The Great "Beat the Amber Hardware Issues to Death" Thread (split)

[Netami]

This may or may not be Cute FTP.

*edit from Damaris- since I know you all are going to talk about it, here you go.

[Damaris]

I think we're going to make her use Filezilla, since a) it's free and b) it's, like, so much better than Cute

[Netami]

And it may or may not be the illegal full version, so whatever floats yer boat. Free is always a good thing.

I'm surprised our tech dorks haven't swooped down upon this thread and suggested a million ways to tomorrow when it comes to a new computer purchase. Build it! Buy from this! Buy from that! Don't pay over X amount! Take my extra system!

I don't foresee it being very cheap, so... I'd really like to see some sort of thermometer only instead of degrees, it's dollar signs. I'd feel better if we had a goal to work towards instead of people blindly donating because they don't know how much is required.

[Tapewolf]

So yeah...total data loss.  I'm sure a general "you should have backed up" is in effect.  One redeeming factor is my older compy...the one that I left with my brother...likely has some of the really old files. However, as some of you probably are going to grimace at, the thing lost and likely unsalvagable is in fact the high rez versions of a good chunk of DMFA comics(including all of Abel's Story) and a hefty chunk of Mab's Land art.

So it seems that the disk is OK, but the filesystem has been eaten?  Hmm.

May I ask what format the images were in?  If it was a standard format like PNG or JPEG I could probably write something to search the volume for those (given a copy of the disk partition).  If it's some freaky Adobe format it's a lot harder, but not impossible - The imp seems to be able to read Adobe images.

If the disk was NTFS formatted, I do actually have a piece of software to recover files from damaged NTFS filesystems (somewhere).  If it was FAT32 it's even easier (Powerquest 'Lost and Found').

How big is the disk drive?  What would be really useful is if someone could take an image of the entire partition and make it available via Bittorrent or something of that nature (it's going to be way too big for FTP or HTTP) then us filesystem salvage-type people could all have a go without needing the physical unit.

So the gameplan is as of now, I'll be going to Indiana ASAP...and while there I will likely buy a new pc and start the long process of trying to get up and running again.  With some good fortune, I will be up and running and at least making some new comics by next week.  Cause I'm a mini-workaholic and I'll be danged if I'm gonna quit doing DMFA just because the universe is using me as a cosmic hackey-sack.

This is not a real solution, but when I learned that the first 540 odd volumes of DMFA no longer existed (BTW, are any of those on the older machine?) I got interested in JPEG artifact reduction and image reconstruction.  I've been able to make a passable double-res version of #531, although as I say, it's more a stopgap/last resort than a proper solution.

What might be more practical if the art is lost for ever and ever would be to scan in the black and white paper originals and recolour them.  This would be an immense undertaking, but would it not be possible to spread the load?  TalonR for instance has virtually nailed your colouring style.  Perhaps we could commission her to restore some of the lost strips - that would only leave the compositing and titling, yes?  And I'm sure there must be other Amber-compatible colourists out there too..

I dunno...I might send the hard drive itself off to a couple people who said they'd love to try to salvage...but as of this time, yes its the worst case scenario and has now put me in a spot.  Odds are getting a new comp will take a chunk out of my finances...and considering how I am trying to show financial stability to Canada...it almost feels like a competition of whats more important.

How much is a new PC going to cost?

[Saist]

originally had posted this : well... I have a couple of spare motherboards, some graphics cards, some cases and a couple of power supplies. I guess if someone else can provide a new hard-drive, processor, and memory we could send you the parts Amber 


however one of my cow-orkers just reminded me that we retired an older 850mhz T-bird unit about a month or so ago. I think it just needed a new hard-drive. When I get back to the cave I'll check and see if it is still operational.

[Aridas]

You know, if the drive still actually works, like, it can be plugged in and all, you could POSSIBLY use recovery programs to get your files back... That is, if they don't constantly spout out I/O errors on you and all that bleh. Try finding someone to help you with using a program like, say... Partition Table Doctor or... um.. crap, can't remember the one I used before when my drive suddenly forgot what it was... Either way, keep that drive around and don't let anything happen to it, if you wanna recover 'em. I still have hope that, if it's not physically messed up, that you have a chance to get every single thing (or failing that, most of it) back.

[Vidar]

As a general rule of thumb in computer buying: what's good isn't cheap, and what's cheap isn't good.
That doesn't mean that expensive==good. Find a trusted computer geek near you to get some advise in where to buy.
Home-build is usually better then a Dell or HP out-of-the-box pc.

If the mainboard and HD are fried, you will probably need to replace most (or all) of your old comp (mainboard, HD, memory, processor, video-card (maybe), case).
Some components from your old comp can be used in your new rig (if you go home-built):  cd/cd-r/dvd/dvd-r drives, floppy-drive, monitor, any stuff not in the pc-case

If you go for a out-of-the-box pc, note the following: if the video-card is 'on-board' or the words 'shared memory' are used near it, run away fast.
OOTB pc's usually have tiny HD's (40GB or so), on board video (ugh), and 1 GB of memory (or less). Somewhat suitable for internet and e-mail, but I would not want to inflict that on an artist (photoshop is hungry for memory and processor-power, but I don't need to tell you that)

As for the backup thing: live and learn. Bummer that some of the high-res stuff is lost.
The lost software can be re-gained through internet-enabled copyright infringement ('piracy' according to RIAA/ MPAA) if need be, so no (very) big there.
Free, fully functional FTP-clients are available, so no drama on that fromt (check www.webattack.com for a huge list of free-and shareware internet-anything)
Scanner-software can be downloaded from the internet, or you can contact the manufacturer for a replacement cd. The same can be done form most hardware, just check the manufacturer's websites.

1 small practicle thing to look for in a new computer-case (home-built pc, or OOTB): make sure there are USB-ports on the front of the pc. It makes using USB-drives/gamepads/other frequently unplugged devices and such a lot easier.

If you decide on a second-hand system (shudder): bring an expert along, and make sure you buy from a trusted source.

Hope I helped. 

[Darkmoon]

Okay, here's the deal. Bring the computer out with you and we'll put the HD through it's paces. So long as it spins, we are more than likely able to do something with it (and no, we're not talking recovery porgrams).

Just bring it with and we'll see what we can do.

[rt]

@ Darkmoon
.. wow looked back at what system you were reffering to you and am envious .. i'll just put my ontrack recovery software back in the corner. (though great for recovering that 'file system eaten' type of dissapeared data).

"I'm surprised our tech dorks haven't swooped down upon this thread and suggested a million ways to tomorrow when it comes to a new computer purchase"

I'm sure they will .. or they are thoughtfully thinking 'what does amber really need in a system?' at the moment (and 'what did amber have' as well.). With that $1000 mark Amber cited there are some good options, and likely will yeild a much better system than she has right now. (I would have said $1500, but currency conversion + shipping is tricky, and mabey her monitor was spared the death) For now I'll echo the 'real cpu' (athalon / pentium) 'real video card' (no on board video) standard responce everyone is thinking right now, but need to think for details. (Or just let amber's trusted advisers handle this .. who am i anyways?).

I've got no idea what amber had, but looks like she needs to add to her system:
- DVD RW (for those backups we all need to do more of)
- Power Bar / Surge Protector (once fried twice shy.)

Mmm .. enough rambling..
(darn computer people and their computer talk!)

[Aridas]

I'm going on the assumption that the person who is working on my computer and making frustrated noises is well aware of the benefit of recovery programs.

Well, I have noticed that some work where others don't... Not saying that it's going to be fixable by scanning for possible files and filesystems and all that, but i'm sure as there's no surface damage on the drive, it SHOULD be recoverable by experts. (having someone take the guts out in a clean environment in a worst-case scenario like that costs a bundle, but it's worth considering.) Just keep the drive around and in good conditions and something will come along, I'm sure.

[Netami]

You were right on RAID, it just mirrors what you have to keep a copy... Of course whatever screwed your old HD during the move would probably get both HDs if it ever happened again, so I never saw the point. Umm.. Monitor, yeah, that's some extra bucks if you want a nice flatscreen (and you do, to avoid flickering messing up your vision), but I am sure Dmoon will hook you up with something great.

HEAR THAT GUYS, HER HARD DRIVE IS IN CAPABLE HANDS AND SO IS HER NEW COMPUTER TO BE.

[Jack McSlay]

sadly... I figured something really bad had happened upon the mention of problems started after a lightning

if the price range is of about $1000 and still reusing still functional parts from the older PC I assume you want a VERY good pc. (my guess is that the CD/DVD and diskette drives could likely still be usable, maybe a few of the internal cards as well if you were lucky. power source/ motherboard/ processor are most likely fried tho...)

as far as backup goes, I'd personally stick with the idea of removable HDs, considering you saving up a lerger budget. lot more space and a lot more practical than DVDs, and if kept in appropriate casing it will likely not fail.

as for FTP, I currently don't use any. I just open windows explorer and type ftp://whatever on the address bar and use it normally. is quite fast and practical this way.
but if you really feel you need a FTP prog, you can try this http://superdownloads.uol.com.br/programas/listagem.cfm?Cat=1FTP&filtro=freeware&ordem=2
sorry it's in portuguese, but if you can just click the links and work your way around. all freeware

about comics, I'd be willing to contribute with guest comic-ing 

[Tapewolf]

Umm.. Monitor, yeah, that's some extra bucks if you want a nice flatscreen (and you do, to avoid flickering messing up your vision), but I am sure Dmoon will hook you up with something great.

Not so good.  LCD screens are bad for artists because the colour reproduction is terrible - it changes depending on the angle which makes shading difficult.  I've fallen foul of this myself.

HEAR THAT GUYS, HER HARD DRIVE IS IN CAPABLE HANDS AND SO IS HER NEW COMPUTER TO BE.

Good.  The archivist in me is still smarting from Amber's comment about the hi-res files, though.  Must... preserve... everything...

Now, at the risk of incurring Amber's wrath about priorities again, is there any chance of getting some kind of donation counter working again?  A crude hack made with Paint or Gimp would be sufficient, just so we can see the numbers.

[Netami]

CD screens are bad for artists because the colour reproduction is terrible - it changes depending on the angle which makes shading difficult.  I've fallen foul of this myself.

Interesting, I've never considered that. A CRT is so old-school these days... Though in order to get around your reproduction faults she'd have to buy some top of the line flatscreen that would propel the costs past 1000.

And yeah, counters are cool. AKA We wont stop complaining until one gets put up.

[Nex]

In regards to the motherboard, you can save a lot of money if you get the same type of motherboard as your current one and just move the hardware over. As for the hard drive, I don't know what to say.

I kind of find it unlikely that a total data loss could result of this. It'd have to be some internal damage from a heck of a shot. If it was enough to do that, I'm surprised the rest of the computer didn't shoot out as well.

[Aridas]

Yeah, for the hard drive problem, if it can't be fixed by a blind search (some recovery programs do look for possible files and folders for different filesystems, even if the  itself can't actually be recovered. It doesn't work all that often, though.) or a partition repair, or paying a bunch of money to have experts fiddle with it and/or move the discs, etc. inside to a different drive of the same type, then something extra-bad had to happen.

Like Tapewolf said, we're like that. We want to preserve everything or the world be damned.

[Cvstos]

Nex: Her computer may be too old for that.  If it's older than a 2.0Ghz P4 then I'd just rebuild the machine to be Vista-capable.  The Intel Core 2 (code-named Conroe) Duo is supposed to be out very soon now and should offer tremendous bang for the buck.  The E6600 is about $320 in lots of 1000, so it will likely be less than $400 on the street.  The best part?  All benchmarks I've seen show it beating AMD's $1000 FX-62.

Core 2 Duo
nForce 5 or 975X Intel Motherboard
nVidia Geforce 7600
250GB SATAII HDD
2GB RAM
Case
500W PSU
DVD-+RW Burner

A simple but extremely powerful, Vista-capable computer that could be built for under $1500 or so.  Some of those parts aren't quite out yet but should be very, very soon.  If you want to go budget, AMD's 939 platform, although no longer releasing new products, is very cheap right now and isn't much slower (5-10% at most) than the new AM2 platform.  You can also drop to a GeForce 6600 to save a bit more dough, and that should still run Vista Aero at all but super-high resolutions.

If I was in Indiana I'd be happy to build a new machine, but I'm not going to be back until the 31st.  I need to do some travelling right now, but later I'd be happy to hunt for parts and come up with some examples.

And whoever said about LCDs being bad for artists is right.  CRTs are they way to go for accurate color reproduction.  Fortunately, they're real cheap right now.  Unfortunately, they're still super heavy.

[Tapewolf]

Yeah, for the hard drive problem, if it can't be fixed by a blind search (some recovery programs do look for possible files and folders for different filesystems, even if the  itself can't actually be recovered. It doesn't work all that often, though.) or a partition repair, or paying a bunch of money to have experts fiddle with it and/or move the discs, etc. inside to a different drive of the same type, then something extra-bad had to happen.

Like Tapewolf said, we're like that. We want to preserve everything or the world be damned.

Sadly, most of DMFA has already been lost in a series of BBC-like archive purges.  IIRC, everything up to about 540 only exists in low-res, JPEG format (unlike Dr. Who & Into The Unknown, which now simply do not exist).  I still wanted to make sure that everything still extant in high-res had at least one off-site copy.  The loss of the Abel's Story masters is very sucky as well.
(Amber, I'm assuming the (prior) state of the archives is not some dark secret - if it is, edit away!)

I'll say it again - it seems that the disk is not mechanically damaged.  This means that it's a matter of salvaging/repairing the data on it, which should be less effort than a cleanroom job.
Logical recovery can also be performed nondestructively on a copy or image of the disk - a prerequisite if the disk is going to be 'passed around' to various people. 

If it's older than a 2.0Ghz P4 then I'd just rebuild the machine to be Vista-capable.

I mean no disrespect, but why?  Is Amber going to be able to afford Vista?  What would be the benefit to her anyway, and which of the seven or more flavours of the thing would you recommend?

[Amber Williams]

when I started DMFA....I was working on an older computer that had probably about...7 gigs of spacce to its name.  Combined with me not even considering DMFA something I would one day need to keep high rez files from...almost all the early archives are only available in small format.  It was only when I got the new computer did I really start saving the high-res versions of things.   I never kept high res before then because my computer honestly didnt have the space and I honestly didnt see the need or desire.  I only started saving high res files on the new comp for the comis beccause people told me that was the thing to do.

Which is probably why the loss of the current high res is not the most extreme of losses for me....becaue I never had any real plans or mass need/uses for them.  I dont think there will ever be a book collection...especially in regards to the older strips.  the only exception might be Abel's story and luckily that comic is still under 50 so at worst if I recolour I can probably manage.

Yes data recovery would be nice, but at this point, I can't really put it on a high priority next to actually getting back on my feet and on the road to Canada.  Mat currently has my tower and hard drive...if the people he work at can't find anything, then he'll send it back.  If you all desire I can make a game of "pass the HD" where it can smash everyones high expectactions of magical HD recovery since apparently no one is going to believe anything until they've been smacked down themselves.  but as for me...I'm tired of people constantly going "oh there is still hope because its RUNNING! All you have to do is bla bl abla bla..." 

I really really would rather not spend over half the donations given on the new computer.  If it boils down to that...I guess thats what has to happen. I'm more meh at this moment over the prospect of having to lug around another fifty bajillion pound screen. 

I'm overall a creature of habit. odds are regardless of the processers and thingimajiggies and whatnot in it..I'll likely do the same things I did on my prior computers.  I'll assume though I want to one day play video games on it though.  I don't need a lot...and chances are if there is too much stuff going on...it will only confuse me and I'll continue doing what I did before on the old computer.  Cause I'm smert like that.

[admford]

Well, here's the semi-requisite Mac user/fanatic post relating to PC hardware... (Don't sick Piff on me for this! )

Other than the obvious suggestion of going for a Mac, from what I can tell, most of the software you use is already available for it, or can run on current generation Macs. Photoshop is always available for Mac OS X (and I believe that any copy of Photoshop has both PC and Mac versions on it). As for FTP, there are two shareware programs that are good, but I think that "Transmit" is the best available for the platform at the moment. Your plugins for Photoshop also seem to be available for both operating systems. And finally, there are at least two nice "Aquarium" screen savers with 3D fishies already out on Mac OS X  

Other than that, you can obviously run Windows XP in bootcamp, so you can still use your current version of photoshop without the slowdown that happens with Apple's "Rosetta translation software" which makes PowerPC software run on Intel hardware. It's been improved somewhat, but you still can get a 40% drop in speed if you start using multiple filters and layers on an image. The next release of the software should be much faster.

As for the screen, Apple's use of glossy LCD's is an improvement. I have a MacBook Pro 17" with a glossy screen, and I have to say it's to drool for . That said, the colors don't change very much at an angle and Apple does implement color correction and color profile software that does help make colors remain stable in hue from one monitor to another. Besides, it seems that your PC's current screen is functional, you can always hook it up to an iMac and use the extended desktop settings. As a bonus, more screen real estate for you

Also, even though there are many more PCs out there, the fact that Apple distributes it's developer suite for free on the internet and with new Macs, the freeware and shareware market is pretty healthy at the moment (lot's of interesting and good software which you can find via VersionTracker. I know a new Mac is a bit expensive, but in a way, you get two computers for the price of one (considering that you should have a standard Windows XP install disk from your old PC).

Well, I hope with this little rant of mine you could open up to some other kind of computer, rather than the standard homebuilt PC.

[rt]

aahh a hardware thread all the computer nuts are free now  

[BTW i'm just idly conversing computers i'm no way trying to 'beat amber to death' with hardware ]

LCD screens are bad for artists because the colour reproduction is terrible - it changes depending on the angle which makes shading difficult.  I've fallen foul of this myself

Ahh good point there. Then the is always the 'optimal/native resolution' issue, some lcd monitors just look terrible if not displayed at that. Only good things they are getting more affordable and better quality (and crt's are somewhat dissapearing)

"Vista"

Oy i wouldn't want to plan for that, heard nothing but terrible things and crazy high requirements for that. Not sure how much his rumors, but imo until it is officially 'out' it is nearly not even worth thinking of, and then you might as well let every one else test it for you for a while. Though i guess the poster said 'capable' .. not a bad idea I guess [bah no keep 2k/xp]

"core 2 deuo / A2"

Also heard the new intel is getting some very good benchmarks, too bad new chips = $$$ and new motherboards and controll chips and new bugs. For a non-tech on a budget the cheaper established chips may be the better route


Hmm, with my cranky 'keep the old' routine just get my rocking chair and stick and i'm all set to say how every thing used to be better in the good ole days.

- Get off my lawn you crazy kids! -

[Nex]

Cvstos: I do see your point. However, Vista won't be mainstream for at least another 2 years. It might not be worth it to spend all that money. I would wait until the price dropped, because in my opinion it's not worth the cash for a OS that not many programs support in the first place. My recommendation to Amber is to do some reasearch on which kind of motherboard it is, see if she can find an exact model like it, then go to a local computer store (Not Best Buy or Circuit City: they just try to sell you crap) and see if they can swap as much as possible over. The maximum done for a minimum cost. Win-Win.

[Jack McSlay]

Not so good.  LCD screens are bad for artists because the colour reproduction is terrible - it changes depending on the angle which makes shading difficult.  I've fallen foul of this myself.

that does apply to most  notebook LCD screens i've seen so far, but on any of the quality LCD screens I've seen so far, the colors remains quite stable regardless of angle. and if it's to buy a new monitor, why not buy sonwthing new and not just a replacement for the old one?

however I don't think monitors die easily... my old 14" monitor from my 486 has several problems, it even dropped once, but shows no sign of dying. so unless the current monitor is really unstable i'd say put on low priority

as for vista, I hope it means onle vista CAPABLE, not vista INSTALLED. I really don't see the advantage of using vista right now... when WinXP launched many people refused it due to high requirements, and I don't see vista any different right now. it should be a good idea a few years from now, as long as it has good features that makes it better than XP. so for now I say stay with XP. If weren't for Photoshop and a few other windows things I would recommend Linux, you can have a kickass set of applications on a linux OS these days

[Netami]

[Aridas]

Other than the obvious suggestion of going for a Mac

Should I even mention that Mac OS takes a performance hit compared to plain ol Windows XP on a machine MEANT for Mac OS? I shouldn't, but I just did... so... crap. *runs away*

[Tapewolf]

I think this is meant to go in this thread: I'm not sure.

Amber, what kind of scanner do you use for the Librarian?  Was it done with two passes on an A3 unit and digitally stitched or something?  It's just occurred to me that you no longer have the B/W original (since it's on my wall).

[thegayhare]

Hmmm Since we've got a fairly large collection of people who know more then me about computers would it beokay If I posted arather odd problem I've been having recently?

[Nikki]

Hmmm Since we've got a fairly large collection of people who know more then me about computers would it beokay If I posted arather odd problem I've been having recently?

*makes a thread for computer problems*

i'm so smart =3

[Jack McSlay]

I think this is meant to go in this thread: I'm not sure.

Amber, what kind of scanner do you use for the Librarian?  Was it done with two passes on an A3 unit and digitally stitched or something?  It's just occurred to me that you no longer have the B/W original (since it's on my wall).

large pictures can be scanned with a good perfection on small scanners by mergine enough sections.

I've had a good rate of success with a3-sized pics on a4 scanners by scanning three-section (left, mid and right). and then create masks for the scans with gradients for smooth transition to find the perfect position for the merge. the trick is just to make sure all the samples are aligned, so I think you could even theoretically scan an a2-sized pic on an a4 scanner.

the problem is most scanners have an elevation from the scanning area to its borders, which can cause papers larger than the scanning area to rise near the areas outside the currently scanned section, so you will need to put weight over it so the paper will stay plain in the scanner. I usually use a pack of printer paper, because it's heavy enough and exactly the same size

[Zorro]

I recover and Destroy data for a living in the real world.

Send me the Hard Drive and I will get it done.