USB PORTS on the motherboard WORST INVENTION EVER.

Why not get yourself a cheap NAS drive and transfer all of your data onto that. you can generally access these from tablets so you should still have access to your data.

I didn't touch the PC when the buzz sound occured.

I suspect the USB Plug misalignment caused the buzz sound on the DreamPC.

The same buzz sound happened on the Pentium III 450 mhz when one of those power connectors/hd leds/power switch connectors was wrongly connected I think.

The real question is:

What would have happened if the PC was grounded ?

Would the misplaced USB plug go undetected ?

Would it have prevented damage ?

In a way maybe it was a good thing the PC was not grounded, at least I heard literally that there was a problem.

Unfortunately it did cause damage.

If it didn't then the usb drive/card reader probably wouldn't have worked and I would have found the misaligned plug eventually.

I also live in an appartment high up, so I am not sure if grounding wall sockets is a good idea.

I have explored this topic in the past...

I don't want to change the wall socket because I don't know if that's safe... I don't like changing things which have worked for tens of years for other people...

For all I know it might make matters worse and there is definetly some thruth to that...

Bye, Skybuck.

My thoughts on wireless network attached storage devices:

1. If it doesn't have encryption forget about it ;)

1. Health risk.

2. Interference/corruption risks.

Some other possibility:

Microsoft's SkyDrive + Encryption + Windows Shell Integration.

Could be nice... but maybe the bandwidth too slow...

Yeah probably waaaayyyy too slow... 350 KB/sec upload speed.

We can safely forget about that as well.

Bye, Skybuck.

...snip...

He is not talking about the USB connectors, he it talking about the two row header on the motherboard! Everyone knows they are a bad idea, but they keep using them because they are very inexpensive and it is assumed that only people who know what they are doing plug things into the motherboard.

I feel his pain. I have had to wire up front panels to motherboards with virtually no documentation so that even if you can see what you are doing it is hard to get it right. The computer only survived because it tolerated having LEDs and switches plugged in wrong. But being lazy around PCs is not a good idea. They are sensitive beasts and a little static or too much pressure in places can do damage. Know that and act accordingly. Ranting about the manufacturers is pointless.

Rick

I don't use a wrist watch any more. My cell phone displays accurate time. However, I'm considering making or buying one of these wrist watches:

--
Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com 
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558

Oh, this happened with my laptop and a cheap "ICD2 like" PIC debugger with a powered electronic prototype. Just avoided my laptop to boot, a led was somewhat lit. Then I cut the link, saw my PC booting, and considering myself lucky !

--
cLx 
http://clx.freeshell.org/

Looks like that would be easy to "Defuse" ???

Oops. That wasn't obvious from what I read. Yeah, those are a potential problem. Most of the desktops I deal with are from Dell. Dell apparently goes through considerable effort to make sure that connectors cannot be inserted wrong. All the motherboard USB connectors have a plastic frame and a keyway. I guess I'm spoiled. However, I have stupidly plugged a USB flash drive into a customers computer only to have it blow up because the power was backwards. Usually, those were assembled from components type machines. I've considered building a simple LED USB jack polarity tester for such machines.

If enough people do it wrong the same way, it becomes a (de facto) standard, even if it's wrong. The QWERTY keyboard layout is the classic example.

Umm, maybe I'm missing something here. The USB connectors that attach to the motherboard source the power. In theory, no device that sources power can be plugged into the front/rear panel USB connector. Even with scrambled wiring, the only way to fry something on the motherboard is for the external USB device to source power. One could short the 5V power on the computah USB connector, which either blows an SMT fuse or trips a resettable PTC protector on the motherboard. Some USB chips have internal current limiters in place of the fuse but most use fuses: At worst, it might cook the USB controller chip, or some uP glue chip, but those are suppose to be protected against applying 5V to an input pin with the power off. What am I missing here?

My problem is a bit different. I'm getting older and my eyesight is deteriorating at an alarming rate. I now have to use various eyesight correction and amplification devices, in addition to more intense illumination. For me keyed connectors are not a luxury but a necessity.

Probably true.

Drivel: At home with a cold or flu for a few days. Sorry about the spew but all I can do right now is alternately sleep and rant on Usenet.

--
Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com 
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558

I only figured that out after reading a few of his posts and some of the replies.

I'm talking about older computers. I worked on an old PII and before that a 486 that were very unsophisticated in preventing you from doing something stupid and didn't have USB. They had some dozen or more wires that connected to lights and switchs on the front panel. Around 10 years ago I built a couple of PCs that still had some front panel stuff hand wired. The ones I'm tearing down these days seem to have a ribbon cable for the front panel and are harder to screw up.

Same here. I've given up on prescription glasses as they want to give me a new pair every time I have my eyes checked. I now use two pair, one for every day and one for computer work. If I'm doing up close stuff I use them both in series and if I'm watching the Redskins play while using the PC I stack them so they are like bifocals... lol

I figured I should be able to get my own glasses made, but here they won't make them without a prescription. I figured I could get a pair made overseas, but so far nothing that is a bargain price. Maybe they are *all* made overseas!

I haven't noticed your posts before (so much Internet, so little time) but I did notice you have posted a lot today. That explains it. Better than watching the tube I suppose.

What do you do for a living?

Rick

I suggest looking into Zenni Optical. They're cheap and from China. The law requires that the prescription is no more than 2 years old. That's about right as my eyes deteriorate. $75 for an eye exam and glaucoma test at Costco.

What I do is experiment with the prescription. Unlike a dispensing optician, I'm not obligated to follow the prescription exactly. I use the astigmatism corrections per the prescription, but juggle the magnification depending on what I'm trying to accomplish. The correct magnification is easy to determine by simply buying or borrowing an assortment of drug store reading glasses, and see which one seems to be the correct power for specific distances. I then buy the cheapest $15 glasses I can find from Zenni Optical to test my guesswork. Once the best combination is established, I buy some better frames. My only diversion from this scheme is that I wanted a pair of real glass lenses instead of plastic. It took some effort, but I eventually was able to order some from Costco.

I cleverly cancelled my DirecTV subscription and am doing a combination of DVD's and Netflix. Much cheaper and no commercials. The only problem is that as soon as I turn on the TV, I fall asleep.

This week? That's difficult to answer. Mostly, I repair PC's, do computer consulting, and fix whatever else the customers wants repaired. Sewing machines, chain saws, appliances, home theater, 2way radio repair, weather stations, etc. Whatever pays the bills. My palatial office: My combination chain saw and RF test bench at home: I'm good at repair, but not so good at design. In the distant past, I ran a 2way radio shop, did RF design for several companies, and did some RF related consulting. I've also done some writing. I've been on Usenet for longer than I care to admit.

--
Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com 
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558

I threw mine away when I was declared 100% disabled. There is a clock in my truck, and one on the computer. I don't have cell phone service.

So, SNAFU? ;-)

They used to be $50... Is zenni obligated to follow our laws?

I have very strong astigmatism in the right eye and mostly ignore it. When I'm doing a lot of computer work I use a prescription pair with close and closer focal ranges.

I'll take a look at Zenni.

That's an impressive lab. I noticed one or two HP laser printers from some 10 years ago, I don't remember the model number but I have the same one with the sheet fed scanner on the front. In the first year the separator pad wore out and now I have to manually feed the paper. HP was actually sued by class action on this and the lawyers got a bunch of cash and the complainants got some coupons from HP... lol!

Any suggestions on how to fix it? Otherwise it works great, I just have to feed the sheets. Fortunately I don't print very often.

I also saw the radios. Any marine VLF transceivers? I kayak and will be buying one next season. Not sure what to look for in the way of features and specs.

I'm working on an all digital receiver for the WWVB time signal. What have you done in the RF domain? Any antenna work?

Rick

I've used them once and was happy with the results.

I've been wearing bifocals for around a decade, but found them less than ideal for computer work... too far away for the "near" correction, not far enough for "distant", and craning my head back to try to look through the "near" lens was giving me a headache.

I recently had my eyes checked and bifocal prescription updated (and a new set of bifocals made). I followed Zenni's recommendations for calculating the correction needed for a set of "intermediate distance" monofocals, plugged those numbers into the order form, and got the glasses a couple of weeks later. Vast improvement for computer work... just about right... eyes are much happier at the end of the day. I think I'll spend another $50 and get a second set for my home computer setup.

Zenni never asked to see the original prescription... as far as I can tell, you can plug any set of numbers you want into the order form and they'll make it for you.

--
Dave Platt                                    AE6EO 
Friends of Jade Warrior home page:  http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior 
  I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will 
     boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!

I don't think I plugged the usb plug in backwards.

What happened was the plug was 1 row of pins too high which is definetly possible.

I might make a youtube video of that to show how I presumebly killed it. (I will probably do this, but I dont want to remove the usb card reader, it was quite a hassle to get it in, but before I rebuild my dreampc I will put it on the table and put the dead motherboard in it, and make a nice video of it... and then I will start the repair build ;))

However there is a bit of a mystery:

According to the ASRock 790GX manual, the pins that were left unconnected were the actual power pins.

So the only pins which were connected were the data pins as far as I can tell ?!?

So this would mean the data pins somehow caused the motherboard to fry ?????!!

If this is "impossible" then something else must have killed it ???

Bye, Skybuck.

The Firewire spec supports power over the cable, and a lot more than the wimpy USB spec.

Probably yes, but they aren't asking for the original prescription or any optometrist identification information. Apparently, nothing is going to happen until someone complains. Like many of our medical related restrictions allegedly designed to protect the GUM (great unwashed masses) from alternative medicine, the 2 year requirement creates an almost captive market for optometrists and opticians at inflated prices. My last pair of bifocals from Zenni Optical cost me about $40. My last pair of single vision glasses from Costco cost me $280.

Thanks. There's more test equipment piled in odd places around the house and office. If this were 1975, I would have a state of the art laboratory.

I also repair HP LaserJet printers. I don't make much money on the repairs, but for some unspecified personality defect, I enjoy fixing them. I go through quite a few office printers. Mostly, I sell or loan them to customers and obtain a different printer. The local eWaste recycler is a great source of laser printers. Rebuild kits and cheap toner is commonly available on eBay. I've made it my personal crusade to consign all inkjet printers to the recyclers, and replace them with cheaper to operate, more reliable, and infinitely faster, laser printers.

I'm not sure what printer you saw, but my current favorite is the HP2300dtn. The previous incantation, the HP2200dn had some issues:

Rubber separator pads do wear out. Cork pads seem to last longer. My guess is that they both will last about 75,000 to 100,000 pages. I have various potions (xylene rubber restorer) which will soften the rubber, but once it wears down below the level of the plastic mounting frame, it's over. Replacements are commonly available from Printerworks.com and eBay. Good advice on printer repair from Moe at:

No. I need the model number. The only HP laserjet that has a bolt on scanner on the front is the HP1000/1100/1200/1300 series. I had a few of those in the shop for repair and rebuilding, but none had the scanner option installed. It's an ugly little printer, that has a nasty habit of attempting to feed the entire stack of paper at once when the separation pad wears out. Replace the separation pads and associated rubber parts or buy a paper-jam fix kit. I haven't had much luck with the fix kit. None seem to be available on eBay.

I think you might mean VHF, not VLF. I have plenty of those, but they're all products that I designed in the distant past. I want to keep them. They're also not exactly state of the art. Get something that floats for the inevitable roll. I'm not up to date on the latest marine handhelds and can't recommend anything specific.

I saw your WWVH question in rec.radio.amateur.antenna but never had time or interest to go beyond my few bad guesses. Building one of the numerous loop antenna construction articles might be best.

I've done a bit of antenna design and modeling. However, NDA's and contracts prevent me from posting or discussing the interesting designs. Here's the bottom of the barrel. Only a few are my designs or ever went beyond an NEC2 model. Mostly they're on my web pile to settle some manner of online argument.

--
Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com 
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558

4 conductor Firewire-400 does NOT supply power.

6 conductor Firewire-400 does supply power. Sony iLink does NOT supply power. All the later Firewire versions supply power.

Late model Apple computahs supply power via Firewire 800 even when the computah is turned off. In laptops, the port sources power only when the AC power adapter is connected:

--
Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com 
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558

Most routers let you plug an external drive into them and share data. Such as my Linksys WRT610.