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Bob
7:01 PM
ok. just bought this one: ebay.com.au/itm/…
now I can only hope it works :P
 
...
i read City Eliter as Gary Glitter
 
Bob
apparently, the listed cards in the service manuals are often incorrect
 
yep :P
 
Bob
so I just picked a random HP branded one
-_-
well, it's been confirmed working for other models
 
back eons ago when I serviced laptops, we were selling these $3000 high end HPs...supposed to be expandable to 4GB ram (2 x 2GB)
 
Bob
7:03 PM
come on, the manual even mismatched the intel card and part number somehow -_-
 
well, only one of the DIMMs' circuits was actually connected to the board. The leads for the other one went nowhere
 
Bob
WTF
 
When we found out and got HP to replace them, they tried to get us to sign an NDA
yeah...that gives you a clue about their QC process
this is like...7 or 8 years ago though
 
Bob
o.O
 
but that's the entire laptop market. They rush the cheapest product they can out 4 times a year. Everything has a 3 month cycle and it's promptly ditched. That usually also includes parts to service the things.
 
Bob
7:05 PM
hey, look, an Atheros one
 
Some brands are better. Dell and Lenovo being the only two I trust anymore. And barely.
 
Bob
AFAICT, te Broadcom ones are all 2.4GHz only
 
urgh...Atheros chipsets. Avoid.
 
Bob
the available Intel ones are lacking Bluetooth
 
yeah. Broadcom is cheap and never updates their tech if they can avoid it
 
Bob
7:06 PM
@busterarm any particular reason? :P
 
the amount of damage that they've caused with regard to Bluetooth on PCs is....
 
Bob
damage? :S
 
well, for example, Broadcom bought WIDCOMM back in the day..who made the Bluetooth stack before Microsoft
 
Bob
I'm currently using a USB wifi adaptor
 
and then they basically sat on the tech and didn't update any of the software for like 15 years
 
Bob
7:07 PM
it works well, but the main point is I don't want a freaking dongle there
 
it was broken as hell and they didn't care and they didn't support it
that's what forced Microsoft to completely redo the bluetooth stack in Vista and up
 
Bob
Any reason to avoid Atheros?
 
other than some driver issues I encountered (now fixed) there are some strange incompatabilities with their chipsets and some wireless gateways
 
Bob
yay, 15-25 day shipping
 
it's probably the other gateway's fault but the workaround is almost always either don't use it or change the MAC address to trick the gateway into thinking it's another device
 
Bob
7:08 PM
sigh
 
15-25 month? ouch
 
Bob
day*
 
ahh. still too long
 
Best picture ever:
Ah well, save image, then upload.
user image
3
 
Fantastic. starred! :D
 
Bob
7:34 PM
wait. waitwaitwait
4
Q: Why do some Centrino chipsets say Not for Lenovo/HP?

Evan CarrollI am noticing a bunch of a half-PCI Express Centrino chipsets that say "not for Lenovo/HP", what's the reason for this? Technically, PCI-Express is standardized. What could possibly be different? Here is an example, and here is another example, and here is another example.

 
the answer is correct
 
Bob
Just did a double take when I saw the asker of the question.
 
that's what I was referring to about lenovos not liking cards they didn't ship
 
Bob
@busterarm yea, I linked to a source in a comment to that answer :P
the asker of the question, though...
 
8:27 PM
Sad. Even the bad questions on this site are better than the ones I get asked at work.
 
9:10 PM
UAGH
Hi all! :)
I have a little problem here
here is some history
5
Q: Fairly new drive has high usage but slow speed. Whole system running hot

JABFreewareI originally suspected malware, because my pointer skips and my system gets slower and slower by day. I recently had a reg entry get messed up for no reason. But after talking with some people in chat and running some tools, we found something rather interesting and don't think its a virus. Here ...

now, last night I was working in word document that had been saved an on the hardrive for a few days
I DID save the file and exit word
The laptop was not plugged in, so it powered down sometime last night
I boot up the next morning and the file doesnt exist
Remmber, this file was not created last night, merely added to, so its the common problem of forgetting to save a new document
So I opened word
It said it could recover and unsaved document, which had the name I wanted
So I clicked recover. It said "File does not exist"
then I run recurva. It succeeded in slowing my system with its high memory ussage
so I end the process and kept using the computer
I restarted later because I needed a file in linux (I have dual boot)
I boot back into windows and then decide to download a file off the web
when I do (ANY FILE) it says "Disk structure corrupt or unredable" and that it therfor cannot save the file.
is the hardrive just failing?
SORRY, TYPO:
Remmber, this file was not created last night, merely added to, so its the common problem of forgetting to save a new document

Should be

Remmber, this file was not created last night, merely added to, so its NOT the common problem of forgetting to save a new document
 
Did you cover up the vent on the drive when you installed it?
 
@busterarm its a laptop. never opened it
 
So that's the drive it came with?
 
fairly new laptop the question should say
yes
 
Ahh
Well, the OEM could be stupid
Happens a lot
 
9:19 PM
@busterarm what do you mean by:
Well, the OEM could be stupid
 
OEMs don't always (usually) account for where the vent hole on the drive is and design their cases so that that hole is covered
 
@busterarm :O morrons
so is the drive bad you think?
 
well, if it's a new-ish laptop, you should be covered by the manufacturer's warranty anyway
having them send you a replacement would tell you definitively.
 
@busterarm 1.5 years old. No warranty
bought at best buy and did not get their warranty and Lenovo is stupid
 
seeing that high usage in both OS is abnormal, for sure
 
9:21 PM
sigh thats what I thought. Guess its time for a new hardrive
DANG IT!
 
how full is the drive?
That's actually probably the most important factor at the moment
 
well since I just reinstalled not even half
more like 1/3 full
 
between both operating systems?
 
@busterarm yep
 
ok
 
9:23 PM
oh there is an odd thing. In linux mint as its booting its always saying the tmp partition is taking too long to mount
 
you could have disk I/O problems
faulty controller
that would mean new laptop
better test the drive first of course
 
@busterarm dang. Okay how could a tell. The last thing I want to buy a new drive and then a new laptop
 
Find a drive to borrow first ;)
 
@busterarm hmmm...Don't know of one at all.
 
or one you can return
 
9:25 PM
Oh yeah, I might know of someone
yeah I'll do that. Guess you cant buy a motherboard for a laptop and replace it yourself?
 
you might be able to
but typically they're expensive
not a fun repair either way
 
@busterarm nope. WEll thanks for your help
 
between cost and the potential to break things, probably easier to replace
I've serviced thousands of laptops
If you can't at least get a teardown manual, just don't do it
if it's a dell, have a dell tech come do it :P
 
@busterarm I've opened a couple. I hate all the screw lengths to keep track of, the snaps the clips the cable
UAGH
I heard a joke: "You do I open a laptop? Oh, get a sledge hammer"
well I got to go. tHanks for your help /o
 

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