mainboard: The infamous Abit BP6 http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/products.php?categories=1&model=109 > CPUs: (2) P2-Celeron 466MHz (66MHz x 6.5) > Memory: (3) 256MiB PC100 Registered ECC (run at 66MHz) CORRECTION: 466MHz should be 66MHz x 7.0 OVERCLOCKING: And yes, this mainboard supports a 100MHz FSB. The BP6 was well-known for its overclocking/overvoltage and many people pushed the 300MHz (66MHz x 4.5) to 450MHz (100MHz x 4.5) and even the "top clock" Celeron PPGA 533MHz (66MHz x 8.0) to 800MHz (100MHz x 8.0), although those latter Celerons required some serious over-voltage. But the memory is rated for 100MHz (even though only running at 66MHz), so if you want to overclock the FSB to something over 66MHz, you can. The most I ever tried was 525MHz (75MHz x 7.0) and I'd say it's pretty hard to get those 400+MHz to do the full 100MHz FSB. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ---------------------------------------------------- *** Speed doesn't kill, difference in speed does *** From dmckenna at thelimucompany.com Fri Jan 20 09:05:28 2006 From: dmckenna at thelimucompany.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] "All in one" DVD R/W/RW/-/+/RAM/ETC.: GSA-4167B Message-ID: <5C9DC445A45FEC4185D272DAF6AF37D1C1D1E4@tlc001.tlcusa.thelimucompany.com> This is the latest in the series of drives from LG Electronics that Bryan (and I) have been promoting for some time - they're grrrrreat! :) -- Damien McKenna - Web Developer - Damien.McKenna@thelimucompany.com The Limu Company - http://www.thelimucompany.com/ - 407-804-1014 #include From justinkz at gmail.com Fri Jan 20 09:47:34 2006 From: justinkz at gmail.com (Justin M. Keyes) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] "All in one" DVD R/W/RW/-/+/RAM/ETC.: GSA-4167B In-Reply-To: <20060120054609.27039.qmail@web34110.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <53b562310601192000o7140da5fvb8eeb285e3b46819@mail.gmail.com> <20060120054609.27039.qmail@web34110.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <53b562310601200647u6845bc3eifb0fc76a2a71736f@mail.gmail.com> On 1/20/06, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > "Justin M. Keyes" wrote: > > Just bought this drive and it "just works" under debian: > http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp?item=N82E16827136071 > > Just thought I'd point out another great DVD all-in-one > > option for linux. > > That's too coincidental! > > I was just buying a new one of these drives just about 15 > minutes ago and I saw "Justin" as a reviewer on 12/18 (I was > looking around to see if I had left a review in the past -- I > don't think I did). So I wondered if it was you. Guess it > was? Actually it wasn't me, I couldn't figure out how to leave a review. The link to the product changed from the one I originally bought for some reason, so I had to look it up by model number (the only thing that's different is the price went down about $4). Justin From justinkz at gmail.com Fri Jan 20 09:56:09 2006 From: justinkz at gmail.com (Justin M. Keyes) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] "All in one" DVD R/W/RW/-/+/RAM/ETC.: GSA-4167B In-Reply-To: <53b562310601200647u6845bc3eifb0fc76a2a71736f@mail.gmail.com> References: <53b562310601192000o7140da5fvb8eeb285e3b46819@mail.gmail.com> <20060120054609.27039.qmail@web34110.mail.mud.yahoo.com> <53b562310601200647u6845bc3eifb0fc76a2a71736f@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <53b562310601200656v2c4f6eb8vb6efda5074433f3f@mail.gmail.com> Oops, I finally figured it out. On 1/20/06, Justin M. Keyes wrote: > On 1/20/06, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > > "Justin M. Keyes" wrote: > > > Just bought this drive and it "just works" under debian: > > http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp?item=N82E16827136071 > > > Just thought I'd point out another great DVD all-in-one > > > option for linux. > > > > That's too coincidental! > > > > I was just buying a new one of these drives just about 15 > > minutes ago and I saw "Justin" as a reviewer on 12/18 (I was > > looking around to see if I had left a review in the past -- I > > don't think I did). So I wondered if it was you. Guess it > > was? > > Actually it wasn't me, I couldn't figure out how to leave a review. > The link to the product changed from the one I originally bought for > some reason, so I had to look it up by model number (the only thing > that's different is the price went down about $4). > > Justin > From b.j.smith at ieee.org Sat Jan 21 11:11:47 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Why NewEgg.COM rocks! - Fwd: RE: Defective Item N82E16821104104 from Invoice ... Message-ID: <1137859907.4711.92.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> Sorry, just have to share this ... Yes, that's right, they are shipping me a replacement 3-day FedEx Saver of the $20 part and don't even expect me to return the defective item. Now if that's not trusting your customer, I don't know what to say! In complete honesty, it was a defective part. I've purchased no less than a half-dozen of these, and this is the first one that was defective. It's the unit that caused me to run out and buy that new mainboard+CPU back in mid-December: http://thebs413.blogspot.com/2005/12/note-to-self-check-every-part-for.html Being that I work a lot, I finally had time to re-test the part last weekend for a good 2 hours and verified the floppy drive portion works until I plug in the USB 2.0 portion for the 8-in-1 card reader, and then nothing works. I feel compelled to return the item, but I guess what NewEgg.COM is saying her is that it's not worth their bother in processing. I guess I have a spare floppy drive if I need it now (the card reader just doesn't work and must be unplugged). -------- Forwarded Message -------- From: Newegg.com Customer Support To: b.j.smith@ieee.org Subject: RE: Defective Item N82E16821104104 from Invoice ... Date: Sat, 21 Jan 2006 01:56:58 -0500 Reference number: ... Subject: Defective Item N82E16821104104 from Invoice ... Dear Bryan J. Smith, Thank you for contacting Newegg. Please accept our humblest apologies in regarding of this matter. In order to better assist you, we do not recommend you to return this item for a replacement due to this item is not very expensive. Please just keep this item as is and we have submitted an order on your behalf for this defective item and intend to send a brand new one to you without any additional cost. The order number you may use for reference is 15976820, so you can check the status online if you wish. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you, Ian Lei From whittake at sbaflorida.com Sat Jan 21 13:50:55 2006 From: whittake at sbaflorida.com (Homer Whittaker) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Why NewEgg.COM rocks! - Fwd: RE: Defective Item N82E16821104104 from Invoice ... In-Reply-To: <1137859907.4711.92.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> References: <1137859907.4711.92.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> Message-ID: <1137869455.8668.19.camel@two> And my experience with Newegg is exactly the opposite to Bryan's. I purchased a 19" Fuji* LCD from Newegg for $300+ for a Christmas present for my wife. They advertised a $90 dollar rebate for the LCD, with the normal restrictions, etc. This was all fine and above board until I read the fine print in the Refund Agreement which required that I provide the Fuji rebate people the "original UPC with the bar code, serial number with the bar code and part number/model number cut from the product box". The NewEgg shipping department in New Jersey (?) had pasted the UPS labels over the required UPC! I attempted to call the NewEgg 800 line several (many times) and was either put on hold or it was not answered. I sent several e-mails to NewEgg Customer Service and Sales requesting a new UPC document and have not received one single call or e-mail in return. The time has run out on the $90 day rebate, and I am stuck with an LCD that works fine, except that for that kind of money I could have purchased a "digital" Princeton LCD. Not the best Christmas experience in the world! Homer Whittaker On Sat, 2006-01-21 at 11:11 -0500, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > Sorry, just have to share this ... > > Yes, that's right, they are shipping me a replacement 3-day FedEx Saver > of the $20 part and don't even expect me to return the defective item. > Now if that's not trusting your customer, I don't know what to say! > > In complete honesty, it was a defective part. I've purchased no less > than a half-dozen of these, and this is the first one that was > defective. It's the unit that caused me to run out and buy that new > mainboard+CPU back in mid-December: > http://thebs413.blogspot.com/2005/12/note-to-self-check-every-part-for.html > > Being that I work a lot, I finally had time to re-test the part last > weekend for a good 2 hours and verified the floppy drive portion works > until I plug in the USB 2.0 portion for the 8-in-1 card reader, and then > nothing works. I feel compelled to return the item, but I guess what > NewEgg.COM is saying her is that it's not worth their bother in > processing. > > I guess I have a spare floppy drive if I need it now (the card reader > just doesn't work and must be unplugged). > > > -------- Forwarded Message -------- > From: Newegg.com Customer Support > To: b.j.smith@ieee.org > Subject: RE: Defective Item N82E16821104104 from Invoice ... > Date: Sat, 21 Jan 2006 01:56:58 -0500 > > Reference number: ... > Subject: Defective Item N82E16821104104 from Invoice ... > > Dear Bryan J. Smith, > > Thank you for contacting Newegg. > > Please accept our humblest apologies in regarding of this matter. In > order to better assist you, we do not recommend you to return this item > for a replacement due to this item is not very expensive. Please just > keep this item as is and we have submitted an order on your behalf for > this defective item and intend to send a brand new one to you without > any additional cost. The order number you may use for reference is > 15976820, so you can check the status online if you wish. Thank you for > your patience and understanding. > > Thank you, > > Ian Lei > > > _______________________________________________ > Pc_support mailing list > Pc_support@matrixlist.com > http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support From damien at mc-kenna.com Sat Jan 21 22:14:42 2006 From: damien at mc-kenna.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Suggestions for a $200 barebones? Also, modem recommendations (winders)? Message-ID: <43D2F8A2.1030201@mc-kenna.com> My father-in-law has asked me to build a $200 barebones system for him. He doesn't need to include a copy of Windows in the deal, but it does need a case, motherboard, CPU and RAM, which will go with his existing drives. Right now I'm thinking of a simple Socket754/Sempron64 system as they seem really cheap. This is to replace a K6-333 that has driver problems (old Via chipset) and really doesn't get used much, hence the low investment and low specs. On NewEgg they have nForce 430 / Geforce 6150 boards for $80, or 6100 series for $60, then throw a CPU, cheapo case and a stick of RAM in there and its about $200. Any other suggestions? Also he needs a good modem to go with it, so probably a good PCI card - what's good these days, I've not bought one in five years? Thanks. -- Damien McKenna, husband, father, geek. damien@mc-kenna.com - http://www.mc-kenna.com/ From jasonb at edseek.com Sat Jan 21 22:26:36 2006 From: jasonb at edseek.com (Jason Boxman) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Suggestions for a $200 barebones? Also, modem recommendations (winders)? In-Reply-To: <43D2F8A2.1030201@mc-kenna.com> References: <43D2F8A2.1030201@mc-kenna.com> Message-ID: <200601212226.36483.jasonb@edseek.com> On Saturday 21 January 2006 22:14, Damien McKenna wrote: > My father-in-law has asked me to build a $200 barebones system for him. > He doesn't need to include a copy of Windows in the deal, but it does > need a case, motherboard, CPU and RAM, which will go with his existing > drives. Right now I'm thinking of a simple Socket754/Sempron64 system > as they seem really cheap. This is to replace a K6-333 that has driver > problems (old Via chipset) and really doesn't get used much, hence the > low investment and low specs. > > On NewEgg they have nForce 430 / Geforce 6150 boards for $80, or 6100 > series for $60, then throw a CPU, cheapo case and a stick of RAM in > there and its about $200. Any other suggestions? Last one I did was a Biostar based Socket 754 system with a Sempron 2800+ 64-bit CPU on Bryan's advice. The board was around $40 and the chip around $60 I think. 1GB of RAM set me back another $80 or so. The PSU was a CoolMax which I've had good success with so far ($40) -- one of their 120mm fan models. Forgetting a case and a possible CD/DVD-RW ($40) and USB/floppy ($?) I think you're over $200 with shipping. (I forgot about the HSF fan, too, although I think I got a retail CPU which included one...) > Also he needs a good modem to go with it, so probably a good PCI card - > what's good these days, I've not bought one in five years? I'd get an external if you can still find those and systems still have serial ports. ;) -- Jason Boxman http://edseek.com/ - Linux and FOSS stuff From b.j.smith at ieee.org Sun Jan 22 10:06:47 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Suggestions for a $200 barebones? Also, modem recommendations (winders)? In-Reply-To: <200601212226.36483.jasonb@edseek.com> References: <43D2F8A2.1030201@mc-kenna.com> <200601212226.36483.jasonb@edseek.com> Message-ID: <1137942407.4711.124.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Sat, 2006-01-21 at 22:26 -0500, Jason Boxman wrote: > Last one I did was a Biostar based Socket 754 system with a Sempron 2800+ > 64-bit CPU on Bryan's advice. The board was around $40 Wow! What model? Was it a GF6100+nF410? Or an older AGP one? I _only_ recommended the GF6100+nF410, I typically _avoid_ anything with ViA. Haven't tried SiS in awhile -- kinda wondering if their ATA logic is still SiS5513 compatible. > and the chip around $60 I think. You can get such things for cheap -- the Sempron 64 2800+ (1.6GHz, 128 +256KiB L1+L2) are the best buy for the buck IMHO. > 1GB of RAM set me back another $80 or so. Yeah. A single 1GiB piece (fine for S754) is $70+ these days, matched 2x512MiB (for S939 performance) is $80+. BTW, if you're in the market for 2x1GiB, this is the 2.5-3-3-6 DDR400 I've been buying for $169: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231047 You might find something with a tad better timing for around that price or a little more, but half the reviews will be negative. This has been solid for 9 other people (in addition to myself), and the speed boost over my previous 3-3-3-8 timing (let alone people who had 3-4-4-8) was excellent. > The PSU was a CoolMax which I've had good success with so far ($40) -- > one of their 120mm fan models. You won't need too much if you're going with a Sempron 64 or Athlon 64 (3500+ or under -- or maybe a new 3700+ Rev) and just using on-chipset video. Just remember, for _Linux_, here were my notes on auto-detection of the GF61x0+nF4x0 peripherals: http://thebs413.blogspot.com/2005/12/linux-on-nvidia-c51nv44-nforce.html And the new Forceware G80 (1.0-8xxx) drivers support the NV44 (GF61x0) video: http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_display_ia32_1.0-8178.html http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_display_amd64_1.0-8178.html > Forgetting a case and a possible CD/DVD-RW ($40) and USB/floppy > ($?) I think you're over $200 with shipping. > (I forgot about the HSF fan, too, although I think I got a retail CPU > which included one...) AMD is really _cutting_ the OEM chip sales and is largely only offering retail boxed CPUs with fansink now. > I'd get an external if you can still find those and systems still have > serial ports. ;) Actually, I've found internal PCTel PCI v.92 modems for cheap and most of the distros detect them. You've got plenty of CPU power to drive it. -- Bryan J. Smith mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ------------------------------------------ Some things (or athletes) money can't buy. For everything else there's "ManningCard." From whittake at sbaflorida.com Sun Jan 22 10:33:02 2006 From: whittake at sbaflorida.com (Homer Whittaker) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Suggestions for a $200 barebones? Also, modem recommendations (winders)? In-Reply-To: <43D2F8A2.1030201@mc-kenna.com> References: <43D2F8A2.1030201@mc-kenna.com> Message-ID: <1137943982.8673.5.camel@two> Damien: I have enough old, still good, cards, boxes, and disks to build several boxes. These are all available at very, very affordable prices. Come to Winter Park and browse through and we will set a price on whatever you want from my surplus gear. Contact me off list by telephone to get directions to my home. Homer Whittaker On Sat, 2006-01-21 at 22:14 -0500, Damien McKenna wrote: > My father-in-law has asked me to build a $200 barebones system for him. > He doesn't need to include a copy of Windows in the deal, but it does > need a case, motherboard, CPU and RAM, which will go with his existing > drives. Right now I'm thinking of a simple Socket754/Sempron64 system > as they seem really cheap. This is to replace a K6-333 that has driver > problems (old Via chipset) and really doesn't get used much, hence the > low investment and low specs. > > On NewEgg they have nForce 430 / Geforce 6150 boards for $80, or 6100 > series for $60, then throw a CPU, cheapo case and a stick of RAM in > there and its about $200. Any other suggestions? > > Also he needs a good modem to go with it, so probably a good PCI card - > what's good these days, I've not bought one in five years? > > Thanks. > From jasonb at edseek.com Sun Jan 22 11:54:58 2006 From: jasonb at edseek.com (Jason Boxman) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Suggestions for a $200 barebones? Also, modem recommendations (winders)? In-Reply-To: <1137942407.4711.124.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> References: <43D2F8A2.1030201@mc-kenna.com> <200601212226.36483.jasonb@edseek.com> <1137942407.4711.124.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> Message-ID: <200601221154.58977.jasonb@edseek.com> On Sunday 22 January 2006 10:06, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > On Sat, 2006-01-21 at 22:26 -0500, Jason Boxman wrote: > > Last one I did was a Biostar based Socket 754 system with a Sempron 2800+ > > 64-bit CPU on Bryan's advice. The board was around $40 > > Wow! What model? Was it a GF6100+nF410? Or an older AGP one? It was an older model with a NForce3 chipset so I could recycle my eVGA 6600GT that I had brought prior to buying a new mainboard. > Yeah. A single 1GiB piece (fine for S754) is $70+ these days, matched > 2x512MiB (for S939 performance) is $80+. > > BTW, if you're in the market for 2x1GiB, this is the 2.5-3-3-6 DDR400 > I've been buying for $169: > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231047 I bought some cheap PQMagic? memory. It was two sticks of 512MB. It's been fine for what I do. Recently on dealnews or something there was a deal of 2x512MB for like $45 or $50 AMIR. At least $30 less than what I paid. Oh well. > Actually, I've found internal PCTel PCI v.92 modems for cheap and most > of the distros detect them. You've got plenty of CPU power to drive it. Interesting. I hadn't been keeping up with modems. -- Jason Boxman http://edseek.com/ - Linux and FOSS stuff From b.j.smith at ieee.org Sun Jan 22 12:47:19 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:35 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Suggestions for a $200 barebones? Also, modem recommendations (winders)? In-Reply-To: <200601221154.58977.jasonb@edseek.com> References: <43D2F8A2.1030201@mc-kenna.com> <200601212226.36483.jasonb@edseek.com> <1137942407.4711.124.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> <200601221154.58977.jasonb@edseek.com> Message-ID: <1137952039.4711.138.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Sun, 2006-01-22 at 11:54 -0500, Jason Boxman wrote: > It was an older model with a NForce3 chipset so I could recycle my eVGA 6600GT > that I had brought prior to buying a new mainboard. Oh, that's right. Good choice then. Definitely, if you need AGP 3.0 x4/x8, go with an older nForce3 mainboard. Beware wary of the voltage issues of AGP 3.3V, 1.5V and 0.8V though, especially older cards with newer mainboards. In your case, it's a 6600GT, so it was AGP 3.0. > I bought some cheap PQMagic? memory. It was two sticks of 512MB. It's been > fine for what I do. Recently on dealnews or something there was a deal of > 2x512MB for like $45 or $50 AMIR. At least $30 less than what I paid. Oh > well. I've seen a lot of issues with PQi (another vendor?). They have had good timings but a lot of people had complaints with compatibility. Don't know if it's the design, SPD, etc... I can't vouch for G.Skill's other memory products, and they do have some "cheap and slow" 'Value' items, but if you're looking for 2GiB of matched 1GiB DIMMs with fairly good timings (2.5-3-3-6) in a DDR400, that's the one to get. To get anything better you're either going to have to spend $50-100 more, or go with a product on NewEgg where a number of people are having issues. > Interesting. I hadn't been keeping up with modems. Yeah, I haven't kept up with all the chips myself. PCTel (among others) _could_ have newer models that aren't Linux compatible. I just look for the boards when I'm at shows or stores and I know what I see when I see it (typically exact design of the PCB/chip). CompGeeks.COM can sometimes be a good deal, especially for older v.90 PCTel boards that work just as good as newer v.92. And in the worst case, you've "wasted" only $3-7 trying one. http://www.geeks.com/products.asp?cat=MDM ONE NOTE ON THE (NEWER?) BIOSTAR NF61X0+NF4X0: Their "AMR" slot is bracketed with the PCB _opposite_ many other boards. Most AMR slots are bracketed like AGP/PCI/PCIe/PCI-X, "PCB on the left" (if you're look at the back of the slot). For example, I have AMRs for ECS mainboards (such as the older Socket-462, SiS735-based ECS K7S5A) that CompGeeks.COM sells for $2.99: http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=AMR-V12-BULK-N&cat=MDM Biostar's PCB is like an ISA slot, "PCB on the right" (viewing from the bracket). When I upgraded a friend from his ECS K7S5A to these newer Biostar nF61x0+nF4x0 S754 mainboards, it didn't fit. Re-bracketing won't work either (as the modem port is on the wrong side of the PCB). -- Bryan J. Smith mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ------------------------------------------ Some things (or athletes) money can't buy. For everything else there's "ManningCard." From b.j.smith at ieee.org Sun Jan 22 12:51:34 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:36 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] AGP, AMR and PCI modem compatibility -- WAS: Suggestions for a $200 barebones? In-Reply-To: <1137952039.4711.138.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> References: <43D2F8A2.1030201@mc-kenna.com> <200601212226.36483.jasonb@edseek.com> <1137942407.4711.124.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> <200601221154.58977.jasonb@edseek.com> <1137952039.4711.138.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> Message-ID: <1137952294.4711.142.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Sun, 2006-01-22 at 12:47 -0500, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > Oh, that's right. Good choice then. > Definitely, if you need AGP 3.0 x4/x8, go with an older nForce3 > mainboard. Beware wary of the voltage issues of AGP 3.3V, 1.5V and 0.8V > though, especially older cards with newer mainboards. > In your case, it's a 6600GT, so it was AGP 3.0. One of these days I'll get super-accurate info and finish off my article here: http://thebs413.blogspot.com/2005/11/agp-agp-pro-pci-and-pci-x-voltage.html > CompGeeks.COM can sometimes be a good deal, especially for older v.90 > PCTel boards that work just as good as newer v.92. And in the worst > case, you've "wasted" only $3-7 trying one. > http://www.geeks.com/products.asp?cat=MDM The cool thing about CompGeeks.COM is that they tell you the all- important CHIPSET of the PCI [software] modem. You can then research Linux compatibility. -- Bryan J. Smith mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ------------------------------------------ Some things (or athletes) money can't buy. For everything else there's "ManningCard." From Bruce.Metcalf at figzu.com Mon Jan 23 17:28:08 2006 From: Bruce.Metcalf at figzu.com (Bruce Metcalf) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:36 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Stupid RAM Questions In-Reply-To: <1137952039.4711.138.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> References: <43D2F8A2.1030201@mc-kenna.com> <200601212226.36483.jasonb@edseek.com> <1137942407.4711.124.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> <200601221154.58977.jasonb@edseek.com> <1137952039.4711.138.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> Message-ID: <7.0.0.16.0.20060123172600.03ab3b80@figzu.com> Somebody here, it doesn't matter who, wrote: >matched 1GiB DIMMs with fairly good timings (2.5-3-3-6) in a DDR400 Would one of you be so kind as to point me to a web site where I can find the definitions of those timings? Especially favored would be a site that helped me select the most appropriate memory specs for upgrading my systems. TIA, Bruce From b.j.smith at ieee.org Mon Jan 23 18:37:40 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:36 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Stupid RAM Questions In-Reply-To: <7.0.0.16.0.20060123172600.03ab3b80@figzu.com> Message-ID: <20060123233740.74562.qmail@web34113.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Bruce Metcalf wrote: > Somebody here, it doesn't matter who, wrote: > >matched 1GiB DIMMs with fairly good timings > >(2.5-3-3-6) in a DDR400 That was me. ;-> > Would one of you be so kind as to point me to a web site > where I can find the definitions of those timings? Here's a good, technical introduction: http://www.pcguide.com/art/sdramTiming-c.html Timings aka "latency" _vary_ based on the synchronous clock used. For example, a typical "Value" PC3200 DDR Synchronous Dynamic RAM (SDRAM) has timings of 3-3-3-8. A typical "Value" PC4200 DDR2 SDRAM has timings of 4-4-4-12. The higher the value, the _worse_ they are for the _same_ sychronous clock. Just because you have a Understand that even though a PC3200 (3.2GBps = 64-bit * 400MHz -- 200MHz double data rate, DDR) SDRAM means a 2.5ns (nanosecond -- 1/1,000,000,000 of a second) synchronous timing, you *NEVER* get that type of performance out of DRAM. CPU caches, high-speed/enterprise networking switches and select disk controllers use Static RAM (SRAM) instead of DRAM. It has greatly reduced latency and power consumption, but it is also much largerly footprint and cost. SRAM is a clocked boolean logic (CBL) circuit, whereas DRAM is a leaky cell. > Especially favored would be a site that helped me select > the most appropriate memory specs for upgrading my systems. Now that's _different_. Timing is typically just for performance. In fact, synchronous clocks are NOT the only thing you have to be worried about when upgrading DRAM. DRAM IC technology levels are also important, the chip/width configuration, etc... In a nutshell, your chipset defines what IC sizes/technology are supported -- before you even look at synchronous clocks. E.g., the Intel i440LX/BX used _different_ 256MiB PC66/100/133 SDRAM DIMM configurations (forget even timing) than the i810/815 chipsets. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ---------------------------------------------------- *** Speed doesn't kill, difference in speed does *** From b.j.smith at ieee.org Tue Jan 24 14:57:54 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:36 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] IEEE Standards Education Message-ID: <20060124195754.32867.qmail@web34115.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Just got my latest IEEE Spectrum and The Institute had a good article "Let's Not Overlook Standards" on boosting the education of standards in various cirriculum. It's freely available here: http://www.theinstitute.ieee.org/portal/site/tionline/index.jsp?pageID=institute_level1_article&TheCat=2201&article=tionline/legacy/inst2006/jan06/1w.fstandard.xml The site is here and is a good "starting point" to all sorts of information: http://www.ieee.org/portal/cms_docs/education/setf/index.html -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ---------------------------------------------------- *** Speed doesn't kill, difference in speed does *** From dmckenna at thelimucompany.com Tue Jan 24 15:20:50 2006 From: dmckenna at thelimucompany.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:36 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] WTB: 64mb or 128mb EDO SODIMM? Message-ID: <5C9DC445A45FEC4185D272DAF6AF37D1C1D34D@tlc001.tlcusa.thelimucompany.com> Anyone happen to have a 64mb or 128mb EDO SODIMM that they're not using and would part with? Thanks. -- Damien McKenna - Web Developer - Damien.McKenna@thelimucompany.com The Limu Company - http://www.thelimucompany.com/ - 407-804-1014 #include From b.j.smith at ieee.org Wed Jan 25 15:26:50 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:36 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] External SATA bracket ($9), external SATA enclosure/power ($35) Message-ID: <20060125202650.98464.qmail@web34107.mail.mud.yahoo.com> For a lot of you considering USB 2.0 or FireWire enclosures, which are fine for occassional use, you've probably heard me state they are not ideal for connecting to production servers -- especially if you leave the devices on the systems for a period. As such, I wanted to point out that External SATA brackets are only $9, and external SATA enclosures/power are only $35 (aluminum for $45). You'll get much better performance and better reliability by going with an external SATA than a USB/FireWire converter/enclosure. The only other issue is hot-plugging, which can be solved by taking the device off-line (e.g., rmmod the SATA's driver in Linux, or setting up the device under hot-plug in Linux 2.6). In any case, if you're plugging the drives around a lot, then maybe USB or FireWire is better. But if you're leaving the drives on the system for awhile, or over the weekend, you might want to consider these devices. http://www.addonics.com/products/external_hdd/aeehdsa35.asp Another option is some of the new solutions that are universal -- external SATA, USB, FireWire, even CardBus/CompactFlash -- although they are more costly. http://www.addonics.com/products/Saturn/aesed.asp -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ---------------------------------------------------- *** Speed doesn't kill, difference in speed does *** From b.j.smith at ieee.org Wed Jan 25 16:15:34 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:36 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] PCI-to-CardBus/PCMCIA boards ... Message-ID: <20060125211534.18512.qmail@web34107.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Yes, I actually have a hardware question for others. It's been a good 4 years since I bought one of these, but I need a PCI-to-CardBus/PCMCIA board. Back in 2001-2001, you had to pay a premium for the ones that did both 3.3 CardBus and 3.3/5V PCMCIA, let alone one that was a universal 3.3/5V PCI board. But nowdays it looks like they have come down to around $50. I noted the Addonics ADPCICB2 seems to use the TI PCI1520 CardBus adapter that is in one of my notebooks running Linux: http://www.addonics.com/products/host_controller/adpcicb2.asp Anyone use it? Or do they recommend another? I also want to verify that you've tried it with either an Intel i845 chipset or later, or maybe the ViA CLE266 or similar. I remember having issues with older SiS chipsets and their I2C support back in 2001-2002. Again, I'm _so_outta_date_ here, but I have an application that requires 2 if not 3 CardBus cards to be used simultaneously in an x86 platform (both Linux and Windows). I typically just go with the ViA EPIA MII solutions when I need just 1 in a Mini-ITX SFF. So I'd like to keep using the MII but add another 2 CardBus cards c/o its PCI slot. Or an Intel Pentium M when I need performance in the worst case. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ---------------------------------------------------- *** Speed doesn't kill, difference in speed does *** From dmckenna at thelimucompany.com Wed Jan 25 14:46:56 2006 From: dmckenna at thelimucompany.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:36 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] "Not enough resources" on fresh Windows 2000 install? Message-ID: <5C9DC445A45FEC4185D272DAF6AF37D1C1D3B6@tlc001.tlcusa.thelimucompany.com> I've just installed Windows 2000 with SP4 on a laptop and I'm getting the following error for the video and PC-Card slots: This Device Cannot Find Enough Free Resources That It Can Use The laptop is an old Winbook GoBook Lite with a Pentium MMX and 64mb of RAM. Each of the three devices it complains about are correctly identified by Windows, infact there are no unknown devices in the entire device manager (a first for me). Has anyone suggestions on how to maybe fix this? The OS install had SP4 slipstreamed on it (much easier to do than upgrading post-install) so has all of the latest drivers, I'm just not sure what to do to fix this. One obvious question is, are the resources its complaining about IRQs or is does it want more memory? I've tried disabling some of the unwanted devices, have disabled the floppy drive and USB, but the problem persists. Thanks. -- Damien McKenna - Web Developer - Damien.McKenna@thelimucompany.com The Limu Company - http://www.thelimucompany.com/ - 407-804-1014 #include From b.j.smith at ieee.org Wed Jan 25 16:58:41 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:36 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Eight (8) 5.25" 68-pin SCSI external enclosure w/250W PS for $85 ... Message-ID: <20060125215842.87900.qmail@web34103.mail.mud.yahoo.com> I was ordering some more Mini-ITX systems when I noticed Case Outlet has eight (8) 5.25" 68-pin SCSI external enclosure w/250W PS for $85. It's completely wired up for 68-pin SCSI, including 2 ports (one in and one out), and has two (2) 80mm exhaust fans at the top. I know someone was looking for an external enclosure for their DLT drive, so I figured this might be as good as a solution as any (even if overkill). I paid $250 for such a 7-bay enclosure just 7-8 years ago, and it's a good $100 for a 2 or 4-day these days. Product: http://www.caseoutlet.com/shopexd.asp?id=327 Spec Sheet: http://www.caseoutlet.com/common/products/Cases/CDTOWER/CK-7083/CK-7083.html Rear of Enclosure: http://www.caseoutlet.com/common/products/Cases/CDTOWER/CK-7083/CK-7083-Images/SC7081bs3.jpe -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ---------------------------------------------------- *** Speed doesn't kill, difference in speed does *** From b.j.smith at ieee.org Wed Jan 25 17:10:16 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:36 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] "Not enough resources" on fresh Windows 2000 install? In-Reply-To: <5C9DC445A45FEC4185D272DAF6AF37D1C1D3B6@tlc001.tlcusa.thelimucompany.com> Message-ID: <20060125221016.90526.qmail@web34106.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Damien McKenna wrote: > I've just installed Windows 2000 with SP4 on a laptop and I'm > getting the following error for the video and PC-Card slots: > This Device Cannot Find Enough Free Resources That It Can Use > The laptop is an old Winbook GoBook Lite with a Pentium MMX and > 64mb of RAM. You are really pushing the requirements on NT5+ (2000+) with only 64MiB. 256MiB is really the recommended minimum. I'd verify that number except I've loaned out _all_ my 70-218 books. ;-> At the same time -- let me guess -- it's an Intel i430FX/VX/TX (Triton I/III/IV) chipset so going over 64MiB kills the L2 cache, correct? > Each of the three devices it complains about are correctly > identified by Windows, infact there are no unknown devices in > the entire device manager (a first for me). What devices are they and how do they connect? I.e., try "View By Connection" in Device Manager and see what they are connect to. It might be some component that requires manual configuration or no other conflicts. > Has anyone suggestions on how to maybe fix this? I'd have to see the devices and how they are connected/configured. > The OS install had SP4 slipstreamed on it (much easier to do > than upgrading post-install) so has all of the latest drivers, Assuming Windows 2000SP4 has all the drivers you need for the hardware. You also sometimes need to slipstream in OEM drivers for hardware too. ;-> > I'm just not sure what to do to fix this. > One obvious question is, are the resources its complaining > about IRQs or is does it want more memory? I can't tell without more information. But I can tell you that 64MiB is _not_ enough for the NT5+ kernel to run properly. This isn't a Real86 (DOS) + 386Enhanced Mode (Windows 95/98/Me) OS. > I've tried disabling some of the unwanted devices, have > disabled the floppy drive and USB, but the problem > persists. Again, I have to see how things are connected. Many 486/Pentium-era notebooks connected things via PCMCIA and fell under more ISA PnP configuration. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com ---------------------------------------------------- *** Speed doesn't kill, difference in speed does *** From octo at logicprobe.org Wed Jan 25 17:29:08 2006 From: octo at logicprobe.org (Derek Konigsberg) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:17:36 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] External SATA bracket ($9), external SATA enclosure/power ($35) In-Reply-To: <20060125202650.98464.qmail@web34107.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <20060125202650.98464.qmail@web34107.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <200601251729.09053.octo@logicprobe.org> I'm definitely finding external-SATA interesting now that I'm starting to hear about it. I even did some quick googling, and it looks like it may actually support cable lengths up to 2m. What really makes this attractive is that it finally gives us the ability to support external storage using a "real" drive interface without using uber-expensive drives and/or enclosures. Until now, you basically just had various forms of SCSI and Fibre Channel as options in this role. (and no, I don't consider USB or FW as "real drive interfaces", even if I must admit that FW probably does have decent performance) Of course we still probably have the classic 1-drive-per-connection problem of SATA (and IDE in general, if you want d