From b.j.smith at ieee.org Sun Oct 1 12:50:19 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Recommendations for low-end b&w laser printer? -- $150 HP LaserJet 3050 "all-in-one" In-Reply-To: <75BF7B22-6707-4046-B82A-6D3044F68E2E@thelimucompany.com> References: <4519FEF3.5060700@mc-kenna.com> <451AD020.5060900@cfl.rr.com> <13933C73-1EA4-4799-BFD4-68515EED4B91@thelimucompany.com> <451B3A77.6030605@cfl.rr.com> <451BAF78.8000700@mc-kenna.com> <451BC778.1040009@cfl.rr.com> <75BF7B22-6707-4046-B82A-6D3044F68E2E@thelimucompany.com> Message-ID: <1033491300.2996.56.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Thu, 2006-09-28 at 10:50 -0400, Damien McKenna wrote: > Hrm... more reasonable. Looking at the printer it seems to be a > parallel printer, right? My mac only has USB. If you don't mind rebates, HP is running a 50% rebate on its $299 LaserJet 3050 model: http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/product_detail.do?product_code=Q6504A%23ABA You can buy it on-line, or local stores like OfficeDepot have it for $299 with the 50% rebate as well. It's a _true_ Postscript (level 3?), ColdFire-based engine on-board with 64MB on-board, included MacOS drivers, and works with Linux out-of-the-box (just add the included PPD for more functions in CUPS). It's all-in-one functionality for copy, fax and scanning not only works for MacOS X and Windows, but Linux as well: http://hplip.sourceforge.net/supported_devices/mono_laser_mfp.html Uses the 2,000 page 12A black toner cartridges, which aren't the greatest price per page, but not too bad either. Certainly a lot cheaper than the black ink jet cartridges though. ;-> -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, technical annoyance mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com --------------------------------------------------------- The world is in need of solutions. Unfortunately, people seem to be more interested in blindly aligning themselves with one of only two viewponts -- an "us v. them" debate that has nothing to do with finding an actual solution. From thebs413 at gmail.com Sun Oct 1 19:30:27 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] HP dv9000z series, looks like Broadcom WLAN all-the-way ... Message-ID: In doing a bit of research, it looks like the HP dv9000z now uses Broadcom for all WLAN options: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?lc=en&cc=us&os=228&dest_page=product&dlc=en&product=3224049&softwareitem=ob-41607-1 I guess I was still thinking of Dell when it came to using an Intel MAC for 802.11a/b/g. Oh well, it seems the bcm34xx driver is in the stock 2.6.17 kernel, and works well for most people -- including WPA support. That might actually end up being better than the Intel anyway. -- Bryan P.S. I just realized I might have been stupid for going for the entry Turion x2 TL-50 (dual-1.6G/256K) instead of the TL-52 (dual-1.6G/512K) with double the L2 cache. It's only $25 more on-line, although it might have been $50 more at OfficeDepot.COM. Oh well, it probably doesn't make that much of a difference in the Turion (unlike Core). From thebs413 at gmail.com Sun Oct 1 19:48:39 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Leadtek WinFast GeForce 7600GS/GT *AGP* options ... Message-ID: If you're still stuck on AGP, a few vendors are still listening. You're not going to get a good deal, and with the premium typically being $50+ (or more) for AGP cards over PCIe, you can often get a newer PCIe mainboard for the difference. But if you're still stuck, Leadtek now offers both the GeForce 7600GS and 7600GT in AGP flavors: http://www.leadtek.com/3d_graphic/winfast_a7600_gttdh_1.html http://www.leadtek.com/3d_graphic/winfast_a7600_gstdh_1.html The 7600GT (note the *T*) version, with its 560MHz/1.4GHz core/GDDR3 speeds tend to best the older NV40 GeForce 6800GT models, as noted in this HardwareZone review: http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=3&id=2031 Unfortunately, I can't seem to find them anywhere. The cheaper and much slower 7600GS (note the *S*) version, with its paltry 400MHz/800MHz core/DDR2 speeds doesn't score anywhere near the GT -- assume it is, at most, only 60-70% the performance. But at least it can be found for $125: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814122011 Again, the PCIe versions of each are typically $50 cheaper, and are a consideration. But if you have an older, expensive AGP mainboard (maybe a dual-socket), then it's an option. But for desktops, I really recommend a move to a PCIe mainboard that takes your existing DDR and Socket-939 CPU for $50 or less. From thebs413 at gmail.com Sun Oct 1 20:35:48 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Fedora Core 6 on HP dv9000z ... coming to a BS notebook near you ... Message-ID: Fedora Core 5.92 (6 Test 3) just hit mid-last month and tomorrow is the official package freeze, with official release slated for Wed, 2006Oct11: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Core/Schedule I just orded a new HP dv9000z with the Turion x2 and added the GeForce Go 7600 (256MB dedicated VRAM) for under $800 after rebate. It should arrive next week (perfect timing for FC6's planned release date of the 11th): http://lists.leap-cf.org/pipermail/pc_support/2006-September/002602.html Fedora Core 6 is GCC 4.1 (with GCC 2.96, 3.2 and 3.4 compat-libs), GLibC 2.5 (2.4.90beta) and kernel 2.6.17. Kernel 2.6.17 (I'll have to check the exact Red Hat revision/patches) should have the latest Broadcom 43xx drivers for the WLAN and work out-of-the-box (I was originally incorrect to assume the WLAN 802.11a/b/g were Intel chipsets, I was thinking Dell) -- although many people report it's patched into FC5's 2.6.16 kernel update: http://lists.leap-cf.org/pipermail/pc_support/2006-October/002606.html http://bcm43xx.berlios.de/ Probably the "I'm NO LONGER with stupid" move in FC6 is that Red Hat is shipping _both_ Firefox.i386 and x86_64, like SuSE Linux 10.x, at least as of the 5.92 (6 Test 3) release: http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/core/test/5.92/i386/os/Fedora/RPMS/ About damn time! That definitely removes the issue of dealing with common plug-ins and what-not. While I have praised Red Hat in their most excellent choice of select i386 libraries to complement the x86_64 ones -- all of which _still_ (along with compat-libs et. al.) allow me to run stuff from all the way back to Red Hat Linux 7 and even 6 from 6-8 years ago, the select of actual i386 programs was always a PITA -- like only Firefox x86_64 with _no_ i386 option. I finally just started maintaining a separate /usr/local with those select programs (e.g., Firefox, MPlayer and its dependencies, etc...) instead of fighting" the repositories (even if there are no library issue). But that should be no more. Hopefully the Livna.ORG guys will take note and offer .i386 multimedia libraries and packages in their x86_64 that are used by Firefox (e.g., MPlayer and MPlayer-plugin). Before noting this change in FC6, I decided I was just going to put the .i386 version on any new system. But now that FC6 x86_64 actually offers Firefox.i386 and a few more, select, key i386 programs, I think I'm going to stick with x86_64 like my Athlon x2 4600+ desktop. I can't wait to update my desktop to FC6 as well. I'm going also start goof'ing with the Compiz Window Manager using AIGLX, which is now in FC6, although I might just fall back to the standard MetaCity AIGLX enhancements: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/RenderingProject/aiglx AIGLX is fully supported by the Beta nVidia ForceWare95 drivers: http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_downloads_linux_display_x86_1.0-9625.html http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_downloads_linux_display_x86_64_1.0-9625.html There are two different approaches to OpenGL accelerated/buffered window managers. SuSE has gone down the full OpenGL as the window manager "xgl" route, while Red Hat has gone with a split model that nVidia prefers (which is actually a bit more involved development-wise, but more compatible IMHO). FC6 actually now supports Compiz too, which is not a xgl-only option. BTW, for more on nVidia's logic, see: http://download.nvidia.com/developer/presentations/2006/xdevconf/compositing-with-current-framework.pdf I plan on documenting my exploits in my Blog and put them to LinuxLaptops.ORG, since no HP Pavillion dv9000z documentation exists yet. My contract ends here in New England at the end of next week, so I'll definitely have some time again at home to do so -- maybe in time for the October 19 meeting? ;-> From thebs413 at gmail.com Sun Oct 1 21:27:52 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] For Sale: Toshiba Satellite 2805-S402 ... Message-ID: Okay, this is my 5 year-old unit. It was well ahead of its time in its day (Summer 2001). At $2,300 on-sale back then, it was the first notebook with the nVidia GeForce Go Mobile -- with 16MiB of dedicated, 64-bit DDR VRAM (wow! ;-), although Dell followed shortly. Now I know I can't get even 10% of that for it, but I still want to offer it up for a good home -- especially for Linux users. Specifications: - Intel Mobile Pentium III 850MHz (still kicks a Celeron M's butt**) - 256MiB PC100 SDRAM (expandible to 384MiB) - Intel i815 chipset** -- non-integrated GPU version, because ... - nVidia GeForce Go Mobile (NV11), 16MiB DDR VRAM - IEEE1394 FireWire and USB 1.1 ports - Toshiba 20GB, 4200rpm hard drive - CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo drive - Battery doesn't hold charge long (it's 5 years old, after all ;-) **NOTE: I have a 2004 Toshiba M35X (a model 3 years newer) with a Celeron M 1.4GHz, i845/855GM CPU-integrated chipset and this 2001 model _still_ beats it in _all_ 3D benchmarks, and most 2D ones as well (the Celeron M really sucks, especially compared to the Pentium M or even this mobile Pentium III). The only reason I'm keeping the 2004 is that I've really "beat it up" and you wouldn't want it (backspace key is broken, the enclosure isn't as "tough" as this 2001 model). I only paid $499 for the 2004 model (and that was a steal at the time). The 2805-S402 came with Windows ME (just about 3 months too early for XP Home), and I've run Red Hat Linux 7.1 through Fedora Core 3 on it. I'll pre-install CentOS 3 or 4, your choice, as well as Windows ME dual-boot if you want it. If you want another distro, I can do that too, but I won't know my way around as much. For Linux, I recommend CentOS 3 with kernel 2.4 instead of 2.6. Kernel 2.4 works with the Toshiba utilities for power, fan and other management, 2.6 does not. I also recommend either sticking with the stock XFree/Xorg drivers (if you don't need 2D), or the older nVidia 3D drivers -- as newer nVidia drivers won't support TwinView so you can't have simultaneous LCD/VGA-out: http://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/1.0-8774/README/appendix-i.html Virtually everything works in Linux -- audio (i810 -- either ALSA/2.6 or OSS/2.4), NIC (Intel e100), IEEE1394 (Ti chipset), USB, etc... Again, power management works on 2.4 with the Toshiba utilities, but I couldn't get it to work on 2.6 -- other than the power button automatically shutting down proper. I haven't tried kernels newer than 2.6.12 though -- newer distros might do better with its ACPI. I'm not going to rip you off on the price. I mean, you can get a Mobile Sempron with the GeForce 6150 GPU-integrated chipset for $600 these days after rebates. And the battery is rather worthless now, which limits mobility (unless you want to pay $75 for a new one). But it's a solid Linux notebook, and I've run XFCE on CentOS 3/4 and Fedora Core 3 with good performance -- including MP3 playback, DVD movie playback (MPlayer), etc... I kept it as my "backup," especially as my 2004 model wasn't as sturdy and I've still used this 2001 model several times (especially for 3D when the 2004 model didn't cut it), but I don't need a 3rd notebook with my new HP dv9000z coming soon. From thebs413 at gmail.com Sun Oct 1 21:32:14 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: For Sale: Toshiba Satellite 2805-S402 ... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 10/1/06, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > Okay, this is my 5 year-old unit. It was well ahead of its time in > its day (Summer 2001). At $2,300 on-sale back then, it was the first > notebook with the nVidia GeForce Go Mobile -- with 16MiB of dedicated, > 64-bit DDR VRAM (wow! ;-), although Dell followed shortly. Now I know > I can't get even 10% of that for it, but I still want to offer it up > for a good home -- especially for Linux users. Oh, I still have 100% of the documentation, media, etc... I also have a good, solid notebook bag that I've lugged all over with it. LCD size is 15", resolution 1024x768. Nothing special in today's resolutions, rather standard. From thebs413 at gmail.com Sun Oct 1 23:03:22 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] For-Sale: Loaded LAN Party Cube (6800GT/256MB, A2600+, 1GB, 160GB, DVD-R/RW/RAM) Message-ID: I was going to give this to my brother, but he really doesn't need such a gamer's box. I.e., it would go greatly under-appreciated and under-utilized -- let alone he can buy a sub-$300 system with a Windows license. This is largely my wife's old system, before I upgraded her to a Socket-939 Athlon 64, GeForce 7900GS, 2GB RAM, etc... It's in one of those portable, sub-10lbs., 9"x11"x14" aluminum MicroATX cubes that you've probably seen me bring to an InstallFest or two. If not, this AnandTech article gives you an idea: http://www.anandtech.com/casecooling/showdoc.aspx?i=2464 The sucker keeps your CPU (right below the 120mm outtake fan), drives (intake vents are right next to them, air is pulled right over them to the 120mm outtake fan) and cards (right below the power supply with its 80mm outtake) very, very cool and has a temp monitor for both CPU and HDD on the front-pannel. I never see more than 30C on this CPU or HDD (even with 2 hard drives and the thermaresistor deep between them where no air flows) -- and even my Athlon x2 4600+ (in a similar case) never passes 34C on full-load. Specifications: - Sub-10lbs. Alumninum, 9"x11"x14" MicroATX Cube w/460W Power Supply*1* - Asus A7V266-MX MicroATX Mainboard (KM266/VT8235CE) - Athlon XP Model 8 2.13GHz, 256KiB (XP2600+) - (2) 512MiB DDR400/PC3200 2.5-3-3-6** Memory (runs at DDR333/PC2700*2*) - KICK-ASS: PNY GeForce 6800GT 256MiB GDDR3 AGP video [ Sucker bests the GeForce 7600GS and ATI X1600 series, only a 7600GT, 7800+ or ATI X1800+ series beats this sucker -- most of which are still well over $150 today ] - WD1600BB Western Digital 160GB, 7200rpm UltraATA/133 drive*3* - LG GSA-4167 16x DVD-R/+R, 4-8x DVD-RW/+RW/-DL, 5x DVD-RAM - 1.44" Floppy (it also has a 8-in-1 card reader, but it doesn't work) - Coordinated Black'n Silver finish/color *1* NOTE: I'm going to put in a power supply that is more adequate than the 420W that I originally had in it. I have a 460W that is rated better that's likely going to go into it. *2* NOTE: The memory is _not_ cheap DDR400/PC3200, but "gaming" rated 2.5-3-3-6 that you can't find much better. It only runs at DDR333/PC2700 because of the mainboard, and I've been able to time it at 2-3-3-5 at that signaling which is within its rating. *3* NOTE: I actually have (2) WD1600BB drives I don't need, but the mainboard only has (2) ATA channels, and I never use a master/slave setup. I originally had them on a 3Ware Escalade 6200 card in the system, with the DVD on one of the mainboard channels. If you have your own, add-in PCI ATA card, then I'll give you both WD1600BB drives. Or if you want to slow your performance down, I guess you can use the master/slave (such as if you had Windows on one drive, Linux on the other, and they aren't used in the same boot). I really don't have a need for this, because I've gone 64-bit everywhere. But as a 32-bit system, this older Athlon XP2600+ sucker will _beat_ pretty any Sempron but the latest Sempron AM2/S940 (3400+) -- the Sempron being rated against Celerons, whereas the XP2600+ is rated against the Pentium 4. The "diamond" in this system is the GeForce 6800GT 256MiB GDDR3 AGP video -- which works in both AGP 3.0/x8 0.8V and is compatible with older AGP 2.0/x4 1.5V AGP slots (unlike a lot of newer AGP mainboards that require AGP 3.0/0.8V only). The sucker overclocks well (I never needed to though), runs Doom3/Quake4 great, and just about anything else you can throw at it. It bests virtually all PCIe video cards under $150 (or $130 after rebates), and you have to go a 7600GT to get slightly better performance (like with 10-15%), or a 7800+ or ATI X1800+ to do better (it still beats a ATI X1600 Pro -- sans maybe Half-Life which runs on ATI better). I'd rather give it to someone who can make use the of 3D better than my brother. It's an older system on a platform that is basically a "dead" end, and other than upgrading the memory (it can support up to 2GB) or hard drives (if you think 160GB isn't enough), it's basically a system to use as-is. Although that GeForce 6800GT is still pretty kick-ass compared to all but $150+ cards video cards, despite being 2 years old (I bought it for $399 right when it came out). As always, I'll load whatever you want -- although I'm more capable at Fedora Core / CentOS. I'll load all the nVidia drivers and other goodies, download the Doom3/Quake4 demos and Linux binary, etc... From thebs413 at gmail.com Sun Oct 1 23:23:03 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: For-Sale: Loaded LAN Party Cube (6800GT/256MB, A2600+, 1GB, 160GB, DVD-R/RW/RAM) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 10/1/06, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > ... > - KICK-ASS: PNY GeForce 6800GT 256MiB GDDR3 AGP video > [ Sucker bests the GeForce 7600GS and ATI X1600 series, only a 7600GT, > ... > The "diamond" in this system is the GeForce 6800GT 256MiB GDDR3 AGP > video ... the sucker overclocks well (I never > needed to though), runs Doom3/Quake4 great, and just about anything > else you can throw at it. It bests virtually all PCIe video cards > under $150 (or $130 after rebates), and you have to go a 7600GT to get > slightly better performance (like with 10-15%), or a 7800+ or ATI > X1800+ to do better (it still beats a ATI X1600 Pro -- sans maybe > Half-Life which runs on ATI better). For those of you who with FX or cheaper 6000 series cards, here's what this card does: http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/07/05/vga_charts_vii/page9.html Now what is shown "at the bottom" is the FX 5700. The FX 5700 "LE" is only 55% of that card. The FX 5200/5500 _suck_ even harder (well sub-10fps) where this card does over 100fps. The GeForce 61x0 chipset-integrated GPUs won't break much beyond 20fps either -- a nice "intro-GPU" but nothing like this sucker. It's AGP, which is a "dead-end" essentially. Other than the 6800Ultra, this was the Cadillac of the AGP products -- even PNY only sells _slower_ 6000 series now (6200, 6600 and the slower/crippled 6800"GS"). That's why I have no use for it, and have gone PCIe ($400 7800GTX and, more recently, that 7900GS for my wife). But I figured there are plenty of you that do. If it wasn't for the Woot deal on the 7900GS (which is $200+ normally), my wife would still be using this card. You might look at the clock and say 350MHz isn't fast. But it's a full 256-bit memory bus, with 1GHz GDDR3 memory. The 7600 series uses a 128-bit memory bus and the 7600GS, even overclocked, can't match it. It takes a 7600GT running at 560GHz with 1.2-1.4GHz memory to get about 15% more, because of the 128-bit memory. And beyond that, you're talking a $200+ GeForce 7800 series or ATI X1800 series to get 25+% more. Again, just looking for someone who wants to upgrade and use this system for 2+ years. I have no use for a 3rd system with such 3D capability. If I don't get a price I like, I'll pass it on to my brother. But I'd rather give it to someone who wants to kick Linux 3D. From b.j.smith at ieee.org Mon Oct 2 07:28:45 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: For-Sale: Loaded LAN Party Cube (6800GT/256MB, A2600+, 1GB, 160GB, DVD-R/RW/RAM) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1159788525.2923.18.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Sun, 2006-10-01 at 23:23 -0400, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > Again, just looking for someone who wants to upgrade and use this > system for 2+ years. I have no use for a 3rd system with such 3D > capability. If I don't get a price I like, I'll pass it on to my > brother. But I'd rather give it to someone who wants to kick Linux > 3D. Last post, I promise (yeah, yeah, who is this "BS" spammer anyway? ;-) BTW, I actually do have an extra Socket-939 AGP MicroATX mainboard, just no extra Socket-939 CPU. It's an Asus A8V-MX: http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=743&l1=3&l2=15&l3=0 The kicker is that it's a ViA K8M800 with the newer VT8251 southbridge. The peripherals on the southbridge -- like the SATA and ALSA audio -- require a very, very late Linux 2.6 kernel for support -- 2.6.17 (although distros have patched as early as 2.6.15). But it does give the full DDR400/PC3200 performance -- _true_ 128-bit dual channel DTR performance in Socket-939 (and not merely interleaved latency benefit like Socket-A/462), plus a PCIe slot. If you want that mainboard instead, and will put your own Socket-939 CPU in, let me know. The Retail Box Socket-939 Athlon 64 3000+ starts at $50 these days, so it might be better (as long as you're running a very late Linux kernel). The only kicker is that I haven't tested this mainboard but once -- it booted the Fedora Core install CD, but that's it. In a nutshell, I was going to put my old Athlon 64 3200+ on it, with the GeForce 6800GT AGP before the 7900GS PCIe was Woot'd, so I promptly put the Athlon 64 3200+ in a PCIe mainboard instead. If it's the case that people want this mainboard in the box, then I have the Asus A7V-MX MicroATX w/Athlon XP2600+ (has a Thermaltake 6Cu+ copper fansink atop) for sale separately. Won't charge much at all for it on its own. ;-> -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, technical annoyance mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com --------------------------------------------------------- The world is in need of solutions. Unfortunately, people seem to be more interested in blindly aligning themselves with one of only two viewponts -- an "us v. them" debate that has nothing to do with finding an actual solution. From dmckenna at thelimucompany.com Mon Oct 2 12:55:44 2006 From: dmckenna at thelimucompany.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Western Digital 500GB (WD5000) "KS" (SE16/consumer) and "YS" (RE2/enterprise) ... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <7F04E0B6-54A3-4A1E-A6AC-D65E677B3933@thelimucompany.com> On Sep 28, 2006, at 11:32 PM, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > NewEgg has the "consumer" KS for $180 ($0.36/GB), and the "enterprise" > YS for $200 ($0.40/GB): > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136014 > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136032 The NewEgg comments give it 4/5 average, with several comments saying the drives were dying very quickly. -- Damien McKenna - Web Developer - dmckenna@thelimucompany.com The Limu Company - http://www.thelimucompany.com/ - 407-804-1014 #include From thebs413 at gmail.com Mon Oct 2 13:40:24 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Western Digital 500GB (WD5000) "KS" (SE16/consumer) and "YS" (RE2/enterprise) ... Message-ID: Damien McKenna wrote: > The NewEgg comments give it 4/5 average, with several comments saying > the drives were dying very quickly. And there are similar ratings/comments on not only the WD3200JD/SD (Caviar SE/RE) that I've installed over 2 dozen times with 0 failures in 18 months, but even some of the Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 models, of which I personally own over a dozen (and have installed countless others) in over 2+ years with 0 failures. Failures will happen. People are stupid and don't adequate cool hard drives. Active cooling is NOT OPTIONAL today. In fact, one of the WD5000YS comments was someone who used 4 in a RAID-10 configuration. It wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't adequately cooled, let alone the guy probably fit them in a cramped, 4 atop one another, configuration. I recently used just 2 Samsung "consumer" 160GB drives in a temporary enclosure for my wife when I was moving data without any cooling. Sitting directly atop of each other, I BURNT MY FINGER BY MERELY TOUCHING THE DRIVES AFTER 15 MINUTES OF USE! Using a thermaresitor, I MEASURED A TEMPERATURE OF ALMOST 70C! (OUCH!) When placed in the MicroATX cube, right next to each other with the thermaresistor in-bteween, they didn't break 30C. It has side vents and the 120mm fan 6" behind them is pulling air over them. You need to cool drives today. Otherwise, I don't care what you buy, THEY WILL FAIL VERY QUICKLY as they break 50C or even 60C. From thebs413 at gmail.com Mon Oct 2 14:23:57 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] eVGA GeForce 7900 GTO 512MiB for $230 ... Message-ID: nVidia kinda changed things around by introducing the GeForce 7900 GTO. Same 24/8 engine running at 650MHz, the best nVidia has to offer in the 7900 GTX, but with memory slowed down to 1320MHz effective GDDR, like the 7900GT (and most GS models). TigerDirect has the eVGA 7900 GTO 512MiB for $259 - $30 rebate: http://dealnews.com/deals/e-VGA-Ge-Force-7900-GTO-512-MB-PCI-Express-Video-Card-for-230-after-rebate/134608.html Kicker is that it takes up a full 2 slots because of the cooling for that powerful 650MHz core. But it's a steal compared to a full 7900 GTX, despite the memory signal reduction, it still has 512MiB. As always, comparisons to other products can be made in my blog article (which I'll modify to add the new card shortly -- probably on the Wikia page instead): http://thebs413.blogspot.com/2006/02/geforce-6-and-7-series-variants-nuts.html From thebs413 at gmail.com Mon Oct 2 14:44:37 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] nVidia first G80 series due in mid-November ... Message-ID: This is just the G80 GPU, not necessarily end-user products (which probably won't hit until 2007, at least not in quantity). The first, planned card will typically be the initial "high-end" card, and most likely called the GeForce 8800. Although it probably won't be the fastest in the series, it will be until a die shrink/feature improvement that allows better -- e.g., the FX5800 and 7800, followed by lesser GPUs, then finally the FX5900 and 7900 series. DirectX 10, at the heart of Windows Graphics Foundation (WGF) 2.0 and the alleged, originally promised Vista Avalon presentation (now due 2007? 2008?), is the highlight feature. If it's like any past DirectX "technology," Microsoft basically tells GPU developers where it wants to go -- function-wise -- and they make the hardware with the API to support it (quite the opposite of OpenGL). I'm more interested to see if DirectX 10 really lets them deliver what they promised for WGF 2.0, which was supposed to be the original foundation of the Avalon system. So far, WGF 1.1 -- based on DirectX 9 -- has proven you need at least a NV40/R400 to get what Linux Compiz and MacOS X QuartzExtreme can do with a NV10/R100 generation. All while Vista runs even legacy Explorer rather crappily without a decent GPU -- much like the same thing that happened with NT 4.0 "Cairo" upon release. Story: http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20061002A2007.html From thebs413 at gmail.com Mon Oct 2 18:01:19 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Another easy one. Message-ID: George Laiacona wrote: > Well, it was "working". Except that it wasn't, so rebooting cleared that up. > Don't think Automounter would have helped, since "disk and network > filesystems" seemed to think it was OK. I guess I made an assumption from the fact that you forgot about it. I assumed (incorrectly?) that you hadn't accessed the link in awhile. The automounter would have umounted the smbfs VFS hack after a period of inactivity. It's been my experience that SMB is a PITA with all its required TCP Keepalives and other issues for a system that assumes when it's mounted, it's always there --like UNIX--or, more specifically, Linux (because most UNIX flavors don't even offer a VFS-like hack like smbfs). Automounter helps that, because it just umounts its after a period of inactivity. I find that removes the overwhelming majority of disconnects with SMB. SMB has always wreaked havoc on even Windows clients -- e.g., even the NT print spooler (the #1 reason why NT crashed was due to SMB-based print queues). > I'd like to set it up as a NFS share, eventually, when I learn how and get a round tuit. > I need that link to be a little more robust, so to speak. Regardless of what filesystem you choose, if you only use the link every now and then, you want to use the Automounter. From thebs413 at gmail.com Mon Oct 2 18:16:33 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: For-Sale: Loaded LAN Party Cube (6800GT/256MB, A2600+, 1GB, 160GB, DVD-R/RW/RAM) Message-ID: Okay, maybe I confused people a bit. Let's start from the beginning. Here's the "SFF kit": - Enclosure: Sub-10lbs. Alumninum, 9"x11"x14" MicroATX Cube - Power Supply: 460W Power Supply (not for certain, but it won't be "weak/cheap") - (2) 512MiB DDR400/PC3200 2.5-3-3-6 Memory - KICK-ASS: PNY GeForce 6800GT 256MiB GDDR3 AGP video - (1 or 2) WD1600BB Western Digital 160GB, 7200rpm UltraATA/133 drive - LG GSA-4167 16x DVD-R/+R, 4-8x DVD-RW/+RW/-DL, 5x DVD-RAM - 1.44" Floppy (it also has a 8-in-1 card reader, but it doesn't work) - Coordinated Black'n Silver finish/color And I can add-in either the "Socket-462 w/CPU": - Asus A7V266-MX MicroATX Mainboard (KM266/VT8235CE) - Athlon XP Model 8 2.13GHz, 256KiB (XP2600+) Or the "Socket-939 w/o CPU" (BYOC): - Asus A8V-MX MicroATX Mainboard (K8M800/VT8251) - BYOC (Bring Your Own [Socket-939] CPU) If you want the mainboard+CPU combo in the "SFF kit," I can ship it _working_. If you want the latter, it's a "SFF kit" that needs the CPU (BYOC). Although if you want the latter "SFF kit" (BYOC), I'd also be willing to sell the former "combo" (that you can put in your own case, adding memory, disk, etc...) If you want just the Socket-939 mainboard, to be honest, there more Linux compatible nForce3 mainboards for $60 new IMHO -- even if I sold you the A8V-MX for half that ($30). I just offered the S939 mainboard option largely for the "SFF Kit" if you didn't want to go with an older S462. But if you're big on ViA mainboards, more power to you (I'm not ;-). From thebs413 at gmail.com Mon Oct 2 18:30:51 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: For-Sale: Loaded LAN Party Cube (6800GT/256MB, A2600+, 1GB, 160GB, DVD-R/RW/RAM) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 10/2/06, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > If you want just the Socket-939 mainboard, to be honest, there more > Linux compatible nForce3 mainboards for $60 new IMHO -- even if I sold > you the A8V-MX for half that ($30). I just offered the S939 mainboard > option largely for the "SFF Kit" if you didn't want to go with an > older S462. > But if you're big on ViA mainboards, more power to you (I'm not ;-). Doh! I just remembered why the nForce3 is _not_ an option -- they are virtually _impossible_ to find in MicroATX. That's why I bought the A8V-MX -- again, doh! I'm willing to sell the S939 A8V-MX for $30 (NewEgg.COM wants them for $52 new) if you really want it. You need to be running a very late Linux kernel (again, 2.6.17) for SATA and Audio support. I bought it months ago and it's just been sitting. If you want the S462 A7V266-MX with XP2600+ on its own, we'll talk. It's a good performer, especially for a desktop (and especially with that 6800GT). You used to be able to find a similar combo for $100+ new, or even below $100 used. Given the price of S754 mainboards+CPUs these days, I would be far more relative in pricing (like half that). I'm not going to rip anyone off when they can get new (even if different) stuff for about the same as what people on eBay want used. If you want lower power/set-top usage, then CompGeeks.COM has similar S462 ViA chipset mainboards with the AMD Geode (ultra low-power Athlon) 1.2-1.5GHz for $80-100. I'd go for those instead if power/set-top is your goal, and performance is not as crucial. *BUT* I'd rather at least one of the mainboards (plus CPU sell it in the "SFF Kit" -- along with the 256-bit/256MiB GDDR3 6800GT good video card, very well timed 1GB of DDR400/PC3200, etc... I put the higher-end components in it for a reason, and how someone else would buy it to use it as such. Although I could probably sell off the 6800GT for more than I sell it to a friend (although the brand new AGP 7600GT for just over $200 is making finding an old 6800GT less attractive for AGP now, thanx to its increase core/memory clocks despite having half the memory width). Or just keep it in case I need a good AGP card in the future -- especially one that works with both 0.8V and 1.5V -- very rare! From thebs413 at gmail.com Mon Oct 2 18:36:40 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] [Take off-list] For-Sale: Loaded LAN Party Cube (6800GT/256MB, A2600+, 1GB, 160GB, DVD-R/RW/RAM) Message-ID: William Warren wrote: > let me make sure i have told you correclty i was pretty excited.. > I would be interested int he byoc pacakge as i have an athlon64 3500+ > jsut waiting to be used..:) Okay, let's talk off-list on that. BTW -- to the list -- I only re-posted the details in case this falls through, as well as for Linux compatibility. If anyone (or William) is interested in the "leftover" Socket-462 Asus A7V266-MX mainboard (DDR266) + Athlon XP2600+ (Model 8) 2.13GHz/256KiB (DDR266) including Thermaltake copper fansink, I'd probably part with that combo for $50. From thebs413 at gmail.com Tue Oct 3 19:38:33 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] DLP and LCD 1080p becoming commonplace ... Message-ID: As I've noticed 26 to even 32" LCDs with 720p resolutions dropping to $750 and even $500, I've noticed the new crop of 32-37" 1080p LCDs dropping to $1,000 and larger 1080p DLP projections dropping to $1,500 and up. Even Toshiba's 72" 1080p is now under $2,500: http://www.buy.com/prod/Toshiba_72HM195_72_Inch_Integrated_1080p_DLP_Projection_TV_HDMI_Input/q/loc/101/202045872.html?adid=17662 I'm hoping by next fall (football season, ya know ;-), I can get a TiVO Series3 and 60+" 1080p DLP projection for under $2,000 total. Even 4 of UCF's games are nationally televised in high-def this year. From thebs413 at gmail.com Wed Oct 4 11:12:38 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] AMD Readying PCIe HyperTransport Tunnel ... Message-ID: AMD is readying a new AMD 8000 series PCIe HyperTransport Tunnel for the workstation and enthusiast market. I've been trying to find out more information on the IC, but there's little other than block diagrams of the solutions -- many of them _inaccurate_. Most system ICs used in AMD platforms these days are a single or dual-chip combination -- one with a set of 17-24 PCIe channels and peripheral logic, another with additional peripheral logic, possibly more PCIe channels. Other than ViA, who -- like Intel -- is still leveraging 533MBps-2.0GBps peripheral PCI logic as a "poor man's system interconnect" -- ATI, nVidia and SiS are all using 1.0-8.0GBps HyperTransport for true system interconnect. But despite the flexibility of HyperTransport, most of these designs are still 1 and optional 2-chip only configurations. This new AMD 8000 series HyperTransport Tunnel will allow PCIe channels to be placed in-line anywhere, to any processor, for workstations and enthusiast game systems -- much like the AMD8131/8132 is used for PCI-X 1.0/2.0 is used in servers. So it won't be a surprise to find not only dual, but even quad PCIe video cards in higher end systems. Despite the gross ignorance of most of the enthusiast community, this HyperTransport Tunnel IC will work with _any_ AMD platform. The question is, how well? If you ask the enthusiasts, their articles bitch'n moan about AMD not offering it on the Socket-AM2/940. Little do they stop to realize why it won't be sold there. On a Socket-AM2/940 platform, with limited HyperTransport interconnects, the solution won't offer much over an nVidia nForce SLI32 or 590 platform -- as all I/O still throughs through a single HyperTransport link to one processor. You're going to get the same performance with those -- because the limitation is at the processor, _not_ ICs. The nForce 4 Professional, designed for Socket-940 (not AMD2) and newer Socket-F/LGA-1207 using the 2200 on one processor with the 2050 on another, is a better solution -- because it relies on multiple HyperTransports, one from each CPU. So the power of this new addition to the AMD 8000 series is when it is used in the same way. Each AMD 8000 PCIe HyperTransport tunnel has its own connection to its own CPU, possibly two ICs per CPU (in a 4-way GPU configuration to 2 sockets for processors), using Socket-F/LGA-1207 Opteron 200 or 800 series. This can't be done with the Socket-AM2/940 solution. I'll draw some diagrams and post to my blog later in the week that explains its better graphically, especially for the ignoramous enthusiasts sites that "just don't get it." From thebs413 at gmail.com Wed Oct 4 12:24:07 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Socket-A Small Form-Factor (SFF) for $108.99 ... Message-ID: I'd normally only post this to PC_Support, but given the fact that I posted my flexible SFF for sale on this list, I figured I'd pass this along on LEAPList too. NewEgg has a Socket-A SFF enclosure, mainboard with (non-standard) 250W ATX power supply (plus CPU cooler). It's a 8"x8"x12" form-factor, a bit smaller than the MicroATX (with ATX PS) 9"x11"x14" I normally rave about (1-3" smaller in each dimension). Normally I don't go for those non-standard units, but this one was cheap enough that you might consider for a set-top. Nothing you could throw a GeForce 6800GT (PS is no where near adequate), but still a nice consideration. It's a nForce2 IGP -- all peripherals will be supported in Linux, integrated NV17 (GeForce4 MX) GPU is a quad of generations beyond, but it is not bad for 2D (and will do a few things in 3D too, with the closed source drivers). Socket-A is now typically $50 Sempron (S462) as well as ultra-low power Geode NX (which are $100+), although Duron is an option that starts at $25. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16856153005 From dmckenna at thelimucompany.com Thu Oct 5 09:28:40 2006 From: dmckenna at thelimucompany.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Core2Duo-compatible mobos comparable to nForce 61x0-based? Message-ID: <7DA0D951-0FC9-4BD3-BF44-D29CB8B33480@thelimucompany.com> Does anyone know of a Core2Duo-compatible motherboard (or at least the chipset) that is comparable in terms of functionality to the nForce 61x0-based Athlon motherboards? Thanks. -- Damien McKenna - Web Developer - dmckenna@thelimucompany.com The Limu Company - http://www.thelimucompany.com/ - 407-804-1014 #include From thebs413 at gmail.com Thu Oct 5 11:45:24 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Core2Duo-compatible mobos comparable to nForce 61x0-based? -- no volume = no interest Message-ID: Damien McKenna wrote: > Does anyone know of a Core2Duo-compatible motherboard (or at least > the chipset) that is comparable in terms of functionality to the > nForce 61x0-based Athlon motherboards? Thanks. Nope. You see, Intel is the 800lbs. gorilla that sells the complete solution -- chipset with IGP (Integrated GPu) and processor. As we all know, the i9xx _sucks_ in comparison to even the _worst_ of the NV4x series, and even the combination chipset-IGP + CPU is a lost cause with Intel. So due to the lack of volume, both ATI and nVidia limit their developments for Intel. IGP chipsets are virtually non-existent right now, with only a few non-IGP offerings. Although nVidia does offer the nForce 500 series in Intel flavors, none of the 500 series offers an IGP. Which means you either have to add a cheap 6200/7300LE for $30-40, or just "suck it up" with i9xx graphics. ;-> Furthermore, with AMD owning ATI now, it's extremely doubtful ATI will design any new Intel chipsets. There will be some limited offerings and that's it. nVidia looks like they may be releasing a very inexpensive, single-IC chipset for both AMD and Intel soon. A really stripped down G7x (GeForce 7100?) with either no external PCIe option, or only 11-12 PCIe lanes -- 8 for an external PCIe video. From thebs413 at gmail.com Thu Oct 5 11:52:13 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Core2Duo-compatible mobos comparable to nForce 61x0-based? -- no volume = no interest In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 10/5/06, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > So due to the lack of volume, both ATI and nVidia limit their > developments for Intel. IGP chipsets are virtually non-existent right > now, with only a few non-IGP offerings. Although nVidia does offer > the nForce 500 series in Intel flavors, none of the 500 series offers > an IGP. > Which means you either have to add a cheap 6200/7300LE for $30-40, or > just "suck it up" with i9xx graphics. ;-> I just checked. No ATI Xpress 200 chipset seems to be available with Core support. It's already a lackluster chipset (with endless Linux incompatibilities on the SB4xx), and it seems like every mainboard manufacturer is waiting for a newer ATI offering. From thebs413 at gmail.com Thu Oct 5 11:59:05 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] nVidia G80 begins with 8800GTX and GTS ... Message-ID: nVidia is reviving the old "GTS" moniker instead of the "GT" for the G80, something not seen since the NV1x (GeForce2). Details on the devices are in these two articles: http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=4441 http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=4442 It's clear the engines in the G8x series are more revolutionary than evolutionary -- probably the first major change since the NV3x (GeForce FX) which the NV4x (GeForce 6) and G7x (GeForce 7) evolved from. As such, performance might not be as superior out-the-gate -- at least not for the clocks involved -- and it will probably be the G9x in late 2007 or 2008 that will refine the tweaks. Let alone that's before we consider the power-use v. performance at current feature sizes, resulting die and raw power hunger in the G8x. From thebs413 at gmail.com Thu Oct 5 12:05:30 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: nVidia G80 begins with 8800GTX and GTS ... more on physics Message-ID: On 10/5/06, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > nVidia is reviving the old "GTS" moniker instead of the "GT" for the > G80, something not seen since the NV1x (GeForce2). > Details on the devices are in these two articles: > http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=4441 > http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=4442 http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=4444 From thebs413 at gmail.com Thu Oct 5 15:36:33 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Ultra ATX Mid-Tower for $39.99 shipped - $30 rebate ... Review? Message-ID: On Wed, Sep 27, Teeemmmaaaay! wrote: > The nice FedEx man is supposed to drop one of these off today > according to the tracking info. I'll report back once it shows. Hey Tim, you gotta an update on this? Good? Bad? Radio Crap? From thebs413 at gmail.com Thu Oct 5 16:45:21 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] 20" monitors Message-ID: Homer wrote: > Are 20 inch LCD monitors worth the extra cost? Depends on the brand, model, etc... Widescreen (~16:10 aspect) is typically more costly than standard (~4:3 aspect). Most 20-21" LCDs are widescreen, whereas most 17-19" LCDs are standard. A new crop of 19" LCD widescreens are becoming available though. 2 years ago I bought my wife the Dell 2005FPW 20.1" widescreen LCD for $600. It has a resolution of 1680x1050. She loves it more than any other monitor. On my desk, I have two (2) standard Sceptre X9g series 19" LCDs. They have resolutions of 1200x1024 each. > If so, what are the primary considerations to be concerned with in the > spec's? Most 17-19" standard LCDs have a resolution of 1280x1024 (near 4:3). A few cheaper 17" standard LCDs, and all 15" LCDs, offer only 1024x768 (4:3). Most 20-21" widescreen LCDs have a resolution of 1680x1050 (16:10). Newer 19" widescreen LCDs have a resolution of 1440x900 (16:10). There are also costly 21-22" standard LCDs with resolutions of 1600x1200 (4:3). They are nice because you can perfectly downgrade to 800x600 res (1/4th). Even more costly are 23-34" widescreen LCDs with resolutions of 1920x1200 (16:10). Anything bigger is either a "TV" (only 1280x720-1366x768 and not very sharp), or a very expensive 30" widescreen LCD with 2560x1600 (16:10). > Are there any best choice (of any size) that should be considered? First off, when you go LCD, you _want_ DVI. That means a DVI output video card with a DVI input LCD panel. As long as you don't go higher than 1920x1200, you don't need a dual-link DVI output. Secondly, it really all depends on what _you_ want. You should go to the store and inspect ... 19" standard LCDs at 1280x1024 that start below $200. 19" or 20" widescreen LCDs at 1440x900 to 1680x1050 that start at $200. Unless you are buying a cheap 15" or 17", you want DVI. But even 19" standard LCDs with DVI can be had for as low as $100 after rebate at times. > Any input on your latest research would be welcomed. I like portable LCDs. For that, Dell FP/FPW models are the absolute worst (they have heavy bases for their rotatable panels), and Sceptre X9g (and similar designs) with folding basis (you never remove/assemble). From thebs413 at gmail.com Thu Oct 5 16:52:59 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: 20" monitors -- Check DealNews for regular special offers ... Message-ID: On 10/5/06, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > Most 17-19" standard LCDs have a resolution of 1280x1024 (near 4:3). > A few cheaper 17" standard LCDs, and all 15" LCDs, offer only 1024x768 (4:3). > Most 20-21" widescreen LCDs have a resolution of 1680x1050 (16:10). > Newer 19" widescreen LCDs have a resolution of 1440x900 (16:10). > ... > First off, when you go LCD, you _want_ DVI. That means a DVI output > video card with a DVI input LCD panel. > ... > 19" standard LCDs at 1280x1024 that start below $200. > 19" or 20" widescreen LCDs at 1440x900 to 1680x1050 that start at $200. Check DealNews for regular special offers. I spent $199, $99 after rebate, on my last 19" LCD acquisition. http://dealnews.com/categories/Computer/Peripherals/Monitors/Flat-Panel-LCDs/76.html?showall=1 BTW, anything 25ms refresh rate or better refresh is fine for normal desktop usage -- that's virtually everything today. Anything 16ms or better is definitely fine for movie watching or gaming, which is almost everything today as well. From dmckenna at thelimucompany.com Thu Oct 5 17:15:07 2006 From: dmckenna at thelimucompany.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] 20" monitors In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <7891A46C-0439-443B-B986-D0C565056520@thelimucompany.com> On Oct 5, 2006, at 4:45 PM, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > 19" standard LCDs at 1280x1024 that start below $200. We got some recently at work: http://www.mc-kenna.com/articles/19-widescreen-monitors-are-awesome/ > Unless you are buying a cheap 15" or 17", you want DVI. The savings to not have it on new 15" or 17" LCDs is negligible so its worth making sure you get it. -- Damien McKenna - Web Developer - dmckenna@thelimucompany.com The Limu Company - http://www.thelimucompany.com/ - 407-804-1014 #include From thebs413 at gmail.com Thu Oct 5 17:21:46 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] 20" monitors Message-ID: Damien McKenna wrote: > The savings to not have it on new 15" or 17" LCDs is negligible so > its worth making sure you get it. And that's why I not only wrote the first statement you quoted, but immediately followed with ... 'Unless you are buying a cheap 15" or 17", you want DVI. But even 19" standard LCDs with DVI can be had for as low as $100 after rebate at times.' It used to be you could find 15" or even 17" for under $100 after rebate, but you had to give up DVI. Nowdays you can find 19" with DVI for under $150, if not $100. My wife has been DVI for almost 4 years and I've been DVI for nearly 3. There's nothing like it. Both ATI and nVidia are pretty much making dual-link DVI standard on their nexgen (R6xx and G8x, respectively), so there's virtually no resolution you can't do -- even with $1,000+ LCDs. From whittake at sbaflorida.com Thu Oct 5 19:35:07 2006 From: whittake at sbaflorida.com (Homer Whittaker) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] 20" monitors In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <452596AB.9010801@sbaflorida.com> Bryan J. Smith wrote: > Homer wrote: >> Are 20 inch LCD monitors worth the extra cost? > > Depends on the brand, model, etc... > > Widescreen (~16:10 aspect) is typically more costly than standard > (~4:3 aspect). > Most 20-21" LCDs are widescreen, whereas most 17-19" LCDs are standard. > A new crop of 19" LCD widescreens are becoming available though. > > 2 years ago I bought my wife the Dell 2005FPW 20.1" widescreen LCD for > $600. > It has a resolution of 1680x1050. She loves it more than any other > monitor. /I have been looking at that model. It appears to have some of the best specs around. Sorry to tell you that the price is now $365 delivered, oh well :-$ / > > On my desk, I have two (2) standard Sceptre X9g series 19" LCDs. > They have resolutions of 1200x1024 each. The Sceptre 20.1 inch has 1680x1050, response 8ms, brightness 300cd/m2, pitch o.25 and contrast 800:1. The cost is $269. So, which one is the best buy? > >> If so, what are the primary considerations to be concerned with in the >> spec's? > > Most 17-19" standard LCDs have a resolution of 1280x1024 (near 4:3). > A few cheaper 17" standard LCDs, and all 15" LCDs, offer only 1024x768 > (4:3). > > Most 20-21" widescreen LCDs have a resolution of 1680x1050 (16:10). > Newer 19" widescreen LCDs have a resolution of 1440x900 (16:10). > > There are also costly 21-22" standard LCDs with resolutions of > 1600x1200 (4:3). > They are nice because you can perfectly downgrade to 800x600 res (1/4th). > > Even more costly are 23-34" widescreen LCDs with resolutions of > 1920x1200 (16:10). > Anything bigger is either a "TV" (only 1280x720-1366x768 and not very > sharp), or a very expensive 30" widescreen LCD with 2560x1600 (16:10). > >> Are there any best choice (of any size) that should be considered? > > First off, when you go LCD, you _want_ DVI. That means a DVI output > video card with a DVI input LCD panel. As long as you don't go higher > than 1920x1200, you don't need a dual-link DVI output. > > Secondly, it really all depends on what _you_ want. You should go to > the store and inspect ... > > 19" standard LCDs at 1280x1024 that start below $200. > 19" or 20" widescreen LCDs at 1440x900 to 1680x1050 that start at $200. > > Unless you are buying a cheap 15" or 17", you want DVI. But even 19" > standard LCDs with DVI can be had for as low as $100 after rebate at > times. > >> Any input on your latest research would be welcomed. > > I like portable LCDs. For that, Dell FP/FPW models are the absolute > worst (they have heavy bases for their rotatable panels), and Sceptre > X9g (and similar designs) with folding basis (you never > remove/assemble). > _______________________________________________ > Pc_support mailing list > Pc_support@matrixlist.com > http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support > From whittake at sbaflorida.com Thu Oct 5 19:42:35 2006 From: whittake at sbaflorida.com (Homer Whittaker) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] 20" monitors In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4525986B.2000900@sbaflorida.com> Bryan J. Smith wrote: > > > My wife has been DVI for almost 4 years and I've been DVI for nearly > 3. There's nothing like it. Both ATI and nVidia are pretty much > making dual-link DVI standard on their nexgen (R6xx and G8x, > respectively), so there's virtually no resolution you can't do -- even > with $1,000+ LCDs. So are you saying that NON-Gammer's should spring for one of these new dual-link DVI nVidia cards for the few dollars extra? The do all resolution sounds very attractive to me! Homer > > _______________________________________________ > Pc_support mailing list > Pc_support@matrixlist.com > http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support > From b.j.smith at ieee.org Thu Oct 5 22:47:13 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] 20" monitors In-Reply-To: <452596AB.9010801@sbaflorida.com> References: <452596AB.9010801@sbaflorida.com> Message-ID: <1160102833.2923.10.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Thu, 2006-10-05 at 19:35 -0400, Homer Whittaker wrote: > The Sceptre 20.1 inch has 1680x1050, response 8ms, brightness 300cd/m2, > pitch o.25 and contrast 800:1. > The cost is $269. So, which one is the best buy? The Dell isn't worth the cost. I only bought it because 2 years ago, it was one of the few widescreens available. Everyone seems to like the Sceptre's X20G 1680x1050 widescreens. You can get them for as little as $220 after rebate sometimes. If you don't mind going down an inch, the Sceptre X9WG 1440x900 are liked as well for $50 less. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, technical annoyance mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com --------------------------------------------------------- The world is in need of solutions. Unfortunately, people seem to be more interested in blindly aligning themselves with one of only two viewponts -- an "us v. them" debate that has nothing to do with finding an actual solution. From b.j.smith at ieee.org Thu Oct 5 22:51:46 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] 20" monitors In-Reply-To: <4525986B.2000900@sbaflorida.com> References: <4525986B.2000900@sbaflorida.com> Message-ID: <1160103106.2923.15.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Thu, 2006-10-05 at 19:42 -0400, Homer Whittaker wrote: > So are you saying that NON-Gammer's should spring for one of these new > dual-link DVI nVidia cards for the few dollars extra? _Everyone_ should go DVI if they go LCD. No more dorking with positioning, no more misaligned pixels, etc... And you only need _single_ link (original) DVI. It supports up to 1600x1200 (4:3) or 1920x1200 (16:10). > The do all resolution sounds very attractive to me! I think you mis-read what I said. First off, understand DVI is a _digital_ connector. VGA (mini-DB15) is an analog. There are limits to what the DVI can push through -- around 6MHz of updates or around 1920x1200 (60Hz). It's not like analog where you merely get "interference" or "artifacts" on-screen at higher bandwidth. Secondly, you _only_ need a dual-link DVI for higher resolution -- basically what a $1,500+ 30" LCD that does 2560x1600. For what you're going to buy, you don't need it. BTW, dual-link DVI has the same connector as single-link DVI, but a second set of lines are active. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, technical annoyance mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com --------------------------------------------------------- The world is in need of solutions. Unfortunately, people seem to be more interested in blindly aligning themselves with one of only two viewponts -- an "us v. them" debate that has nothing to do with finding an actual solution. From thebs413 at gmail.com Fri Oct 6 09:19:34 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:06 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Wikipedia: DVI Connector and Specification Message-ID: For more on DVI, see the excellent Wikipedia page, namely the Connector section: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVI#Connector Most video cards today are Single Link DVI-I, meaning they can send either digital or analog signal. The analog "RGB" is located in the "plus" portion. Most LCD displays are Single Link DVI-D, meaning they can only accept a digital signal. But the majority also have a mini-DB15 (VGA) in, which can handle analog. Again, a few video cards lack the analog RAMDAC for analog or, more likely, lack dual-RAMDACs, so their DVI connector is only a DVI-D. E.g., again, the GeForce 61xx series of GPUs are commonly implemented with only a single RAMDAC, so if there is both a mini-DB15 (VGA) and 24-pin (DVI), the latter is only a DVI-D and not a DVI-I (as the RAMDAC is only connected to the former). Also note the Specification section: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVI#Specifications It lays out the maximum data transfer rate (DTR) of single link (3.7Gbps) and dual link (7.4Gbps). I believe the physical, analog maximum is around 6GHz given the gage of the wire, hence these limitations. From thebs413 at gmail.com Fri Oct 6 11:54:26 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] ViA C3 for IPCop? Yes/no? Message-ID: I've noted NewEgg has been selling a nice 7" x 11" x 12" mini-tower with the ultra low-power (sub-10W) Via C3 800MHz -- 165W PS and CD/floppy included -- for $100: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833156171 My Pentium isn't cutting it for IPCop, especially not with the new Snort rulesets and OpenVPN (forget enabling Squid), and I was considering just using one of my existing S754/939 MIcroATX near-SFF (9" x 11" x 14") or buying one of those $110 Socket-A SFF (7.5" x 8" x 12") units. But those solutions would definitely eat up 2-3x as much power -- e.g., even the older Duron Applebred is 50+W. I'd rather go with something lower power and very quiet (like the current Pentium NLX solution I have). I thought the C3 would be a good option, but then I saw this thread: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1053648 I think the guy made a poor hard drive choice and other issues, but then again, it could be the C3. I'd like to enable Squid (and get it off my main file server) on this unit, as well as Snort and OpenVPN. Is anyone else using IPCop with a ViA C3? From thebs413 at gmail.com Fri Oct 6 11:58:58 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: ViA C3 for IPCop? Yes/no? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 10/6/06, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > ... I was considering just using one of my existing S754/939 MIcroATX > near-SFF (9" x 11" x 14") or buying one of those $110 Socket-A SFF > (7.5" x 8" x 12") units. But those solutions would definitely eat up 2-3x > as much power -- e.g., even the older Duron Applebred is 50+W. I'd > rather go with something lower power and very quiet (like the current > Pentium NLX solution I have). Of course, there are the Geode NX products that use 6-14W: http://www.amd.com/us-en/ConnectivitySolutions/ProductInformation/0,,50_2330_9863_10837%5E10858,00.html I just can't find them CPU-only. If I could, I'd buy them instead. From thebs413 at gmail.com Fri Oct 6 14:02:29 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: ViA C3 for IPCop? Yes/no? -- ViA C3/C7 v. AMD Geode NX ... Message-ID: On 10/6/06, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > Of course, there are the Geode NX products that use 6-14W: > http://www.amd.com/us-en/ConnectivitySolutions/ProductInformation/0,,50_2330_9863_10837%5E10858,00.html > I just can't find them CPU-only. If I could, I'd buy them instead. I found some ALU, Multimedia and Memory benchmarks comparing the ViA C3 1.0-1.3GHz, VT-310 (dual-processor C3) and ViA C7 1.5GHz and versus the AMD Geode NX 1.0GHz (NX1500 -- essentially a low-power Athlon Model 10 128+256KiB L1+L2) here: http://www.epiacenter.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=88&page=4 AMD rates the Geode NX versus the ViA solutions, and AMD is still being way too conservative! The "1500" (1.0GHz) _roasts_ the ViA C7 1.5GHz. I guess someone wasn't kidding when they said the 500MHz C3 is slower than a 266MHz Pentium II. I've been using 400MHz C3s in embedded but they were only doing basic networking. I still can't find the AMD Geode NX on its own, much less the fanless 1250/1500 models (667MHz/1.0GHz) models that use 1.0-1.1V. I can only find the Geode NX 1750 (1.4GHz) model that uses 1.25V in MicroATX (I thought I saw a MicroATX too) form-factors. Although at 1.25V, it probably works in any modern Socket-A (462) mainboard. And I guess I could always try under-clocking/under-volting. I'm tempted to buy that nForce2 IGP SFF and a PCChips board (which is essentially the Geode NX1750 reference MicroATX mainboard with the SiS741GX chipset) and moving the processor. From hescominsoon at emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com Fri Oct 6 18:26:52 2006 From: hescominsoon at emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com (William Warren) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] ViA C3 for IPCop? Yes/no? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4526D82C.9030108@emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com> squid isn't Cpu intensive..only Dansguardian..however snort IS cpu intensive. HOw much ram is in the box? the 800 mhz c3's have equivalent FP performance of 400mhz p-2's so keep that in mind when delaing with something like DG or snort. Bryan J. Smith wrote: > I've noted NewEgg has been selling a nice 7" x 11" x 12" mini-tower > with the ultra low-power (sub-10W) Via C3 800MHz -- 165W PS and > CD/floppy included -- for $100: > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833156171 > > My Pentium isn't cutting it for IPCop, especially not with the new > Snort rulesets and OpenVPN (forget enabling Squid), and I was > considering just using one of my existing S754/939 MIcroATX near-SFF > (9" x 11" x 14") or buying one of those $110 Socket-A SFF (7.5" x 8" x > 12") units. But those solutions would definitely eat up 2-3x as much > power -- e.g., even the older Duron Applebred is 50+W. I'd rather go > with something lower power and very quiet (like the current Pentium > NLX solution I have). > > I thought the C3 would be a good option, but then I saw this thread: > http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1053648 > > I think the guy made a poor hard drive choice and other issues, but > then again, it could be the C3. I'd like to enable Squid (and get it > off my main file server) on this unit, as well as Snort and OpenVPN. > Is anyone else using IPCop with a ViA C3? > _______________________________________________ > Pc_support mailing list > Pc_support@matrixlist.com > http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support > -- 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 b.j.smith at ieee.org Sat Oct 7 04:55:11 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] ViA C3 for IPCop? Yes/no? In-Reply-To: <4526D82C.9030108@emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com> References: <4526D82C.9030108@emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com> Message-ID: <1160211311.3020.35.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Fri, 2006-10-06 at 18:26 -0400, William Warren wrote: > squid isn't Cpu intensive..only Dansguardian..however snort IS cpu > intensive. HOw much ram is in the box? the 800 mhz c3's have > equivalent FP performance of 400mhz p-2's so keep that in mind when > delaing with something like DG or snort. Actually, the FPU is worse than that in my experience. I used to think the ALU was comparable, but I guess not either. But the FPU wouldn't be used for any caching -- unless the developers really didn't know what they were doing (which is not always uncommon as one might assume ;-). -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, technical annoyance mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com --------------------------------------------------------- The world is in need of solutions. Unfortunately, people seem to be more interested in blindly aligning themselves with one of only two viewponts -- an "us v. them" debate that has nothing to do with finding an actual solution. From hescominsoon at emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com Sat Oct 7 07:48:01 2006 From: hescominsoon at emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com (William Warren) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] ViA C3 for IPCop? Yes/no? In-Reply-To: <1160211311.3020.35.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> References: <4526D82C.9030108@emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com> <1160211311.3020.35.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> Message-ID: <452793F1.1070005@emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com> FPU is hammered due to the packet analysis of snort. Also the data analysis Dansguardian does is also very FPU intensive. As i said squid isn't cpu intensive at all..the other two(dansguardian and snort) are highly fpu intensive. Bryan J. Smith wrote: > On Fri, 2006-10-06 at 18:26 -0400, William Warren wrote: >> squid isn't Cpu intensive..only Dansguardian..however snort IS cpu >> intensive. HOw much ram is in the box? the 800 mhz c3's have >> equivalent FP performance of 400mhz p-2's so keep that in mind when >> delaing with something like DG or snort. > > Actually, the FPU is worse than that in my experience. I used to think > the ALU was comparable, but I guess not either. But the FPU wouldn't be > used for any caching -- unless the developers really didn't know what > they were doing (which is not always uncommon as one might assume ;-). > > -- 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 pc_support at thingbuilder.com Sat Oct 7 19:02:51 2006 From: pc_support at thingbuilder.com (BBBB) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Streaming Video over LAN to Browser. Message-ID: <001b01c6ea64$b721c270$4c01a8c0@dvdburner> I am looking for suggestions for streaming video on an office LAN. This is for a studio that produces TV commercials. The idea would be that the client/agency/producers/etc, would be able to see what is going on in the studio without being in direct sight of a video monitor. (they are usually in front of a computer screen) I have VLC streaming but I haven't been able to get it to open a Firefox plugin. It will only open with the VLC player. I am still working on VLC and may get it working. Everyone will have a browser on their laptop or desktop. (About 50/50 Mac and Windows.) I will have a composite video signal for input. If anyone has had good or bad experience with this type of setup, I would really like to get your input and suggestions. Thanks, Bradley From tim at mcdonough.net Sat Oct 7 22:50:12 2006 From: tim at mcdonough.net (Tim McDonough) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Ultra ATX Mid-Tower for $39.99 shipped - $30 rebate ... Review? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <45286764.9090302@mcdonough.net> Bryan J. Smith wrote: > On Wed, Sep 27, Teeemmmaaaay! wrote: >> The nice FedEx man is supposed to drop one of these off today >> according to the tracking info. I'll report back once it shows. > > Hey Tim, you gotta an update on this? > Good? Bad? Radio Crap? > Apologies to the list. It was delivered while I was finishing things up for work and then my wife and I went and vacationed in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee for a week -- 7 days with no email and extremely little cell phone service. Nice! I have not used the case at this point. The metal framework is nicely constructed and does not seem flimsy in any way. Finish on the plastic pieces is nice and every thing fits together very well. A nice bonus in my opinion is a front panel firewire and USB connector tucked away behind a small door. Lots of space for mounting things and room to work for folks like me with big hands. The case has more of a professional/industrial look to it than some others I've seen at low sale prices. I like artistic stuff as much as the next guy but I just don't care for a lot of the newer cases with clear sides, lighting that does nothing useful, and gaudy color schemes. If they run a similar sale again I'll but another. I don't know what I'm going to build with the case yet. I like computers that ideally I cannot hear. I need to research power supplies and very quiet fans. Tim From thebs413 at gmail.com Sat Oct 7 22:52:09 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] ViA C3 for IPCop? Yes/no? -- ALU v. FPU usage ... Message-ID: [ Hmmm, my original post didn't make it to the list? ] William Warren wrote: > FPU is hammered due to the packet analysis of snort. Also the data > analysis Dansguardian does is also very FPU intensive. As i said squid > isn't cpu intensive at all..the other two(dansguardian and snort) are > highly fpu intensive. I don't see how/why the FPU would ever be used at all? I don't see any floating point need at all, and it would be a lot slower than integer. In fact, the software wouldn't run at all (or require software emulation) on virtually all microcontrollers -- even Intel's XScale IXP (communication I/O processors). The only remote usage I see is to leverage some integer SSE instructions using the 128-bit XMM registers of the Athlon XP and later units, which are microcoded to leverage its 3-issue FPU. Intel processors (at least P3/P4) have dedicated SSE pipes for such. Nearly all, 45 of 47 instructions, of MMX do integer transforms as well. The only legacy FPU hack I know of was for the defective ALU load in the original, 2-issue ALU of the original Pentium. Pentium Pro on-ward corrected that (and was largely a completely different design from the Pentium). So this doesn't make sense at all. I guess I should look at the code to see for myself -- possibly disassemble to ensure no FPU opcodes are used at all. I bet it's only limited, integer MMX/SSE. From thebs413 at gmail.com Sat Oct 7 23:38:03 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] JetWay J7F3 Mini-ITX w/DaughterCard option ... Message-ID: Found this cool Mini-ITX Socket-A platform for the Geode NX: http://www.jetway.com.tw/jetway/system/productshow2.asp?id=258 Supposedly it is under $200 with Geode NX CPU. But even cooler is its daughtercard options, like this $50 tripple GbE LAN: http://www.jetway.com.tw/jetway/system/productshow2.asp?id=271 Can't find a US distributor, but here's a British one: http://linitx.com/product_info.php?cPath=12_145&products_id=1085 http://linitx.com/product_info.php?cPath=12_138&products_id=1116 Not a great GbE NIC, but for a basic 'Ritter, it'll do quite nicely. From work at sprynet.com Sat Oct 7 23:42:58 2006 From: work at sprynet.com (John Hayden) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Streaming Video over LAN to Browser. In-Reply-To: <001b01c6ea64$b721c270$4c01a8c0@dvdburner> Message-ID: All I could suggest is shout cast J.T. Hayden KG4BFJ 1419 Oregon Ave. St. Cloud, FL. 34769 Home/Office - 407.891.1835 office/mobile - 407.922.3091 -----Original Message----- From: pc_support-bounces@matrixlist.com [mailto:pc_support-bounces@matrixlist.com] On Behalf Of BBBB Sent: Saturday, October 07, 2006 19:03 To: This is the PC Support list. Subject: [Pc_Support] Streaming Video over LAN to Browser. I am looking for suggestions for streaming video on an office LAN. This is for a studio that produces TV commercials. The idea would be that the client/agency/producers/etc, would be able to see what is going on in the studio without being in direct sight of a video monitor. (they are usually in front of a computer screen) I have VLC streaming but I haven't been able to get it to open a Firefox plugin. It will only open with the VLC player. I am still working on VLC and may get it working. Everyone will have a browser on their laptop or desktop. (About 50/50 Mac and Windows.) I will have a composite video signal for input. If anyone has had good or bad experience with this type of setup, I would really like to get your input and suggestions. Thanks, Bradley _______________________________________________ Pc_support mailing list Pc_support@matrixlist.com http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: smime.p7s Type: application/x-pkcs7-signature Size: 4483 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://lists.matrixlist.com/pipermail/pc_support/attachments/20061007/33615281/smime.bin From thebs413 at gmail.com Sat Oct 7 23:46:28 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Ultra ATX Mid-Tower for $39.99 shipped - $30 rebate ... Review? Message-ID: Tim McDonough wrote: > Apologies to the list. It was delivered while I was finishing things > up for work and then my wife and I went and vacationed in the Smokey > Mountains of Tennessee for a week -- 7 days with no email and > extremely little cell phone service. Nice! It's always good to get away. My wife and I did the Smokeies earlier in the year to "get away from it all" and "disconnect," totally leave the notebooks behind. When we go to the Florida Keys, we bring our notebooks. It all depends. > I have not used the case at this point. The metal framework is nicely > constructed and does not seem flimsy in any way. Finish on the plastic > pieces is nice and every thing fits together very well. A nice bonus > in my opinion is a front panel firewire and USB connector tucked away > behind a small door. Lots of space for mounting things and room to > work for folks like me with big hands. It's always nice when FireWire is included on the front in addition to USB. > The case has more of a professional/industrial look to it than some > others I've seen at low sale prices. I like artistic stuff as much as > the next guy but I just don't care for a lot of the newer cases with > clear sides, lighting that does nothing useful, and gaudy color schemes. Same here. Thanx for the update! From pc_support at thingbuilder.com Sat Oct 7 23:59:43 2006 From: pc_support at thingbuilder.com (BBBB) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Streaming Video over LAN to Browser. References: Message-ID: <003701c6ea8e$2ff07060$4c01a8c0@dvdburner> ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Hayden" To: "'This is the PC Support list.'" Sent: Saturday, October 07, 2006 10:42 PM Subject: RE: [Pc_Support] Streaming Video over LAN to Browser. All I could suggest is shout cast J.T. Hayden Thanks. It looks like Shoutcast is only audio unless I have missed something. Bradley > _______________________________________________ > Pc_support mailing list > Pc_support@matrixlist.com > http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support > From thebs413 at gmail.com Sat Oct 7 23:59:05 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Geode NX Voltage ID, Specifications, Socket Modfication, etc... Message-ID: I found an expert on the Geode NX here: http://fab51.com/mobile/tbred/geode_nx-e12.html In a nutshell, the Geode NX uses the same "Mobile" Voltage ID as the Athlon XP-Mobile (XP-M). Now it all makes sense. So the key is to get a mainboard that supports manual modification of the voltage, or possibly modify the mainboard physically yourself. I still can't find someone that sells the Geode NX CPU on its own. Oh well. From thebs413 at gmail.com Sun Oct 8 02:16:15 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] AMD S939 Athlon 3400+ with nForce4/Ultra mainboard for $110 ... Message-ID: Not a bad combination for the price, if you're in the market for a full ATX mainboard+CPU upgrade: http://dealnews.com/deals/AMD-Athlon-64-3400-2-2-GHz-Processor-motherboard-for-110-shipped/135308.html Processor page at NewEgg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103023 Mainboard option pages at NewEgg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813135003 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138248 I'd opt for the ECS, the Biostar is getting poor reviews. From thebs413 at gmail.com Mon Oct 9 14:27:38 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Microsoft still caters to people who write letters, not books ... Message-ID: The New York Times had an article today about the current bug squashing status in both Microsoft Windows Vista and Office 2007. RE: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/09/technology/09vista.html In reality, let's fact it, the two products are still designed for people who write letters, not books much less have serious document and factory-floor product backends. Working a several large, but still American industry powerhouses myself, Office on the factory floor is still very much a _joke_ and has 0% automation. One of my favorite quotes was at the very end ... "If you look at the mean time to crash for most Office customers, it's very high," he [Ben Canning] said. "There is a small minority that crash all the time, and they hate us, and we want to help." Can I get a "bullshit"?! Mr. Canning knows, as everyone else who attempts to use MS Word in a _production_ environment knows, that MS Office -- through 11 (2003) -- is a letter writing program. It has _no_ strict, internal documentation typset or language, and compounds meta-data upon meta-data as you mark-up text with_out_ any "clean up." As a result, as you use more sectioning, figures, tables and other meta-data-filled objects, they compound and compound upon one another. MS Word slows to a crawl and, at some point, Windows itself will detect it is "unresponsive." People like to say it's memory leaks but it's not. It's the result of the meta-data of objects in the document applied over and over without any control. Until MS Word is fundamentally changed from its "letter writing" aspect to a _true_ documentation system, this will not be solved. Mr. Canning knows it. Mr. Gates knows it. And God knows Microsoft's own, internal documentation team knows it -- because they do _not_ use MS Word. Because it was _never_ designed for such. Microsoft was supposed to really adopt a true documentation backend with XML for Office 12 (2007). But they said that for Office 11 (2003) as well, and what did we get? 0% XML for its own structure, only add-in/extensions for 3rd party. But the reality is that from what I've seen and read, Office 12 is _not_ a true back-end re-design, and the XML is still _not_ native or 1:1 to internal. It's in Microsoft's own benefit to make good on XML. Not because it will offer interoperability, but because XML -- or _any_ back-end documentation format -- will actually get Microsoft to "clean up" how it handles meta-data by dealing with tag layout, reformat and re-format / clean up. They haven't to date, and it's no better than your typical Javascript/Ajax HTML editor. Not something for writing books much less can be automated on a factory floor. At the most, you have to write a serious amount of code and other, _100%_external_ systems to "extract" from it via its "fat" client -- when it doesn't crash as a result. From wam at HiWAAY.net Mon Oct 9 15:16:51 2006 From: wam at HiWAAY.net (William A. Mahaffey III) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Microsoft still caters to people who write letters, not books ... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <452AA023.40103@HiWAAY.net> Bryan J. Smith wrote: > The New York Times had an article today about the current bug > squashing status in both Microsoft Windows Vista and Office 2007. > RE: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/09/technology/09vista.html > > In reality, let's fact it, the two products are still designed for > people who write letters, not books much less have serious document > and factory-floor product backends. Working a several large, but > still American industry powerhouses myself, Office on the factory > floor is still very much a _joke_ and has 0% automation. > > One of my favorite quotes was at the very end ... > > "If you look at the mean time to crash for most Office customers, > it's > very high," he [Ben Canning] said. "There is a small minority that > crash all the time, and they hate us, and we want to help." > > Can I get a "bullshit"?! Mr. Canning knows, as everyone else who > attempts to use MS Word in a _production_ environment knows, that MS > Office -- through 11 (2003) -- is a letter writing program. OK: *BULLSHIT !!!!* -- William A. Mahaffey III ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "The M1 Garand is without doubt the finest implement of war ever devised by man." -- Gen. George S. Patton Jr. From b.j.smith at ieee.org Sat Oct 7 15:56:20 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: ViA C3 for IPCop? Yes/no? In-Reply-To: <452793F1.1070005@emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com> References: <4526D82C.9030108@emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com> <1160211311.3020.35.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> <452793F1.1070005@emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com> Message-ID: <1160250980.3020.49.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Sat, 2006-10-07 at 07:48 -0400, William Warren wrote: > FPU is hammered due to the packet analysis of snort. Also the data > analysis Dansguardian does is also very FPU intensive. As i said squid > isn't cpu intensive at all..the other two(dansguardian and snort) are > highly fpu intensive. Hmmm, why are they using the FPU? That just doesn't make sense to me. The only reason to use the FPU would be on the original Pentium (not Pro or later) because of its buggy ALU. I just have no idea where the FPU would be useful for what type of analysis. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, technical annoyance mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com --------------------------------------------------------- The world is in need of solutions. Unfortunately, people seem to be more interested in blindly aligning themselves with one of only two viewponts -- an "us v. them" debate that has nothing to do with finding an actual solution. From b.j.smith at ieee.org Sat Oct 7 16:00:36 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: ViA C3 for IPCop? Yes/no? -- this still doens't make sense to me ... In-Reply-To: <1160250980.3020.49.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> References: <4526D82C.9030108@emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com> <1160211311.3020.35.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> <452793F1.1070005@emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com> <1160250980.3020.49.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> Message-ID: <1160251236.3020.54.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Sat, 2006-10-07 at 15:56 -0400, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > Hmmm, why are they using the FPU? That just doesn't make sense to me. > The only reason to use the FPU would be on the original Pentium (not Pro > or later) because of its buggy ALU. I just have no idea where the FPU > would be useful for what type of analysis. I guess the only time you'd use the FPU is if you were leveraging some SSE instructions on the Athlon/XP/64. They aren't floating-point operations, but actually 128-bit (4 x 32-bit) data integer matrix operations. In a Pentium III/4/Core, they will use dedicated SSE pipes (although Core might use its FPU too?), and only the Athlon uses its FPU. But that doesn't mean anything for Pentium II, Pro, Pentium, K6, pre-SSE microcoded Athlons -- let alone microcontrollers that _lack_ a FPU like Intel XScale, ARM, select MIPS, SH4, etc... I know Snort runs on them too. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, technical annoyance mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com --------------------------------------------------------- The world is in need of solutions. Unfortunately, people seem to be more interested in blindly aligning themselves with one of only two viewponts -- an "us v. them" debate that has nothing to do with finding an actual solution. From dmckenna at thelimucompany.com Tue Oct 10 09:12:40 2006 From: dmckenna at thelimucompany.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Microsoft still caters to people who write letters, not books ... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Oct 9, 2006, at 2:27 PM, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > Working a several large, but still American industry powerhouses > myself, > Office on the factory floor is still very much a _joke_ and has 0% > automation. So what do they use instead? And in what way is OOo any better? > "If you look at the mean time to crash for most Office customers, it's > very high," he [Ben Canning] said. "There is a small minority that > crash all the time, and they hate us, and we want to help." A text editor with shortcuts for embedded printer control strings would work better for many people. -- Damien McKenna - Web Developer - dmckenna@thelimucompany.com The Limu Company - http://www.thelimucompany.com/ - 407-804-1014 #include From b.j.smith at ieee.org Sun Oct 8 23:52:58 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: 20" monitors -- notebook v. standalone (desktop) LCD cost In-Reply-To: <7e3993190610082018qb5953f1ka63ad71252ec7759@mail.gmail.com> References: <20061005183010.f87e45e1.ozz@ozz.is-a-geek.net> <4525CF50.4030509@cfl.rr.com> <200610052202.35764.arodland@comcast.net> <1160210616.3020.22.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> <7e3993190610082018qb5953f1ka63ad71252ec7759@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <1160365978.3133.22.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> Excellent and far deeper insight! Thanx! [ CC'ing PC_Support ] On Sun, 2006-10-08 at 23:18 -0400, Randall Perry wrote: > Let's not forget that laptop LCD's are quite a bit dimmer than their > desktop/wallmounted counter parts. Also, the viewing angles are MUCH > better on our desktop LCD's in the house compared to any of my > laptops. > > I have done my fair share of rebuilding laptop LCD panels in the past > couple of years (had them shipped in from California to Georgia and > those inbetween). The construction is significatly different than > desktop LCD's > > In contrast to the desktop LCD's the CCFL's aren't as bright, the > inverters are cheap (especially on HP's). Like Bryan mentions---you > don't have to convert analog to digital. Heck one of my 17" LCD > panels also has RGB, Svideo, SVGA and a F-coax connector (and houses > speaksers and a cable tuner internally). Lots of stuff crammed in > there. > > Note that you also don't have to bundle a power supply for the > laptop(because the notebook already has a DC power source). > > Now outside of construction, let's consider other costs: > > A standalone LCD is a standalone product. It does NOT benefit from > 'bundling'. But, if that LCD were thrown in with a DVD player, > surround sound and FM tuner...you would see a 'discount' applied. > > Now take the FLIPside of that. Suppose you need an LCD for your 14" > notebook. Toshiba wants $400. Sony wants..well, it is too high to > mention. Check on ebay and get a used one for $120. $120??!! yep. > For just the LCD with no bezel, no inverter. Sure, you can just buy > a brand new notebook and strip it for parts. In fact, that is what > most of us do who resell screens and parts. It is much cheaper that > way. But isn't it frustrating that a new 17" can be bought complete > for under $100? > > It _USED_ to be that there were more laptops sold than standalone LCD > panels sold. > LCD prices were very high then. > Not anymore. Right now, the sales numbers are neck and neck. > In 2005, there is an estimation that over 100 million laptops were > sold worldwide in 2005. > According to DisplaySearch, 106.2 million LCDs were shipped in the > same time period. (in 2004 only around 70 million standalone LCDs were > sold). But that would explain the falling of LCD prices as more > manufacturers jump on board with more offerings. > > And as LCDs become the standard display to bundle with a new PC, we > will all benefit from better technology at lower prices. > -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, technical annoyance mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com --------------------------------------------------------- The world is in need of solutions. Unfortunately, people seem to be more interested in blindly aligning themselves with one of only two viewponts -- an "us v. them" debate that has nothing to do with finding an actual solution. From whittake at sbaflorida.com Tue Oct 10 13:08:22 2006 From: whittake at sbaflorida.com (Homer Whittaker) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: Do your own blog, Bryan (was "Re: [Pc_Support] AnandTech reviews the 7900GS (and I updated my blog last night) ...") In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <452BD386.4050308@sbaflorida.com> Bryan J. Smith wrote: > Damien McKenna wrote: >> Why not just do your own blog? Wouldn't take but seconds to install >> e.g. Wordpress, and many hosts have install programs to simplify it >> even further. Then you could be rid of the needless junk, and >> control your own data :-P > > Yeah, I've been too lazy to get a hosting provider. I still own a few > domains (lost a few others, long story). > > Anyone you recommend that could host Wordpress (is that what everyone > is running today? I did before! Try www.powweb.com. They have all the bells and whistles to make life easy for you. Homer > PHP-based I assume?)? Comments, suggestions, > etc... welcome. > _______________________________________________ > Pc_support mailing list > Pc_support@matrixlist.com > http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support > From hescominsoon at emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com Tue Oct 10 20:18:05 2006 From: hescominsoon at emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com (William Warren) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: Do your own blog, Bryan (was "Re: [Pc_Support] AnandTech reviews the 7900GS (and I updated my blog last night) ...") In-Reply-To: <452BD386.4050308@sbaflorida.com> References: <452BD386.4050308@sbaflorida.com> Message-ID: <452C383D.5020903@emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com> actually read the fine print. They have just been bought out and now they have serious limits on everything from webserver connections to a limit on concurrent and total database queries. Homer Whittaker wrote: > > > Bryan J. Smith wrote: >> Damien McKenna wrote: >>> Why not just do your own blog? Wouldn't take but seconds to install >>> e.g. Wordpress, and many hosts have install programs to simplify it >>> even further. Then you could be rid of the needless junk, and >>> control your own data :-P >> >> Yeah, I've been too lazy to get a hosting provider. I still own a few >> domains (lost a few others, long story). >> >> Anyone you recommend that could host Wordpress (is that what everyone >> is running today? > I did before! Try www.powweb.com. They have all the bells and whistles > to make life easy for you. > Homer > > >> PHP-based I assume?)? Comments, suggestions, >> etc... welcome. >> _______________________________________________ >> Pc_support mailing list >> Pc_support@matrixlist.com >> http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support >> > _______________________________________________ > Pc_support mailing list > Pc_support@matrixlist.com > http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support > -- 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 thebs413 at gmail.com Tue Oct 10 21:04:48 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Microsoft still caters to people who write letters, not books ... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Damien McKenna wrote: > So what do they use instead? A strictly defined and fully documented XML with namespace, schema, etc... Understand that Office 11 (2003) XML is not used for the documents themselves. It is only for integrating 3rd party XML and schema and is not used by Office itself. In other words, you have to be running the "fat" software to interact at all, using VBA. Especially for translators and templates -- they don't work outside of the "fat" software. Office 12 (2007) has much of the same limitations. Most of the continued complaints are due to the fact that you still have to run the "fat" software to access the namespace and schema via VBA, although there is a huge swell and push to get Microsoft to fully document them for external use. Especially since the translators and templates still rely on the "fat" software. I personally think the problem is due to the fact that Microsoft still hasn't made XML the true foundation, and it's non-native. We'll see. > And in what way is OOo any better? It's not OOo, but the OpenDoc XML standard from OASIS, sponsored by Boeing, Corel, Sun and others. It's been fully standardized for years now. Everything is a modular and standardized mark-up, with namespace and schema well-understood. Where applicable, select schema is based on existing W3C standards -- e.g., MathML for equations and formulas. Now that on its own isn't enough. Which brings me to 2 further points ... 1. The namespace and schema have countless translators. E.g., SGML and LaTeX have extensive translators to/from ODT, as do other, common (albeit subset) XML mark-ups such as DocBook XML. 2. Any and all possible code/libraries to use ODT are fully available as LGPL via OpenOffice.org. If you want to write an external application, you can link against those routines directly, without using the "fat" software. It's these two details that Microsoft will virtually _never_ provide, especially #2. Visual Studio for Microsoft Office is _not_ the same as #2, and it's a bloated, crash-happy POS -- even for Office 12 (2007). > A text editor with shortcuts for embedded printer control strings would work > better for many people. Or a text editor with a standard output language, like Postscript. But in reality, for writing letters, MS Word is not ideal either. It's better to use a lighter-weight "writer" program than not only MS Office, but even Open/StarWriter. And that's where the existing (and new) crop of ODT compatible software comes in. ;) Open/StarWriter isn't perfect, but it's a _true_ mark-up/typeset back-end thanx to ODT -- as is the rest of the OpenOffice.org/StarOffice suite. And anything that wants to do anything it does can leverage its LGPL libraries -- back-end processing, GUI, whatever and only exactly what it needs, with no bloat. From thebs413 at gmail.com Wed Oct 11 00:31:00 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] NEC promises two new, commodity chips in 2007 that handle both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray ... Message-ID: I hope to God these ASICs catch on ... http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/6222/53/ It would be nice to see dual-format drives available for PCs, possibly being only a few hundred bucks by late 2007/early 2008. I don't think I'll bother buying anything until then. From jvsmith at digitalmatter.us Wed Oct 11 23:39:10 2006 From: jvsmith at digitalmatter.us (Jason Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Power Supply Question Message-ID: <1160624350.3092.24.camel@athlon.bedroom.lan> I've already purchased the components for the system but got to thinking whether or not the PSU that I bought would be enough. Couldn't really find anything with a couple of quick google searches so I thought I'd ask the list. Here's what I'm getting. Cooler Master Centurion RC541 case w/o power supply 2 - 80MM case fans 2 - 512MB DDR2 sticks 1 - 250GB WD2500YS 1 - Samsung SH-S182D DVD burner 1 - USB card reader 1 - Asus M2NPV-VM mother board 1 - AMD 64x2 4200+ 65W Now the PSU I bought is a Seasonic S12-330 330W unit. Is this PS big enough? I assumed it would be but I'm not so sure now. Thanks, Jason -- Jason Smith jvsmith at digitalmatter dot us http://www.digitalmatter.us From b.j.smith at ieee.org Wed Oct 11 23:55:50 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Power Supply Question -- you're more than fine In-Reply-To: <1160624350.3092.24.camel@athlon.bedroom.lan> References: <1160624350.3092.24.camel@athlon.bedroom.lan> Message-ID: <1160625350.3006.129.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Wed, 2006-10-11 at 22:39 -0500, Jason Smith wrote: > I've already purchased the components for the system but got to thinking > whether or not the PSU that I bought would be enough. Couldn't really > find anything with a couple of quick google searches so I thought I'd > ask the list. Here's what I'm getting. > Cooler Master Centurion RC541 case w/o power supply > 2 - 80MM case fans > 2 - 512MB DDR2 sticks > 1 - 250GB WD2500YS > 1 - Samsung SH-S182D DVD burner > 1 - USB card reader > 1 - Asus M2NPV-VM mother board > 1 - AMD 64x2 4200+ 65W > Now the PSU I bought is a Seasonic S12-330 330W unit. Is this PS big > enough? I assumed it would be but I'm not so sure now. For on-board video? That should be _more_than_well_enough_! Especially for the GeForce 61x0 versus the Intel i9xx series -- the former is faster and far more efficient per Watt. You also have a 65W TDP Athlon64 x2 4200+. The Athlon design, despite being 90nm, still bests even Core (let alone P4) on TDP/power -- even if Core is more powerful per MHz (per Watt for performance is about equivalent). You probably won't break 120W on the unit. The Seasonic S12 PSes are very, very efficient -- 85+%! You'll get a lot out of that 330W. -- Bryan P.S. You can run dual-head with that mainboard. But you just can't use any converters on the outputs -- i.e., the DVI has to be digital, the miniDB15 has to be VGA/analog. Also, nice break-out on the HDTV/component! That can also be your 2nd head instead. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, technical annoyance mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com --------------------------------------------------------- Fission Power: An Inconvenient Solution From pctech at htc.net Thu Oct 12 01:50:19 2006 From: pctech at htc.net (JohnH) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] OT: Generic Quicken Message-ID: <006c01c6edc2$5347a380$6401a8c0@3a5ah6vqcd> My VistaPrint Electronic Business CardDoes anyone know of a cheap (if not free) knock off of Quicken and/or Quick Books? JohnH pctech@htc.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.matrixlist.com/pipermail/pc_support/attachments/20061012/3aed2f5d/attachment.html From thebs413 at gmail.com Thu Oct 12 02:24:31 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] OT: Generic Quicken Message-ID: JohnH wrote: > My VistaPrint Electronic Business Card > Does anyone know of a cheap (if not free) knock off of Quicken and/or Quick Books? Is not Quicken and/or QuickBooks fairly inexpensive already? At least in the case you want to use various support services? It's those service alliances that you pay for. Under Linux, GNUCash does _both_ personal financial _and_ small business accounting. It replaces _both_ Quicken and QuickBooks. And it imports/exports many standard (and reverse engineered, older proprietary) formats, including several on-line/Internet formats. But because it's Open Source, it will never establish industry relationships that might be advantageous to pay for. Just wondering. From pctech at htc.net Thu Oct 12 13:36:03 2006 From: pctech at htc.net (JohnH) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] OT: Generic Quicken References: Message-ID: <000301c6ee24$eca7a180$6401a8c0@3a5ah6vqcd> Brian Thanks for the info! I will try GNUCash. Your right, Quicken and/or QuickBooks, is allot cheaper now. However, when a person has not worked for over a year, even $1.00 is too expensive. Thanks JohnH ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bryan J. Smith" To: Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2006 1:24 AM Subject: [Pc_Support] OT: Generic Quicken > JohnH wrote: >> Does anyone know of a cheap (if not free) knock off of Quicken and/or >> Quick Books? > > Is not Quicken and/or QuickBooks fairly inexpensive already? At least > in the case you want to use various support services? It's those > service alliances that you pay for. > > Under Linux, GNUCash does _both_ personal financial _and_ small > business accounting. It replaces _both_ Quicken and QuickBooks. And > it imports/exports many standard (and reverse engineered, older > proprietary) formats, including several on-line/Internet formats. But > because it's Open Source, it will never establish industry > relationships that might be advantageous to pay for. > > Just wondering. > _______________________________________________ > Pc_support mailing list > Pc_support@matrixlist.com > http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support > > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.1.408 / Virus Database: 268.13.2/472 - Release Date: 10/11/2006 > > From pberry2 at cfl.rr.com Thu Oct 12 16:40:34 2006 From: pberry2 at cfl.rr.com (patrick) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] OT: Generic Quicken In-Reply-To: <000301c6ee24$eca7a180$6401a8c0@3a5ah6vqcd> References: <000301c6ee24$eca7a180$6401a8c0@3a5ah6vqcd> Message-ID: <452EA842.6060908@cfl.rr.com> JohnH wrote: > Brian > Thanks for the info! I will try GNUCash. > Your right, Quicken and/or QuickBooks, is allot cheaper now. > However, when a person has not worked for over a year, even $1.00 is > too expensive. > Thanks > JohnH > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bryan J. Smith" > To: > Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2006 1:24 AM > Subject: [Pc_Support] OT: Generic Quicken > > >> JohnH wrote: >>> Does anyone know of a cheap (if not free) knock off of Quicken >>> and/or Quick Books? >> >> Is not Quicken and/or QuickBooks fairly inexpensive already? At least >> in the case you want to use various support services? It's those >> service alliances that you pay for. >> >> Under Linux, GNUCash does _both_ personal financial _and_ small >> business accounting. It replaces _both_ Quicken and QuickBooks. And >> it imports/exports many standard (and reverse engineered, older >> proprietary) formats, including several on-line/Internet formats. But >> because it's Open Source, it will never establish industry >> relationships that might be advantageous to pay for. >> >> Just wondering. >> _______________________________________________ >> Pc_support mailing list >> Pc_support@matrixlist.com >> http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support >> >> >> >> -- >> No virus found in this incoming message. >> Checked by AVG Free Edition. >> Version: 7.1.408 / Virus Database: 268.13.2/472 - Release Date: >> 10/11/2006 >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > Pc_support mailing list > Pc_support@matrixlist.com > http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support > Ah, we un-employed/under-employed folk are the perfect candidates to be GNU/Linux and FOSS advocates. http://pclinuxos.com contains all of the above noted programs. From thebs413 at gmail.com Fri Oct 13 13:26:58 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Commodity, $499 Projector with $30/bulb for 480i/480p TV Message-ID: Thought this was an interesting item: http://www.lumenlab.com/pm_projector.php It has a built-in NTSC support via coax. It also has component. It only does 854x480 native, so you only want to use it for 480i and 480p (today's DVD-Video), or maybe big-screen gaming (as it can down-convert from 800x600 and 1024x768 via VGA in). Probably the best thing about it is the cost of replacement bulbs, only $30, and rated for 6,000 hours. The contrast is only 600:1 and the lumens are only 1000, so it's not going to be brightest of solutions for a serious room. But it will do the job. From thebs413 at gmail.com Fri Oct 13 13:35:09 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Sceptre 22" Widescreen LCD for $299 after Rebate (Costco On-line) ... Message-ID: For those with a Costco membership, if you want a large (22"), widescreen LCD for cheap, this might be a good solution: http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11169064 $349 - $20 on-line price break - $30 mail-in rebate. Resolution is 1680x1050, 5ms response, excellent 1200:1 contrast and has not only VGA and DVI inputs, but a HDMI as well (which would make it usable as a TV with newer cable/satellite boxen). From whittake at sbaflorida.com Fri Oct 13 19:14:21 2006 From: whittake at sbaflorida.com (Homer Whittaker) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Sceptre 22" Widescreen LCD for $299 after Rebate (Costco On-line) ... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <45301DCD.6090301@sbaflorida.com> Do you need a super good video card to run this at 1680x1050?? Or will one of my Matrox 4** cards work? Homer Whittaker Bryan J. Smith wrote: > For those with a Costco membership, if you want a large (22"), > widescreen LCD for cheap, this might be a good solution: > http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11169064 > > $349 - $20 on-line price break - $30 mail-in rebate. > > Resolution is 1680x1050, 5ms response, excellent 1200:1 contrast and > has not only VGA and DVI inputs, but a HDMI as well (which would make > it usable as a TV with newer cable/satellite boxen). > _______________________________________________ > Pc_support mailing list > Pc_support@matrixlist.com > http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support > From b.j.smith at ieee.org Fri Oct 13 20:06:29 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:07 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Sceptre 22" Widescreen LCD for $299 after Rebate (Costco On-line) ... In-Reply-To: <45301DCD.6090301@sbaflorida.com> References: <45301DCD.6090301@sbaflorida.com> Message-ID: <1160784389.2987.12.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Fri, 2006-10-13 at 19:14 -0400, Homer Whittaker wrote: > Do you need a super good video card to run this at 1680x1050?? > Or will one of my Matrox 4** cards work? Any video card capable of 1600x1200 should be able to do 1680x1050. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, technical annoyance mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com --------------------------------------------------------- Fission Power: An Inconvenient Solution From b.j.smith at ieee.org Sat Oct 14 22:26:52 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Vista EULA -- Windows Server 2003 Remote Administration v. Terminal Services ... In-Reply-To: <453198FE.5060802@sunstatemartialarts.com> Message-ID: <20061015022652.51076.qmail@web32908.mail.mud.yahoo.com> [ It's really time to move this to PC_Support ] ray wrote: > http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/howtobuy/licensing/ts2003.mspx > then the administrator set it up in breach of the EULA. Let's maintain _context_ here. People aren't being consistent in what they are discussing. First off, Ray, you just quoted Terminal Service Licensing mode. That has nothing with what I was talking about. Although you _can_ use the TS mode as long as you _either_ have the CALs _or_ you have Windows "Pro" licenses (which count as a "CAL"). [ NOTE: For Windows Server 2003, you have to have XP Pro without a CAL, as 2000 Pro is not "latest" (like XP Pro) and will eat a CAL for Windows Server 2003. For Windows 2000 Server, either 2000 Pro or XP Pro will provide a CAL. ] Secondly, getting back to what I was talking about, it seems Windows Server 2003 still has the _same_ 2 concurrent sessions for "Remote Administration" mode just like Windows 2000 Pro, Server and XP Pro. From: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/techinfo/overview/tsremoteadmin.mspx "Remote Desktop for Administration allows for the management of servers from any location without affecting server performance or application compatibility. In addition to the console session, up to two remote administration sessions are supported, Since this is meant as a single-user remote access solution, no Terminal Server Client Access License (CAL) is required to use Remote Desktop for Administration." Again, if you only need 2 user access, just using Windows 2000 Pro or Windows XP Pro in "Remote Administration" mode works. You can also use this on Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003 as well. If you need more than 2 concurrent sessions, buy Windows 2000 Server or Windows Server 2003, use Terminal Services (not Remote Administration mode), and load however many CALs you need where you don't have Windows 2000/XP Pro (or XP Pro for Server 2003). -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com -------------------------------------------------- Fission Power: An Inconvenient Solution From b.j.smith at ieee.org Sat Oct 14 22:46:42 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) Message-ID: <20061015024642.64406.qmail@web32909.mail.mud.yahoo.com> LSI Logic has an entire series of SAS HBAs now that start at $200: http://www.lsilogic.com/storage_home/products_home/host_bus_adapters/sas_hbas/index.html Most of these HBAs are "intelligent ASICs" that also due hardware RAID-0, 1, 1E and 10E ("E" being where you stripe on a mirror -- e.g., 2-disc RAID-0+1). Virtually every drive available in SCSI or FC can be found for the same price in SAS, including 15Krpm drives. The switching and performance of the interconnect is _superior_. Length (8m) is also better than U160/320 LVD SCSI, and more flexible with x1** or x4 connectors. **x1 is SATA compatible, although the length drops to 1m if you use commodity SATA devices, cabling and even backplanes. I don't see any reason to put in SCSI drives anymore. SAS is leveraging the commodity of SATA, and even SAS x4 backplanes are not that costly -- largely because it's far less traces and signal issues than 80-pin SCA LVD SCSI. There are also no termination details (1 device per channel). And then it gives you multi-targetting capability. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com -------------------------------------------------- Fission Power: An Inconvenient Solution From b.j.smith at ieee.org Sat Oct 14 22:52:05 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) In-Reply-To: <20061015024642.64406.qmail@web32909.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <20061015025205.38436.qmail@web32911.mail.mud.yahoo.com> "Bryan J. Smith" wrote: > LSI Logic has an entire series of SAS HBAs now that start at $200: http://www.lsilogic.com/storage_home/products_home/host_bus_adapters/sas_hbas/index.html Rick Moen (who lambasted me on SVLUG for even suggesting serial storage about 2 years before "he woke up" ;-) has a good page on various Linux support of SAS ASICs/HBAs and more intelligent RAID cards: http://linuxmafia.com/faq/Hardware/sas.html As you'll note in Rick's (among other pages), when it comes to hardware RAID, it really doesn't matter what channels are used. For more HBA support, SAS is replacing SCSI as U640 isn't being adopted (as Rick notes as well). -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com -------------------------------------------------- Fission Power: An Inconvenient Solution From b.j.smith at ieee.org Sat Oct 14 23:06:35 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) -- WAS: Vista EULA In-Reply-To: <4531A296.10602@sunstatemartialarts.com> Message-ID: <20061015030635.28932.qmail@web32912.mail.mud.yahoo.com> > ahh got ya. nice to know. so in bigger environments and places > with extremely heavy traffic going with the newer SCSI is the > way to go. First off, parallel has been _dead_ as a viable storage interconnect for some time. Secondly, the concept of 1 dedicated device per storage channel has been taking over for years now. Back when Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) and AT Attachment (ATA) were new, you still had Programmed I/O (PIO), and early Single/Multiword (8/16-bit) Direct Memory Access (DMA) did not do error checking. But once the newer ATA standards hit with UltraDMA modes and CRC, ATA started to show how powerful it could be for burst transfers. Which brings me to ... Third, more and more intelligence in the OS and controller options. OSes started doing better buffering and caching, especially with increased memory. Intelligent controllers started off-loading queuing and caching to their on-board ASIC/uCs. In fact, when doing raw block transfers with non-blocking I/O, including RAID-0, 1 and 10, an ASIC+SRAM with ATA drives just smacks everything silly. Now the SCSI vendors were just smart and realized that they needed a serialized version. It actually solved a _lot_ of issues they had with parallel SCSI in general. That includes multitargetting with SAS switches and storage subsystems. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com -------------------------------------------------- Fission Power: An Inconvenient Solution From b.j.smith at ieee.org Sat Oct 14 23:13:49 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Vista EULA -- Windows Server 2003 Remote Administration v. Terminal Services ... In-Reply-To: <4531A296.10602@sunstatemartialarts.com> Message-ID: <20061015031349.82000.qmail@web32904.mail.mud.yahoo.com> ray wrote: > ok now that i knew, i was reading you stating it was built into the > OS. yes the Citrix MultiWin is all windows TS is. just in win2k > server it was part of the base OS and install. same with XP and > 2k3. Okay, let's clear through any confusion ... 1. _All_ NT5.x releases, including Windows 2000 Pro, includes Citrix Multiwin in its kernel. MultiWin is what virtualizes the Graphical Display Interface (GDI)** so it can be tied to a remote display. **NOTE: All Win32 applications bind to the _physical_ GDI of NT since version 3.1. This was a 100% personal decision by Bill Gates, and just one of endless clusterfscks built into NT thanx to Mr. Gates. Every single OS/2 user just rolled his/her eyes at the time, especially when it came to the CMD.EXE shell. 2. The "user space services" that provide access to the MultiWin capability is as follows ... Windows 2000 Pro: None included, period. Download and install administrative toolkit. Windows 2000 Server: On CD, but _not_ installed. Has to be installed post-install in either Remote Administration or Terminal Server Licensing mode. Windows XP/Server 2003: Included in install in Remote Administration mode. Windows Terminal Server licensing is installed on Windows Server 2003 to enable that mode. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com -------------------------------------------------- Fission Power: An Inconvenient Solution From Bruce.Metcalf at figzu.com Sun Oct 15 12:43:38 2006 From: Bruce.Metcalf at figzu.com (Bruce Metcalf) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Free Monitor In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4532653A.6000603@figzu.com> Compaq FS740 monitor (without speakers), free to good home. Please contact off-list. Bruce Metcalf bruce@figzu.com From b.j.smith at ieee.org Sun Oct 15 12:43:44 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Tom's Hardware updates VGA Charts ... Message-ID: <20061015164344.12042.qmail@web32906.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Lots of newer cards in the comparisons: http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, Technical Annoyance b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com -------------------------------------------------- Fission Power: An Inconvenient Solution From whittake at sbaflorida.com Mon Oct 16 11:26:24 2006 From: whittake at sbaflorida.com (Homer Whittaker) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Sceptre 22" Widescreen LCD for $299 after Rebate (Costco On-line) ... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4533A4A0.5030206@sbaflorida.com> Bryan J. Smith wrote: > For those with a Costco membership, if you want a large (22"), > widescreen LCD for cheap, this might be a good solution: > http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11169064 > > $349 - $20 on-line price break - $30 mail-in rebate. > > Resolution is 1680x1050, 5ms response, excellent 1200:1 contrast and > has not only VGA and DVI inputs, but a HDMI as well Thanks for the info Bryan. I ordered one from Costco. Odd that I could not find another mention of a Septre 22" LCD on Google. > (which would make > it usable as a TV with newer cable/satellite boxen). Would you expound on the mechanics of how this works? Will it work on a normal in house TV connection? And if so what does one need to make it play? Homer Whittaker > > _______________________________________________ > Pc_support mailing list > Pc_support@matrixlist.com > http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support > From thebs413 at gmail.com Tue Oct 17 15:26:57 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Sceptre 22" Widescreen LCD for $299 after Rebate (Costco On-line) ... Message-ID: Homer de Hacker wrote: > Thanks for the info Bryan. I ordered one from Costco. Odd that I could > not find another mention of a Septre 22" LCD on Google. Try spelling it "Sceptre"**. ;-> Here's a searches using the start of the model number: http://www.google.com/search?q=review+Sceptre+x22wg **NOTE: As an engineer with piss-poor spelling, I always assume I can't find something due to spelling. But it seems to be a brand new model, with the older Sceptre 20.1" being more commonplace. > Would you expound on the mechanics of how this works? First off, even though I know you won't read it, the Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI > Will it work on a normal in house TV connection? Secondly, by "normal," you mean? 2 wire? Coax? Other? > And if so what does one need to make it play? So, third, here's the "quick scoop" ... 1. NTSC "tuner" Understand that virtually all non-TV LCD panels do _not_ come with a NTSC ("normal TV") "tuner" -- i.e., that "Coax thinging" that you plug-in and get "all 'da channels _with_ sound schtuff." NTSC is used for terrestrial analog cable (over-the-air or "old/pre-digital" cable). Most TV LCDs typically do. 2. Composite or S-Video "input" A significant number of non-TV LCD pannels and virtually all TV LCD panels _do_, however, have a Composite ("Yellow colored" RCA jack) or S-Video (see Wikipedia for picture**) in. That is a direct analog connection already "tuned" at a specific frequency. You take your VCR, Cable, DVD, etc... output and you put it into it. **NOTE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-Video You still have to use another input for sound, which is provided _separate_. Typically this is 2 additional RCA jacks -- one Red (right) and one White (left). 3. ATSC "tuner" A small, but increasing number of HDTV LCDs also provide an ATSC tuner for unencrypted QAM digital HDTV. About the only thing it is good for is "over-the-air" HDTV. Virtually _no_ regular LCD panels offer ATSC built-in, only some of the TV versions. It's typically a $150+ (used to be $300+) add-on box if you don't have it. 4. Component "input" There is an improved version of Composite (yes, that'a mega-oversimplification) called "Component," which uses 3 "RCA-like" jacks for higher bandwidth analog -- and even digital (long story) -- video. That is what nearly _all_ TV LCDs support (as well as plasma, projection, DLP, etc...) and a good number of regular LCD panels nowdays. I won't get into all the details, but here's the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Component_video Component "input" is how the _majority_ of cable, DVD and other "consumer high-def" video is put to HDTVs. E.g., most DVDs have 1 Composite, 1 S-Video and then the 3-jack Component Video -- plus 2 jacks for audio. Depending on your TV's inputs, you should be able to use at least one of the first two for 480i (480 lines interlaced), but if it does 480p (480 lines progressive -- i.e., "double scan") or higher (like 720p or 1080i), it will have that 3-jack Component. Again, that's in addition to the audio. 5. HDMI "input" HDMI is basically the new-age "true digital equivalent" of a "Component input plus audio _plus_ control." 1 cable for everything -- _including_ control. I.e., if I have a TV with a "Cable Card" and the HDMI connection, it can read and unscramble without any additional equipment. More and more cable boxes also offer HDMI output, for one big reason. HDMI also passes on Digital Copy Protection (DCP), if it's in the signal. Now just because you have a HDMI input into your TV does _not_ mean it won't let you watch schtuff. In fact, the TV has really nothing to do with this. HDMI is more of a factor when you put in a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) in between the cable box and TV. HDMI TVs are also backward compatible with DVI, you just need a cable. DVI is digital video only (no audio), and used for LCD panels with computers. Again, HDMI in the TV is "not a bad thing" because it makes you compatible with everything. Going the other way is not true. I.e., you can't always use HDMI from a cable box to a DVI TV, as it doesn't support the control, audio and other aspects. From whittake at sbaflorida.com Tue Oct 17 16:11:50 2006 From: whittake at sbaflorida.com (Homer Whittaker) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Sceptre 22" Widescreen LCD for $299 after Rebate (Costco On-line) ... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <45353906.8040007@sbaflorida.com> Bryan J. Smith wrote: > Homer de Hacker wrote: >> Thanks for the info Bryan. I ordered one from Costco. Odd that I could >> not find another mention of a Septre 22" LCD on Google. > > Try spelling it "Sceptre"**. ;-> > > Here's a searches using the start of the model number: > http://www.google.com/search?q=review+Sceptre+x22wg > > **NOTE: As an engineer with piss-poor spelling, I always assume I > can't find something due to spelling. > > But it seems to be a brand new model, with the older Sceptre 20.1" > being more commonplace. > >> Would you expound on the mechanics of how this works? > > First off, even though I know you won't read it, Oh but I do. I just do not have a clue as to what it says, in many instances. > the Wikipedia page: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI This is an example of what you would like me to read, to Wit: * Carries audio, video and auxiliary data. * Signalling method: Formerly according to DVI 1.0 spec. Single-link (Type A HDMI) or dual-link (Type B HDMI). * Video pixel rate: 25 MHz to 340 MHz (Type A, as of 1.3) or to 680 MHz (Type B). Video formats with rates below 25 MHz (e.g. 13.5 MHz for 480i/NTSC) transmitted using a pixel-repetition scheme. From 24 to 48 bits per pixel can be transferred, regardless of rate. Supports 1080p at rates up to 120Hz and WQSXGA [1] . * Pixel encodings: RGB 4:4:4, YCbCr 4:4:4 (8-16 bits per component); YCbCr 4:2:2 (12 bits per component) * Audio sample rates: 32 kHz, 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz, 96 kHz, 176.4 kHz, 192 kHz. * Audio channels: up to 8. * Audio streams: any IEC61937-compliant stream, including high bitrate (lossless) streams (Dolby TrueHD , DTS -HD Master Audio). I flew hi powered, modern, state-of-the-art aircraft for twenty some odd years. I was Maintenance Officer of squadrons with 600/700 Officers and Enlisted technicians under my command. I needed to know what "THAT" button was for, and how to spell "On" or "Off". And I am still alive and still not able to interpret the above sections from the Wiki. HuH? We ain't all Engeneers! Shows to go ya that we need you :-* Thanks for the info on the HDMI. Homer From damien at mc-kenna.com Wed Oct 18 09:41:48 2006 From: damien at mc-kenna.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] How to change the Windows XP SID via scripts, APIs, etc? Message-ID: <4708D7AC-CB59-4EBA-A529-BDE5C8AD8253@mc-kenna.com> Does anyone know of a good way to change the SID on a Windows XP install via either a command line tool or a Windows API? It needs to work reliably with XP Pro SP2 as I've tried others in the past which didn't work. What I'm intending doing is writing a script to check the MAC address of the system against a database to work out what the SID should be, then update accordingly. This will be used as a post-install step in SysPrep on an image that is deployed using Ghost. Thanks. -- Damien McKenna, husband, father, geek. damien@mc-kenna.com - http://www.mc-kenna.com/ From glaiacona at aikencountysc.gov Wed Oct 18 10:10:52 2006 From: glaiacona at aikencountysc.gov (George Laiacona) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] How to change the Windows XP SID via scripts, APIs, etc? Message-ID: I understood that Ghost took care of the SID issue for you? I don't use it, I use ZenWorks, so I could be mistaken. George. >>> damien@mc-kenna.com 10/18/06 9:41 AM >>> Does anyone know of a good way to change the SID on a Windows XP install via either a command line tool or a Windows API? It needs to work reliably with XP Pro SP2 as I've tried others in the past which didn't work. What I'm intending doing is writing a script to check the MAC address of the system against a database to work out what the SID should be, then update accordingly. This will be used as a post-install step in SysPrep on an image that is deployed using Ghost. Thanks. -- Damien McKenna, husband, father, geek. damien@mc-kenna.com - http://www.mc-kenna.com/ _______________________________________________ Pc_support mailing list Pc_support@matrixlist.com http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support From b.j.smith at ieee.org Wed Oct 18 11:30:58 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] How to change the Windows XP SID via scripts, APIs, etc? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1161185458.4203.22.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Wed, 2006-10-18 at 10:10 -0400, George Laiacona wrote: > I understood that Ghost took care of the SID issue for you? > I don't use it, I use ZenWorks, so I could be mistaken. I think he wants to look up a specific SID and then apply it. I've never tried that myself. I think old DriveImage used to allow you to set a specific one. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, technical annoyance mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com --------------------------------------------------------- Fission Power: An Inconvenient Solution From readg at nfl.jaguars.com Wed Oct 18 13:14:55 2006 From: readg at nfl.jaguars.com (Read, Greg) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] How to change the Windows XP SID via scripts, APIs, etc? Message-ID: NewSid http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/NewSid.html -----Original Message----- From: pc_support-bounces@matrixlist.com [mailto:pc_support-bounces@matrixlist.com] On Behalf Of Bryan J. Smith Sent: Wednesday, October 18, 2006 11:31 AM To: This is the PC Support list. Subject: Re: [Pc_Support] How to change the Windows XP SID via scripts,APIs, etc? On Wed, 2006-10-18 at 10:10 -0400, George Laiacona wrote: > I understood that Ghost took care of the SID issue for you? > I don't use it, I use ZenWorks, so I could be mistaken. I think he wants to look up a specific SID and then apply it. I've never tried that myself. I think old DriveImage used to allow you to set a specific one. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, technical annoyance mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com --------------------------------------------------------- Fission Power: An Inconvenient Solution _______________________________________________ Pc_support mailing list Pc_support@matrixlist.com http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support From thebs413 at gmail.com Wed Oct 18 13:34:38 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] The most useless review I've ever seen from AnandTech ... Message-ID: Following Tom's Hardware Guide's comparison of _equivalent_ AMD and Intel mobile solutions, AnandTech did a comparison. And boy is it _utterly_useless_. Tom's Hardware Guide's earlier review compared a nForce 4xx integrated GPU (GeForce 61xx) to a Intel i9xx integrated GPU series, with around equivalently clocked Turion x2 versus Core 2 Duo -- each about the same price point in the same form-factor. And while the latter had better compuational numbers, the former still came in with better 3D scores while having lower power consumption -- and the main reason I decided to buy a Turion x2 (despite not having the absolute best performance when paired with an add-on nVidia video card). AnandTech didn't even compare apples to oranges, but went far worse. First off, they took an ATI chipset with integrated GPU in an ultra-light. Although they did go for the top-level Turion x2 TL-60 and the lower-end TL-50, they compared it to a *FULL*BLOWN* and bigger Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz 4MB L2 and, worse yet, a GeForce Go 7700 -- a $250+ mobile video board on its own. The 3D performance of the Intel/Go solution _utterly_trashes_ the AMD/ATI integrated. And you can't even compare battery longevity because of not only the Go 7700 sucking juice on the Intel side, but the ultra-light notebooks typically have a reduced battery size as a result of the form-factor/thinness. It's not even a good review con/pro Intel v. AMD -- utterly not even apples to oranges, but far, far worse. I won't even bother to post a link to the review. From thebs413 at gmail.com Wed Oct 18 13:37:46 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: The most useless review I've ever seen from AnandTech ... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 10/18/06, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > but the ultra-light notebooks typically have a reduced battery size as a result > of the form-factor/thinness. According to AnandTech, the mAhr ratings of the batteries were the same. If this is true, then boy does the ATI chipset really suck juice. I mean, only a 30% or so longer run than Intel with the GeForce Go 7700? The later really sucks juice, all while the Turion x2 sucks quite a bit less than the Core 2 Duo. It's gotta suck compared to the nVidia chipsets. I also noticed the hard drives are way different -- 60GB 5400rpm v. 100GB 7200rpm. No wonder the office benchmarks are much better on the latter Intel than what Tom's found! From thebs413 at gmail.com Wed Oct 18 15:12:13 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] How to change the Windows XP SID via scripts, APIs, etc? Message-ID: Greg Read wrote: > NewSid > http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/NewSid.html Did you mean the utility? Or the information? First off, the _information_ on that page is _good_. It lists where the SID for the computer is at in the registry, as well as the "user hives" and select other objects that have unique SIDs. But I don't think people realize how _extensive_ the SIDs go. I don't think Sys Internals goes far enough. Secondly, I _briefly_ used the newsid utility in 1997-1998 IIRC (might have been 1998-1999). It _trashed_ several systems of mine. It seems to leave portions of the registry and NTFS untouched, and I think that's the problem. Once Microsoft finally made its SysPrep available in around 1999 (they announced it a full year before it was -- making me look like an ass when I thought it was actually available when they announced it, long story), it was much, much _safer_ to prep systems. Lastly, the newsid utility does _not_ look like it can take a specific SID as input -- which I believe the original poster is interested in. In fact, more I come to think of it, I think it's _virtually_impossible_ to set a _specific_ SID -- because there are just so many for _each_ computer. I.e., there are countless objects. I used the PowerQuest DriveImage utility with its utility and, later on, the Altiris utilities for deployment. I was never much of a Symantec Ghost fan -- I'd rather have PowerQuest's products (now part of Symantec) or pay for Altiris' solutions. In other words, I don't think you can set specific SIDs for a computer. There are just too many for too many objects. You should only generate new ones. -- Bryan P.S. BTW, *NEVER*EVER* change SIDs on a Domain Controller. The Sys Internals article talks about running it on BDCs**. It's always best to install a system _clean_ instead of using a SID changer on anything that will be a DC. Too many variables. **NOTE: The master/slave(s) PDC/BDC (pre-ADS) and peer DCs (ADS) are virtually the _same_ when it comes to the network-wide SAM aka "controller" functionality. The BDCs just have a read-only copy, whereas newer DCs are peer-replicating. They _both_ still have a copy of the network-wide SAM, and I would _not_ recommend using a SID changer on one, period. Install clean, _never_ clone. If you want a "backup image" of your DCs, install the DCs under a VM (and use snapshots/move off-line) instead of dorking with cloning. That's what enterprise do (or should do), instead of trying to deal with the design limitations (and flaws) of the SAM, it's SIDs and its corruptable nature with NTFS filesystems. From b.j.smith at ieee.org Wed Oct 18 15:42:06 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Bryan=20J=2E=20Smith?=) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] RE: [LeapList] Free Laser Printer! Message-ID: From: patrick > Network connection for the AppleTalk NeTwork > system, plus, serial 232 and 422 port (DB25)! Is that really a RS-422 differential serial port? Or is it a SCSI port? RS-422 is always nice for going several hundred meters, although optical is commodity these days. ;-) -- Sent from my Treo From pberry2 at cfl.rr.com Wed Oct 18 15:01:13 2006 From: pberry2 at cfl.rr.com (patrick) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Free Laser Printer! Message-ID: <453679F9.2070709@cfl.rr.com> If you are sick and tired of the inkjet printer 'circus', get a Laser! Come get it, it works! I will hold it for the first person by email date and time on their reply message. This is 'heavy iron'' in the concept of 300,000 print outs in its lifetime, before failure, as predicted by Apple (Canon and HP!) for these workhorses! The 'hard parts' were built for 750,000 runs... Monochrome only. Paper tray holds 200 sheets, or envelopes. Network connection for the AppleTalk NeTwork system, plus, serial 232 and 422 port (DB25)! The G model had another board with network connector for 10baseT! That is not on this system... *Apple LaserWriter IIf and IIg controllers are available separately to upgrade LaserWriter II SC, II NT, and II NTX.* The 4,000 printout Toner Cartridge goes for $19 to $29, new, on the Internet! But, this one is still great! And, on all the Laser Printers I have used, especially these CANNON ones, designed and built by the Canon company to the demands of Apple, we only shake, to redistribute toner, when ever the light would come on!!! Contains the Postscript font set... Adobe Plus, of 35 fonts! The LaserWriter II NT is an Adobe-based PostScript printer designed to be adequate for the needs of most Apple Macintosh users, and, drivers are included in the Microsoft XP systems as native code, plus, it runs under Linux and BSD! PLUS, it can be connected as a Diablo630 printer to any PC! FONT INFORMATION Resident fonts are the same Adobe-licensed 35 typefaces that were first introduced with this printer's predecessor, the LaserWriter Plus. This group of fonts has since become known as the Adobe "Plus" set. No additional resident fonts can be added. Additional fonts can be downloaded, and performance is reasonable as long as only a few soft fonts are used at a time. Macs allow an unlimited number of downloadable fonts in a document by paging them through VM (Virtual Memory). If many non-resident soft fonts are required, they will not fit in the available memory and the host Mac may have to reload the same fonts repeatedly to complete a document. The result will be slow printing. It is an Apple Laserwriter II nt, and, it is using a 68000 microprocessor that zooms along at 11mhz! There is 2 Mb of RAM onboard. No provision (as built), to expand the RAM. After Friday, if I have no response here, I will put the mainboard up on eBay, where they are going for $129.00! Printer sold for $3,999, when NEW!!! From pberry2 at cfl.rr.com Wed Oct 18 17:17:48 2006 From: pberry2 at cfl.rr.com (patrick) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Laser printer taken, PPU! Message-ID: <453699FC.9040208@cfl.rr.com> Pending Pick Up, it is taken... It is actually, underneath the skin, a Canon SX Laserprinter... Yes, the MAC page ahas ALL the manuals, with tech specs, back to day 1! This is described as a Serial port Rs232 AND 422 port with controller differentiation, (whatever that means!) PLUS, it has the AppleTalk port. Port compatibility is selected by a two digit push switch, for the Serial port. It isn't the latest or greatest, but, I see Laser printers all the time, and sometimes we don't have room in the shop to store them all. If I didn't already have a laser printer, and wanted one, this would do me just fine! If this pick-up falls through, I will go on to the next person who responded. When it is picked-up, I'll let you all know! Scheduled for tomorrow. From thebs413 at gmail.com Wed Oct 18 20:18:57 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Dell PowerConnect Web-Managed Switches, starting at $76 ... Message-ID: There are a number of people that are considering GbE switches these days. Before you buy a cheap switch, you might want to consider these "entry level" web-managed switches from Dell. The 8-port starts at $76. http://www.dell.com/content/products/compare.aspx/small_workgroup_gig What you get is: - RMON statistics - 802.3ad Link Aggregation (higher throughput/failover) - 802.1q VLAN support and Jumbo Frames - Port mirroring (up to 4 source ports, great for diag/IDS) - Basic priority queues (up to 4 levels) What you don't get that you typically get from a managed switch includes: - RS232 Console Port (the button resets to a fixed IP) - SNMP support - 802.1d Spanning Tree In other words, these things are great for the small office (up to 24 users, possibly almost 50 with two switches), but you don't want to put these things in a medium-sized business (e.g., 25+ users, definitely 50+). I'd rather start with at least a NetGear 73xx series in those cases (if not something better). For an "enthusiasts" home network, the $76 entry-level 8-port is not much more than a "dumb" 8-port GbE switch, and definitely a step up. The web-based management works with Firefox under Linux too. From thebs413 at gmail.com Wed Oct 18 20:24:07 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Dell PowerConnect Web-Managed Switches, starting at $76 ... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 10/18/06, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > - 802.1q VLAN support and Jumbo Frames Jumbo Frame support only on the 16/24 port models (my apologies). From thebs413 at gmail.com Wed Oct 18 20:30:46 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Laser printer taken, PPU! Message-ID: Patrick wrote: > This is described as a Serial port Rs232 AND 422 port with controller > differentiation, (whatever that means!) Sounds like it autodetects not only differential, but voltage. Unlike SE v. LVD SCSI, which uses the same voltage, RS-232 and RS-422 do not always. ;-> From damien at mc-kenna.com Wed Oct 18 21:07:39 2006 From: damien at mc-kenna.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Dell PowerConnect Web-Managed Switches, starting at $76 ... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4536CFDB.7020501@mc-kenna.com> Bryan J. Smith wrote: > but you don't want to put these things in a medium-sized business > (e.g., 25+ users, definitely 50+). I'd rather start with at least a > NetGear 73xx series in those cases (if not something better). So, what's a good mid-range managed switch that'll do GigE? -- Damien McKenna, husband, father, geek. damien@mc-kenna.com - http://www.mc-kenna.com/ From tec at speakeasy.net Thu Oct 19 02:08:48 2006 From: tec at speakeasy.net (Thomas) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Dell PowerConnect Web-Managed Switches, starting at $76 ... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1161238128.2446.17.camel@localhost.localdomain> Brian, Great info... The link has moved for some reason. I think the one you are talking about is at this page... http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=04&kc=6W300&l=en&oc=pct2708&s=bsd Cheers, Thomas On Wed, 2006-10-18 at 20:18 -0400, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > There are a number of people that are considering GbE switches these > days. Before you buy a cheap switch, you might want to consider these > "entry level" web-managed switches from Dell. The 8-port starts at > $76. > > http://www.dell.com/content/products/compare.aspx/small_workgroup_gig > > What you get is: > - RMON statistics > - 802.3ad Link Aggregation (higher throughput/failover) > - 802.1q VLAN support and Jumbo Frames > - Port mirroring (up to 4 source ports, great for diag/IDS) > - Basic priority queues (up to 4 levels) > > What you don't get that you typically get from a managed switch includes: > - RS232 Console Port (the button resets to a fixed IP) > - SNMP support > - 802.1d Spanning Tree > > In other words, these things are great for the small office (up to 24 > users, possibly almost 50 with two switches), but you don't want to > put these things in a medium-sized business (e.g., 25+ users, > definitely 50+). I'd rather start with at least a NetGear 73xx series > in those cases (if not something better). > > For an "enthusiasts" home network, the $76 entry-level 8-port is not > much more than a "dumb" 8-port GbE switch, and definitely a step up. > The web-based management works with Firefox under Linux too. > _______________________________________________ > Pc_support mailing list > Pc_support@matrixlist.com > http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support > From b.j.smith at ieee.org Thu Oct 19 09:53:56 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Dell PowerConnect Web-Managed Switches, starting at $76 ... In-Reply-To: <4536CFDB.7020501@mc-kenna.com> References: <4536CFDB.7020501@mc-kenna.com> Message-ID: <1161266036.3037.8.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Wed, 2006-10-18 at 21:07 -0400, Damien McKenna wrote: > So, what's a good mid-range managed switch that'll do GigE? Managed Layer-2? Or Managed Layer-3? And do you want just a few GbE ports on a largely 100Mbit switch? Or all GbE ports? When people are strapped for cash, I like the NetGear units. Not the best firmware or easiest-to-use interface on the box itself -- but the bundled web-based interface is typically sufficient for non-network gurus (after I setup the base configuration via the console interface). The FSM/GSM are NetGear's managed solutions. The 7xx are layer-2. The 73xx are layer-3. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, technical annoyance mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com --------------------------------------------------------- Fission Power: An Inconvenient Solution From dmckenna at thelimucompany.com Thu Oct 19 11:32:55 2006 From: dmckenna at thelimucompany.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Dell PowerConnect Web-Managed Switches, starting at $76 ... In-Reply-To: <1161266036.3037.8.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> References: <4536CFDB.7020501@mc-kenna.com> <1161266036.3037.8.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> Message-ID: <2C2A199D-30A7-4C16-992D-58B9E9B64842@thelimucompany.com> On Oct 19, 2006, at 9:53 AM, Bryan J. Smith wrote: >> So, what's a good mid-range managed switch that'll do GigE? > > Managed Layer-2? Or Managed Layer-3? Layer 3. > And do you want just a few GbE ports on a largely 100Mbit switch? > Or all GbE ports? All gig-E. If we're upgrading there's little point in doing half measures. > When people are strapped for cash, I like the NetGear units. We've got two dumb Netgears that are pretty good but, they're dumb. We're lining up to do some upgrades so want it to be a step up, or five. > Not the best firmware or easiest-to-use interface on the box itself > -- but the > bundled web-based interface is typically sufficient for non-network > gurus (after I setup the base configuration via the console > interface). .. and we're still hoping to hire a network admin too who'd take care of it. No idea on timelines as they've been a little funny this past week. > The FSM/GSM are NetGear's managed solutions. The 7xx are layer-2. > The 73xx are layer-3. Alrighty, we'll look into them. Thanks. -- Damien McKenna - Web Developer - dmckenna@thelimucompany.com The Limu Company - http://www.thelimucompany.com/ - 407-804-1014 #include From thebs413 at gmail.com Thu Oct 19 12:36:29 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Layer-2 and Layer-3 managed switches -- Dell PowerConnect Web-Managed Message-ID: Damien McKenna wrote: > Layer 3. > All gig-E. If we're upgrading there's little point in doing half > measures. Well, it all depends. It gets _really_expensive_ when you start entering the stacked GSM73xx series. And I've never used them, so I don't know how good they are. The GSM7228S (24x GbE, 4x 10GbE) is $2K, the GSM7252S (48x GbE, 4x 10GbE) is $3K. Stacking units are options, or you can just use the 10GbE ports on the front. Setup 802.3ad (link agg) or 802.1d (spanning tree) for redundancy. http://www.netgear.com/Products/Switches/Layer3ManagedSwitches/GSM7328S.aspx http://www.netgear.com/Products/Switches/Layer3ManagedSwitches/GSM7352S.aspx But at those price points, I'd do a bit of homework on other Layer-3 options. I need to update myself on what other Layer-3 products are out there. I haven't done that in a few years now (other than Cisco). All I know is the Dell (can't remember the original OEM) layer-3 products are known for massive firmware/reliability issues (again, I have to find out who is the OEM, because it affects theirs as well). Or you can do two other options: 1. Get a "core" layer-3 GbE, and then "access" layer-2 GbE. 2. Go with a 100Mbps "stack" that has several GbE ports #1 brings some of the costs down. You can still do single console management because of SNMP, although you can't configure the entire stack as one (unlike a stackable solution). The "core" will run you over $1,000 for 12 ports and the "access" switches will be $200-500, depending on what solutions you go for. I recommend you aggregate or span 2 ports to each lower switch for redundancy. http://www.netgear.com/Products/Switches/Layer3ManagedSwitches/FSM7328S.aspx http://www.netgear.com/Products/Switches/Layer3ManagedSwitches/FSM7352S.aspx #2 is probably a better option, if you only need a half-dozen or so GbE ports. You still get a single, manageable stack, but you just have more 100Mbps ports. You use a loop in your stack, for redundancy. Everything else is handled by the stack itself. You can go for something like the layer-3 FSM7328S (or FSM7252S) with 24x (48x) 100Mbps, 4x GbE for $300 (although you use the GbE ports to stack). Or you could go with an older, layer-2 FSM726S (or FSM750S) with 24x (48x), 2x GbE plus dedicated, separate stack ports http://www.netgear.com/Products/Switches/Layer2ManagedSwitches/FSM726S.aspx http://www.netgear.com/Products/Switches/Layer2ManagedSwitches/FSM750S.aspx > We've got two dumb Netgears that are pretty good but, they're dumb. > We're lining up to do some upgrades so want it to be a step up, or five. If you don't mind going "refurbished," you can save a lot on select models at JustDeals.COM. Sometimes there is only a 33% savings (2/3rds new). Othertimes, there can be more than 66% savings (1/3rd new). Like on the FSM750S for $219: http://www.justdeals.com/Items/FSM750SNAR Or a GSM7324 for $599: http://www.justdeals.com/Items/GS_GSM7324NAR > .. and we're still hoping to hire a network admin too who'd take care > of it. No idea on timelines as they've been a little funny this past > week. Yeah. I originally assumed (from afar) that you just had a series of bad ports. I guess the fact that the whole switch went (probably it's ASIC) wasn't surprising. I already promised the day to my father, but I didn't have a car (mine was here in NY, I flew down for the weekend) and he was out of the area. So I didn't have any way to get there (or to even his work for that matter). From thebs413 at gmail.com Thu Oct 19 13:30:37 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Layer-2 and Layer-3 managed switches -- Dell PowerConnect Web-Managed In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 10/19/06, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > But at those price points, I'd do a bit of homework on other Layer-3 > options. I need to update myself on what other Layer-3 products are > out there. I haven't done that in a few years now (other than Cisco). Is it me, or are Network Computing and Networking World utterly _useless_ for modern reviews on layer-2 and layer-3 managed switch comparisons? In fact,there's no good comparisons out there at all. Not even features v. price. From carter at carter.cc Thu Oct 19 13:42:40 2006 From: carter at carter.cc (Carter Manucy) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] SATA to SAS? Message-ID: <3453.66.192.231.224.1161279760.squirrel@carter.cc> Out of curiosity, are SATA and SAS backplanes compatible? In other words, can you change out your HBA from SATA to SAS without worrying about the backplane? From damien at mc-kenna.com Thu Oct 19 14:30:59 2006 From: damien at mc-kenna.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Layer-2 and Layer-3 managed switches -- Dell PowerConnect Web-Managed In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Oct 19, 2006, at 1:30 PM, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > Is it me, or are Network Computing and Networking World utterly > _useless_ for modern reviews on layer-2 and layer-3 managed switch > comparisons? I've stopped reading *all* IT magazines because they're *all* useless at reporting anything other than a summary of the marketing materials. "Back in the day" you could expect detailed, multi-page reviews that accurately compared functionality, today its "this has a processor, look at its pretty blue color". > In fact,there's no good comparisons out there at all. Not even > features v. price. Magazines seem to have shied away from doing direct comparisons because that makes the products look bad, and if you make products look bad then you're not going to be able to get advertising money from the manufacturers or sellers, or make the industry as a whole look bad. Its this latter aspect that *really* ticks me off. -- Damien McKenna, husband, father, geek. damien@mc-kenna.com - http://www.mc-kenna.com/ From b.j.smith at ieee.org Thu Oct 19 15:51:25 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Bryan=20J=2E=20Smith?=) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?[Pc=5FSupport]_SATA_to_SAS??= Message-ID: Some SAS backplanes use individual 7-pin data connectors that are backward compatible with SATA. But many use x4 or x8 connectors that require at least a converter cable, if they don't already push the SATA signaling spec. Check the documentation on the SAS backplane to be sure. -- Sent from my Treo -----Original Message----- From: Carter Manucy Date: 06.10.19 13:43 To: pc_support@matrixlist.com Subj: [Pc_Support] SATA to SAS? Out of curiosity, are SATA and SAS backplanes compatible? In other words, can you change out your HBA from SATA to SAS without worrying about the backplane? _______________________________________________ Pc_support mailing list Pc_support@matrixlist.com http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support From thebs413 at gmail.com Thu Oct 19 16:49:27 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Layer-2 and Layer-3 managed switches -- Hmmm, publishing opportunity? Message-ID: On Oct 19, 2006, at 1:30 PM, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > I've stopped reading *all* IT magazines because they're *all* useless > at reporting anything other than a summary of the marketing > materials. "Back in the day" you could expect detailed, multi-page > reviews that accurately compared functionality, today its "this has a > processor, look at its pretty blue color". > Magazines seem to have shied away from doing direct comparisons > because that makes the products look bad, and if you make products > look bad then you're not going to be able to get advertising money > from the manufacturers or sellers, or make the industry as a whole > look bad. Its this latter aspect that *really* ticks me off. You're absolutely correct. The only reason I even bother reading PCMag is so I know what users are being told and are assuming, not to learn anything new. But Network Computing and Networking World _used_ to be fairly good. I guess they haven't been in a long time. So with that said, I like to write technical articles. I know Scribus, layout, et. al. All I need, manpower-wise, is an editor or two. Beyond that, we need A) a lab and B) some vendors who would like to see their products reviewed and would send us them for testing. Anyone know any VCs who would seed such a new endeavor? Or are they only interested in funding ad-whoring magazines? From thebs413 at gmail.com Thu Oct 19 16:55:54 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Layer-2 and Layer-3 managed switches -- Hmmm, publishing opportunity? (2) Message-ID: On 10/19/06, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > You're absolutely correct. The only reason I even bother reading > PCMag is so I know what users are being told and are assuming, not to > learn anything new. But Network Computing and Networking World _used_ > to be fairly good. I guess they haven't been in a long time. > So with that said, I like to write technical articles. I know > Scribus, layout, et. al. All I need, manpower-wise, is an editor or > two. Beyond that, we need A) a lab and B) some vendors who would like > to see their products reviewed and would send us them for testing. > Anyone know any VCs who would seed such a new endeavor? Or are they > only interested in funding ad-whoring magazines? We could run the gambit of network, server and storage in "real world" performance testing with numerous NFS, SMB, Database, Crypto, etc... tests. We could also expand on features, such as various network appliances, etc... Call it "Enterprise Infrastructure Magazine." From pberry2 at cfl.rr.com Thu Oct 19 18:40:23 2006 From: pberry2 at cfl.rr.com (patrick) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: [GoLugTech] Laser printer is definitely taken! In-Reply-To: <453699FC.9040208@cfl.rr.com> References: <453699FC.9040208@cfl.rr.com> Message-ID: <4537FED7.5060809@cfl.rr.com> Definitely picked up, and thrilled recipient he was! Look, guys 'n gals, I will be getting more stuff from time to time. and I will donate it to you. If there are 'deals' afloat, I will let you know. Tomorrow, it is VGA Monitors, $5 each, (sorry, nothing to do with me, it's the store...), so come on over and say hello! Yes, they work. All are color... It is at the MacDoctor, Inc. 2054 N SR 436, Suite 124, the Casselton Blvd. traffic light that is at Holler Chevrolet/Kia, Action Gator Tire, on the EAST side of the road. Next to Stacked Subs, and Old Germany Beer Restaurant! (he he, If there is a delay in your computer service...) First traffic light North of Aloma where it crosses Semoran. From b.j.smith at ieee.org Sat Oct 21 19:24:27 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Universal Disc Format (UDF) -- WAS: HD Backup In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1161473067.3069.24.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> On Tue, 2006-10-17 at 14:29 +0000, Stefan Ciesla wrote: > Hi Bryan, > I have read your interesting article about UDF at: > http://www.silug.org/lists/silug-discuss/200601/msg00016.html > That was very helpful and interesting, thank you. > I came across it because I recently got a 500 GB > external (USB/FW) harddisk drive, that I want to > use with LINUX, Mac OSX and readonly for Windows. > I used mkudffs with and without a partition table: > mkudffs --media-type=hd --udfrev=0x0102 --u16 /dev/sda1 > mkudffs --media-type=hd --udfrev=0x0102 --u16 /dev/sda > Linux was all fine in both cases, but Windows XP > didn't recognize it in both cases (it just assigned > a drive letter when done with partition table...) > Mac OSX mounted just the one without partition table > but just readonly, with partition table not at all. Linux's disk label (aka partition table) and filesystem support and flexibility is rather extensive. MacOS X is a bit more picky, although newer versions have been better. As far as being read-only, try formatting with a different UDF version. Windows XP is just plain stupid at times. Microsoft hasn't done a good job with their filesystem layer, and their disklabel support hasn't changed since 1997 (NT4.0 SP4). You might want to try a partition ID of FAT32 or something to kick it in the rear. It should at least support UDF as read-only. Also note that NT kernels _hate_ anything non-NTFS greater than 32GB. > The partition table I did with fdisk under Linux, > which creates a DOS partition table, I think the > problem is the "Partition-ID" because I guess other > than LINUX, Windows and Mac OSX guess the filesystem > type from the partition-ID in the partition table. Yep. > I tried different IDs, but none was suitable... > Can you help me? Do you probably know the correct > partition-ID for UDF? Or what I possibly do wrong? I've used the ID for FAT32 in the past. > Thank you so much for taking time for this. I would > appreciate your help a lot. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, technical annoyance mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com --------------------------------------------------------- Fission Power: An Inconvenient Solution From b.j.smith at ieee.org Sun Oct 22 16:02:25 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] GeForce 7900GT 256MB DDR3 with VIVO for $230 - $50 = $180 ... Message-ID: <1161547345.3060.71.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> NewEgg.COM has the XFX PV-T71G-UCF7 GeForce 7900GT 256MB PCIe x16 video card for $230 - $50 rebate = $180. It has a 24/8/470/1370/256 pixel/vertex/GPU-clock/DDR3-effective/data-path, as well as dual-DVI out and not only HDTV out, but video-in (for recording) too http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150150 It claims a max res of 2560x1600, but I couldn't tell if one (or both) of DVI outputs are dual-link capable, or if you'd have to use a converter from both (single-link) to one dual-link. -- Bryan J. Smith Professional, technical annoyance mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org http://thebs413.blogspot.com --------------------------------------------------------- Fission Power: An Inconvenient Solution From dave at dgnal.net Mon Oct 23 11:10:11 2006 From: dave at dgnal.net (David Simmons) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] GeForce 7900GT 256MB DDR3 with VIVO for $230 - $50 = $180 ... In-Reply-To: <1161547345.3060.71.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> References: <1161547345.3060.71.camel@bert64.oviedo.smithconcepts.com> Message-ID: <58716.192.104.67.222.1161616211.squirrel@qtmail.dgnal.net> > NewEgg.COM has the XFX PV-T71G-UCF7 GeForce 7900GT 256MB PCIe x16 video > card for $230 - $50 rebate = $180. Would anyone know if this would be good for a HD MythTV setup?? Did some searching on the MythTV site - but their lists seem to be a bit old and/or not listed with 'generic' names of cards? Thx - dave From whittake at sbaflorida.com Mon Oct 23 13:29:26 2006 From: whittake at sbaflorida.com (Homer Whittaker) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:08 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Need a MAC hardware garu! Message-ID: <453CFBF6.2030608@sbaflorida.com> One of my sons is as rabid a Mac person as some our people are about Linux. He wants to give me one of his machines so that I can attempt to install Debian on the Mac machine (I understand that the Mac has a program that will allow them to use Windows XX. If it can be made to work this would be the most of the utmost to me. The main problem at hand is the his Mac will not read his SCSI hard drive, and it will not read the Western Digital IDE drives I have put on it either. So: 1. Can anyone make suggestions/recommendations as to fixing the Mac hardware ( I replaced cables and attempted all the possible PC repairs I know of). 2. If it can be repaired, then how do I go about installing Debian on the Mac. Do not recall any discussions or methodology on this topic. It seem to me that a Mac, with Debian and Windows XX all on one machine would be the most of the utmost! From damien at mc-kenna.com Mon Oct 23 13:35:55 2006 From: damien at mc-kenna.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Need a MAC hardware garu! In-Reply-To: <453CFBF6.2030608@sbaflorida.com> References: <453CFBF6.2030608@sbaflorida.com> Message-ID: <86256E4F-C6F8-4767-BC44-9B0AC9151176@mc-kenna.com> On Oct 23, 2006, at 1:29 PM, Homer Whittaker wrote: > I understand that the Mac has a program that will allow them to use > Windows XX. VirtualPC, currently owned by Microsoft. It comes bundled with Office for Mac. > The main problem at hand is the his Mac will not read his SCSI hard > drive, and it will not read the Western Digital IDE drives I have > put on it either. So: What sort of Mac is it, is it worth keeping it when you've having so many problems? > 2. If it can be repaired, then how do I go about installing Debian > on the Mac. Download the ISOs for a PPC-based distribution and rtfm :-) -- Damien McKenna, husband, father, geek. damien@mc-kenna.com - http://www.mc-kenna.com/ From b.j.smith at ieee.org Mon Oct 23 15:08:46 2006 From: b.j.smith at ieee.org (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Bryan=20J=2E=20Smith?=) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: GeForce 7900GT 256MB DDR3 with VIVO for $230 - $50 = $180 ... Message-ID: From: David Simmons > Would anyone know if this would be good for a HD > MythTV setup? Just FYI, it's _not_ a tuner, just a video input. I have no idea if it's well supported in Linux or not. Now nVidia has been _very_open_ with their video input in the past, lragely because the encoders are off-GPU.. Not just in their proprietary drivers, but there are GPL programs for the MIT drivers too. But that was for composite/S-video. Their "PureVideo" video may or may not be. I have a feeling it's off-GPU (at least the encoder) as well, so it likely is. And I know the current Beta drivers for Linux support it. > Did some searching on the MythTV site - but their > lists seem to be a bit old and/or not listed with 'generic' > names of cards? It's not the card, but the encoder/codec. I need to find out more about the board. BTW, remember that "analog HDTV" is _massive_. We're talking in excess of 100MBps! That is _not_ how digital HDTV works, and you'l probably only get "overlay" as capture is _not_feasible_. That's why it's better to get something that does digital QAM which is only 2.4MBps. Be it for terrestial broadcast, or something that takes CableCard. From thebs413 at gmail.com Mon Oct 23 15:21:27 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] InFocus IN24 DLP for $395 after rebate ... Message-ID: Damn if these things aren't getting cheap these days. After a 10% off coupon and $100 mail-in rebate, the InFocus IN24 DLP (800x600, 1700 lumens, 2000:1 contrast, DB15/SVideo/Composite in) is only $395: http://dealnews.com/deals/In-Focus-IN24-DLP-Projector-for-395-shipped-after-rebate/137287.html From dave at dgnal.net Mon Oct 23 15:41:27 2006 From: dave at dgnal.net (David Simmons) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: GeForce 7900GT 256MB DDR3 with VIVO for $230 - $50 = $180 ... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <23626.192.104.67.122.1161632487.squirrel@qtmail.dgnal.net> > Just FYI, it's _not_ a tuner, just a video input .... > It's not the card, but the encoder/codec. I need to find out more about > the board. Was thinking too far down the line.? Saw this as an opportunity to create a HD TiVO (through the use of the MythTV software and this card)...was forgetting that I'd need something to tune the channels.? As it'll probably be DirecTV's HD signal...it'll already be in mpeg compression......looks like I'll just need to get a DirecTV - DVR to do their HD - then hack that to pull the content off. > That's why it's better to get something that does digital QAM which is > only 2.4MBps. Yep...was just thinking stupidly Thanks -dave From thebs413 at gmail.com Mon Oct 23 16:03:04 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] AnandTech on SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) ... Message-ID: I've been talking about SAS for almost 2 years now, and have installed several solutions in the past year. I have not bought a single parallel SCSI solution in that year either (only SCSI drives for older systems). While most people gave me dumb stares or ignorant commentary, many vendors now say SATA is over 1/3rd the enterprise storage market. By next year, SAS drives should outsell SCSI and FC drives combined. Related AnandTech article: http://www.anandtech.com/IT/showdoc.aspx?i=2859 Parallel has been _dead_ for some time now. Serial has been the _king_ for over a year in the enterprise world. Sorry to those who haven't "kept up," but you can't say I didn't try to tell you. ;-> From thebs413 at gmail.com Mon Oct 23 16:11:52 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] The bully at work: IBM muscling more its "generic patent" portfolio ... Message-ID: Some people will say this is "turnabout/fair play" for Amazon suing over "one-click ordering." But we're no longer talking about a new company with a patent or two they actually use and want to keep from competitors. We're now talking about the #1 IP monster in the _world_, with thousands of new patents a year that _never_ even go into products. They are suing over a half-dozen, very _generic_ patents -- 4 of them from well before modern e-commerce. Amazon is the first and they certainly will _not_ be the last victim of IP's 8,000lbs. juggernaut. IBM's sheer size in and money pit to feed lawyers typically forces most companies to license them. But Amazon refused, and now IBM's going to assert it's "generic patent" portfolio to the extreme. Guys, I've been warning all of you about IBM for years. And we have _much_ to fear from IBM in the community developed software world. Most people don't look at Caldera-SCO from _before_ Caldera's plans to open up the very heart of AIX 5L became a threat to IBM (yes, which makes SCO hypocritical to complain about IBM GPL'ing stuff, it's 180 degrees the opposite) -- and at what lengths IBM will go to _prevent_ the open source community from getting some of IBM's core IP. Thank God many of the kernel developers know, and they keep IBM from sacking the Linux kernel with patents. Tom's Hardware on the Amazon lawsuit: http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/10/23/ibm_amazon/ From thebs413 at gmail.com Mon Oct 23 16:14:00 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: AnandTech on SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) ... (CORRECTION) Message-ID: On 10/23/06, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > While most people gave me dumb stares or ignorant commentary, many > vendors now say SATA is over 1/3rd the enterprise storage market. By > next year, SAS drives should outsell SCSI and FC drives combined. Er, that shoiuld read "vendors now say SAS is over 1/3rd". From thebs413 at gmail.com Mon Oct 23 16:24:16 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] nVidia nForce 680/650 chipsets for Intel LGA-775 ... Message-ID: These are largely enthusiast chipsets without an integrated GPU, but the 650 versions should still bring the cost of an Intel mainboard down to $100 or even sub-$100, compared to $140-200 for Intel 965s. http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=4637 From thebs413 at gmail.com Mon Oct 23 17:39:24 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] HDTV Video Input -- WAS: GeForce 7900GT w/VIVO Message-ID: Davie wrote: > Was thinking too far down the line. Yeah, sorry for doing that. I guess I suggested such when I mentioned video-in. I really meant overlay-only, like from a HD DVR or cable box already. > Saw this as an opportunity to create a HD TiVO (through the use of > the MythTV software and this card)...was forgetting that I'd need > something to tune the channels. Yeah. All this thing gives you is the "raw analog" signal. It works fine for a video overlay. But at 1280x720@60Hz (720p) = 55,296,000 pixels/second or 1920x1080@30Hz (1080i) = 62,208,000 pixels/second, that's a _lot_ of data to capture "raw" (mulitple by 2 for 16-bit color, 3 for 24-bit color). > As it'll probably be DirecTV's HD signal...it'll already be in mpeg compression > ......looks like I'll just need to get a DirecTV - DVR to do their HD - then hack that > to pull the content off. Yep, their QAM (19.2Mbps -> 2.4MBps), proprietary. There are many ways to input HD video: Analog: "raw" 55.3-62.2Mpixel/second (as above) for 720p-1080i Coax/HDMI: Digital HDTV QAM format (HDMI with additional copy protect) QAM format is basically implemented as follows (political-wise): - Terrestrial Broadcast: Unencrypted, with optional "Broadcast flag" - Terrestrial Cable: Encrypted, with mandatory CableCard (decrypt smartcard) - Extraterrestrial Satellite: Encrypted, proprietary From pberry2 at cfl.rr.com Mon Oct 23 17:40:03 2006 From: pberry2 at cfl.rr.com (patrick) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Need a MAC hardware garu! In-Reply-To: <453CFBF6.2030608@sbaflorida.com> References: <453CFBF6.2030608@sbaflorida.com> Message-ID: <453D36B3.2000509@cfl.rr.com> Homer Whittaker wrote: > One of my sons is as rabid a Mac person as some our people are about > Linux. He wants to give me one of his machines so that I can > attempt to install Debian on the Mac machine (I understand that the > Mac has a program that will allow them to use Windows XX. If it can > be made to work this would be the most of the utmost to me. > > The main problem at hand is the his Mac will not read his SCSI hard > drive, and it will not read the Western Digital IDE drives I have put > on it either. So: > > 1. Can anyone make suggestions/recommendations as to fixing the Mac > hardware ( I replaced cables and attempted all the possible PC repairs > I know of). > 2. If it can be repaired, then how do I go about installing Debian on > the Mac. Do not recall any discussions or methodology on this topic. > > It seem to me that a Mac, with Debian and Windows XX all on one > machine would be the most of the utmost! > > ___________________________________________ > Pc_support mailing list > Pc_support@matrixlist.com > http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support > The "official" reading: Due to the restrictions of ELILO in the Mac, only two OSes can be supported on the hard drive system, in a bootable array. So, you could only run two systems on a Mac. If you wanted to run any Microsoft OSes, you are restricted to the Intel processor, less than a year old. The MacPro sells starting at $2400. An Intel duo core 1.83Ghz mini, with 512 Mb of RAM is $599. You can go get a ton of Dell warranteed refurbs at CheaptronicsDepot.com and the CheapTronicsDepot store (Red Bug and Semoran) for a whole lot less, as they start at $69 for a full, licensed, system, and the monitors are only $34 extra. So, let me reiterate. Macs that run Microsoft OSes are ONLY the ones built since Intel started making the Mac CPUs. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Drives * * * * * * * * * * * In Macs, the IDE drive can be plugged in to the cables, and many of the Macs want the IDE drive to be set up with the jumper as Master. NO, IDE drives won't show up in the hardware list, upon boot, with the jumper set on the Cable Select pins. In Macs that run SCSI, the drive is usually set to SCSI address 0, and any other device, such as a SCSI CDrom, is scsi address 1. We can boot from the CDrom, using a System CD, up until OS 9.2.2, when the factory switched to DVDs (so that most Macs after 1999 have a built in DVD), but, we have to use an earlier CD to boot the iMAC Tray loaders, and all the first generation of Blue White G3 towers. After 2000, DVD was built into all products. Problem is that if you are getting earlier Macs, you need to boot with the earlier CD factory discs. * * * * * * * * It is OK to boot and run Ubuntu, that was written for the MAC 601/603 Power PC units. Just don't try to use the ones made for Intel/AMD X86! But, even here, there are two different downloads, depending upon the exact machines you are powering up. Tried out the other OSes that were supposed to run on Macs, and they didn't work. They got some of my macs up to a shell, but, no Xwindow environment. From pberry2 at cfl.rr.com Mon Oct 23 17:42:03 2006 From: pberry2 at cfl.rr.com (patrick) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Need a MAC hardware garu! In-Reply-To: <86256E4F-C6F8-4767-BC44-9B0AC9151176@mc-kenna.com> References: <453CFBF6.2030608@sbaflorida.com> <86256E4F-C6F8-4767-BC44-9B0AC9151176@mc-kenna.com> Message-ID: <453D372B.7090607@cfl.rr.com> Damien McKenna wrote: > On Oct 23, 2006, at 1:29 PM, Homer Whittaker wrote: >> I understand that the Mac has a program that will allow them to use >> Windows XX. > > VirtualPC, currently owned by Microsoft. It comes bundled with Office > for Mac. > >> The main problem at hand is the his Mac will not read his SCSI hard >> drive, and it will not read the Western Digital IDE drives I have put >> on it either. So: > > What sort of Mac is it, is it worth keeping it when you've having so > many problems? > >> 2. If it can be repaired, then how do I go about installing Debian >> on the Mac. > > Download the ISOs for a PPC-based distribution and rtfm :-) > > --Damien McKenna, husband, father, geek. > damien@mc-kenna.com - http://www.mc-kenna.com/ > > > _______________________________________________ > Pc_support mailing list > Pc_support@matrixlist.com > http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support > My starting point for any upload of Linux is to have the system working first. I can do that. In Mac OS, Then, it will run quickest, for the hardware design included that OS... then we can play with Linux! From thebs413 at gmail.com Tue Oct 24 03:37:58 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Firefox 2.0: Damn it's snappy! Message-ID: At first, it looked like little more than icon refresh and a few features I had missed from old GTK+ 1.0-based Galeon 1.0. But after a little play I quickly realized the engine is very snappy, especially in launching multiple tabs. The only thing I'm currently missing right now is the lack of the PrefBar extension. Frankly, I wish it was a standard toolbar -- for pure security reasons, like the ability to quickly turn Javascript on/off. In fact, it would be nice to do so on a per-tab basis. Oh well, you can't have everything overnight. ;-> From thebs413 at gmail.com Tue Oct 24 06:34:23 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Tom's Hardware on the WD Raptor and Seagate Barracuda ES ... Message-ID: Following on to their recent Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 article, Tom's Hardware looks at the enterprise-capacity 10Krpm WD Raptor and the commodity-capacity, but enterprise-rated 7200rrpm Seagate Barracuda ES. http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/10/19/enterprise_storage_solutions_solid_integration_for_enthusiasts/ I found it interesting that the enterprise-rated Barracuda ES 750GB had +7F the thermals of the consumer-rated Barracuda 7200.10 750GB. Most of the benchmarks were about the same, as they should be because they virtually come off the same lines, or are at least fabbed with similar materials using the exact same platter design. From thebs413 at gmail.com Wed Oct 25 15:31:58 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Compaq Presario 14" Notebook w/GeForce 6150 for $449 ... Message-ID: Sempron 1.6GHz, upgrade to a Turion 64 x2 TL-50 or TL-52 for $110-120 more: http://dealnews.com/deals/Compaq-Presario-V3000-T-Sempron-1-6-GHz-14-Widescreen-Notebook-for-450-after-rebate/137517.html A good, entry-level, widescreen notebook that will give you more battery life and performance than an Intel 9xx GPU / Core 2 Duo solution. From whittake at sbaflorida.com Wed Oct 25 16:04:44 2006 From: whittake at sbaflorida.com (Homer Whittaker) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] re: Update motherboard and CPU In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <453FC35C.2020606@sbaflorida.com> One of my desktops has an ASUS K8V SE with a socket 754 and an AMD 64 processor which supports both 32 bit and 64 bit computing. I am going to update one of my other boxes and would like to use the 32 bit / 64 bit computing option. I also would like to use the two 512 MB, 184 pin Unbuffered, DIMM DDR PC3200 memory chips that I have on hand. I am not a speed demon, do not play games and just need a good computer to run both Windows XP and most likely Ubuntu or Debian. Can anyone suggest a good motherboard and CPU that will be able to meet the above specs. Homer Whittaker From dmckenna at thelimucompany.com Wed Oct 25 16:15:32 2006 From: dmckenna at thelimucompany.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] re: Update motherboard and CPU In-Reply-To: <453FC35C.2020606@sbaflorida.com> References: <453FC35C.2020606@sbaflorida.com> Message-ID: <0624A3CF-7A35-4FF2-ACB8-23810E23CE79@thelimucompany.com> On Oct 25, 2006, at 4:04 PM, Homer Whittaker wrote: > Can anyone suggest a good motherboard and CPU that will be able to > meet the above specs. Go on NewEgg and search for a motherboard that uses either a Socket 939 or AM2 and has an nForce chipset, and then get a 64-bit Sempron or Athlon to match the socket. That should get you plenty of options. As mentioned in many other threads by many other people, right now the nVidia nForce motherboards are some of the best in terms of stability and support in current Linux distributions. -- Damien McKenna - Web Developer - dmckenna@thelimucompany.com The Limu Company - http://www.thelimucompany.com/ - 407-804-1014 #include From thebs413 at gmail.com Wed Oct 25 17:28:51 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] re: Update motherboard and CPU Message-ID: Homer wrote: > One of my desktops has an ASUS K8V SE with a socket 754 and an AMD 64 > processor which supports both 32 bit and 64 bit computing. > I am going to update one of my other boxes and would like to use the 32 > bit / 64 bit computing option. I also would like to use the two 512 MB, > 184 pin Unbuffered, DIMM DDR PC3200 memory chips that I have on hand. Then you want a Socket-754 or 939 solution as they take DDR. > I am not a speed demon, do not play games and just need a good computer > to run both Windows XP and most likely Ubuntu or Debian. > Can anyone suggest a good motherboard and CPU that will be able to meet > the above specs. On modern Linux kernels with modern X11R7 (or late X11R6.8.x) releases, I highly recommend the nForce 4x0 (with integrated GeForce 61x0). nVidia's kernel support and even MIT X11 support is top-notch. E.g., I just installed Fedora Core 6 on a brand new HP Pavilion dv9000z notebook, a very new model. Everything is supported, even suspend/hibernate modes, special keys, network, SATA, audio (full blown ALSA), etc... etc... thanx to nVidia's release and direct assistance to the kernel team. even X11R7.1 (released in May) has full 2D support for the GeForce Go 7600 (only a few months old itself). If you have that new 22" LCD, and it's got both a DVI and VGA input, you probably want to get something that has DVI out on-mainboard. That way you not only get crisp video out from the new system via DVI, but you can use the other VGA input for your other system and press a button to switch between the two. I've personally used both the DVI and VGA on the $75 Asus A8N-VM CSM MicroATX Socket-939 mainboard in Linux with Sempron 64 and Athlon 64 x2 processors: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131570 If you really don't care for the DVI, then your options get even cheaper. Socket-754: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2010200022+1070907494+107191007+1247315468&Subcategory=22&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc= Socket-939: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2010200022+1070907495+107191007+1247315468&Subcategory=22&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc= Just add a Socket-754 or 939 processor. Of course, NewEgg has a killer Socket-939 Venice (Athlon 64) 3400+ CPU plus older nForce4 chipset mainboard combo deal for $99: http://dealnews.com/deals/AMD-Athlon-64-3400-Processor-motherboard-for-100/136920.html The only difference is that you have to add a PCIe video card, as there is not one built into the older nForce4 chipset (unlike the newer nForce4x0/GeForce61x0). But a simple GeForce 6200TC PCIe card will do for sub-$35: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048+1069609641+106790703&Subcategory=48&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc= BTW, you'll need a CPU cooler for the combo as well, and this $15 one works fine (and it clears even in my MicroATX cubes) with those cool Venice 3700+ or under cores (I wouldn't use it for original Athlon 64 though) and includes thermal grease: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835186126 Damien wrote: > Go on NewEgg and search for a motherboard that uses either a Socket > 939 or AM2 and has an nForce chipset, Since he wants to use existing DDR memory, and not DDR2, he should _not_ go Socket-AM2/940. > and then get a 64-bit Sempron or Athlon to match the socket. That should get you > plenty of options. As mentioned in many other threads by many other people, > right now the nVidia nForce motherboards are some of the best in > terms of stability and support in current Linux distributions. From damien at mc-kenna.com Wed Oct 25 17:32:53 2006 From: damien at mc-kenna.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] re: Update motherboard and CPU In-Reply-To: <0624A3CF-7A35-4FF2-ACB8-23810E23CE79@thelimucompany.com> References: <453FC35C.2020606@sbaflorida.com> <0624A3CF-7A35-4FF2-ACB8-23810E23CE79@thelimucompany.com> Message-ID: <983FA127-4A38-4D8A-8B67-5C5C2645B770@mc-kenna.com> On Oct 25, 2006, at 4:15 PM, Damien McKenna wrote: > Go on NewEgg and search for a motherboard that uses either a Socket > 939 or AM2 My mistake: current AM2 boards only support DDR2, so your memory won't work. -- Damien McKenna, husband, father, geek. damien@mc-kenna.com - http://www.mc-kenna.com/ From thebs413 at gmail.com Wed Oct 25 17:40:31 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Update motherboard and CPU -- MicroATX enclosure with 24-pin ATX 2.0 PS Message-ID: On 10/25/06, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > I've personally used both the DVI and VGA on the $75 Asus A8N-VM CSM > MicroATX Socket-939 mainboard in Linux with Sempron 64 and Athlon 64 > x2 processors: > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131570 > If you really don't care for the DVI, then your options get even cheaper. > Socket-754: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2010200022+1070907494+107191007+1247315468&Subcategory=22&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc= > Socket-939: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2010200022+1070907495+107191007+1247315468&Subcategory=22&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc= > Just add a Socket-754 or 939 processor. The first mainboards I listed here (not the combo deal) are MicroATX. That means they chop off 3 slots and are smaller. They fit into smaller cases. I've put that very same A8N-VM CSM into one of these $42 AthenaTech MicroATX cases. It's one of the few, sub-$50 cases I've seen with a full ATX 2.0 (24-pin, just not 20-pin ATX 1.0) power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811190072 It has a 92mm outtake fan, and a CPU duct that fits over the CPU fan-sink perfectly on that mainboard (although most others are in the same position as well). From thebs413 at gmail.com Wed Oct 25 17:53:23 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Update motherboard and CPU -- Dell E521 desktops start at $279 w/XP Message-ID: Of course, at some point, you've spend $200 on mainboard, CPU and a few other things, you're almost to the of a Dell E521 desktop, which comes with Windows XP Home (an OEM license for self-assembles will run you $80): http://www.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/dimen_e521?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd It has the nVidia GeForce 6150LE (basically the same GPU as the 6100, 425MHz clock instead of a 475MHz on the fully 6150, big deal), MicroBTX mainboard (which is a standard mainboard, just not as popular, but cools better than most standard MicroATX setups), etc... Socket-AM2/940 with newer DDR2 memory. Don't worry about upgrades. I can get you another 512MB DDR2 DIMM for sub-$50, a DVD-R/RW/+R/+RWW/-RAM for $30, etc... Dell really nickles'n dimes you (like most OEMs). I can't tell if the on-board video has DVI+VGA or just VGA. I want to assume it has DVI as well as VGA, but I could be wrong. You would think so with Dell offering DVI flat panel options -- but I haven't hit the documentation. Hold on ... Ack, it doesn't look like DVI, only VGA: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dimE521/en/SM_EN/specs.htm From whittake at sbaflorida.com Wed Oct 25 17:52:20 2006 From: whittake at sbaflorida.com (Homer Whittaker) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Update motherboard and CPU -- MicroATX enclosure with 24-pin ATX 2.0 PS In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <453FDC94.8060609@sbaflorida.com> Bryan J. Smith wrote: > On 10/25/06, Bryan J. Smith wrote: >> I've personally used both the DVI I have never seen or used DVI. Is it something that is the next best thing to vanilla ice-cream or can I do without it. Homer >> and VGA on the $75 Asus A8N-VM CSM >> MicroATX Socket-939 mainboard in Linux with Sempron 64 and Athlon 64 >> x2 processors: >> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131570 >> If you really don't care for the DVI, then your options get even >> cheaper. >> Socket-754: > http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2010200022+1070907494+107191007+1247315468&Subcategory=22&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc= > >> Socket-939: > http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2010200022+1070907495+107191007+1247315468&Subcategory=22&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc= > >> Just add a Socket-754 or 939 processor. > > The first mainboards I listed here (not the combo deal) are MicroATX. > That means they chop off 3 slots and are smaller. They fit into > smaller cases. > > I've put that very same A8N-VM CSM into one of these $42 AthenaTech > MicroATX cases. It's one of the few, sub-$50 cases I've seen with a > full ATX 2.0 (24-pin, just not 20-pin ATX 1.0) power supply: > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811190072 > > It has a 92mm outtake fan, and a CPU duct that fits over the CPU > fan-sink perfectly on that mainboard (although most others are in the > same position as well). > _______________________________________________ > Pc_support mailing list > Pc_support@matrixlist.com > http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support > From whittake at sbaflorida.com Wed Oct 25 17:56:00 2006 From: whittake at sbaflorida.com (Homer Whittaker) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] re: Update motherboard and CPU In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <453FDD70.1000100@sbaflorida.com> Sorry I responded to quickly with the previous post. The DVI sounds like it would be interesting to use. Guess I will go that way. Once again thanks. Homer Bryan J. Smith wrote: > Homer wrote: >> One of my desktops has an ASUS K8V SE with a socket 754 and an AMD 64 >> processor which supports both 32 bit and 64 bit computing. >> I am going to update one of my other boxes and would like to use the 32 >> bit / 64 bit computing option. I also would like to use the two 512 MB, >> 184 pin Unbuffered, DIMM DDR PC3200 memory chips that I have on hand. > > Then you want a Socket-754 or 939 solution as they take DDR. > >> I am not a speed demon, do not play games and just need a good computer >> to run both Windows XP and most likely Ubuntu or Debian. >> Can anyone suggest a good motherboard and CPU that will be able to meet >> the above specs. > > On modern Linux kernels with modern X11R7 (or late X11R6.8.x) > releases, I highly recommend the nForce 4x0 (with integrated GeForce > 61x0). nVidia's kernel support and even MIT X11 support is top-notch. > > E.g., I just installed Fedora Core 6 on a brand new HP Pavilion > dv9000z notebook, a very new model. Everything is supported, even > suspend/hibernate modes, special keys, network, SATA, audio (full > blown ALSA), etc... etc... thanx to nVidia's release and direct > assistance to the kernel team. even X11R7.1 (released in May) has full > 2D support for the GeForce Go 7600 (only a few months old itself). > > If you have that new 22" LCD, and it's got both a DVI and VGA input, > you probably want to get something that has DVI out on-mainboard. > That way you not only get crisp video out from the new system via DVI, > but you can use the other VGA input for your other system and press a > button to switch between the two. > > I've personally used both the DVI and VGA on the $75 Asus A8N-VM CSM > MicroATX Socket-939 mainboard in Linux with Sempron 64 and Athlon 64 > x2 processors: > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131570 > > If you really don't care for the DVI, then your options get even cheaper. > Socket-754: > http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2010200022+1070907494+107191007+1247315468&Subcategory=22&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc= > > > Socket-939: > http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2010200022+1070907495+107191007+1247315468&Subcategory=22&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc= > > Just add a Socket-754 or 939 processor. > > Of course, NewEgg has a killer Socket-939 Venice (Athlon 64) 3400+ CPU > plus older nForce4 chipset mainboard combo deal for $99: > http://dealnews.com/deals/AMD-Athlon-64-3400-Processor-motherboard-for-100/136920.html > > > The only difference is that you have to add a PCIe video card, as > there is not one built into the older nForce4 chipset (unlike the > newer nForce4x0/GeForce61x0). But a simple GeForce 6200TC PCIe card > will do for sub-$35: > http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048+1069609641+106790703&Subcategory=48&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc= > > > BTW, you'll need a CPU cooler for the combo as well, and this $15 one > works fine (and it clears even in my MicroATX cubes) with those cool > Venice 3700+ or under cores (I wouldn't use it for original Athlon 64 > though) and includes thermal grease: > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835186126 > > > Damien wrote: >> Go on NewEgg and search for a motherboard that uses either a Socket >> 939 or AM2 and has an nForce chipset, > > Since he wants to use existing DDR memory, and not DDR2, he should > _not_ go Socket-AM2/940. > >> and then get a 64-bit Sempron or Athlon to match the socket. That >> should get you >> plenty of options. As mentioned in many other threads by many other >> people, >> right now the nVidia nForce motherboards are some of the best in >> terms of stability and support in current Linux distributions. > _______________________________________________ > Pc_support mailing list > Pc_support@matrixlist.com > http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support > From ozz at ozz.is-a-geek.net Wed Oct 25 21:01:02 2006 From: ozz at ozz.is-a-geek.net (Austin Denyer (Ozz)) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Update motherboard and CPU -- Dell E521 desktops start at $279 w/XP In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <20061025210102.88837b11.ozz@ozz.is-a-geek.net> On Wed, 25 Oct 2006 17:53:23 -0400, "Bryan J. Smith" wrote: > > Of course, at some point, you've spend $200 on mainboard, CPU and a > few other things, you're almost to the of a Dell E521 desktop, which > comes with Windows XP Home (an OEM license for self-assembles will run > you $80): Another low-cost option (if you're considering a cheap Dell) is a refurb. http://www.dfsdirectsales.com/ You can get some nice deals there. The main thing to watch out for is that the ones that come with WinXP pre-installed (they have XP Pro) are SP1, and have no extra drivers. Be prepared to download network card drivers from Dell's website to your USB key so you can install them... Note - not recommended for laptops, as they do NOT guarantee the batteries... 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/20061025/c854a30c/attachment.bin From pberry2 at cfl.rr.com Wed Oct 25 22:08:32 2006 From: pberry2 at cfl.rr.com (patrick) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Update motherboard -- Local Dell refurbs for less somolians! In-Reply-To: <20061025210102.88837b11.ozz@ozz.is-a-geek.net> References: <20061025210102.88837b11.ozz@ozz.is-a-geek.net> Message-ID: <454018A0.1090807@cfl.rr.com> Austin Denyer (Ozz) wrote: > On Wed, 25 Oct 2006 17:53:23 -0400, "Bryan J. Smith" > wrote: > >> Of course, at some point, you've spend $200 on mainboard, CPU and a >> few other things, you're almost to the of a Dell E521 desktop, which >> comes with Windows XP Home (an OEM license for self-assembles will run >> you $80): >> > > Another low-cost option (if you're considering a cheap Dell) is a > refurb. > > http://www.dfsdirectsales.com/ > > You can get some nice deals there. > > The main thing to watch out for is that the ones that come with WinXP > pre-installed (they have XP Pro) are SP1, and have no extra drivers. > Be prepared to download network card drivers from Dell's website to > your USB key so you can install them... > > Note - not recommended for laptops, as they do NOT guarantee the > batteries... > > Regards, > Ozz. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Pc_support mailing list > Pc_support@matrixlist.com > http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support > The LOCAL Dell refurb outlet is at Red Bug and Semoran. http://cheaptronicsdepot.com Warranteed Dells, start at $69. The 1.7 Ghz Dell Desktop system is $219. Everything included, except Monitor is optional. Monitors start at $34.00. From thebs413 at gmail.com Thu Oct 26 14:40:39 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Windows XP Home Edition Upgrade for $79 - $30 mail-in rebate ... Message-ID: OfficeDepot.COM now has Windows XP Home Edition Upgrade for $99 - $20 (coupon code: 33217432) and then a $30 mail-in rebate: http://dealnews.com/deals/Microsoft-Windows-XP-Home-Edition-Upgrade-for-50-shipped-after-rebate/137564.html Always a nice option if you have an older Windows 95/98/Me CD/license lying around that you're not using. From thebs413 at gmail.com Thu Oct 26 15:10:18 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] AMD Fusion going to keep them in the game ... Message-ID: Without a doubt, Intel has wrestled back the performance computing crown with its new Core redesign, chuckling the inefficient and quickly hacked NetBurst (P4). But AMD has already knocked Intel back in the Server I/O and is making it a 1-2 punch with Fusion -- keeping it lower power and higher performance at a much lower price point. AMD is still the sole x86 compatible vendor with not just a crossbar switch, but a direct connect system interconnect. It solved the coherency issue between CPUs and other components with the Athlon MP and its EV6 crossbar, and has taken it to the next extreme with multiple HyperTransport interconnects between packages, memory and I/O as well as a crossbar inside of multiple core units. AMD's first experiment with non-CPU devices on its HyperTransport system interconnect was the HyperTransport eXtension (HTX), used largely for direct, inter-mainboard connection (using 4 socket base units) as well as indirect Infiniband clusters. What really made everyone take note of HTX was Infiniband, where performance of HTX Infiniband was 3x better than not only PCI-X 2.0 Inifiband adapters, but PCIe x8 as well. >From that, AMD announced Torrenza. Although HyperTransport is open, the way its Opteron handles inter-CPU coherency, especially for I/O processes that share memory like CPUs, was not until Torrenza. The idea is that co-processors and other processing capabilities can and should work directly via HyperTransport links with Opterons as if they were Opterons, just like Infiniband HTX does for clustering Opterons well beyond the base 4 or 8 sockets in a mainboard. So the next move became obvious. With Intel's influence over the peripheral market, AMD wasn't going to break through the performance graphics market other than niche players like Cray, IBM, Quantum3D and the like, well outside commodity and economies of scale. With the purchase of ATI, although risky, AMD now has that. But AMD is not merely going to target the high-end market, but is starting with the integrated one. Unlike Intel, which relies on the "single point of contention" Memory Controller Hub (MCH) aka "northbridge" (NB), and puts the graphics there using a combination of memory hacks and special processor modes, AMD is putting the ATI GPU right on-die, right on the crossbar interconnect. This will bring down price while giving it priority memory access just like an Opteron -- all at a Sempron price-point, and a performance-point that makes Intel whimper. >From the article "AMD-ATI 'Fusion' Full Speed Ahead": http://www.internetnews.com/ent-news/article.php/3640251 Analyst Jon Peddie of Jon Peddie Research, said AMD has an advantage over Intel with its integrated memory controller. "Adding graphics isn't going to be trivial, but it'll be easier for AMD than Intel," said Peddie. "Intel has to get rid of its frontside bus before it can think about integrating graphics, so we don't think they'll even announce anything like what AMD is doing until 2008. We think AMD has a two-year lead on this kind of configuration." AMD went through a lot of growing pains with its EV6 adoption, including all sorts of software incompatibility issues with AGP on Athlon, especially Athlon MP, when dealing with Intel's "software hacks" for consistency. But AMD has moved well beyond them, especially with Athlon 64/Opteron, and made the transition to PCIe painless. These are lessons that Intel either has to learn themselves in order to compete, and that's not going to be overnight. Unless Intel is willing to license HyperTransport and, more importantly, the core CPU designs that make Torrenza possible. I doubt it, and Intel is definitely 2 years behind. They are just now starting to offer dual front-side busses for Xeon, but it doesn't offer and is incompatible with PCIe graphics and its software coherency hacks -- something AMD solved in hardware over5 years ago. ;-> From thebs413 at gmail.com Thu Oct 26 15:17:46 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: AMD Fusion going to keep them in the game ... and why Microsoft loves them ... Message-ID: On 10/26/06, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > Unlike Intel, which relies on the "single point of contention" Memory > Controller Hub (MCH) aka "northbridge" (NB), and puts the graphics > there using a combination of memory hacks and special processor modes, > AMD is putting the ATI GPU right on-die, right on the crossbar > interconnect. This will bring down price while giving it priority > memory access just like an Opteron -- all at a Sempron price-point, > and a performance-point that makes Intel whimper. > From the article "AMD-ATI 'Fusion' Full Speed Ahead": > http://www.internetnews.com/ent-news/article.php/3640251 As mentioned in the article, Microsoft is all for it. Why? Vista's Windows Graphics Foundation (WGF) 1.1, based on DirectX 9, requires a DX9-native NV3x/R3xx (GF-FX/R9500) class GPU, with a NV4x/R4xx (GF6/X-series) highly recommended. Intel doesn't have that. Although the i965 is a DX9 capable GPU, it's performance is not enough to run WGF 1.1 and the Aero Window Manager. That's why Microsoft is releasing Windows Vista Home Basic edition, which doesn't use DX9, and only a 3D stripped version of WGF1.1 without Aero. It's designed for Intel GPU integrated chipsets, and other low-cost solutions, instead of NV44 (GeForce 61x0) solutions. It's also why Dell went AMD for its new class of low-end PCs, because Microsoft wants OEMs selling Vista Aero-capable systems now (especially with Dell going to #2 Intel status as Apple has taken over Intel's #1 spot). With a low-cost AMD processor with an integrated R4xx series GPU right on-die, with AMD's extensive embedded microprocessor experience (e.g., Geode NX), AMD can bring a PCs cost down to well under $200 with Windows -- all while being Vista Aero-capable. You betcha Microsoft is big-time AMD lovin' right now! From thebs413 at gmail.com Thu Oct 26 15:45:57 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Fedora Core 6 x86-64: Acrobat Reader 7.0.8 and StarOffice 8 Message-ID: Oh, I forgot to mention that I'm having compatibility issues on Fedora Core 6 x86-64 with Acrobat Reader 7.0.8 and StarOffice 8. This is not the first time I've had issues with Acrobat Reader and StarOffice in the past, and ran into several with Fedora Core 2 as well. Acrobat Reader installed, but it's startup script is failing (bad expr, possibly due to an incorrect or missing output due to an incompatible or missing library call), and StarOffice 8 won't install with an error code I've seen before back on Fedora Core 2 (error code 0022). The latter was definitely a library support issue. I haven't had time to research, but it could be due to a number of things ... 1. Missing .i386 and/or other compat libs I've already noticed the default FC6 x86-64 install didn't install a number of i386 libraries that were on the DVD. This was also the case with FC5 as well. I did install the compat-296 and 33 libraries, but I bet I'm still missing a few. I'll compare to my Fedora Core 5 x86-64 desktop when I get time. 2. OpenMotif libraries have been removed The Fedora Project did an analysis of all packages under its guidelines and decided that OpenMotif didn't match them, so it's gone. Lesstif remains in its place. I don't think this is the issue because Acrobat Reader is statically linked IIRC, and StarOffice hasn't used them since version 6 IIRC. I could be wrong. Fedora Core 6 is little changed from Fedora Core 5 when it comes to the ABI (nearly the same GCC, although a GLibC rev, etc...), so I think it's just some combination of #1. Again, I'll do a comparison with my Fedora Core 5 x86-64 system. From thebs413 at gmail.com Thu Oct 26 22:33:20 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Tom's Hardware: Brand New Xeon v. Old Opteron using non-server applications and Message-ID: Okay, now Tom's gets the stupid article award: http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/10/26/intel_woodcrest_and_amd_opteron_battle_head_to_head/index.html He compared a brand-new LGA-771 Xeon platform that came out this June to the old, 2004-era Socket-940 DDR Opteron, instead of the new LGA-1207 DDR2 Opteron that has been available for months now. It doesn't even look like he configured the memory correctly from the picture. I.e., he put all the memory on 1 Opteron CPU from what I can tell -- which will work, but poorly. But if that wasn't bad enough, he did A/V and other _pure_ computational benchmarks. The Intel Core design whips AMD's aging Hammer, and I'm the first guy to admit that -- even if he would have used an Opteron LGA-1207. He even admits that he's using applications that only use Intel extensions as well, although they would be supported on newer LGA-1207 Opterons with newer cores too. Absolutely *NOT* one single I/O-centric benchmark. *NONE*. While it certainly shows that an older Opteron platform sucks versus a Intel "workstation," and I do agree that even the Opteron LGA-1207 wouldn't far that much better except on memory throughout, it does _nothing_ to show a "server" performance comparison. So, again, does anyone want to start a new magazine? I've honestly had it with the lack of network-server throughput benchmarks. From hescominsoon at emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com Fri Oct 27 08:20:39 2006 From: hescominsoon at emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com (William Warren) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Windows XP Home Edition Upgrade for $79 - $30 mail-in rebate ... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4541F997.7000008@emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com> nice deal..but xp home goes away fairly quickly after vista. I would go after xp pro since it's good until at least 2010 in terms of security updates. Bryan J. Smith wrote: > OfficeDepot.COM now has Windows XP Home Edition Upgrade for $99 - $20 > (coupon code: 33217432) and then a $30 mail-in rebate: > http://dealnews.com/deals/Microsoft-Windows-XP-Home-Edition-Upgrade-for-50-shipped-after-rebate/137564.html > > > Always a nice option if you have an older Windows 95/98/Me CD/license > lying around that you're not using. > _______________________________________________ > Pc_support mailing list > Pc_support@matrixlist.com > http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support > > -- 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 hescominsoon at emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com Fri Oct 27 08:35:23 2006 From: hescominsoon at emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com (William Warren) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Tom s Hardware: Brand New Xeon v. Old Opteron using non-server applications and In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4541FD0B.2050002@emmanuelcomputerconsulting.com> start one on your blog or online..forget print..:) Bryan J. Smith wrote: > Okay, now Tom's gets the stupid article award: > http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/10/26/intel_woodcrest_and_amd_opteron_battle_head_to_head/index.html > > > He compared a brand-new LGA-771 Xeon platform that came out this June > to the old, 2004-era Socket-940 DDR Opteron, instead of the new > LGA-1207 DDR2 Opteron that has been available for months now. It > doesn't even look like he configured the memory correctly from the > picture. I.e., he put all the memory on 1 Opteron CPU from what I can > tell -- which will work, but poorly. > > But if that wasn't bad enough, he did A/V and other _pure_ > computational benchmarks. The Intel Core design whips AMD's aging > Hammer, and I'm the first guy to admit that -- even if he would have > used an Opteron LGA-1207. He even admits that he's using applications > that only use Intel extensions as well, although they would be > supported on newer LGA-1207 Opterons with newer cores too. > > Absolutely *NOT* one single I/O-centric benchmark. *NONE*. While it > certainly shows that an older Opteron platform sucks versus a Intel > "workstation," and I do agree that even the Opteron LGA-1207 wouldn't > far that much better except on memory throughout, it does _nothing_ to > show a "server" performance comparison. > > So, again, does anyone want to start a new magazine? I've honestly > had it with the lack of network-server throughput benchmarks. > _______________________________________________ > Pc_support mailing list > Pc_support@matrixlist.com > http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support > > -- 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 thebs413 at gmail.com Fri Oct 27 12:54:53 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Tom's Hardware: Brand New Xeon v. Old Opteron using non-server applications and Message-ID: William Warren wrote: > start one on your blog or online..forget print..:) Ummm, dude, it's not the publication costs I'm worried about. It's the acquisition of tens of thousands of dollars of equipment!!! Even if I could swing some "on loan" deals, I still need basic network infrastructure and an array of PCs as well as a couple of enterprise servers for basic test apparatus. That _used_ to be the difference between these "enthusiast" sites and _real_ magazines like Network Computing or Network World. Unfortunately, not even those 2 benchmark anything anymore. From thebs413 at gmail.com Fri Oct 27 12:58:06 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Tom's Hardware: Brand New Xeon v. Old Opteron using non-server applications and In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 10/27/06, Bryan J. Smith wrote: > Ummm, dude, it's not the publication costs I'm worried about. It's > the acquisition of tens of thousands of dollars of equipment!!! > Even if I could swing some "on loan" deals, I still need basic network > infrastructure and an array of PCs as well as a couple of enterprise > servers for basic test apparatus. That _used_ to be the difference > between these "enthusiast" sites and _real_ magazines like Network > Computing or Network World. > Unfortunately, not even those 2 benchmark anything anymore. FYI, this is what I'm ultimately referring back to ... http://lists.leap-cf.org/pipermail/pc_support/2006-October/002707.html http://lists.leap-cf.org/pipermail/pc_support/2006-October/002708.html I _have_ the publication know-how and experience. What I don't have is real, technical capital in infrastructure. That will take a sizable investment (5 figures) just to "get started," and will quickly explode into larger ones (6 figures) to do testing proper -- even with vendor equipment under test on-load/for-free. You can't do this shit with unmanaged switches and PC mainboards. ;-> From whittake at sbaflorida.com Fri Oct 27 17:23:31 2006 From: whittake at sbaflorida.com (Homer Whittaker) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:09 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Update motherboard and CPU -- MicroATX enclosure with 24-pin ATX 2.0 PS In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <454278D3.70809@sbaflorida.com> Bryan J. Smith wrote: > On 10/25/06, Bryan J. Smith wrote: >> I've personally used both the DVI and VGA on the $75 Asus A8N-VM CSM >> MicroATX Socket-939 mainboard in Linux with Sempron 64 and Athlon 64 >> x2 processors: >> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131570 I have spent some 3 hours searching for a similiar board that is NOT a mini. Have not found anything even close. Nothing wrong with a mini ATX except that I personally like the larger real estate, and all of my boxes are large towers (that I always leave wide open, and nobody agrees with the concept :-) ), and with 500 W +/- power supplies. My questions are: 1. Is there a full size ATX that will accomplish the same tasks? 2. What does the VM and the CSM stand for in the Asus part number? Homer Whittaker >> If you really don't care for the DVI, then your options get even >> cheaper. >> Socket-754: > http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2010200022+1070907494+107191007+1247315468&Subcategory=22&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc= > >> Socket-939: > http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2010200022+1070907495+107191007+1247315468&Subcategory=22&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc= > >> Just add a Socket-754 or 939 processor. > > The first mainboards I listed here (not the combo deal) are MicroATX. > That means they chop off 3 slots and are smaller. They fit into > smaller cases. > > I've put that very same A8N-VM CSM into one of these $42 AthenaTech > MicroATX cases. It's one of the few, sub-$50 cases I've seen with a > full ATX 2.0 (24-pin, just not 20-pin ATX 1.0) power supply: > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811190072 > > It has a 92mm outtake fan, and a CPU duct that fits over the CPU > fan-sink perfectly on that mainboard (although most others are in the > same position as well). > _______________________________________________ > Pc_support mailing list > Pc_support@matrixlist.com > http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support > From carter at carter.cc Sat Oct 28 10:09:08 2006 From: carter at carter.cc (Carter Manucy) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:10 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Update motherboard and CPU -- MicroATX enclosure with 24-pin ATX 2.0 PS In-Reply-To: <454278D3.70809@sbaflorida.com> References: <454278D3.70809@sbaflorida.com> Message-ID: <1131.72.184.31.43.1162044548.squirrel@carter.cc> > I have spent some 3 hours searching for a similiar board that is NOT a > mini. Have not found anything even close. > Nothing wrong with a mini ATX except that I personally like the larger > real estate, and all of my boxes are large towers (that I always leave > wide open, and nobody agrees with the concept :-) ), and with 500 W +/- > power supplies. > > My questions are: > 1. Is there a full size ATX that will accomplish the same tasks? Of course - but nowadays you're going to be looking at more of a 'workstation' class board. Try this on for size... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813151030 You can find more of the same here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?N=2000200302+1071317743&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=302 There are other (mfgs) that have ATX-size boards, but Asus & Tyan are the ones I'm most familiar with - I haven't had experience with many of the others (DFI, Foxconn, etc). > 2. What does the VM and the CSM stand for in the Asus part number? IIRC, "VM" in Asus land means built-in video, but I could mistaken on that. -Carter From wam at HiWAAY.net Sat Oct 28 10:34:48 2006 From: wam at HiWAAY.net (William A. Mahaffey III) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:10 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Update motherboard and CPU -- MicroATX enclosure with 24-pin ATX 2.0 PS In-Reply-To: <1131.72.184.31.43.1162044548.squirrel@carter.cc> References: <454278D3.70809@sbaflorida.com> <1131.72.184.31.43.1162044548.squirrel@carter.cc> Message-ID: <45436A88.9070709@HiWAAY.net> Carter Manucy wrote: > > >>I have spent some 3 hours searching for a similiar board that is NOT a >>mini. Have not found anything even close. >>Nothing wrong with a mini ATX except that I personally like the larger >>real estate, and all of my boxes are large towers (that I always leave >>wide open, and nobody agrees with the concept :-) ), and with 500 W +/- >>power supplies. >> >>My questions are: >>1. Is there a full size ATX that will accomplish the same tasks? >> >> > >Of course - but nowadays you're going to be looking at more of a >'workstation' class board. > >Try this on for size... > >http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813151030 > >You can find more of the same here: > >http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?N=2000200302+1071317743&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=302 > >There are other (mfgs) that have ATX-size boards, but Asus & Tyan are the >ones I'm most familiar with - I haven't had experience with many of the >others (DFI, Foxconn, etc). > > > >>2. What does the VM and the CSM stand for in the Asus part number? >> >> > >IIRC, "VM" in Asus land means built-in video, but I could mistaken on that. > >-Carter > > & I *think* the VM is for 'built-in video, Micro-ATX'. $0.02, no more, no less .... -- William A. Mahaffey III ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "The M1 Garand is without doubt the finest implement of war ever devised by man." -- Gen. George S. Patton Jr. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.matrixlist.com/pipermail/pc_support/attachments/20061028/82725d97/attachment.html From pberry2 at cfl.rr.com Sat Oct 28 15:31:09 2006 From: pberry2 at cfl.rr.com (patrick) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:10 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Update motherboard and CPU -- MicroATX enclosure with 24-pin ATX 2.0 PS In-Reply-To: <1131.72.184.31.43.1162044548.squirrel@carter.cc> References: <454278D3.70809@sbaflorida.com> <1131.72.184.31.43.1162044548.squirrel@carter.cc> Message-ID: <4543AFFD.5020402@cfl.rr.com> Carter Manucy wrote: > >> I have spent some 3 hours searching for a similiar board that is NOT a >> mini. Have not found anything even close. >> Nothing wrong with a mini ATX except that I personally like the larger >> real estate, and all of my boxes are large towers (that I always leave >> wide open, and nobody agrees with the concept :-) ), and with 500 W +/- >> power supplies. >> >> My questions are: >> 1. Is there a full size ATX that will accomplish the same tasks? >> > > Of course - but nowadays you're going to be looking at more of a > 'workstation' class board. > > Try this on for size... > > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813151030 > > You can find more of the same here: > > http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?N=2000200302+1071317743&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=302 > > There are other (mfgs) that have ATX-size boards, but Asus & Tyan are the > ones I'm most familiar with - I haven't had experience with many of the > others (DFI, Foxconn, etc). > > >> 2. What does the VM and the CSM stand for in the Asus part number? >> > > IIRC, "VM" in Asus land means built-in video, but I could mistaken on that. > > -Carter > > > _______________________________________________ > Pc_support mailing list > Pc_support@matrixlist.com > http://lists.matrixlist.com/mailman/listinfo/pc_support > > I have some open towers here. two are running open... this one is open... it just works better! From thebs413 at gmail.com Sat Oct 28 16:54:09 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:10 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Re: Update motherboard and CPU -- MicroATX v. ATX Message-ID: Homer Whittaker wrote: > I have spent some 3 hours searching for a similiar board that is NOT a > mini. Have not found anything even close. > Nothing wrong with a mini ATX Er, they call it "Micro" (_not_ "Mini") for a reason. There are _significant_ differences. > except that I personally like the larger real estate, It gives you 3 more PCI slots on average. > and all of my boxes are large towers (that I always leave wide open, > and nobody agrees with the concept :-) ), and with 500 W +/- > power supplies. >From both an EMI and cooling standpoint, it's a problem. Unless you don't put fans in your case when they are closed, which is a common issue. I.e., most people get poor cooling with the cover off due to _lack_ of airflow. I prefer cases that have 2-3 _large_, 120mm fans that spin at only 1000rpm. Sub-30db, cool a heck of a lot better than even the "case off." Hard drives particular _suffer_ due to lack of cooling these days. > My questions are: > 1. Is there a full size ATX that will accomplish the same tasks? Here's the deal. Most nForce 4x0/GeForce 61x0 chipset mainboards are MicroATX. But there's nothing stopping you from going with an older nForce4 (Socket-939/DDR) or newer nForce5xx (Socket-AM2/DDR2) series -- you just will have to add a video card. CompGeeks.COM has an nForce4 Ultra for $40 here: http://dealnews.com/deals/MSI-K8-N-Neo4-NVIDIA-n-Force4-Ultra-ATX-AMD-Socket-939-Motherboard-for-41/137769.html And there is still the NewEgg nForce4 Ultra mainboard + A64 3400+ CPU deal for $100: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103023 Here are all the ATX nForce4 Socket-939/DDR mainboards at NewEgg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2010200022+1070907495+107191007+1075707618&Subcategory=22&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc= > 2. What does the VM and the CSM stand for in the Asus part number? Video and MicroATX typically. Not sure about the CSM. Carter Manucy wrote: > Of course - but nowadays you're going to be looking at more of a > 'workstation' class board. > Try this on for size... > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813151030 Ahh ... can I get a _hell_no_! ;-> That's an _overpriced_ POS for what you get, standard "consumer" nForce4 with an PCI-based ATI Rage video. _No_good_ I/O on that mainboard for $200 for server, and it would *ABSOLUTELY*SUCK* as a workstation. I'd go with a Broadcom/ServerWorks HT1000 instead with a PCI-X slot for a server at the _same_ price when I need a server. There are _far_better_ selections for the price, even from Tyan itself, for workstations. > You can find more of the same here: > http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?N=2000200302+1071317743&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=302 But _be_careful_ when picking from the "workstation/server" section. Sometimes you're paying 2, 3 or even 4x as much for a _shitty_ chipset selection that is clearly _desktop_ rated. > There are other (mfgs) that have ATX-size boards, but Asus & Tyan are the > ones I'm most familiar with Brand name means _squat_ -- even in the case of SuperMicro and Tyan. Even though the latter do have some solid $200-500 workstation/server designs, they also have _crappy_ $200-500 designs as well. ;-> > - I haven't had experience with many of the others (DFI, Foxconn, etc). They all vary. patrick wrote: > I have some open towers here. two are running open... this one is > open... it just works better! I'd rather pay $20 more for a _good_ case with 120mm fans, or wait for them to be on-sale. You get what you pay for when you get a _cheap_ case design. Ironically enough, the "Ultra" re-branded (from various manufacturer) cases are great, and they have rebates regularly. From thebs413 at gmail.com Sun Oct 29 14:34:55 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:10 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Antec 900 and other, extreme airflow ATX tower designs ... Message-ID: Other than for a server, I just don't find myself going to anything but a MicroATX these days. And I typically put that MicroATX in either a cube (with a 120mm exhaust and strategically places air slits near the front), or a well-ventilated (typically matching 80-92-120mm intake-exhaust) MicroATX tower. But if you want the ultimate in ATX tower designs, Antec (among others) are introducing new options as covered by a new Tom's Hardware Guide review: http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/10/27/the_gaming_case_showdown/ My favorite? The Antec 900 with 2x120mm front-intake, 1x120mm rear-exhaust and 1x200mm (yes, a whopping 7.5"!) top-exhaust and the "flipped ATX" (with bottom PS) design: http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/10/27/the_gaming_case_showdown/page2.html Pictures: http://www.tomshardware.com/picturegalleries/gallery-200610273-1.html http://www.tomshardware.com/picturegalleries/gallery-200610273-2.html http://www.tomshardware.com/picturegalleries/gallery-200610273-3.html http://www.tomshardware.com/picturegalleries/gallery-200610273-4.html http://www.tomshardware.com/picturegalleries/gallery-200610273-5.html http://www.tomshardware.com/picturegalleries/gallery-200610273-6.html http://www.tomshardware.com/picturegalleries/gallery-200610273-7.html http://www.tomshardware.com/picturegalleries/gallery-200610273-8.html I'm sure this sucker will run $200, which is about like what my Lian Li PC-V1200 did. More on a budget, I still like the $85 ($75 after rebate): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811196006 Which I talked about in this older blog post (among other cases): http://thebs413.blogspot.com/2005/10/flipped-atx-cases-gone-mainstream.html The only thing I don't like about it is the location and lack of cooling of the hard drives. I'd personally take a nibbler and cut out a 92mm (or even a 120mm if possible) at the back of the hard drive location for an exhaust fan. From thebs413 at gmail.com Sun Oct 29 14:43:29 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:10 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] laptop harddrive failure Message-ID: Kyle wrote: > We probably did. You have probably realized by now that just because > you can't recommend something does not mean that I can't. :) I know, that's why I said, "I can't recommend this." > Yes, be careful of the humidity. It's beyond that. The "shock" to the drive's materials, coming from a frozen state, is horrendous. In commodity drives with cheap materials, the internal fluid is likely to be in a solid state and "crack," taking portions of mechanics (if not scratching the hell out of the platter surface) with it. Wait until the device is beyond 12.5C (55F). The fridge would be a better move. And the freeze spray is most ideal and can be found at your local Radio Shack (or other electronics store). > I've not used the freezing spray, It works well because it is: A) Localized B) Slowly cools from the outside in (instead of being one big ice cube) C) Can be applied while the drive is on (until it works) > but I have used the freezer trick with several hard drives in a work > environment, and it worked most of the time. If the drives were DOA > prior to me putting my hands on them, there was little I could do. I don't doubt that it has worked for you a few times. How long is the question I have. ;-> The fluid doesn't like to be frozen, _ever_, and _never_ when operating. 5C (41F) is the absolute _minimum_ temperature you ever want to operate a drive at from a _mechanical_ standpoint, greater than 12.5C (55F) to avoid condensation. I don't see why the fridge wouldn't cut it, without turning the internal fluid into a solid. From thebs413 at gmail.com Sun Oct 29 14:56:57 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:10 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] RE: laptop hard drive failure -- partition table recovery ... Message-ID: Umm, guys, "parted" under Linux _can_ scan the disk block by block looking for partition barriers. Linux itself also does _not_ rely on the partition table being accurate, only the beginning of the partition to find the filesystem. And there are countless other utilities as well. I personally use _perfect_ (base 10, after M) numbers for my partitions. E.g., using Linux fdisk, +2000M, +4000M, +8000M, +16000M, +32000M, +64000M, +128000M, etc... I really try to stick with a "double" from +2000M. I've recovered countless partition tables this way and _all_ of my systems have these sizes. I really like to use a base, then x4 for binary, then x4 for data. Back when 27-60GB was common ... (as well as notebooks) 2000M: /, /tmp, /var and swap - Dual boot: 2000M FAT16 C: 8000M: Then I'd use a +8000M for /usr, /usr/local, etc... 32000M: Data or specialized server partitions - Dual boot: 32000M FAT32 D: Now that 200-320GB is common ... (as well as 120-160GB notebooks) 8000M: /, /tmp, /var and swap 32000M: /usr, /usr/local and the newer /srv (LFS 2.3), etc... - Dual boot: 32000M NTFS C: and FAT32 D: (sometimes UDF) (under 32768MB for maximum XP comaptiblity) 128000M: Data or specialized server partitions And in the future, when 750-1,000+GB is common ... 32000M: /, /tmp and /var - Dual boot: 32000M NTFS C: and FAT32 D: (sometimes UDF) 128000M: /usr, /usr/local, /srv, etc... 512000M: Data or specialized server partitions From tim at mcdonough.net Mon Oct 30 19:02:34 2006 From: tim at mcdonough.net (Tim McDonough) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:10 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] VPN Troubleshooting Reference Message-ID: <4546929A.4090509@mcdonough.net> I'm searching for a reference to aid in troubleshooting a VPN problem. Any leads appreciated. The MS KB isn't much help. We have three remote workers who run WinXP Pro and make remote connections to access data on a Windows 2003 Server running the VPN server. Last Friday the office in Charlotte started having problems. Soon after she launches the connection it disconnects. This usually happens about 10-20 seconds after she starts. She can connect to the same computer with a secure ftp and transfer huge files with zero problems. She has no other Internet troubles either. The other users see no problems at all. They run Windows XP as well. I have done the following so far: - Walked her through creating a new connection (same problem occurs) - Had her connect as a different user (same problem occurs) - Connected from another location as her (everything works fine) - Had her do several file transfers to and from the same machine (works fine) We do not have a second computer at her location. I have little experience troubleshooting these connections. I've used them quite a bit but this is the first problem I recall having. Pointers to good reading material, suggestions, etc. are welcome. Tim From damien at mc-kenna.com Mon Oct 30 21:32:47 2006 From: damien at mc-kenna.com (Damien McKenna) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:10 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] VPN Troubleshooting Reference In-Reply-To: <4546929A.4090509@mcdonough.net> References: <4546929A.4090509@mcdonough.net> Message-ID: On Oct 30, 2006, at 7:02 PM, Tim McDonough wrote: > I'm searching for a reference to aid in troubleshooting a VPN > problem. Any leads appreciated. The MS KB isn't much help. While I don't have any references, here are a few extra things you might try: * Does the VPN server's event log say anything? * Does her computer's event log say anything? * Have any updates been applied to her system recently, specifically just before the problems started? * Have any updates been applied to the VPN server recently, specifically just before the problems started? * Do you have a firewall+VPN you could connect to instead of the Windows server, e.g. a Cisco PIX, etc? -- Damien McKenna - Husband, father, geek. damien@mc-kenna.com - http://www.mc-kenna.com/ From thebs413 at gmail.com Tue Oct 31 11:03:41 2006 From: thebs413 at gmail.com (Bryan J. Smith) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:10 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] Acer 22" Widescreen for $308 shipped (no rebate) ... Message-ID: For those looking for a 1680x1050, high refresh (5ms), widescreen LCD, here's a large 22" one for $308 shipped: http://dealnews.com/deals/Acer-AL2216-W-22-Widescreen-LCD-Monitor-for-308-shipped/138153.html From tim at mcdonough.net Tue Oct 31 11:46:09 2006 From: tim at mcdonough.net (Tim McDonough) Date: Tue Oct 31 13:18:10 2006 Subject: [Pc_Support] VPN Troubleshooting Reference In-Reply-To: References: <4546929A.4090509@mcdonough.net> Message-ID: <45477DD1.2060501@mcdonough.net> Damien McKenna wrote: > * Does the VPN server's event log say anything? > * Does her computer's event log say anything? > * Have any updates been applied to her system recently, specifically > just before the problems started? > * Have any updates been applied to the VPN server recently, > specifically just before the problems started? Reviewing all more thoroughly. > * Do you have a firewall+VPN you could connect to instead of the Windows > server, e.g. a Cisco PIX, etc? No. There were a couple of errors in the event logs I had not noticed before. They all mentioned that possibly GRE packets were being filtered by a firewall or ISP. A new twist this morning. She has discovered that the problem does not occur and she can connect as before as long as she does not have her Outlook email client running. This means for now she is inconvenienced but fully functional. A local technician is scheduled to be on site tomorrow AM to assist with further troubleshooting. I appreciate the suggestions. Thanks! Tim