I had been having occasional BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death) crashes on my computer that is running Windows 7. The error codes (some were 0x000000C2 and some were 0x00000124) indicated a driver problem, but updating the drivers didn't solve the problem. I ended up discovering that the fan on my video card was froze up when I had it open because I had a hard drive fail.
Overheating components cause very wired things to occur ranging from slowdowns to complete system crashes.
Keep an aye on all your fans, especially your CPU fan, Video card fan, and Chipset (northbridge) fans.
The biggest enemy of fans in my experience is dust. Keep the dust blown out of your computer. in low-dust environments clean it about once a year, in high dust environments (such as if you are a smoker* and if you have the computer on a carpeted floor) you may want to do it once a month.
*If you smoke and put your ash tray by your case you not only have to worry about dust from the smoke, but a tar buildup. There is little that can be done for the tar problem, and it makes clearing the dust out really difficult. Eventually it will cause components to fail. I have experienced it first hand and several members of my family smoke.
Fans can be replaced, though sometimes if it is a highly proprietary setup (like the case of my video card) you might need to get a new heat sink along with it.
Component fans aren't the only ones that can have problems. Case fans and power supply fans can fail too. Cheap sleeve-bearing case fans can sometimes be brought back by a good cleaning, and oiling the bearings with some 3-in-1 oil (WD-40 will work, but will drain out faster and attract dust, so it isn't recommended). I revived an LED case fan I have about 3 or 4 times. In the case of power supply fans, it is generally recommended to replace the whole unit as there are dangerous voltages inside of it, and the capacitors will store a charge even if it is unplugged. If you decide to replace your PSU fan to cut costs, BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL!!!. If you don't know what a capacitor is or looks like, DON'T DO IT! just replace the whole PSU.
You can get good priced replacements at www.newegg.com, Rosewill has some decent fans, and so does Rexus, look at the ratings. For power supplies I have good luck with Rosewill, Logisys and Sunbeam, however they are cheap ones and are known to have some bad ones here and here and there. If you want a high-end power supply, go with Antec. Make sure to get one with identical wattage or higher.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Capacitors
I'm going to stray a bit from the usual computer-related post, and go more general. I bought an old dual-power radio at an estate sale the other day for 50¢. Its pretty beat up, and it had 4 batteries in it. Two were Duracell and two were Energizer. Based on the design style of them, I'd say they had been in there for about 20 years. I got the radio home, took out the batteries and tried it. It worked, but there was a noticeable buzz in the background, and there was a lot of static in the volume knob.
The static problem is extremely common in older radios, it is from dirt in the volume control, that is easily cleaned out with some contact cleaner from Radio Shack (WD-40 can be used, though it generally isn't recommended).
The buzz for the experienced person can be quite difficult to diagnose, and sometimes could just be written off as interference, but it was the same exact sound on AM and FM, at all frequencies. I took a quick look at the components on the circuit board and saw a bulging capacitor (red arrow in pic. 1). Its harder to tell with these older capacitors because there's no relief grooves in the metal, its completely sold. I bought a replacement 100μF electrolytic capacitor at Radio Shack about $1.30 (almost three times what I paid for the radio...). I de-soldered the bad one, popped in the new one and soldered it in. I had to re-solder the wires on the AFC switch because they fell off while I was handling the circuit board. After the repairs, I plugged it in and tested it, it sounded and worked as good as new! (I can't really fix the beat-up look, lol).
I think the approx. $1.80 investment was well-worth it, the radio comes in very clear, and has decent sound for the build quality. I am able to pick up WBCT 93.7 FM (B-93), which is about 90 miles away from where I live, in addition to that AM reception is exceptionally good considering all the interference in my house's electric. These 3o to 40 year old dual-power radios have some of the best AM reception of any Radios I have owned (note the rather large bar antenna). It is old enough to not have any IC's, but is new enough to use 5% tolerance resistors throughout most of the circuit (there's like one or two 10% tolerance resistors, but they are a bit higher wattage than the rest). It also has a compact tuning capacitor (the clear plastic thing in pic. 1) as opposed to the big old metal ones that were common through the 60's, and used in the 70's in larger radios. Also, it doesn't have a voltage source auto-select, there is an AC/DC switch on the left side.
I can't find much information about this radio. It was made in Hong Kong, but most components were made in Japan. The brand labeled on the front is "milovac." I've never heard of it before, but there was a search hit in Google Books for a 1972 Issue of Billboard magazine saying that Milovac 8-track players are made by Aiwa, and re-branded for the US and Canada markets. I have an Aiwa mini hi-fi system made in 1993 that is decent, but not outstanding. I'd say this radio is of pretty good build quality.
The static problem is extremely common in older radios, it is from dirt in the volume control, that is easily cleaned out with some contact cleaner from Radio Shack (WD-40 can be used, though it generally isn't recommended).
The buzz for the experienced person can be quite difficult to diagnose, and sometimes could just be written off as interference, but it was the same exact sound on AM and FM, at all frequencies. I took a quick look at the components on the circuit board and saw a bulging capacitor (red arrow in pic. 1). Its harder to tell with these older capacitors because there's no relief grooves in the metal, its completely sold. I bought a replacement 100μF electrolytic capacitor at Radio Shack about $1.30 (almost three times what I paid for the radio...). I de-soldered the bad one, popped in the new one and soldered it in. I had to re-solder the wires on the AFC switch because they fell off while I was handling the circuit board. After the repairs, I plugged it in and tested it, it sounded and worked as good as new! (I can't really fix the beat-up look, lol).
I think the approx. $1.80 investment was well-worth it, the radio comes in very clear, and has decent sound for the build quality. I am able to pick up WBCT 93.7 FM (B-93), which is about 90 miles away from where I live, in addition to that AM reception is exceptionally good considering all the interference in my house's electric. These 3o to 40 year old dual-power radios have some of the best AM reception of any Radios I have owned (note the rather large bar antenna). It is old enough to not have any IC's, but is new enough to use 5% tolerance resistors throughout most of the circuit (there's like one or two 10% tolerance resistors, but they are a bit higher wattage than the rest). It also has a compact tuning capacitor (the clear plastic thing in pic. 1) as opposed to the big old metal ones that were common through the 60's, and used in the 70's in larger radios. Also, it doesn't have a voltage source auto-select, there is an AC/DC switch on the left side.
I can't find much information about this radio. It was made in Hong Kong, but most components were made in Japan. The brand labeled on the front is "milovac." I've never heard of it before, but there was a search hit in Google Books for a 1972 Issue of Billboard magazine saying that Milovac 8-track players are made by Aiwa, and re-branded for the US and Canada markets. I have an Aiwa mini hi-fi system made in 1993 that is decent, but not outstanding. I'd say this radio is of pretty good build quality.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Ubuntu Countdown
Ubuntu 9.10 coming soon! I figured I'd post the countdown here to help my anticipation, however I couldn't figure out how to post teh javascript version (I'm not much of a programmer).
LPT / Parallel Port Zip drives and Ubuntu
I was working on homework for my Linux class on my Compaq Armada M700, when I came to a section where I needed to format a floppy or a ZIP disk, the book uses a ZIP disk for its description. I don't have the floppy module for it (I don't know if there is a zip one or not, so obviously I don't have that one either). I do have a USB floppy drive, and a Parallel Port Zip Drive. I figured that I woud use the zip drive as that is what the book goes by.
I tried just plugging it in, no luck. Searching Google left me with some information about older ZIP 100 drives and older (2.0.x) kernels. In reading the infomation I saw that it talked about a "ppa" driver module. I did a sudo modprobe ppa and it was loaded, but nothing happened. Next I put ppa on the end of my /etc/modules file, rebooted, and still nothing. Reading on, I saw something about a Zip Plus drive that uses a different driver module, "imm." My drive is a "Z250P" from 2001, the artivle mentioned that the Zip 250 drive was new and used the imm driver, however, it was talking about an internal Zip 250. I did a sudo rmmod ppa and then a sudo modprobe imm and... NOTHING! I was beginnign to think that I coulnd't get it to work with a newer version of Linux, but then I saw that the ppa and imm modules need to be loaded BEFORE the lp module (if it was used). The very first module in /etc/modules was lp. I did a sudo rmmod imm then sudo rmmod lp then a sudo modprobe imm and sudo modprobe lp and bingo! there it was, an Icon for the drive on ym desktop. I went in to my /etc/modules file, took out the ppa, and put imm on teh very beginning (before the lp).
For the uniniated, the /etc/modules file is a list of modules to be laoded on bootup, the sudo command gives root (admin) privilages, modprobe loads a module, and rmmod removes a module imm, ppa, and lp are names of modules.
In summary, for a parallel port Zip drive, put imm (for newer drives) or ppa (for older drives) at the beginning of your /etc/modules file. To edit the file in ubuntu issue: sudo gedit /etc/modules from the Terminal, replace gedit with mousepad for Xubuntu, and kate for Kubuntu. To get started right away, do a sudo rmmod lp then sudo modprobe imm or sudo modprobe ppa then sudo modprobe lp.
I tried just plugging it in, no luck. Searching Google left me with some information about older ZIP 100 drives and older (2.0.x) kernels. In reading the infomation I saw that it talked about a "ppa" driver module. I did a sudo modprobe ppa and it was loaded, but nothing happened. Next I put ppa on the end of my /etc/modules file, rebooted, and still nothing. Reading on, I saw something about a Zip Plus drive that uses a different driver module, "imm." My drive is a "Z250P" from 2001, the artivle mentioned that the Zip 250 drive was new and used the imm driver, however, it was talking about an internal Zip 250. I did a sudo rmmod ppa and then a sudo modprobe imm and... NOTHING! I was beginnign to think that I coulnd't get it to work with a newer version of Linux, but then I saw that the ppa and imm modules need to be loaded BEFORE the lp module (if it was used). The very first module in /etc/modules was lp. I did a sudo rmmod imm then sudo rmmod lp then a sudo modprobe imm and sudo modprobe lp and bingo! there it was, an Icon for the drive on ym desktop. I went in to my /etc/modules file, took out the ppa, and put imm on teh very beginning (before the lp).
For the uniniated, the /etc/modules file is a list of modules to be laoded on bootup, the sudo command gives root (admin) privilages, modprobe loads a module, and rmmod removes a module imm, ppa, and lp are names of modules.
In summary, for a parallel port Zip drive, put imm (for newer drives) or ppa (for older drives) at the beginning of your /etc/modules file. To edit the file in ubuntu issue: sudo gedit /etc/modules from the Terminal, replace gedit with mousepad for Xubuntu, and kate for Kubuntu. To get started right away, do a sudo rmmod lp then sudo modprobe imm or sudo modprobe ppa then sudo modprobe lp.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Thoughts on Apple and AMD
This is sort of a combo-post. I have thoughts on the business of AMD and Apple.
I'll start with Apple. Most everyone knows the stigma of "cool" that one has when they have a Mac. However, this "cool" comes with a premium price. I think that Apple would become much more mainstream if they offered products at more competitive prices. It would benefit many people that cannot afford to get a mac, and significantly improve their sales. This would also cause Apple to be a much larger threat to Microsoft, and therefore Microsoft would theoretically make better products given the increased competition. However, this would sacrifice the exclusive "cool" factor, although this would benefit just about all computer users.
In regards to AMD. I have heard that there is a chance that they won't make it until the end of the year. I hope very much that that doesn't happen. I read a while ago that with their most recent like of video cards from ATI they took the performance lead over Nvidia. This is good news, and may be their saving grace. We'll just have to wait and see what Nvidia's new line will offer when it comes out. As I mentioned in an earlier post, AMD's processors are a significantly better value for the money when compared to Intel. Its a similar situation with their video cards in relation to Nvidia, with the exception that they have the performance advantage.
I'll start with Apple. Most everyone knows the stigma of "cool" that one has when they have a Mac. However, this "cool" comes with a premium price. I think that Apple would become much more mainstream if they offered products at more competitive prices. It would benefit many people that cannot afford to get a mac, and significantly improve their sales. This would also cause Apple to be a much larger threat to Microsoft, and therefore Microsoft would theoretically make better products given the increased competition. However, this would sacrifice the exclusive "cool" factor, although this would benefit just about all computer users.
In regards to AMD. I have heard that there is a chance that they won't make it until the end of the year. I hope very much that that doesn't happen. I read a while ago that with their most recent like of video cards from ATI they took the performance lead over Nvidia. This is good news, and may be their saving grace. We'll just have to wait and see what Nvidia's new line will offer when it comes out. As I mentioned in an earlier post, AMD's processors are a significantly better value for the money when compared to Intel. Its a similar situation with their video cards in relation to Nvidia, with the exception that they have the performance advantage.
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