Subj : What to do with a gia To : Ky Moffet From : Barry Martin Date : Sun Feb 20 2022 08:07:00 Hi Ky! > > would have trusted the HDD any longer. Not doubting my repair ability, > > more the HDD failed and it shouldn't have. > KM> Repair is only for data recovery; no failed drive is EVER > KM> considered "working" after repair. > My definition is probably looser: the repaired drive (rust or otherwise) > is now working but I eye it with suspicion. I'd use it for something > like Sneakernet or temporary storage/use, definitely nothing critical > like for a Backup. KM> Yeah, unless you know it was a filesystem/partition problem, KM> would not be at the head of my trusted list. But for that kind of KM> use, sure. KM> However, if the OS touches it, and it's bad, it will make KM> trouble. Drive that's failing but nothing visible (no bad KM> sectors) can cause system freezes. Hmm: thinking about that one Raspberry Pi I'm having problems with: randomly locks up/stops. Sometimes a reboot works, sometimes have to power boot to get going again. Plenty of room on the SD card, plenty of free memory. > KM> Yeah. Physical security makes sense for corporate, but for us, we > KM> don't want to be bothered, when the worst hazard is falling > KM> trees. > Plus hackers are more likely to target businesses where tons of data > like passwords, SSNs, etc., could be collected in one big swoop. More > than likely a hacker isn't going to bother you or I to grab my bank > account number. (They won't the password on my computer -- well, maybe KM> That's not really the criterion. A million small bank accounts KM> totals the same money, and garners no untoward attention from KM> Interpol. That's true. > the History -- darn!) I probably have a greater chance of a hacker > attempting to snag my WiFi. (Why has that car been sitting on the > street for the last hour?) KM> Anyone trying to enjoy my wifi would be very disappointed in the KM> speed... Still, could be better than nothing! > KM> Yeah, and can put to use a lot more than the two drives handled > KM> by the average commercial NAS with a consumer-practical price. In > Right. All I really need is backup storage for when something goes > wrong. Even the old (antique!) NAS I have offers all sorts of options > I've never used: Media Server, iTunes Server, Broadcatching (no idea > what that is), Flickr/YouTube uploader.... Could probably get by with > an external HDD! KM> Yeah, the Asustor has its own little CPU and OS, and it can do KM> enough stuff that you could almost use it as a desktop. Would I KM> ever use those functions? I doubt it. On one hand there are our types which could make a system from scratch -- well, select and grab a bunch of software anyway! There are others who could not. My guess is the units put in all that software for the latter group. Same unit is sold to mour group, we just don't have to use what's included. > KM> I do have a very old actual for-really NAS here somewhere, but > KM> haven't been able to get it to work. How old? IDE, > KM> not SATA. Cisco, probably cost a fortune new. Came in some box of > KM> free stuff. Interesting, but not useful. > So when are you going to price SATA-to-IDE adapters?! KM> LOL... I've used those. The one that actually works and doesn't KM> burn a hole in your PC is awkwardly sized and a naked board so KM> you have to be careful what it touches; the one that's got a case KM> around the board and isn't so big and gawky runs at FRY. Either KM> way, not a good solution. I've worked with bare/open circuit boards; mostly the electrical side of things like voltage regulators and chargers. The pre-made aspect is nice: keeps things compact and the price down -- I'd probably pay the same for a toroid as I did for the entire unit. Holding the board in place in the box can sometimes be a bit of a challenge! > Here I could break up the total storage device into portions: music BU > to one HDD, data to another; the cameras monitoring what's going on > putside could be to multiple small hard drives: they don't need to be to > the same drive. I look at (essentially) /NAS/Unit 1/Camera 1, which > could go just as easily to /NAS/HDD1 as /NAS/HDD8. KM> Yeah, I like to sort things out that way when I can. It makes troubleshooting easier! > KM> It can, in fact that's how some of the cheap adapters work, but > KM> you still have the same total bandwidth, so it gets real slow. > I don 't like to wait when I don't have to so not a good option for me. > Actually was thinking more the output of the motherboard's port is set > to go to the input of specific device only but suppose could just as > easily do output to several device and whichever device is the correct > one can then decode the data. (Yeah, really sloppy Black Box concept!) KM> Each one needs its own channel, as I understand it. So the KM> adapter has to know how to direct traffic. But you still only KM> have X-bandwidth, until you get into the more expensive adapters KM> that are designed to give each HD its full bandwidth. I was thinking needing their own data channel also, which was the joke behind my comment, though was a bit hidden. (There's another one!) The power portion can be soldered together; the data not. > Spotted cows! ...I sort of have the theory lower-classed Pentiums, > etc., were ones that failed to meet the upper-level standards: it works, > just not at the top level. Waste not, want not! KM> That's exactly right. Because chip production is so variable, KM> some work better than others, and whatever the batch tests at is KM> how they'll be labeled. Lesser chips may "overclock" because some KM> will actually be up to it. Yea! I was right! As for overclocking, I don't do mainly because of the overall concept of it's designed for only so much, very possible to do more for a short period of time but after that it fails. KM> And there will be occasional freak chips that can "overclock" to KM> something ridiculous, like over 5GHz. Remember when we were ecstatic at the 8088's 16 MHz?! KM> And it makes gamers very happy when they can buy a cheaper CPU KM> and "overclock" it to something silly like that. Well yeah: I like a bargain too! KM> But there is really no such thing as overclocking; there is only KM> running a chip up to its maximum ability. Agree. I'm thinking the manufacturers want to be able to sell a (say) 6 GHz chip, and maybe actually have it, but the problem is becomes unstable/overheats/requires a lot of power/whatever. Cut it down to 4 GHz, problems go away. ...Let the tinkers deal with those issues, we said it's only good to this level. And Clyde the Corporate Lawyer reminded to include the 'overclocking may void warranty' clause. KM> Back in the olden days, for a while the P75 was the market sweet KM> spot. Intel was already producing P90 CPUs, but they were widely KM> viewed as too expensive. But P90 was what was coming out of the KM> production line, and they cost the same to make regardless, so KM> they rebadged a bunch of those P90s and sold them as P75s. In KM> fact I've only seen one P75 that was really only 75MHz and would KM> not "overclock" to 90MHz, because of this. Makes sense to me. > The usage also makes a difference (great! more variables!). Semi- > following best for the Raspberry Pi's microSD card -- top of my head not > recalling but essentially Brand A is good but only Model 1 as Model 2 is > sluggish. Brand 2 is next best but if use as is better than KM> And there are a bunch of different SD card specs. Explaining KM> Computers channel had a good go-over of the various types a while KM> back. I printed out his conclusions chart and put it in my KM> wallet. :) (Ky has a George Costanza wallet; very little money, but stuffed full of notes, coupons, phone number strips for guitar lessons....) Actually something I should do but electronically; store in the phone as I usually carry when I go out. Guess I'll have to learn how to use it for something beside talking, pictures, and a schedule calendar! KM> Only buy Sandisk now regardless, but still there are different KM> types, and not all work well for everything. Right, like some hard drives are recommended for lots of writes and few reads (surveillance ==> constant recording, occasional playback) some memory cards are designed for lots of writes and fewer reads, some the other way. > Brand 1. ...Essentially depends on Reads, Writes. Also seems if a lot > of writes then better off with a larger capacity card even though means > a lot of unused space: each (segment) has only so many writes > available, so if writing a lot then if to a small capacity card one uses > the same (segment) over and over again, so exhausts/dies effectively KM> Yeah, true of all flash devices, including SSDs. I'm thinking with my RPi problem somewhere above going from the the current 32 GB card, which shows as having lots of room, to a 64 GB card. Data should be rattling around loose! > KM> I've used Lexar flash drives, but larger than 128GB like to > KM> default to USB 1.0, and walking data over one bit at a time is > KM> faster. > "Oddly" Lexar drives were in one of the RPi studies and while great for > other functions did abysmally poorly in the RPi. I odn't recall the > size but seems the comparisons were using 16 and 32 GB cards. KM> Yeah, see, Lexars sometimes have weird ideas. They're made by KM> Micron, which normally means good quality memory, but not so sure KM> about the rest of the unit. That's kind of the problem: every so often a great brand name puts out a dud. > KM> In SSDs or NVMes, Sandisk/WD or Samsung. Only reason I have an > KM> NVMe that's a PNY is cuz "cheapest one I could lay hands on til > KM> we see if they work with this ...vintage... hardware and OS." > Yup: if something may or may not work doesn't make sense to go with KM> Yeah... could chuck it into one of the other boxen but... well, KM> it was both cheap and works, what's not to like?? It's lime green! > KM> With the 3rd party driver, XP64 likes 'em fine. But Win7 threw up > KM> in new and creative ways, and Win10 corrupts them (permanently > KM> sets a dirty bit so they perpetually want "disk checking"). > I'm more and more liking my decision to move away from Windows! KM> Yeah, they're not really enticing me with the more-recent KM> shenanigans. Win11 has some nice features, but for every nice KM> feature there's an equal and negating WTF. I'm thinking most people stick with Windows because they don't know of something different or are afraid to make the change. Admittedly switching from Windows-think to Linux-think is a slight challenge. And I guess Linux is more for 'fiddlers' -- maybe not as easy for those users used to clicking. I still like the command line - sometimes easier. ....Sometimes. KM> Win10's guts seem to be very good, but the desktop leaves pretty KM> much everything to be desired, and then there's these bad KM> behaviors... KM> I once suggested to a MSFT rep that it would be really nice to KM> have modular desktops, so we could use whichever style of Windows KM> we prefer while having the benefits of updated underpinnings. He KM> said they were actually considering that, but obviously nothing KM> came of it. Or at least yet. Or could have been said to placate you: yes, we're working on that, in the meantime you stil have to use the old junk but with the hopes of something good. ¯ BarryMartin3@ ® ¯ @MyMetronet.NET ® .... The butler did it. It's always the butler. --- MultiMail/Win32 v0.47 þ wcECHO 4.2 ÷ ILink: The Safe BBS þ Bettendorf, IA --- QScan/PCB v1.20a / 01-0462 * Origin: ILink: CFBBS | cfbbs.no-ip.com | 856-933-7096 (454:1/1) .