Another take on the Original Enterprise...

that's why when my cpu/motherboard went out last year, I just bought the exact same motherboard/cpu and swapped it out so I could get up and running ASAP to finish video editing...worked like a charm. After I save up a bit, though, I'll be getting a Core i7 for sure.

 

It has to do with just how many things in a large, complicated installation of Windows are tied to DRM, and FAIL if the "keying" elements of those are disconnected.

For instance, Media Player failed after the "transfer." It didn't just refuse to open files, it CRASHED. Same with my DVD playback software. Interestingly, same with my KEYBOARD DRIVER, for some reason.

Oh, and every bit of Adobe software. And my CAD package.

Every single one of those was tied to DRM based upon my prior hardware setup. And most refuse to simply be "updated" or even to accept being uninstalled and reinstalled.

Eventually, I tried deleting the DRM directory (after backing it up, of course) and even that failed to help.

My point, Mariner, was pretty simple. Because of the pervasive, and let's be frank, largely inappropriate use of "digital rights management" technologies (which is getting more and more common all the time), it's difficult if not impossible to simply transfer an existing Windows installation from one "hardware configuration" to another.

So instead of just swapping out motherboards and being back where I was before, I'm now reinstalling Windows... and every bit of software associated with it... from scratch. That's the only way to remove the DRM ties completely without introducing a rats nest of errors.

These errors aren't based upon the operating system, or the applications, not being compatible with the new hardware in any way. They're due to someone using an overly invasive method of "copy protection." One which doesn't prevent piracy in any way, but which causes problems for those of us who prefer actually work within the rules.

I'm almost inclined to just get "cracks" for every piece of software I own, just so that I'll be able to upgrade hardware in the future without having to do complete clean-sheet reinstallations.

Now, for the record, the 64-bit installation was going to be entirely new anyway (it's a second boot partition, though). So I could, in theory, be running Pro/E now and working on the ship. Except that, now, I have a whole stack of OTHER things I have to do, too, and working on the hobby ship is lower priority than a number of other issues which I wasn't planning on having to deal with, but have to now.

And all of that is because of the pervasive, invasive, and "overly aggressive" (not to mention totally useless to combat piracy) use of DRM to prevent the installation of apps on different hardware. A "pirate" will use any of the dozens of ways to cheat the system. This only harms the "rule-following" types like myself.

 

It wasn't this painful in the past... a lot of the DRM-tied applications have only become that way over the past year or so (Adobe Acrobat's failure was really an "installation-killer" for me, but the older versions wouldn't fail this way).

I am running an i7 machine now, though.. I'm typing this on that machine (32-bit OS boot, though). It's a huge upgrade from my prior machine (Athlon 64 X2 4800 on an nForce4-based motherboard).

The reinstallation is going OK, so far, but damn it's annoying. My plan is to get everything "non-game" related reinstalled before I start working on my ships. I'll then "filter in" games as the urge hits me... meaning I'll probably have it all reinstalled in six months or so!

It's just really annoying that you can't just replace a motherboard (with CPU and memory) and keep your existing OS and application installations. But I guess that's intended to be a "thing of the past," huh? Maybe someone thinks that you'll decide to go out and buy the latest version instead of reinstalling your old version... not gonna happen with me, though.

It reminds me of the response I got, years ago, from Packard Bell (yes, I'll admit that... the first PC I bought was from them!). The sealed clock-with-integrated-battery module on the motherboard died, and since you couldn't replace the battery without unsoldering and replacing the entire module, the whole system failed. My call to Packard Bell got a "well, why not buy a new computer from us?" response. To which my response was that, yes, I'd get a new computer, but I'd buy it from anyone BUT them. (That's what prompted me to start building my own, in fact.)

They think that by "forced obsolescence" of your existing hardware or software you'll be more likely to buy the latest-greatest of EVERYTHING. But all it does, at least for me, is makes me more dedicated to never giving the @#$*ers another cent of my money.

This new build-up has three OS partitions... 32-bit XP, 64-bit XP, and 64-bit Fedora 11. If I can get enough things working in Linux (with Wine or whatever), this may turn out to be my last "main system" running Windows.

 

^^ Indeed, it used to be quite common to just copy your harddrive drive to the new machine, let it boot and Windows up to 98SE would just boot, whine and bitch about drivers but otherwise it was good to go, clear the old stuff away, install the needed drivers and tadaa like new.

 

Was your 3.5" drive on steroids?

 

Pfft, 3.5" thats WAY to modern, now try 360kb 5.25" floppies.

 

I mean the black FLOPPY floppy disks. You remember the ones with a a big slot and hole in the middle so you had to be sure not to touch the magnetic media inside? Maybe those things were 5 1/4. Sorry, it's been so long since I've actually even seen such a thing I guess I forget the actual size.

My bad.

--Alex

 

Albertese - You need to check out the sequel to Wargames (not great - basically the same idea as the original, only with an updated computer). JOSHUA makes an appearance, as does Dr. Falkner (sp?) and sure enough, we get old school black 5.25." disks to help JOSHUA (whose system had been downgraded for use in other purposes) get back up to speed. Classic. Not nearly as good as the original Wargames, though.

 

There was a sequel to WarGames?

 

Sadly yes. It was okay, but not as good as the original (then again, sequels so rarely are). The movie was pretty much a remake, at least plotwise, to the original (humans hand control over to a computer which then decides it is under attack and needs to initate a first strike to prevent annihilation). You can see a fuller plot descrition at imdb.com. Look up "Wargames: The Dead Code."

 

... nope, that doesn't exist. does not. DOES. NOT. THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS.

 

Afer seeing the movie, I am sure others will agree. It was nice to here JOSHUA's voice again, though (not to mention 5.25" disks). I need to get the original and show to my son. He will enjoy the movie, but get a real kick out of the high end technology available in the early '80's (considering his cell phone is more advanced than what was available then).

Don't mean to take the thread off on a tangent. Sorry about that.

 

No problem... tangents aren't ALWAYS bad things... and since I was enjoying the tangent as well, it's hard to see who's been harmed.

By the way, I just got Build M110 of Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 4.0 x64 running, and have just gotten the nacelles to regenerate properly with all the "reactor chambers" present.

I'm having some trouble with Imageshack, unfortunately... every time I try to upload an image, it's coming up with a "page load error." I hope this just means that they're doing something to their servers. If it was working, I'd show you the latest revision of the nacelle interiors. Ah, well, I'm sure it'll work out eventually.

EDIT: Oh, and right after I say that, it happens... so here it is:



Second edit:

I've put in the hydrogen tanks at the fore end of the nacelle now. (It's nice to be able to do this stuff without crashing again!) Here is one solitary tank:


And there is an entire cluster of these at the front of each nacelle, directly fed by the bussard system. (The antimatter storage is at the aft, remember, underneath the intercoolers and between the two "aft flux chillers." We know very little about antimatter (as known in the Trek universe) but the one time we saw it (on TAS) it was actually "solid-ish" at room temperature, so I'm assuming that the "solid form" allows for more mass to be stored in a smaller volume (albeit with the need to totally isolate it from the container, obviously).

One last edit for the night:


I added the lengthwise "catwalk" (just a walkway with railings... not the thing we saw on ENT) running lengthwise from the central structure to the aft antimatter containment chamber, between the reactor chambers. I also replicated the hydrogen tank up front, as mentioned.

Remaining are the four "lateral feeds" into the field generator sphere, the "field stabilizer coils" (precursors to TMP/TNG era "warp coils") along the top and bottom of the area, and the antimatter generation system components along the outside wall, plus the intercoolers and control reactor (which are used to provide slight reductions in the strength of the field, allowing "warp steering")

 

Ah ... everything is once again right with the universe. Good work, Cary!

 

My God Cary - this is really coming along nicely. With the work of Deg, Vektor and now you, I wonder why the powers that be didn't get some ideas (or pull you in for design work) on the NuEnterprise. Great job. Now pardon me while I wipe the drool off my desk. The 3 of you are really causing my co-workers to wonder why I look like a rabid dog.

 

I can safely say that my ideas would have been summarily dismissed by JJ, had he seen them, and much the same with Deg or Vektor. He actually fired a long-time Trek-tech guru who was working on the production because the guy put up a "comparison view" of the new-movie and TOS ships. Besides, I'm looking at the ship principally from the standpoint of "taking what we always saw on-screen and making it real" whereas the whole point of the art-direction of that movie was to make things that "look like this, or like that" without a whole lot of thought as to WHY they're how they are (hence, a bridge with spotlights shining in the faces of the crew, or a big goofy window in front instead of a computer monitor, and so forth).

No, I can safely say that I'd have lasted about a day on the crew of that movie before Abrams would've had me dragged physically away.

 

A few new shots... nothing terribly new (I just replicated the same stuff to the other nacelle tonight). But this helps to visualize what's going on inside there.

First, here's wireframe mode viewed from the front, with the hydrogen tanks highlighted.



And the same view, but with the reactor chambers (and catwalk) highlighted.



And finally, a section view of the starboard nacelle.



There are a few more internal areas that require quite a bit of work. The central region (which will have all variety of support hardware, and is the only "mostly habitable" region of the nacelle) doesn't have any decking yet, and it's going too. There's a lot of plumbing in there, and I plan to model SOME of that (mainly that which shows a clear interaction between major components - and in particular, external-to-internal interactions), and of course, the external components themselves.

I've been thinking about the forward dome, and I've been thinking that the domes may not be the hydrogen collectors themselves. From a post I made in CRA's thread:

Just thought I'd repeat that here, in case anyone's not reading CRA's thread.

 

I kinda like those hydrogen tanks...

 

Simply stunning work... I admire you for the level of detail you're putting into this.

 

Its great to see some new pics of this project, it really helps to make the E feel "real" with this level of detail.

I went back and re-read your explanation of the interaction of the various engine components (page 15). I didn't really twig until these new images came up, but it seems that most of the nacelle is to do with prepping and focusing the M/AM, and all the work of generating a warp field is done by the (relatively) small sphere at the aft end. Am I correct?