Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Siren song

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  • Russell Brown,

    (and how great was it watching those two guys stepping so deftly around the twirling sirens?)

    There was just enough choreography and just enough pottering. I liked the guys a lot.

    we coulda taken even more intensity and volume at some point. but then we may also be slightly deafer than the average punter through 25 years of exposure to excessive live rock volume he he...

    Ha. They should just turn the late show up to 11 by default.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    incluing 10 days ago a new DC in board in a G4 iBook which turned it (with help from a new battery and power supply) from a brick that might start up, for 10seconds into a singing dancing portable laptop again

    I'm pretty sure that's what sank my old G4 iBook -- after I'd forked out for a new battery and power supply. It was eventually regarded as a motherboard replacement job -- and therefore prohibitively expensive.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Ashby,

    I'm pretty sure that's what sank my old G4 iBook -- after I'd forked out for a new battery and power supply. It was eventually regarded as a motherboard replacement job -- and therefore prohibitively expensive.

    Which is what we feared, even doing it yourself the cost of a motherboard is prohibitive. However the symptoms did not support a motherboard problem. Specifically a PMU reset did enable it to charge a new battery, for a while, before it fell over again. I suspect too many people assume motherboard and chuck them when it is only the DC in board which is a piece of piss to replace and we paid £39 all up. Much cheaper than the £500 Vis wanted for a motherboard. If you still have the beast, give it a go. There are a lot of screws though and you do need Allen key screwdrivers, but no Torx.

    Dundee, Scotland • Since May 2007 • 425 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Ashby,

    Also it wouldn't boot off just the power supply without the batter in. All of which supports that the power supply and the battery were not connected, therefore the DC in.

    BTW to do the PMU reset it needs to be off without the power supply connected but with at least a minimum charge battery in. But the startup without battery is the best diagnostic.

    Our problem began with a battery that was way past the time for replacement and I think that is what borked it. Kids though, you can tell them and tell them . . .

    Dundee, Scotland • Since May 2007 • 425 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    Oooo, fascinating...I *might* be able to ressurrect my G4 ibook? I'll try! And thanks-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Mark Harris,

    Go on, what have you got to lose?

    Famous last fucking words, them ;-)

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Ashby,

    Famous last fucking words, them ;-)

    Okay then. Just to be on the safe side. Unplug the mini before starting work on it. Then all you have to lose is some time.

    Dundee, Scotland • Since May 2007 • 425 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Darlington,

    On the contrary, six computers for four people is not *nearly* enough.

    Heh, thanks Lucy, this makes me feel so much better. I'll tell my partner there's no need to worry until we're well into double figures.

    Nelson • Since Nov 2006 • 949 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    I suspect too many people assume motherboard and chuck them when it is only the DC in board which is a piece of piss to replace and we paid £39 all up. Much cheaper than the £500 Vis wanted for a motherboard. If you still have the beast, give it a go.

    That really does sound like my iBook. I'm wondering how easy it would be to order the part though. And is there a diagram somewhere of the part in situ?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    I thought we lacked the requisite geekery, but now that I count: two desktops, two laptops, one iPhone, one occasional work laptop which comes to visit, one PS3, one Wii. Two people, one dog, one cat.

    (I suppose the lack of geekery is our non-Apple-ism, as all the computers are PCs running Vista and nothing bad has ever happened. But perhaps we aren't exercising their full blue-screen-of-death potential...)

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Darlington,

    I suppose the lack of geekery is our non-Apple-ism, as all the computers are PCs running Vista and nothing bad has ever happened. But perhaps we aren't exercising their full blue-screen-of-death potential...

    The Mac is such a great home computer though. As well as the ease of use (for my Mac work using partner) and dependability, it's the little things like it's silence when you're sitting in your lounge reading, the screen brightness in sunny window filled rooms, it looks great nestled into our music wall next to the turntable kit, and makes a great stereo, streaming media box. And all for around $1800. I'd highly recommend it.

    Nelson • Since Nov 2006 • 949 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    That really does sound like my iBook. I'm wondering how easy it would be to order the part though. And is there a diagram somewhere of the part in situ?

    You'll probably find that there's youtube videos showing geeks replacing the part that you need.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Walls,

    @Rich
    I'm using 2008 x64 Std and all the Vista x64 drivers work without any fuss (it's the same kernel).

    I'm no gamer though so I don't know about DirectX bells and whistles.

    Brisvegas/Melbourne • Since May 2007 • 13 posts Report Reply

  • Kari Hammond,

    Hey Russell,

    Microsoft offer free techsupport for problems relating to windows updates call them and they'll help you get it up and running.

    P.S same applies for service packs, viruses and new install problems.

    in my experience they can get it fixed within 20min

    Auckland • Since Mar 2009 • 6 posts Report Reply

  • Dan Slevin,

    OK smart people - here's my problem.

    LaCie 1TB Big Drive, nearly three years old, out of warranty. Power supply fails, won't mount. Inside the case are two 500GB IDE drives that both need to be mounted as one partition to read anything off them (JBOD for those that want acronyms).

    Nobody makes a two bay IDE drive case.

    The drives are fine and the data is precious.

    How do I get my 1TB off these drives?

    Wellington, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 95 posts Report Reply

  • Mark Harris,

    I'd be looking at getting a new case unit, Dan. What's the model?

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report Reply

  • Kari Hammond,

    Dan get yourself a copy of R-studio. i just used it to recover my friends Raid 0 after the motherboard died i'm pretty sure it'll work on JBOD. it's very powerful recovery software and it's saved my ass a couple of times now (crappy WD drives)

    Auckland • Since Mar 2009 • 6 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Darlington,

    The drives are fine and the data is precious.

    A silly question Dan, but shouldn't the external 1Tb setup have been a backup? Meaning the data already exists on a computer somewhere? Don't tell me you had 1Tb of JBOD standalone that's gone west on you? Say it ain't so.

    You can probably reuse the IDE disks but the RAID 0 set will rebuild in a new unit so you still lose what's on them. I think Kari's suggestion above is probably the best option.

    Nelson • Since Nov 2006 • 949 posts Report Reply

  • Dan Slevin,

    A silly question Dan, but shouldn't the external 1Tb setup have been a backup? Meaning the data already exists on a computer somewhere? Don't tell me you had 1Tb of JBOD standalone that's gone west on you? Say it ain't so.

    It's my media drive, so no, not replicated. My iMac only has a 256GB internal drive so the media got moved off it a long time ago. And I only backup the internal drive 'cause that's where the real documents live.

    Luckily, LaCie are sending me a replacement case for free even though it is out of warranty. Thanks DKK for gently leaning on them.

    And I'll be buying another 1TB as yet another backup.

    Wellington, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 95 posts Report Reply

  • Mark Harris,

    There's a Windows 7 beta on the cover DVD of the March NZ PC World. 32-bit only, expires on 01/08/09

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report Reply

  • Mark Harris,

    Just noticed, you need to register and get a product key within 30 days of activation. FYI

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Campbell,

    totally off-topic - seems wikileaks.org is off the air here - looks like it's shit-canned by IP somewhere - could be we've fallen foul of the current Aussie fuss

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report Reply

  • stephen walker,

    @Paul:
    yeah, that article in the SMH on Tuesday was pretty funny, eh?
    (funny, as in"what planet are these people on?")

    nagano • Since Nov 2006 • 646 posts Report Reply

  • Mark Harris,

    Whatever it is, it's not the Australians. I'm getting a traceroute as far as prqinet.net in Sweden which is their ISP, so it's something within that system that's broken.

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report Reply

  • Mark Harris,

    Hmmm. I'm wondering if someone is running a pretty solid attack on Wikileaks, actually. It's not just their DNS that's not working, but also the IP address is returning a blank page (though it is showing the favicon), the cover URLs are also timing out and the german and Belgian mirrors are off-line, and the Swiss one has one of those generic "this domain could be yours" pages.

    Eyes will watch...

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report Reply

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