As I mentioned in my previous post, I just got a ZBox ID80, installed Linux Mint 12 and had some trouble with the sound. Turns out the problems were user error, but setting up sound was a little confusing.
So here’s what you might like to know to make sure your audio is working, at least for this hardware and Linux Mint 12. Continue reading “ZBox Audio with Linux Mint – Tutorial”
After getting the Alienware machine, I found myself with an extra 20″ monitor and noticed that the Blue Diamond box was getting a little long in the tooth. It has been running Ubuntu 10 and while it works, it’s very slow. Time for an upgrade.
The Zotac Zbox ID80 plus was about $300 from newegg, and while they have versions that are with and without HDD and memory, the one I got had 2GB of ram and a 320GB HD. I didn’t really need the HD since I had one of that size, but the price really tossed that in for almost free. I did get 4GB of RAM for it for an additional $21. Continue reading “Zotac ZBox ID80”
I would never have bought a new Alienware computer again, although my Alienware Area-51 Desktop is still going strong. But a friend came across this 2010 Alienware Aurora R2 with a decent configuration for a song, as they say. So I couldn’t pass it up.
The case has not changed in the last couple of years. Still the same lighting, and the same door. Touch the Alienhead and the door gently slides down to access the media slots and DVD drive. this new computer is liquid cooled with a setup that looks like a alienware customized Corsair H80 single fan cooler. Instead of a lighted Corsair logo as the button to control the pump programming, the button is a lighted Alienhead. Continue reading “Alienware Aurora R2”
The PS3 died.
While playing a DVD, the machine suddenly stopped. I thought the problem was the BD player, and I disassembled the system, based on information on YouTube, to remove the DVD, which would not eject.
The system would run the BD motor each time it was started, but then stop and beep.
It is not certain that the problem is the BD drive. BD drives are going for about $60 on Ebay, so it seems to make no sense to repair the device. I’ll sell it on Ebay.
Update: The Vizio player was a bust. It had problems with my HDMI switch. The Sony BDP-S590 is a much better choice. I have had no problems with this model.
I’ve completed the build of the Core i7-2600 system and it works just fine.
Here are the details, but briefly the system is:
I particularly like the lines of the Armor series of cases. I’ve already built a system using the Small Form Factor Armor 30 case. A key feature of the system is the Corsair H80 liquid cooling system, which was easy to install and works very well. This case is not appropriate for the larger H100 cooling system since there is no place at the top of the cabinet to attach the radiator, but the H80 fits very nicely on the back fan point. The H80 provides plenty of cooling for this processor. I have not overclocked the processor.
I’ve moved a 1TB single drive to this system from the Cyberpower system from last year, so this system has a data drive as well as the system drive pair. The system is now my primary system in my Gaming Battle chair.
– windy
The Cyberpower System from November 2010, was ordered with 6GB of memory. An additional 6GB of memory is down to $39 with free shipping, so I went for it. Looks like I got the last one. ;) They are out of stock and don’t expect any more. But I’m sure that other similar memory packages are available for similar prices.
The memory arrived and installed with no problems, but then the system would not boot. Turns out that the RAID system had a problem on system restart. The RAID controller did not wait for drive spin up, so the BIOs reordered the drives in the boot menu, and after that the system would not boot automatically. I was able to boot it by selecting the RAID array from the BIOS boot menu.
Stopping in the BIOS and reordering the boot menu fixed the problem. The system has an ASUS Sabertooth X58 Motherboard.
Another tip, you might want to consider whether DHL should be your shipper of choice. The memory was left in my mailbox out on the road, rather then at my door. For a couple of dollars, I could have had UPS deliver the memory, and it would have been dropped at my door, which I’ll do in the future.
Enjoy,
ww
What were you doing when the problem occured[sic]?:
I’m trying to filter out game or other updates from my friends in my news feed. I clicked on the drop down menu to the right of a story and chose unsubscribe, from whatever it was – game update or photo update. And observed that the post changed to a confirmation that I wouldn’t see those anymore. Then when I return to that page, or refresh the page, all the stories that were filtered out reappeared. Looks like it’s totally broken, dude. Hey dude, make this work, please. [just trying to use age appropriate language, dude or dudesse.]
What did you expect to happen?:
I expected them to stay filtered out.
What actually happened?:
If I come back to the news feed, or refreshed the page, the filtered stories reappeared as if I had done nothing. BTW, takes too long to upload a picture for this post. That seems to be stuck too. And if I’m going to tell you about a bug, then you need to allow more than one pic, like before and after or before during and after.
Enjoy.
ww
Microsoft Security Essentials Definitions 1.115.410.0 shows a false positive for a virus in LibreOffice as it installs on windows. Here are the details:
Click for a larger view.
– ww
Somehow I made a background color I like but the only way I can copy it is to copy the rows. Don’t we need to be able to set any color, and see which color is set?
Did I miss it?
Here’s an example. What color did I use for the rows?
Thanks,
ww
The Battle Chair is complete.
How great is this? Whatever computing you want to do, you can do it from the comfort of the recliner. Continue reading “Battle Chair Complete”
Windy Weather 