General Computer Thread

[Amaris]

Moved to Ubuntu 22.10 this week. Very smooth install, everything works great out of the box, solid as a rock, stable, and runs everything I need. I switched from a distro that used KDE to Ubuntu and its implementation of Gnome, and so far I'm really liking it.

 

[Santaman]

I'm still sticking with Mint Cinnamon for the most part and Mint XFCE on slower/older machines.
Might look into this one as well:
https://www.phoronix.com/review/tuxedo-os-1
Seems it's a more (b)leeding edge distro based on Ubuntu, maybe a candidate when win10 kicks the bucket and I need a new OS for my gaming machine.. come to think of it.. that machine is also already almost 4 years old..

 

[Amaris]

I'm still sticking with Mint Cinnamon for the most part and Mint XFCE on slower/older machines.
Might look into this one as well:
https://www.phoronix.com/review/tuxedo-os-1
Seems it's a more (b)leeding edge distro based on Ubuntu, maybe a candidate when win10 kicks the bucket and I need a new OS for my gaming machine.. come to think of it.. that machine is also already almost 4 years old..

Well that will be one to install in a VM and check it out. I love checking out different distros. I distrohopped so much I've tried almost every one out there at least three times over, but haven't seen that one. These days I stick around on Ubuntu and use VMs to try out new distros, and I'll toss that one on the "to be tried" pile.

 

[Santaman]

The last OS I've actually installed was Win2K on that Pentium II 400 machine.. I still LOVE Win2K, so simple, so small and so damn stable.

I'll probably try Tuxedo OS on one of my spare machines, see what it does.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Some odd behavior lately I want to run by y'all.

On my laptop (Dell Latitude 5501 Win10) (docked on ethernet) using FireFox, I recently had issues logging into my United Healthcare account until I went into Incognito mode. Never had this issue prior to last week.

Same thing today on my work laptop (Dell Latitude 7410 Win10) (WiFi using the same router) using Chrome trying to access the ADP Payroll site. Also worked once I "went incognito". Also never a problem with "standard" Chrome before today.

Is it something with my router? Or just a coincidence? I haven't changed any router settings in a few months.

 

[Santaman]

Just pull the plug and wait a minute or so, then plug it back in, that will clear anything that could have become a little messed up, these things are kinda like a little computer on its own so a reset now and then isn't a bad idea.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Just pull the plug and wait a minute or so, then plug it back in, that will clear anything that could have become a little messed up, these things are kinda like a little computer on its own so a reset now and then isn't a bad idea.

I had done a full factory reset a couple months ago, but since I am now using MAC addresses for all my devices under Access Control (MAC Restrict Mode "Allow") for WiFi, it gets a bit tedious doing a full reset. Not sure if pulling the plug resets to that level or not.

But I will give it a shot, just to see if it fixes things.

 

[Santaman]

I hope it will work, usually pulling the plug won't erase settings.

 

[Marc]

Some odd behavior lately I want to run by y'all.

On my laptop (Dell Latitude 5501 Win10) (docked on ethernet) using FireFox, I recently had issues logging into my United Healthcare account until I went into Incognito mode. Never had this issue prior to last week.

Same thing today on my work laptop (Dell Latitude 7410 Win10) (WiFi using the same router) using Chrome trying to access the ADP Payroll site. Also worked once I "went incognito". Also never a problem with "standard" Chrome before today.

Is it something with my router? Or just a coincidence? I haven't changed any router settings in a few months.

Going incognito can disable some plugin and ignores existing cookies etc and one of those could be causing issues.

Though there are times when Firefox just seems to get in the way. I've known of sites that won't load in Firefox but open up Edge and no problems (though I haven't checked if incognito mode works) but then I have a number of different plugins running in Firefox and one of those is most likely getting in the way.

I doubt it has anything to do with your router - it's just transferring the data in and out, it's the browser that's processing it. If the router was the issue then the browser mode wouldn't matter.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Going incognito can disable some plugin and ignores existing cookies etc and one of those could be causing issues.

Though there are times when Firefox just seems to get in the way. I've known of sites that won't load in Firefox but open up Edge and no problems (though I haven't checked if incognito mode works) but then I have a number of different plugins running in Firefox and one of those is most likely getting in the way.

I doubt it has anything to do with your router - it's just transferring the data in and out, it's the browser that's processing it. If the router was the issue then the browser mode wouldn't matter.

Yeah, I'm at a loss now that it's been 2 different laptops and 2 different browsers having trouble with sites that have never had this issue. Once I'm done for the day I'll still try unplugging the router, just to see what happens.

 

[Marc]

Yeah, I'm at a loss now that it's been 2 different laptops and 2 different browsers having trouble with sites that have never had this issue. Once I'm done for the day I'll still try unplugging the router, just to see what happens.

one thing that often gets overlook - a problem at the remote end for example if a site uses old security protocols the most up to date browsers will throw a fit but I”d expect tor health insurer and payroll company to be on top of that.

go through the browser settings and nuke the caches also remove any cookies relating to the sites (remember these get ignored in incognito mode).

check both chrome and Firefox for and plugins that are common to both

Problems at the user end would are often dns (name resolution) related and can be tested by tools such as nslookup and tracert to check you can reach the site.

If you can’t reach the side you need to test further.
Often a person’s router handles the dns and takes it from the ISP’s name servers and sometimes they can get a bit wonky.

I would suggest either pointing your router at a different dns server or manually configuring it on your computer.

google’s dns server is 8.8.8.8 or Cloudflare’s at 1.1.1.2 (this also provides some filtering against malware).

though one other thought. Dns works be caching information and it’s possible your router has cached old information and a power cycle will clear it.

also on the laptops run an ipconfig /flushdns from a command prompt to clear the cache or just restart them.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

HP is doing laptops that are more user friendly in terms of repairability and ease of access.

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[publiusr]

This looks helpful—as it allows the visually impaired to code:
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-11-coding-tool-aid-programmers-vision.html

—Grid Editor it is called.

 

[Unicron]

So, I'm curious about something. When I bought my new MacBook Air, I also got a dongle with a couple ports and such because I like to use a wireless mouse, and mine is designed for the older USB-As on the Pro. The Air has Thunderbolt Cs as a default port, and I'm thinking at some point of getting a more compact dongle since I've never liked this one having a hanging cable.

Over the past week or so, I've noticed there are times when the mouse just seems really slow and intermittent in terms of movement and clicks, and it's annoying. I don't know if this is simply a way in which the design is different, or if it's a potential issue with the USB port or the dongle that I might need to keep an eye on. I have noted the other Thunderbolt port doesn't seem to have this problem but I've only done limited testing. I also wondered if it had something to do with the charging cycle, since the main USB I use is the one closest to the charging port. But I've had the issues pop up when not using the charger, so I don't know.

Any advice? Maybe it's nothing, but it's definitely annoying. There doesn't seem to be any specific trigger and I never had this problem with the Pro since I'd just plug the mouse sensor directly into that USB. Part of my concern is if it's in some way an issue with the USB port or the dongle, then the problem might recur if I just switch ports. I had one USB port on my first Pro that just sort of quit after a time.

 

[Santaman]

USB-C port? hmm those are looser and woblier than USB-A ports, could be that the hanging dongle might put enough strain on it to create connection problems.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

AMD EPYC Genoa Gaps Intel Xeon in Stunning Fashion
It's a blood bath for Intel, AMD just released EPYC Genoa.

There's now a new term: "AMD just GAPPED Intel".

ROFLMAO!

For the first time in Intel history, their Data Center division made 0% profit.

Spoiler: Intel's Investor Day slide showing their dismal Data Center performance

Spoiler: AMD rising like a Phoenix, taking back marketshare

In 6 short years, Intel went from owning 98.6% of the Enterprise space in 2016, to 69.5% marketshare & making 0% profit last quarter.
AMD went from 0.5% to 22.7% and rising.
ARM went from 0.1% to _7.1% and rising.
Intel is literally getting eaten alive in the Enterprise space on both ends.

From outside, x86's stronghold is getting eaten.
From inside, AMD is eating Intel's lunch.

Intel, that evil convicted monopolist is getting it's just deserts finally.

Hopefully they get weak enough that they have to sell of their Foundary Business like AMD did back in the day.

Then they can go through a decade of rebuilding while in a weakened state.

 

[Unicron]

USB-C port? hmm those are looser and woblier than USB-A ports, could be that the hanging dongle might put enough strain on it to create connection problems.

Yeah, one reason I'm interested in a more compact port. I''m just not a fan of attachments that hang off a cable like that, for various reasons. I ordered a smaller adapter that I've heard pretty good reviews on.

 

[Marc]

Yeah, one reason I'm interested in a more compact port. I''m just not a fan of attachments that hang off a cable like that, for various reasons. I ordered a smaller adapter that I've heard pretty good reviews on.

They're not cheap (even on Amazon starting off at $130) but have you considered a Thunderbolt dock then you're not having all dongles and adapters hanging off the laptop.

 

[Unicron]

I have something similar bookmarked on a smaller scale, but not sure yet if I want to look into something like that. It would have more variety of ports but has the disadvantage of blocking the charge port, so one couldn't use this dock at the same time you want to charge the computer. But maybe another option down the road if I want something with more possibilities.

 

[Santaman]

So I'm still poking around in my old hardware cave and today I found a litle gem, the allmighty Asus V7100/T Geforce 2MX, not emtirely sure where it came from but it is one of three Geforce 2MX cards that I have, the other two are made by Hercules. (I might have a third one even..)
This Asus card was quite the expensive one so it seems, it has composite and TV out connectors, the Hercules cards I have don't have these.
https://www.anandtech.com/show/618
^^ A review of the beast which I will use in my Slot 1Pentium III 500Mhz machine.
As always I inspect cards for damage/dirt/etc and this one was strangely dirty, no dust or such but Asus in all their wisdom added a heatsink which is good of course but the person or machine that applied the heatpaste must have been drunk/malfucntioning, the stuff covered the chip and heatsink and a large area around it, even the first row of memory chips were lightly dusted with the stuff.. yuck..
So I removed the heatsink and yuck.. it was really messy.. bleh.. needed a copious amount of alcohol and paper towels to rid of it after it was cleaned up I used MX-4 (far less of it!) to repaste, reseated the heatsink and tadaa! done.
I like this kind of old stuff, so much easier to work with than the current graphics cards, only takes up one slot, produces nearly no heat, doesn't guzzle up a nuclear reactor's worth of electricity..