The New Computer Problems Thread

[Naldru]

When I was setting up my daughter's computer in her dorm room a few years ago in the Philadelphia area, I was also getting messages which were due to name resolution process.  It turned out that, although the computer was in the Philadelphia area, the DNS for the ISP was in Colorado and seriously overloaded in both bandwidth and cpu.

What I did was change the network settings to use the university's DNS server instead of the one belonging to the ISP.   You are probably using the DNS specified in your network handshaking with the ISP.  However, you can specify the IP address to use for DNS rather than accept the default.

I'm not sure if this is adequate information or is actually TMI.  I remember that the information from the diagnostic hardware and software was very misleading and the technical support person at the ISP was less knowledgable than my daughter.  (Remember that I had to set up her Macintosh.  It wasn't even Windows.)  I also don't know if this is really your problem.  I do remember that it was intermittent and appeared random unless you knew the IP protocols.

This may be enough information for your friendly neighborhood computer geek.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Her friendly non-neighbourhood geek had more or less reached that conclusion, and was talking her through identifying what her current DNS settings were, and what her ISP recommended, and working his way back from there...

Your input -is- appreciated, though, as it confirms I'm likely on the right track. :-]

[Cvstos]

My PowerBook G4 (15", 1.5Ghz) just bought the farm, I think. When I try to start it up, I hear a series of loud clicks following by a "?" folder. I try to install OS X but there's no destination drive.

I've got AppleCare so I'm going to have a chat with a Genius at an Apple Store later tomorrow.

I'm thinking catastrophic, complete HDD failure. Am I right in this?  Second opinions?

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

sounds about right, from what you've said. :-/

[Tapewolf]

sounds about right, from what you've said. :-/

Agreed.  I must think of a way to back up mine, although there's not much important on it at present.

Talking of the MacOS, I have a couple of 'how the hell do you...' questions.  Currently I'm going to the BASH prompt to do this stuff, but in theory it should be possible without a working knowledge of UNIX.

1. Rename a file.  I used to know how this was done on System 7, but I've long since forgotten and it's certainly not intuitive.
2. Create a new text file.  It has a text editor, yes, but so far I've only been able to invoke it by opening an existing file.  So I've been using NANO.
3. Invoking programs, period.  Windows 3.1 had desktop icons, Windows 9x added the start menu, KDE followed suite.  OS/2 had its own menus as I recall.  But does the MacOS have alist of currently-installed programs, or do I have to crawl the hard disk and invoke the application in-place like with DOS?  I don't have a problem with that, I'm just trying to figure out how the system is supposed to be used.  Once they've been invoked they can be tagged to the dock, but getting them running in the first place is what's puzzling me.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

I know someone who has a mac. I'll ask them. Get back to you in a bit...

Edit (14:11:35):

1. Highlight the file, click on the name. Or hightlight and hit cmd+i (get info) to edit properties in general

2. As far as I know that's the only way. Might be some plugin to be able to do it from the contextual menu, but I haven't seen any

3. Use spotlight! OsX is fairly organised thought, 99% of your applications end up in the /Applications directory unless you put them somewhere else. Either go to the Applications directory and open the app or use spotlight to search and then launch the app.
Also, spotlight remembers your searches, so subsequent searches get to the app a lot quicker.


I think that means, for question 3, "uh, no. That's about as good as it gets"...

Edit Edit:

Oh regarding #2, TextEdit is the editor and it lives in /Applications


*cough*

[Cvstos]

1) To rename a file, click on it's name, or click on the icon and hit "enter", then enter new name, hit enter again or click elsewhere on the screen to finish.

2) Open up the text editor.  It's located in /Applications.  Write stuff.  Save.  You can either use spotlight to find it or just open Finder, click on "Applications" (usually on the left hand side), and scroll down a bit.

3) Go to the Applications folder as described above.  Find desired app.  Double-click on icon.  Or search with spotlight. 

Big thing to remember is to not over-think stuff while on the Mac.  The solution is usually so simple us tech-minded people completely miss it!   I know I've had a few moments where I was doing things the hard way or not at all, then realized freaking drag-and-drop was the solution!  (Man, was that embarrassing!)

Well, I'm off to the Apple Store to try and get this fixed.  Wish me luck! 

[Tapewolf]

1) To rename a file, click on it's name, or click on the icon and hit "enter", then enter new name, hit enter again or click elsewhere on the screen to finish.

You know, that was the first thing I tried.  Second was to use 'Get Info' as Llearch suggested, part of an old memory from 1993.  I'll have to try it again tonight and see if I can figure out why it didn't seem to work.

2) Open up the text editor.  It's located in /Applications.

Thanks - and I see that '/Applications' is the general place to look for stuff.  That should get me going.

Well, I'm off to the Apple Store to try and get this fixed.  Wish me luck! 

Good luck, and thanks for the info.  (And Llearch's friend also)

[superluser]

2. Create a new text file.  It has a text editor, yes, but so far I've only been able to invoke it by opening an existing file.  So I've been using NANO.

There's EMACS for OSX.  I know, because my brother needed a text editor, and asked me to find one for him.  When I suggested that there might be EMACS for OSX, his eyes lit up.  He was very happy when I found it.

<digression>
Nano's been flaking out for me recently (on Linux).  It prints the following:

et_key_buffer(): key_buffer_len = 1
parse_kbinput(): kbinput = 32, meta_key = FALSE, func_key = FALSE, escapes = 0, byte_digits = 0, retval = 32
get_shortcut(): kbinput = 32, meta_key = FALSE, func_key = FALSE
get_toggle(): kbinput = 32, meta_key = FALSE

every time you press a key.  So I've been using Pico.
</digression>

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Odd. When I want a nice fast small editor, I use vi... I don't think I've seen that issue with it, but it looks like your terminal settings are a bit misplaced... Maybe....

If you're happy working around it, then it's probably ok...

[Tapewolf]

2. Create a new text file.  It has a text editor, yes, but so far I've only been able to invoke it by opening an existing file.  So I've been using NANO.

There's EMACS for OSX.  I know, because my brother needed a text editor, and asked me to find one for him.  When I suggested that there might be EMACS for OSX, his eyes lit up.  He was very happy when I found it.

I can't remember how to use it.  I must admit that I've been sticking with VIM when I need something like that these days, but by preference I'm using the Midnight Commander MCEDIT as that's all I really need for what I'm doing (which usually means writing CJP and 'Future History').

It's a sort of mindset thing.  For editing system files I'll use nano or vim, but for creative writing it's usually MCEDIT.

I'll have to look for a port of MCEDIT if there is one, but it won't be the same unless I can make it run in 80x25 text mode 

[Naldru]

When looking at the Applications folder on the Mac, remember to also look at the Utilities subfolder of the Applications folder.

[Roureem Egas]

I have a minor dilemma. I've got an email by some guy named "Tasuki Kou" with no subject heading on it. On one hand my spam filter didn't see a problem with it, but on the other it still might have something weird on it. I've never seen this name before, so I have no idea who it is.

I'm tempted to open the mail, but I'm not sure if there's something funny stuck on it. >.> Worst case scenario is that my laptop crashes and all the stuff I've collected over time goes down the drain. So...advice please?

[superluser]

I'm tempted to open the mail, but I'm not sure if there's something funny stuck on it. >.> Worst case scenario is that my laptop crashes and all the stuff I've collected over time goes down the drain. So...advice please?

How are you accessing your e-mail?  If it's webmail, try opening the message with lynx.  Otherwise, just open your mailbox with PINE.

I defy anyone to find a malicious attachment that can root your system through PINE or lynx.

[Aridas]

I've gotten blank e-mails from spammers a few times before. I have no idea about your case so I won't say much, though every time I got a blank e-mail it was safe. use some caution for now. If it has no attachment, and the subject and body are literally blank (like, just about a  0 byte e-mail) then it's nothing to worry about.

[Roureem Egas]

Thanks guys. Checked the email, and apparently someone different was using the mailing list from Anime Club to send out email. Bleh...

[Swift-Skink]

My monitor just blew up. Like a day after the compthulu posts, my monitor goes and decides it's found it's idol and dies...

It came without warning too. I just went to open Morrowind (A byproduct of this forum...) and it starts flickering. Nothing in the days before, and then it goes black, starts buzzing, and begins to emit a burning smell. Turning off the computer does nothing, but unplugging the monitor seems to work. And hour later, still fried.

It was a cheap monitor (That I did get second hand, and it's lasted for 5 years with me)
and it was always a bit dark (I had to crank my gamma up so high on my video card), but the spare monitor is even worse. It's blurry around the edges, and at resolutions higher then 1024x768, it's blurry everwhere. But better then nothing, and at least I now have a valid reason for buying an LCD. Though I am gonna have to start saving...

So, there's really no question I ned answered except this. Do any of you have any suggestions just what happened to my monitor, and do you you have any suggestions for a good LCD. Prefer something 21" or bigger. It's time for an upgrade!

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

It emitted the magic smoke.

LCD's above about 20" are still silly money, for what you get. You'd be better off getting a pair of 19" ones. Or three, even...

[Tapewolf]

do you you have any suggestions for a good LCD. Prefer something 21" or bigger. It's time for an upgrade!

No, I have yet to see a good LCD.  The one I'm using at work is a Dell 1701FPf (17" not 21) it's acceptable for development but the colour reproduction is not much cop.  If you do find a decent one I might be interested (although 21" is too big).  At home I'm using a CRT for the main machine and a cheap nasty LCD for the Apple which needs to be replaced because it is so horrible.  I was keeping it as a spare in case the CRT goes out.

One thing to be aware of which has recently come to light is that most LCD monitors only do 6-bit colour reproduction, so they have a maximum palette of 262144 colours.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

One thing to be aware of which has recently come to light is that most LCD monitors only do 6-bit colour reproduction, so they have a maximum palette of 262144 colours.

Heh. I guess my eyes only do that many colours, then. :-]

FWIW - LCD's have much better contrast, but fewer colours. It'd be interesting to note which LCD's -do- do more colours than that...

[Aridas]

Well, when monitor shopping for LCDs, look for high contrast ratios and fast response times. I've seen monitors for sale with response times as quick as 2ms, and 4 to 8 is becoming somewhat of a standard as of late. If you're shopping in a store and the monitors for sale have working demos, check them out at different angles and make sure you don't get a bummer. My monitor's colors go funky because of a bad range. Other than that I can't remember any other important points besides making sure the monitor has a connector your video card supports o.O

[superluser]

One thing to be aware of which has recently come to light is that most LCD monitors only do 6-bit colour reproduction, so they have a maximum palette of 262144 colours.

6 bits per channel, you mean.  That's 18 bit color reproduction.  Not great, but once you get above 16 bits, you're looking at at least halfway decent colors, anyways.  My Acer AL1706 advertises 24-bit color depth.  For some reason, I've currently got it in 16-bit mode, so I can't check the colors to be sure.  (it's also true that 24-bit is out of the range of some people, especially men.)

[Tapewolf]

6 bits per channel, you mean.

Correct.  6-bits for the entire palette was the old EGA spec.

That's 18 bit color reproduction.  Not great, but once you get above 16 bits, you're looking at at least halfway decent colors, anyways.

It depends what you're trying to do, though.  If you're doing artwork it's not really a good thing.  The problems I have with LCD displays are mainly to do with contrast and the fact that it's restricted to a single resolution.  But that might just be because I haven't seen a good LCD display yet.

[Tezkat]

Bleh... Tezkat can't sleep and is feeling geeky, so... random thoughts on purchasing LCD monitors...

Well, when monitor shopping for LCDs, look for high contrast ratios and fast response times. I've seen monitors for sale with response times as quick as 2ms, and 4 to 8 is becoming somewhat of a standard as of late. If you're shopping in a store and the monitors for sale have working demos, check them out at different angles and make sure you don't get a bummer. My monitor's colors go funky because of a bad range. Other than that I can't remember any other important points besides making sure the monitor has a connector your video card supports o.O

With respect to response times, any monitor using technology from the last year or so is likely be fast enough for gaming, movies, and such. There are few new monitors slower than 8ms GTG, and those are usually more expensive monitors aimed at graphics professionals anyway. Those numbers (4ms, 8ms, or whatever) represent some kind of ideal lab scenario that rarely turns up in the real world, anyway. Real world performance has more to do with... say... how well the overdrive is implemented, or how it interacts with other picture enhancement features. For instance, some displays with super fast response time specs may end up with sparkling artifacts in movies with a lot of light-dark transitions.

The contrast numbers have also become kinda silly because more and more manufacturers are implementing dynamic contrast technologies which give you numbers like 3000:1 but look like crap when it comes to applications that need high colour fidelity. I've got that "feature" turned off on all my LCD monitors.

Overall picture quality is a quirky combination of so many factors. Some displays have narrow enough viewing angles to look completely different if you move your head slightly to the side. You really need to go in and look at the monitors to see which ones you like. (Of course, that might not necessarily work out either. Many monitors need a lot of calibration to get the colours right, and most stores have their display models all hooked up to the same input--usually at the wrong resolution.)


You'll always be able to find an adaptor for whatever connector your video card supports. Ideally, you want to use DVI on both ends. (Some newer monitors only have HDMI for digital inputs, but they'll usually come with DVI-to-HDMI adapters.) Using VGA outputs tends to blur the picture.

The real thing to worry about is what else you want to hook up to your monitor (like an Xbox, Blu-ray disc player, digital TV signal...). There are a variety of options for those (composite, HDMI, DVI, VGA, S-Video, etc.), some of which may not be HDCP compliant, and you may not be able to get a full 1080p or whatever on all inputs. Plus some monitors feature things like USB hubs, card readers, and so on, if you're into that. I've even seen a few with iPod chargers.

Monitors with built in speakers aren't worth it unless you absolutely don't have the desk space for proper speakers.

One thing to be aware of which has recently come to light is that most LCD monitors only do 6-bit colour reproduction, so they have a maximum palette of 262144 colours.

Heh. I guess my eyes only do that many colours, then. :-]

FWIW - LCD's have much better contrast, but fewer colours. It'd be interesting to note which LCD's -do- do more colours than that...

For the most part, modern monitors based on TN technology will be 6-bit panels which use dithering tricks to fake a higher colour depth (usually 16.2 million colours vs. the 16.7 million of a true 8-bit display). TN monitors are cheap and fast, but they have poor viewing angles (an issue if you're not sitting right in front of the screen--say to watch TV or movies) and their colours tend not to be so pretty (and frequently have problems with banding and such). There are a number of newer TN panels which feature more advanced dithering and can fake the full 16.7 million colours.

More expensive monitors based on P-MVA, M-PVA, and S-IPS technologies will usually have true 8-bit displays (i.e. 24-bit colour). S-IPS is the prettiest when it come to colour reproduction, but it's also the most expensive (and traditionally the slowest, but that hardly matters anymore now that everything uses overdrive).

It emitted the magic smoke.

LCD's above about 20" are still silly money, for what you get. You'd be better off getting a pair of 19" ones. Or three, even...

This is actually a pretty good idea if you have the desk space for it (and enough outputs on your video card). 19" displays are relatively cheap these days. I'd go for the normal aspect ratio instead of widescreen for this setup, however. 19" widescreen monitors appear really short (to me, anyway), so a pair of widescreens side by side will be very long and thin unless you can rotate them.

I'm a big fan of multi-display setups, myself. Having enough room to see all the windows you need at once confers a noticeable productivity boost.

Triple display is really neat in games that support it, but of course you need the right graphics hardware to pull that off as well.

On the other hand, if you'll be using your monitor for watching DVDs and such, a larger (and probably widescreen) display may be a more appropriate use of your resources.

So, there's really no question I ned answered except this. Do any of you have any suggestions just what happened to my monitor, and do you you have any suggestions for a good LCD. Prefer something 21" or bigger. It's time for an upgrade!

Okay... if you're dead set on a 21"+ LCD...

21" LCDs are becoming rare--and mostly use older technologies.

22" LCDs are pretty much all TN panels. In other words, they're very fast, have poor viewing angles, and their colours are not the best. They're not that much more expensive than good 19" displays. Also, for some reason, almost all of them exhibit problems with backlight bleeding (which annoys the heck out of some people but doesn't even faze others). I think the Samsung 226BW is the best of the current crop. You might get worried about the "panel lottery" issue going on with them right now, but their competition honestly doesn't have much better monitors.


Making the jump to 23"+ widescreen provides a major benefit in that the native resolution is 1920x1200, so you can view HD content at full resolution. The price doubles, however. Another thing to keep in mind is that you need a rather hefty GPU to run modern games at 1920x1200.

23" LCDs are becoming rare--and mostly use older technologies.

24" LCDs are where a lot of the interesting developments are happening. I've got a Dell 2407WFP (an S-PVA monitor) at home, and I can recommend it as a good balance of price, quality, and features. If you sign up for their mailing list and wait a few weeks, you'll eventually get some kind of sale coupon you can use to slice a large chunk (sometimes $100+) off the list price.

Bigger than that, and you're getting into the $1000+ range...



Sites Tezkat usually visits for info on LCD displays:

TFT Central (good panel database and some decent technical articles)

Displays on [H]ard|Forum (some great threads there if you're looking for opinions from people who actually own the monitors in question, but many of them are freakin' enormous )

[Swift-Skink]

Thanks for the help guys. And for the links Tezkat.

My Dad actully has the Samsung 226BW, so I have the benefit of being able to test it, and I think I'll wait a bit. Not least of all because of a disparate lack of funds, but also because after a little bit of time spent on his computer, I don't like it. While good for games, it's color's leave a bit to be desiered. Case in point, DMFA looks like it's lost quality, and the color's and line's don't seem so natural.

So I'll wait, and save, and see what's in my range in a few months. If all goes well...

Thanks for the help guys!

[Tezkat]

If you didn't like your dad's monitor due to the colour rendering (assuming he has it properly calibrated), monitors with TN panels are probably not for you. Unfortunately, that removes most of the cheap LCD displays from your short list. (You can often tell by the price whether a monitor is TN or not. ) Some rough targets for the saving of monies:

~$400 for a 20"
~$500 for a 21"
~$700 for a 24"

Some models you might want to look into:

BenQ FP241 (M-PVA)
Dell xx07WFP series (S-IPS or S-PVA--some panel lottery issues on the 20" if you really had your heart set on S-IPS, however)
Gateway FPD2x85W series (S-PVA)
Samsung 2x5T series (S-PVA)

If you want really nice colours on an LCD, check out some of Eizo's stuff or NEC's xx90 series (pretty much all S-IPS). Probably way out of your price range, though.

[Reese Tora]

In a similar vein:

My monitor, a 19" CRT, has recently developed the habit of going 'wavy' at certain points when the screen is mostly white all the way across.  The individual lines will move left and right, making it appear that a series of waves is running down the edges of the monitor.

It looks to me like the horizontal refresh is being thrown off for some reason, and I'm sure there's nothing that can be done that wouldn't cost more than the original $150 price tag of the monitor (which is about three years old, IIRC)

I've looked at Frys, Newegg, Bestbuy, and Office Despot, and I can't find anyone selling a decent 19" CRT that I can use to replace my current one.  Can anyone reccommend a good 19" CRT, and/or what places I could most easily purchase one? I want a quality CRT for gaming purposes and occasional coloring with GIMP (as opposed to what I've been using, which was a cheap 19" bought on rebates and a very small budget), and I'm looking to spend $200 to $400 on it, if not more.

[Roureem Egas]

Is it possible for a non-professional to take apart a laptop to clean the circuits? My brother spilled ice tea on mine earlier, so right now the N, B, and spacebar keys don't function; I'm typing with an on-screen keyboard right now. I want this fixed ASAP but Dad wants to wait a bit and see if it'll dry out or something.

...is it even possible to do such a thing? It's an HP dv8000.

[Reese Tora]

You don't want to clean the curcuits, it's the keypad that's malfunctioning.  Trying to clean the curcuits is more likely to damage the board than fix anything.  The tops of laptops are sealed to prevent spilled drinks from penetrating the keyboard, though there's only so much that can be done to protect the insides.

You can do some things to clean the keyboard, though, and it can be removed by the anyone with a scrwewdriver and a bit of determination.  HP should have some diagrams on thier website on how to remove it.  Something is probably obstructing the contacts in the keyboard, and it's possible that you could get to that and clean it.  The way the boards are constructed, you can't just remove the yeks as on a regular comptuer keyboard, and it may not be possible to get to and clean the insides of the board properly.

Your best bet, however, is to get it repaired under warranty.  I have to deal with HP support all the time, and once you get through to a human operator and manage to get them to comprehend that yes, the board is broken and needs replacing, they are very prompt and efficient in getting your laptop, servicing it, and returning it to you.
The trick here is whether it's under warranty, since you spilled ice tea on it, as opposed to the keyboard wearing out, it will depend on the operator you get and what you tell them.  As the boards are designed to withstand a certain amount of dousing, it might fall under the warranty anyway.

[Tezkat]

I've looked at Frys, Newegg, Bestbuy, and Office Despot, and I can't find anyone selling a decent 19" CRT that I can use to replace my current one.  Can anyone reccommend a good 19" CRT, and/or what places I could most easily purchase one? I want a quality CRT for gaming purposes and occasional coloring with GIMP (as opposed to what I've been using, which was a cheap 19" bought on rebates and a very small budget), and I'm looking to spend $200 to $400 on it, if not more.

Hmm... I don't know if there really are any "good" CRT monitors left out there, at least not ones that you can still buy new. Nobody manufactures aperture grill based CRT tubes anymore, and the shadow mask displays just aren't as pretty, especially for graphics work. However, you can probably find some great deals on used Trinitron/Diamondtron monitors if you shop around. Otherwise, you'll be stuck with LCD screens.

Is it possible for a non-professional to take apart a laptop to clean the circuits? My brother spilled ice tea on mine earlier, so right now the N, B, and spacebar keys don't function; I'm typing with an on-screen keyboard right now. I want this fixed ASAP but Dad wants to wait a bit and see if it'll dry out or something.

...is it even possible to do such a thing? It's an HP dv8000.

I've had a similar experience: My brother spilled a chai latte on one of my old laptops. The keyboard became sticky, crunchy, and generally usable. Even taking the thing apart for a good cleaning didn't help. It had to be replaced.

Even if the warranty has expired (or doesn't cover drink damage ), you should be able to buy a replacement keyboard from HP for ~$50. They're simple enough to install.