VOGONS


Reply 40 of 57, by BitWrangler

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Heh, just got one, old GPS, Mio N177... appeared dead, went looking for hints, rando on a GPS forum says switch it from off to on a bunch of times with it plugged in... it comes alive! Maybe the switch gets oxidised, maybe the smarts get wedged, maybe it only respects determined operators... got root... on a WinCE 5 barebones... not even any dirty pix uploaded for the photo viewer app, boring.

Unicorn herding operations are proceeding, but all the totes of hens teeth and barrels of rocking horse poop give them plenty of hiding spots.

Reply 41 of 57, by pixel_workbench

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Had a few instances of old artifacting graphics cards coming back to life after replacing thermal paste.

Even more strangely, had a few cases where I replaced the thermal paste and the artifacts or instability gets worse, but then working fine after another round of reassembly and changing how I torque the screws.

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Reply 42 of 57, by darry

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BitWrangler wrote on 2022-04-13, 21:13:
darry wrote on 2022-04-13, 05:19:

- a Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 with firmware earlier than AD14

Hrrrmmm I somehow missed hearing about those, is this all I need to do? http://support.seagate.com/firmware/firmnav_fsc_en.html

If the drive is still working, yes . If the drive has soft bricked itself already, it will be necessary to connect to the serial port on the drive (TTL levels, probably 3.3V , maybe 5V tolerant) and, off the top of my head, power the drive board without the actually platter assembly connected (a paper wedge should be enough), then reconnect the platter assembly to the powered drive board and run some commands to bypass the fault that prevents normal drive startup. After that drive can be powered up/down and used normally, but updated firmware should be installed ASAP or the drive will eventually soft brick itself again .

I have successfully gone through this process exactly once several years ago . Other than a piece of paper/cardboard, I used a generic FTDI USB to RS-232 (3.3V level) adapter and a Torx (maybe secure Torx) screwdriver . There are probably still guides on the Internet on how to do this .

Reply 43 of 57, by The Serpent Rider

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Kahenraz wrote:

Has anyone else experienced this or something similar in their own testing?

You need to pray for The Machine Spirit. If you please it enough - the hardware will work. Alternatively, you can be an ork and the problem will solve itself.

I must be some kind of standard: the anonymous gangbanger of the 21st century.

Reply 45 of 57, by Eep386

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Had a Cyrix MII magically resurrect itself, several months after I accidentally ran it at a (slightly) too high voltage.
Thought I fried it, but it just came back to life a long time later. Not sure what to make of it.

Life isn't long enough to re-enable every hidden option in every BIOS on every board... 🙁

Reply 46 of 57, by Fdiskitup

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Every time i turn this on it explodes, and after the smoke goes away, it works fine…
Should I keep going ?

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Reply 47 of 57, by weedeewee

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Fdiskitup wrote on 2022-06-25, 16:41:

Every time i turn this on it explodes, and after the smoke goes away, it works fine…
Should I keep going ?

Yes, it's just the tantalum capacitors throwing a tantrum. 😁

though, eventually, you'll likely need to replace them with some electrolytics or similar, just to maintain a 'stable' board .

Right to repair is fundamental. You own it, you're allowed to fix it.
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Reply 49 of 57, by Eep386

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Fdiskitup wrote on 2022-06-25, 16:41:

Every time i turn this on it explodes, and after the smoke goes away, it works fine…
Should I keep going ?

It's those popcorn kernel (tantalum) capacitors. A little bit of heat, a little bit of moisture, some internal cracking and a sudden inrush of current... *BAM!*
Too bad the results are nowhere near as fluffy or light, and profoundly more toxic. 😅

Seriously though, I'd replace all the tantalums. While any tantalum caps placed across voltage rails (so-called 'smoothing' or decoupling capacitors) can be replaced with regular aluminum electrolytic caps, a little checking with a multimeter (or, if you're *extremely* fortunate to locate one, a schematic) may be needed though to ensure that you're not replacing a cap that *must* be a tantalum someplace. In some cases you can replace such tantalums with low-ESR electrolytic caps, or better yet polymer caps, but not in every case.

Life isn't long enough to re-enable every hidden option in every BIOS on every board... 🙁

Reply 51 of 57, by RaiderOfLostVoodoo

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The Serpent Rider wrote on 2022-04-14, 02:38:

You need to pray for The Machine Spirit. If you please it enough - the hardware will work.

Yes and don't forget to pray to the God Emperor (the real one, not that wannabe with orange skin) as well.
If the Machine Spirit is pleased and the Emperor wants it to happen, the hardware will come back to life.

Reply 52 of 57, by darry

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RaiderOfLostVoodoo wrote on 2022-07-01, 23:58:
The Serpent Rider wrote on 2022-04-14, 02:38:

You need to pray for The Machine Spirit. If you please it enough - the hardware will work.

Yes and don't forget to pray to the God Emperor (the real one, not that wannabe with orange skin) as well.
If the Machine Spirit is pleased and the Emperor wants it to happen, the hardware will come back to life.

A blood silicon sacrifice of expensive brand new Apple hardware may be required to gain His favor.

In a a pinch, an older gen Macbook Pro can be buried in sawdust while rendering something. That should result in "burnt offerings" (and possibly an involuntary psych hold and/or an indictment for arson). 😉

P.S. This is a joke, please don't do this .

Reply 54 of 57, by BitWrangler

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There is a theory that any system of magic that you can find adequate instructions for works, as long as you totally believe in that system while you are working it. Just don't confuse the healing of the balls of lead ritual in the order of the Brothers of the Magic Smoke, with the feeling the balls of lead ritual of the Brethren of Smoke Magic... or your GPU will burn in the oven and you'll have trouble dragging yourself to the hospital.

Unicorn herding operations are proceeding, but all the totes of hens teeth and barrels of rocking horse poop give them plenty of hiding spots.

Reply 57 of 57, by Fdiskitup

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What about Space-Star-Ordering? Its a reltively new technique I’ve been applying. Using a combination of wishy thinking and finacial leverage. Heres how it works:
My hardware is broken - I wish for it to be fixed, then I go on ebay and pay through the nose, and then it is fixed. SpaceStarOrdering.

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