Does anyone else hate their computer?

[mikeym]

I have an ancient laptop (powerpc 1GHz) and an AMD64 Desktop, both running Gentoo (for the sake of the laptop) and I think I hate them both.

I must spend about 5+ hours a week updating the things and it takes me about a week to get through the updating procedure, by which time I have to start again. I've just gotten through a couple of weeks of intensive recovery work on the desktop after it decided to remove half my system because I ran the package clean-up command when I had missed an obscure use flag from the labyrinth of documentation.

Having just got it in working order I thought I'd move it to my living room so I could use it to play some games on and having unplugged it and carried it through to the living room I've found that it's stopped working. Either the PSU or the Motherboard has gone as there is absolutely no response from the power button (The PSU is less than a year old having been replaced after my last PSU went after just over a year).

I don't even have time to use the things because I spend my whole time fixing them. I actually feel like ditching linux (after 6 years) or even my computers altogether and having a lot more free time.

[red_Marvin]

Tell me again why you run gentoo?

[mikeym]

That's the very same question that I'm asking myself.

It's the only version of linux that will run (properly) on my ancient Mac (PowerPC), and after Ubuntu stopped working on my Desktop because of issues with the kernel and 'acpi' I installed gentoo on it as well so that I could install a toolchain for my PowerPC and speed up its compile times.

[RiceMonster]

Yes, I hate my laptop so I'm buying a new one. This is the third time It's broken, and I've sent it in to get it fixed twice.

Don't buy Dell laptops if you want something that lasts more than a year.

[mikeym]

I bought a linux specific build and have had nothing but problems with it. The PSU gave out after a year. The soundcard was not linux compatible (and is actually worse than the onboard soundcard). The NVidia card had always had a horrible flicker that happens on every version of the NVidia drivers and with the open source drivers (so I assume its hardware).

Does anyone actually have a computer (hardware) that works? If so what is it and where can I get one.

[donkyhotay]

nope, I run linux. If there is something I don't like about my computer I change it. This is for both software and hardware.

[cgb]

Their are lots of builds that work pretty much perfectly with Ubuntu. I have a Dell Latitude E6400 laptop that works perfectly as well as a custom build Asus LIN64-SLI WS motherboard system with Athlon 64 processors. This build works perfectly as well.

[sixthwheel]

Does anyone actually have a computer (hardware) that works?

Sony Vaio desktop...6 years old.
Toshiba sattelite Laptop..5 years old.

After I purged the virus called windows from both machines, and installed Ubuntu 9.10 on both, they all work like a charm.

If you need specs, will gladly provide.

[mikeym]

It's an Asus board that has given me nothing but grief on my system. How do you tell if it's going to be crap before you by it?

[tadcan]

There are community builds for ppc machines.

Have you tried this?

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ports/releases/9.10/release/

[cascade9]

I bought a linux specific build and have had nothing but problems with it. The PSU gave out after a year. The soundcard was not linux compatible (and is actually worse than the onboard soundcard). The NVidia card had always had a horrible flicker that happens on every version of the NVidia drivers and with the open source drivers (so I assume its hardware).

Does anyone actually have a computer (hardware) that works? If so what is it and where can I get one.

Mine works fine. Built it myself so unless you live somewhere near where I do, you cant have one :P Currently its a Antec Solo case,Corsair HX520 power supply, AMD 4800+ CPU, MSI K9A2 CF Motherboard (DONT buy MSI), Gigabyte 8600GT video, Geil 2GB DDR2 800, 1TB WD Green power HDD, Asus SATA DVD-DW.

I've worked on far too many pre-built boxes that problems like that- both 'corporate' (Dell, HP, Compaq, etc) and 'white boxes' (store built from non-corporate parts). IMO a lot of it is from substandard power supplies. People buy from numbers (CPU, RAM, Video, HDD size) and dont pay much attention to the PSU- and if you have PSU problems, they can just spread everywhere, since everything is powered by it.

[Fougner]

Uhm, Gentoo... Have you tried ubuntu? It's quite fast and easy to update =)

[qalimas]

Used Windows the first 10 years of my life, Linux the second 10. Now on the third decade, I'm using Macs. I no longer hate my computers.

Still use Ubuntu servers as a test bed. turnkeylinux.org :)

[bark50]

Mine works fine. Built it myself so unless you live somewhere near where I do, you cant have one :P Currently its a Antec Solo case,Corsair HX520 power supply, AMD 4800+ CPU, MSI K9A2 CF Motherboard (DONT buy MSI), Gigabyte 8600GT video, Geil 2GB DDR2 800, 1TB WD Green power HDD, Asus SATA DVD-DW.

I've worked on far too many pre-built boxes that problems like that- both 'corporate' (Dell, HP, Compaq, etc) and 'white boxes' (store built from non-corporate parts). IMO a lot of it is from substandard power supplies. People buy from numbers (CPU, RAM, Video, HDD size) and dont pay much attention to the PSU- and if you have PSU problems, they can just spread everywhere, since everything is powered by it.

What problems have you had with MSI motherboards, Cascade? I've had two builds with MSI motherboards, and they've both been great. But just two builds does not an endorsement make!

[cascade9]

With this one? I had a whole period one recuring problem- I'd boot up, and get a red 'your attempt at overclocking failed, entering BIOS to change settings' msg on bootup. Then it wouldnt enter the BIOS at all. To make things worse, I wasnt overclocking at the time.

Clearing CMOS didnt help. Removing the BIOS battery didnt help. VERY fustrating. I tried updating my BIOS, still happened. Then after happening for about a month, just when I was on the point of going out and buying a gigabyte to replace it, it suddenyl stoped doing it :S

Nothing wrong with the hardware, because its pretty much the same (barring that I was running a 80GB SATA + 500GB IDE drive at the time, I've since changed to a 1TB HDD). BTW, it was well after the board decided to 'fix' itself that I did upgrade.

I've also worked on a friends MSI K8N Diamond Plus which had different problems- would sometimes fail to find the video card, or RAM, for no reason whatsoever. Updated the BIOS on that one as well, didnt help. Its one thing to get problems from a bottom of the line motherboard (like my K9A2 CF) but the Diamond Plus was a top of the line motherboard. They ended up getting a gigabyte to replace it. (which has run fine for well over 2 years now)

Add to that a few of the VIA chipset MSIs- KT4AV/KT4 ultra. I always put tah down to the quality drop on VIA chipsets post KT266a, but looking back, it might not have been.

I've also had some problems from older bottom the line MSI motherboards- cant recall the names, they were at work. AMD Durons/Athlons and Pentium 3s mainly.

I just dont trust MSI that much anymore. I've had no problems with the gigabyte builds I've done (the recent ones anyway, they used to be nowhere near as good as they are now IMO).

If I was having problems with a customers motherboard like I was with the K9A2 CF I would have taken it back, but with my one- I didnt really want to annoy my suppliers. :|

BTW, I could have just had bad luck- MSI cant be that bad, or else they would go out of business. Then again, I said that about ECS LOL

[MasterNetra]

Yes, I hate my laptop so I'm buying a new one. This is the third time It's broken, and I've sent it in to get it fixed twice.

Don't buy Dell laptops if you want something that lasts more than a year.

Have a Latitude D530 and I've had it for two years and its doing fine...gotta replace the battery though as its life was shorten courtesy of win7 rc and age probably has something to do with it too, but meh. Don't have $50 to spare for a new one atm.

But that said next computer is coming from system76. Its just nice to have a system that completely works at vanilla.

[bark50]

Thanks, Cascade. One of these days I'll be going for another build, and I'll keep your experiences in mind. Mikeym: My apologies for hijacking your thread.

[NoaHall]

.............
Ubuntu and Gentoo are not the only distributions. I do not recommend using Ubuntu on a PPC computer, nor using Gentoo on older hardware.

I recommend using Debain -> http://www.debian.org/CD/netinst/
Or Fedora -> http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora-ppc

[mikeym]

I looked at most of the distributions for PPC before installing and gentoo seemed to have the only really actively developed PPC version - probably thanks to its method of distribution.

[NoaHall]

I looked at most of the distributions for PPC before installing and gentoo seemed to have the only really actively developed PPC version - probably thanks to its method of distribution.

This isn't true. Both Debian and Fedora have exactly the same amount of work put into PPC as x86*. I recommend you use them. Don't use Gentoo, it's silly if you just want something that works.

[mikeym]

"Both Debian and Fedora have exactly the same amount of work put into PPC as x86*" I doubt that's strictly true, but I take your point that their actively developed.

"Don't use Gentoo, it's silly if you just want something that works." Too true.

[eksasol]

Long and boring post ahead.


Uhm, Gentoo... Have you tried ubuntu? It's quite fast and easy to update =) He had stated that he need a distro that work with his PowerPc copmuter.

Might want to try something else that require less manual compiling like Debian or Yellow Dog Linux.

Not sure which Asus model you have, but they are my top choice and I always experience awesome stability and easy bios that autoreset itself.

Guess you have to put together quality hardwares. I built mine from Newegg purchases. There are some good review sites for hardwares, you can usually tell which one is legitamite such as if the psu reviewer is an electrician. The ones that base all the results from benchmark results are probably to be avoided. I also remembered reading a wiki list of PSU models to avoid.

My system is Core2Quad Q6600, Corsair 500watt, Patriot 4gb, Gigabyte w/ Nvidia 9400, WD RAID-ready HDDs. Owned up to $600 video card in the past, but sold them due to less interest in gaming.

I heard bad things about WD that they fail more than others, but I have never had one fail on me in my life, same with Asus. So I guess either I'm lucky or I picked the right models. I replaced my Asus with the Gigabyte for faster integrated GPU. Had to RMA it once, but it still random froze on me regardless of OS. I dislike the Phoenix bios too. Guess I was unlucky even though Gigabyte has good reputation, but it goes to show it's not always the brand name.

Of course, some components were costly when I bought them, but similar spec is cheaper now. Or you could pay some smaller company to custom build for you instead of getting a generic Dell.

My system has been going strong for 3 years, beside the Gigabyte. I'm not planning to upgrade until this 2.4ghz quadcore is too slow to run Ubuntu and I don't care for new games so I'm set until some hardware fail.

I think linux is the reason I'm not upgrading anymore. If I was still on Windows I would still be worried about 3D benchmark scores and comparing it in forums as if its genitilia sizes.

[Bachstelze]

It's an Asus board that has given me nothing but grief on my system. How do you tell if it's going to be crap before you by it?

You use your favourite search engine. Someone has probably bought it already and told the Internet about his problems with it.

[NightwishFan]

I would give Debian a shot. It supports power pc and obviously uses APT.
http://www.debian.org/ports/powerpc/

[chillicampari]

...

Having just got it in working order I thought I'd move it to my living room so I could use it to play some games on and having unplugged it and carried it through to the living room I've found that it's stopped working. Either the PSU or the Motherboard has gone as there is absolutely no response from the power button (The PSU is less than a year old having been replaced after my last PSU went after just over a year).

...

One of my older machines does that sometimes whenever it gets moved (which is rarely), because the power switch 2 pin connector to the motherboard comes loose (sometimes all the way but usually just enough to make it not work). Most times it'll look like it's connected when I check it, but I have to make sure it's actually fully covering the pins. Might be something worth checking out.

[juancarlospaco]

Give it to me, i will love it...

[TheNerdAL]

I HATE mine just because it can't have desktop effects and maybe because it is slow and has glitches due to my video card! D: My computer is old! I might just get a computer from System76 or a new video card and more ram.

[Alabamaschalk]

Does anyone actually have a computer (hardware) that works? If so what is it and where can I get one.
Try Thinkpad. I use two T43 and one T30. All worked out of the box.
Actually, my first Linux experience was with a T43 Thinkpad: I put in the CD, answered some questions, got out to mow my lawn, came back and had a working computer!
I love all of them.

[mikeym]

I just realized that my computer was making a slight whine from time to time like a capacitor or something dying so I've turned it off. Makes me more sure it's the PSU though.

Does anyone have any recommendations for PSU for a M2N4-SLI Asus motherboard with dual AMD64 processor and a NVidia8600-GTI?

(That won't die after less than a year.)

[cascade9]

I just realized that my computer was making a slight whine from time to time like a capacitor or something dying so I've turned it off. Makes me more sure it's the PSU though.

Does anyone have any recommendations for PSU for a M2N4-SLI Asus motherboard with dual AMD64 processor and a NVidia8600-GTI?

(That won't die after less than a year.)

Good ones-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341016

Decent but not as good-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171046

Hopefully your power supply hasnt taken anything else with it when its gone bye-bye. :(

[cariboo]

With this one? I had a whole period one recuring problem- I'd boot up, and get a red 'your attempt at overclocking failed, entering BIOS to change settings' msg on bootup. Then it wouldnt enter the BIOS at all. To make things worse, I wasnt overclocking at the time.

Clearing CMOS didnt help. Removing the BIOS battery didnt help. VERY fustrating. I tried updating my BIOS, still happened. Then after happening for about a month, just when I was on the point of going out and buying a gigabyte to replace it, it suddenyl stoped doing it :S

Nothing wrong with the hardware, because its pretty much the same (barring that I was running a 80GB SATA + 500GB IDE drive at the time, I've since changed to a 1TB HDD). BTW, it was well after the board decided to 'fix' itself that I did upgrade.

I've also worked on a friends MSI K8N Diamond Plus which had different problems- would sometimes fail to find the video card, or RAM, for no reason whatsoever. Updated the BIOS on that one as well, didnt help. Its one thing to get problems from a bottom of the line motherboard (like my K9A2 CF) but the Diamond Plus was a top of the line motherboard. They ended up getting a gigabyte to replace it. (which has run fine for well over 2 years now)

Add to that a few of the VIA chipset MSIs- KT4AV/KT4 ultra. I always put tah down to the quality drop on VIA chipsets post KT266a, but looking back, it might not have been.

I've also had some problems from older bottom the line MSI motherboards- cant recall the names, they were at work. AMD Durons/Athlons and Pentium 3s mainly.

I just dont trust MSI that much anymore. I've had no problems with the gigabyte builds I've done (the recent ones anyway, they used to be nowhere near as good as they are now IMO).

If I was having problems with a customers motherboard like I was with the K9A2 CF I would have taken it back, but with my one- I didnt really want to annoy my suppliers. :|

BTW, I could have just had bad luck- MSI cant be that bad, or else they would go out of business. Then again, I said that about ECS LOL

I use MSI motherboards exclusively, and aside from a bad power supply taking out one, I haven't had any problems with them. I personally stay away from and via based motherboards. Up until this week I've used nvidia based boards, I just purchased one of these (http://us.msi.com/index.php?func=proddesc&maincat_no=1&cat2_no=170&prod_no=1869#) with an Intel E5400 cpu, for my server. So far I'm quite happy with the performance.

[cascade9]

I use MSI motherboards exclusively, and aside from a bad power supply taking out one, I haven't had any problems with them. I personally stay away from and via based motherboard. Up until this week I've used nvidia based borads, I just purchased one of these (http://us.msi.com/index.php?func=proddesc&maincat_no=1&cat2_no=170&prod_no=1869#) with an Intel E5400 cpu, for my server. So far I'm quite happy with the performance.

I agree on VIA- the early VIA motherboards were fantastic (the best socket 7 boards were VIA MVP3 chipset boards) but they really dropped the ball once things moved to Socket A/Socket 478.

Funny enough, I ran a PC-Chips Socket7 motherboard for several years, and they are widely regarded as one of the most unrelable motherboard makers ever. It only got retired after I moved into fixing computers LOL

I'm not suprised that some people have had much better luck than I have to be honest. I've seen a lot of dodgy computers, as I fix them for fun (and profit LOL) I've seen dead Asus, Asrock, Gigabyte, MSI, Epox, Albatron, ECS, Abit, Intel, Aopen, Foxconn, Tyan and Supermicro. Probably others I cant recall offhand ;)

I think the only brand motherboard I havent seen dead is DFI- probably because they are rare and expensive.

If MSI works for you, then use em. ;) I just cant, in good faith, ever recommend them. If it makes you feel any better, I cant recommend Asus either LOL

[NullHead]

My server, which is just a desktop system, runs linux absolutely perfect. No drivers, no hacking, no need to mess with the acpi thingy.

It's a MSI K9n-platinum motherboard with an AMD Athlon 64 6000+ with 4gb of OCZ Reaper HPC edition ram.

Even my old desktop system worked good. An Asus M3A78 motherboard with a AMD Phenom 9750 OC'd from 2.4? to 2.6ghz. This is the computer that I first bought the OCZ Reaper ram for, but since I retired it a week ago, I just put the good ram into my server.

I haven't ran linux on my new desktop yet, but I'm sure it'll work good. Gigabyte AM3 board with a AMD Phenom II 720 OC'd to 3.5ghz

[ibuclaw]

I don't hate my computer, I just hate one the one broken screw that needs removing, but is in the most annoyingly difficult place ever. :)

[sandyd]

yes, I hate my core i7 desktop. because. 1. doesnt work with karmic unless I compile kernel myself. this is a waste of time as karmic is nearing EOL. 2. fakeraid. 3. some weird sata controler thats not regonized by ubuntu (jmicron) 4. sis network card (those who have been here long enough will know what I mean)

[NoaHall]

yes, I hate my core i7 desktop. because. 1. doesnt work with karmic unless I compile kernel myself. this is a waste of time as karmic is nearing EOL. 2. fakeraid. 3. some weird sata controler thats not regonized by ubuntu (jmicron) 4. sis network card (those who have been here long enough will know what I mean)

There are distributions other than Ubuntu.

[NightwishFan]

Karmic is not near end of life. If you like it, use it.

[Frankiewizard]

Well I tryed for ages to in-stall ubuntu 9-04 on a ToshibA QosmiO G20 and succeeded it was indeed hard work because the cd/dvd player works on a part time basis. No chance on installing it with a memory stick. With 'wubii' I had problems. But I have every thing installed and running like a dream since 2010 & I just love it UBUNTU is the best ! ! !


PS/
I really don't know why people like playing games that's a mystery to me. Cheers peeps.


:lolflag:

[iPiggy]

One big crash on old iBook, reinstalled tiger over old install, and now it runs like a maniac...

one period of about a year... it NEVER crashed (not even once) ... it was just there, all the time with whatever I was doing waiting for me to come back.

Obsolete though, needs 3rd battery, I refuse to give it to it.

Why do people install linux on them, aside from all the free software... super reliable ---> crashes constantly, is that what people want?

[RandomJoe]

I'll echo the suggestion you try Debian.

I'm running Debian Squeeze on a PPC Mac Mini, installed and runs just fine. I don't use it as a desktop system, so can't say specifically what you'll run into there but you can certainly get it running in less time than with Gentoo! :p

And no, I certainly do not hate my computers! If one were to get to that point, it doesn't stay around long. Most of the times I get angry with a computer, I usually figure out in the end that it was a user error! :D

[Pogeymanz]

If anyone hates their computer, they can mail it to me. I'll be glad to take it off your hands. PM me for my mailing address. ;)

[murderslastcrow]

Eh, the only thing I have to complain about is that my ATI card has been depreciated in the Catalyst driver, and although the open source drivers are awesome for this card, and improving each new kernel, it's still gonna' be probably about a year before I can play Second Life with it (not that I like Second Life, but I need to trade Lindens on there and it gives a good example of the graphical capabilities of this card). It works GREAT with the proprietary drivers in Ibex, but I need to use the newest version, just because I couldn't stand losing out on the newest software.

But yeah, other than the graphics card, which will be improved in the future, making it moot, I have absolutely nothing to complain about with my computer. Like, I just don't buy computers I don't think I'll like. XD

[Tom.Gee]

With this one? I had a whole period one recuring problem- I'd boot up, and get a red 'your attempt at overclocking failed, entering BIOS to change settings' msg on bootup. I am familiar with this: MSI BIOS will assume you have overclocked IF you reset during POST. The assumption being, a reset partway through POST was needed because an overclocked CPU locked up. The BIOS then shifts down to a lower clock speed. This is fine, and beneficial to overclockers as a failsafe tool. However, if it is not actually an overclocking issue, there are other reasons the BIOS will see a reset in POST. A keyswitch bounce on the Reset button can do this. An under-rated or faulty power supply can as well, since the Power Good signal is seen on the mother board as a reset. Consider this scenario: You are taxing the PSU. After rising to Power Good, your Hard Drives all start head seeking and performing their internal POST. Power dips momentarily to the Power NOT Good state, then BANG - that's your reset during POST.

You suggest the problem went away on its own. Is it possible that in the interim you've changed the power supply, or have swapped in a hard drive that demands just a little less power?

[shawnhcorey]

I don't hate my computer but it certainly hates me. :)


I'll echo the suggestion you try Debian.

I have recently switched from Lenny to Xubuntu 9.10 because the distribution was too old; it didn't even have suspend! A bad thing for a laptop. I haven't tried Squeeze but I figured if I was going to run anything but the stable version, I might as well run Ubuntu. At least there's another set of eyes looking at it before I get it.

I haven't tried Yellow Dog yet; I might try it later. I'm waiting for 10.4 to see if it's any better than 9.10. If it is, I probably stick with it for a while.

[dragos240]

Nope. Love my tower. It's my best friend. 2GB of ram, 2 64 bit processors, a new gfx card. And all the power I need, with gentoo as my OS. I'm just loving everything about it. Had it since 2007, and it's still serving me VERY well.

[Tom.Gee]

Not hating my computer at all. I do tend to dislike the options that are available today, should I need to replace my computer ever. I'm a big fan of "lots of screen real-estate." My main K8 MSI desktop is using a pair of monitors. The primary monitor is a CRT set at 2048 x 1536. The secondary (where I run debuggers and do other support stuff) is an LCD that at 1280 x 1024 turned 90 degrees and piano-hinged to the right edge of the CRT. It is the perfect mate to the primary monitor. As I consider replacement, I find there is nothing suitable. While I can get a screen physically larger than my current 20.5 inch Sony CRT, it is of lower resolution, so I actually loose work space. Worse yet, as screen sizes get larger, the bitmap they support remains constant - so I can spend $200 on a 21 inch monitor that produces 1920 x 1080 OR I can spend $300 on a 24 inch monitor that produces 1920 x 1080 OR I can spend $400 on a nice big 27 incher that produces, yet again, the same 1920 x 1080 image?! Who thought this might be a GOOD idea? That is only 65% of the real-estate I have been accustomed to for the past decade.

Moving right along, my laptop is going to turn ten soon. I'd like to replace it with something more modern, but I find the same exact problem! I already work down from my CRT at 2048 x 1536 when I'm on the laptop. It supports only 1400 x 1050. But its a laptop, so you make do when you must work in the field. I can blow $1500 on a decent Core 2 Duo, but the largest screen resolution available is 1440 x 900. That is only 88% of what I am using now, and what I'm using now is only barely adequate.

Somebody, Please - SEND ME MORE PIXELS!!! [/ENDRANT]

[NightwishFan]

You can assume a lot more space on Ubuntu by setting the fonts to size 9.

[airbag]

i hate my macbook because i want to hate OS X but its my only computer that ALWAYS works.

[witeshark17]

I have a Dell laptop that works wonders with Ubuntu. Any make computer will last (yes, more than a year) if you take care of it. :popcorn:

[sandyd]

There are distributions other than Ubuntu.

everything other than the first problem occurs on all distros that ice tried because its a hardware/support issue, not a distro issue. which is why Im wondering why they put that crappy SIS card onto such an powerful/expensive pc...

[cascade9]

I am familiar with this: MSI BIOS will assume you have overclocked IF you reset during POST. The assumption being, a reset partway through POST was needed because an overclocked CPU locked up. The BIOS then shifts down to a lower clock speed. This is fine, and beneficial to overclockers as a failsafe tool. However, if it is not actually an overclocking issue, there are other reasons the BIOS will see a reset in POST. A keyswitch bounce on the Reset button can do this. An under-rated or faulty power supply can as well, since the Power Good signal is seen on the mother board as a reset. Consider this scenario: You are taxing the PSU. After rising to Power Good, your Hard Drives all start head seeking and performing their internal POST. Power dips momentarily to the Power NOT Good state, then BANG - that's your reset during POST.

Which is pretty much what I had figured out. But I never reset during post (either from the reset switch, from power issues, or from clutzy 'omg I just kicked the power cord LOL).

Personally, I think that if you're going to overclock, you really should know where the CMOS clear switch is, and know how to use it. Colour me old fashioned ;) It might be a bit harder in some ways, but there is less to go wrong...and go wrong something did for sure in my case.

I even tried unplugging the power switch (plus the reset switch, and all the LEDs) and jumping it to start, in case it was a dodgy switch- didnt help.



You suggest the problem went away on its own. Is it possible that in the interim you've changed the power supply, or have swapped in a hard drive that demands just a little less power?

Nope, power supply (and everything else) stayed the same from when I had the problem to when it fixed itself- and with a corsair HX520 it shouldnt have been a power supply problem.


yes, I hate my core i7 desktop. because. 1. doesnt work with karmic unless I compile kernel myself. this is a waste of time as karmic is nearing EOL. 2. fakeraid. 3. some weird sata controler thats not regonized by ubuntu (jmicron) 4. sis network card (those who have been here long enough will know what I mean)

1- should just be from the age of the kernel- if you hate compling your kernel, switch to something that uses a newer kernel.

2- its not that bad...

3+4- see below


everything other than the first problem occurs on all distros that ice tried because its a hardware/support issue, not a distro issue. which is why Im wondering why they put that crappy SIS card onto such an powerful/expensive pc...

Because-

1- people buy computers of the man numbers (clock speed, RAM, HDD size, video card)

2- If there is a 100,000 run (that or bigger is pretty much standard) and the SIS network chip is 50c, and a better network chip is $1- thats $50,000 there. Add in the hardware RAID chip (another thing that attracts buyers, without them paying any attention to whos RAID chip it is) from jbmicron is $1, and SiL is $2, thats $100,000. $150,000 for just changing to crappier parts that most users will never notice? Nice profit. Sucks for end-users, but the manufacuturers dont care in a lot of cases (corporate- 'you get what you are given'. Others- 'you should have got the ZXY2999, not the XYZ2499')

What corporate boxxen did you get anyway?

[RabbitWho]

I loooooooooooove my computer, my new (ish) one because it works and does everything it's supposed to and my 11 year old one because it still works despite being 11 years old, it can even do photoshop... just not anything else at the same time.

[NCLI]

I have an ancient laptop (powerpc 1GHz) and an AMD64 Desktop, both running Gentoo (for the sake of the laptop) and I think I hate them both.

I must spend about 5+ hours a week updating the things and it takes me about a week to get through the updating procedure, by which time I have to start again. I've just gotten through a couple of weeks of intensive recovery work on the desktop after it decided to remove half my system because I ran the package clean-up command when I had missed an obscure use flag from the labyrinth of documentation.

Having just got it in working order I thought I'd move it to my living room so I could use it to play some games on and having unplugged it and carried it through to the living room I've found that it's stopped working. Either the PSU or the Motherboard has gone as there is absolutely no response from the power button (The PSU is less than a year old having been replaced after my last PSU went after just over a year).

I don't even have time to use the things because I spend my whole time fixing them. I actually feel like ditching linux (after 6 years) or even my computers altogether and having a lot more free time.

It sounds like the connector for the power button was loose and detached from the motherboard when you moved it. Try looking inside of it and try to find a very thin wire with "POWER" written on it.

[cartman640]

I certainly don't hate my computers. They all work perfectly all the time. No issues with Ubuntu, Windows or Mac OS. Been through the whole unreliable computer bits, my old machine was so overclocked that it would often take 6 or 7 attempts to boot, much prefer the reliability even if it means sacrificing a few clock cycles.


Not hating my computer at all. I do tend to dislike the options that are available today, should I need to replace my computer ever. I'm a big fan of "lots of screen real-estate." My main K8 MSI desktop is using a pair of monitors. The primary monitor is a CRT set at 2048 x 1536. The secondary (where I run debuggers and do other support stuff) is an LCD that at 1280 x 1024 turned 90 degrees and piano-hinged to the right edge of the CRT. It is the perfect mate to the primary monitor. As I consider replacement, I find there is nothing suitable. While I can get a screen physically larger than my current 20.5 inch Sony CRT, it is of lower resolution, so I actually loose work space. Worse yet, as screen sizes get larger, the bitmap they support remains constant - so I can spend $200 on a 21 inch monitor that produces 1920 x 1080 OR I can spend $300 on a 24 inch monitor that produces 1920 x 1080 OR I can spend $400 on a nice big 27 incher that produces, yet again, the same 1920 x 1080 image?! Who thought this might be a GOOD idea? That is only 65% of the real-estate I have been accustomed to for the past decade.

30" monitors normally run at 2560x1600 which would give you a nice increase. Failing that, buy two (or three or four) smaller monitors, 21.5" at 1920x1080 gives a nice pixel density, and with a few of them will give you lots of desktop realestate.


Moving right along, my laptop is going to turn ten soon. I'd like to replace it with something more modern, but I find the same exact problem! I already work down from my CRT at 2048 x 1536 when I'm on the laptop. It supports only 1400 x 1050. But its a laptop, so you make do when you must work in the field. I can blow $1500 on a decent Core 2 Duo, but the largest screen resolution available is 1440 x 900. That is only 88% of what I am using now, and what I'm using now is only barely adequate.

Somebody, Please - SEND ME MORE PIXELS!!! [/ENDRANT]

I can find plenty of laptops that have 1920x1200 on a 15" or 17" display... most manufacturers offer a display of this resolution (or at least 1680x1050) if you customize the configuration.

[shawnhcorey]

1920x1080 is the size of HDTV. Therefore monitors of that size are cheaper, and more likely to be listed on a company's product line. Higher resolutions are available, for a price, but you have to hunt for them.

[sandyd]

Which is pretty much what I had figured out. But I never reset during post (either from the reset switch, from power issues, or from clutzy 'omg I just kicked the power cord LOL).

Personally, I think that if you're going to overclock, you really should know where the CMOS clear switch is, and know how to use it. Colour me old fashioned ;) It might be a bit harder in some ways, but there is less to go wrong...and go wrong something did for sure in my case.

I even tried unplugging the power switch (plus the reset switch, and all the LEDs) and jumping it to start, in case it was a dodgy switch- didnt help.



Nope, power supply (and everything else) stayed the same from when I had the problem to when it fixed itself- and with a corsair HX520 it shouldnt have been a power supply problem.



1- should just be from the age of the kernel- if you hate compling your kernel, switch to something that uses a newer kernel.

2- its not that bad...

3+4- see below



Because-

1- people buy computers of the man numbers (clock speed, RAM, HDD size, video card)

2- If there is a 100,000 run (that or bigger is pretty much standard) and the SIS network chip is 50c, and a better network chip is $1- thats $50,000 there. Add in the hardware RAID chip (another thing that attracts buyers, without them paying any attention to whos RAID chip it is) from jbmicron is $1, and SiL is $2, thats $100,000. $150,000 for just changing to crappier parts that most users will never notice? Nice profit. Sucks for end-users, but the manufacuturers dont care in a lot of cases (corporate- 'you get what you are given'. Others- 'you should have got the ZXY2999, not the XYZ2499')

What corporate boxxen did you get anyway?
HP.
Luckily, I have 4 PCI/Express slots....
But I still havent gotten the SATA controler working, so im thinking of yanking out the two 1TB drives strap them onto the RAID array, and hopefully run ubuntu with dmraid or mdadm using raid0 or JBOD....
good thing I got two RAID cards. and a total of 6 Hard Drives. (Including the two that are already in the computer)

[cascade9]

HP.
Luckily, I have 4 PCI/Express slots....
But I still havent gotten the SATA controler working, so im thinking of yanking out the two 1TB drives strap them onto the RAID array, and hopefully run ubuntu with dmraid or mdadm using raid0 or JBOD....
good thing I got two RAID cards. and a total of 6 Hard Drives. (Including the two that are already in the computer)

I'm not even going to ask what you need 6hdds for *smilie with eyepatch* LOL

I wouldnt know for sure without a HP model number, but I have jmicron controllers on boards which only control the eSATA ports.

From what I've seen, your better off without jmicron anyway.....there was a least one model that ran slower in striped RAID than it did with a single drive :(

[J_Stanton]

I bought a linux specific build and have had nothing but problems with it. The PSU gave out after a year. The soundcard was not linux compatible (and is actually worse than the onboard soundcard). The NVidia card had always had a horrible flicker that happens on every version of the NVidia drivers and with the open source drivers (so I assume its hardware).

Does anyone actually have a computer (hardware) that works? If so what is it and where can I get one.

i build my own and never have problems.

[gemmakaru]

I have a MSI GX 700 laptop and everything works with ubuntu. Everything. They have made a great machine.