Just heard: 2 tech support guys walking by



  • Someones' laptop would give all sorts of errors while booting if they previously shut it down.

    The recommendation? Don't shut it down. We don't need to order a new one (they don't replace motherboards here) until it won't boot at all.

    Wait a minute.  A person who directly supports our users is having obvious motherboard issues and machine lockups and can't get the machine fixed or replaced until it completely dies? The purchase order alone takes two weeks. And oh BTW, we're not on conditioned power here; there's no UPS.

     

     



  • @snoofle said:

    And oh BTW, we're not on conditioned power here; there's no UPS.

    I'm not an electrical guy, but does that matter? Most laptop power supplies that I've seen work with a wide range of input voltages and frequencies. In fact, they work internationally, so long as you have the right cable.



  • @snoofle said:

    Someones' laptop would give all sorts of errors while booting if they previously shut it down.

    The recommendation? Don't shut it down. We don't need to order a new one (they don't replace motherboards here) until it won't boot at all.

    Wait a minute.  A person who directly supports our users is having obvious motherboard issues and machine lockups and can't get the machine fixed or replaced until it completely dies? The purchase order alone takes two weeks. And oh BTW, we're not on conditioned power here; there's no UPS.

    Time for it to suffer a strategic "accident".



  • @DaveK said:

    @snoofle said:

    Someones' laptop would give all sorts of errors while booting if they previously shut it down.

    The recommendation? Don't shut it down. We don't need to order a new one (they don't replace motherboards here) until it won't boot at all.

    Wait a minute.  A person who directly supports our users is having obvious motherboard issues and machine lockups and can't get the machine fixed or replaced until it completely dies? The purchase order alone takes two weeks. And oh BTW, we're not on conditioned power here; there's no UPS.

    Time for [b]them[/b] to suffer a strategic "accident".



  • @Weps said:

    @DaveK said:

    @snoofle said:

    Someones' laptop would give all sorts of errors while booting if they previously shut it down.

    The recommendation? Don't shut it down. We don't need to order a new one (they don't replace motherboards here) until it won't boot at all.

    Wait a minute.  A person who directly supports our users is having obvious motherboard issues and machine lockups and can't get the machine fixed or replaced until it completely dies? The purchase order alone takes two weeks. And oh BTW, we're not on conditioned power here; there's no UPS.

    Time for them to suffer a strategic "accident".

    I like how you BOFMIFH.


  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @snoofle said:
    And oh BTW, we're not on conditioned power here; there's no UPS.
    I'm not an electrical guy, but does that matter? Most laptop power supplies that I've seen work with a wide range of input voltages and frequencies. In fact, they work internationally, so long as you have the right cable.

    I'm a former electronics tech (not an EE), and I would say you are correct.  Switched-mode power supplies have sufficient filtering and obviously handle voltage regulation. If power is completely cut off, the battery would take over (assuming there's a working battery), so UPS not needed.


  • I think snoofle was just pointing out a second wtf on the side with the UPS.  Just because laptops are ok without a UPS does not mean the rest of the building is.



  • @frits said:

    @morbiuswilters said:

    @snoofle said:
    And oh BTW, we're not on conditioned power here; there's no UPS.
    I'm not an electrical guy, but does that matter? Most laptop power supplies that I've seen work with a wide range of input voltages and frequencies. In fact, they work internationally, so long as you have the right cable.

    I'm a former electronics tech (not an EE), and I would say you are correct.  Switched-mode power supplies have sufficient filtering and obviously handle voltage regulation. If power is completely cut off, the battery would take over (assuming there's a working battery), so UPS not needed.

    I don't think that is a safe assumption, battery losing it's zero point happens real fast so with other hardware failing I'd assume that it failed long ago.



  • @locallunatic said:

    @frits said:

    @morbiuswilters said:

    @snoofle said:
    And oh BTW, we're not on conditioned power here; there's no UPS.
    I'm not an electrical guy, but does that matter? Most laptop power supplies that I've seen work with a wide range of input voltages and frequencies. In fact, they work internationally, so long as you have the right cable.

    I'm a former electronics tech (not an EE), and I would say you are correct.  Switched-mode power supplies have sufficient filtering and obviously handle voltage regulation. If power is completely cut off, the battery would take over (assuming there's a working battery), so UPS not needed.

    I don't think that is a safe assumption, battery losing it's zero point happens real fast so with other hardware failing I'd assume that it failed long ago.

    So you're saying I can't have my caveat?

     

    What makes you think that unspecified boot errors would cause battery failure?



  • @frits said:

    So you're saying I can't have my caveat?

     

    What makes you think that unspecified boot errors would cause battery failure?

    No, I was just saying that I considered it an unreasonable one to assume applied.  And snoofle said 'obvious motherboard issues' so I was assuming other hardware breaking down.



  • @locallunatic said:

    @frits said:

    So you're saying I can't have my caveat?

     

    What makes you think that unspecified boot errors would cause battery failure?

    No, I was just saying that I considered it an unreasonable one to assume applied.  And snoofle said 'obvious motherboard issues' so I was assuming other hardware breaking down.

    I would say assuming the battery isn't charging because of "obvious motherboard issues" and other hardware "breaking down" is a much bigger leap. 


  • @Anketam said:

    It's like a lit match on a sinking ship.
     

    On a sinking oil tanker a lit match could be quite impressive. 

     



  • @frits said:

    @morbiuswilters said:

    @snoofle said:
    And oh BTW, we're not on conditioned power here; there's no UPS.
    I'm not an electrical guy, but does that matter? Most laptop power supplies that I've seen work with a wide range of input voltages and frequencies. In fact, they work internationally, so long as you have the right cable.

    I'm a former electronics tech (not an EE), and I would say you are correct.  Switched-mode power supplies have sufficient filtering and obviously handle voltage regulation. If power is completely cttor is still a necessityut off, the battery would take over (assuming there's a working battery), so UPS not needed.

    As an EE, I agree...but, a good surge arrestor is still a necessity. I have a nice Belkin brick (abour 3in x 3in x 1in) that I (nearly) always use. And yes, I have used a hi-pot generator to destructively test them..



  • @TheCPUWizard said:

    I have a nice Belkin brick (abour 3in x 3in x 1in) that I (nearly) always use. And yes, I have used a hi-pot generator to destructively test them..

    If you mean a Belkin SurgeMaster, I used one of those for about 8 years until an apparent power surge killed my mobo and GPU. I then opened the thing up to discover that, while there IS surge supression circuitry in it, the "protected" light is WIRED STRAIGHT ACROSS THE INCOMING MAINS POWER! When its surge suppression capacity is exhausted, you will NOT know about it. It will claim to be protected any time it's plugged in.

     



  • @AndyCanfield said:

    @Anketam said:
    It's like a lit match on a sinking ship.
     On a sinking oil tanker a lit match could be quite impressive. 

    Very true, I have changed my signature to reflect this.



  • Speaking of old laptop batteries, my 5.5 years old Acer has a nearly dead battery (holds charge just long enough for Windows to get to desktop), but it causes another problem: unless I disable the battery in Device Manager (or pull it out), some Windows kernel component will start using nearly a full CPU core, and at the same time cause the built-in keyboard and trackpad to stop responding (USB keyboard and mouse still work fine).


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