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The Tech Help Thread

Discussion in 'Technical Board' started by rei, Oct 19, 2009.

  1. $100T2

    $100T2
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    It's really for my 13 year old son. He is getting interested in computers and looking into the computer science pathway in school, so I thought it would be a good thing to play with.

    Plus, we're looking for something to run MAME, and this seems like a good choice for that.
     
  2. Frebis

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    As long as you are looking to play games published before 95 it works great.

    It’s fun to experiment with but it takes a lot of work. The community is great, but often times when trouble shooting I end up working through ten different tutorials before I find what the first one is missing.

    Pick one up. What’s the worst that happens? You are out $80 for the kit? Or $35 for the pi if you have the other stuff.
     
  3. $100T2

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    Yeah I ordered it for him. I just wanted to get a suggestion from you guys for a good kit. Hopefully he enjoys it and gets into it, and it can be a stepping stone to building bigger and better stuff.
     
  4. ODEN

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    I am looking at ways to extend my wifi network at home. I currently have a nighthawk AC3200 that covers 95% of the house but I want to get a stronger signal at the far corner of my house and beyond onto my patio. If I were to get an orbi, would that do the trick? Is that even possible?
     
  5. Frebis

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    I would ditch the nighthawk and get an Eero system. That has solved every WiFi issue our house has encountered.
     
  6. Binary

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    @ODEN it really depends on whether you'd like to clean up a small issue in a corner of your house, or solve the overall problem of Wi-Fi networks not always reaching where you want them.

    If you want to clean up a small area of your house, a Wi-Fi repeater will work okay. Speeds won't be perfect, but it'll be fine for many/most purposes. Netgear makes a range extender specifically for the Nighthawk series, so you could just use that.

    If you want a more flexible/permanent approach, buying into a mesh system will basically let you extend your Wi-Fi network wherever you want. Frebis has recommended the Eero system, which is a good system. There's also Google Wi-Fi, which is what I have, which trades some flexibility for some simplicity and I have some confidence that Google will continue to support it with software updates. I'm an IT guy by trade and would rather not fiddle when I get home. Netgear's Orbi system is great. Also, Ubiquiti makes a very powerful system.

    You can't mix the two, though. Buying an Orbi will not extend your existing Wi-Fi network.
     
  7. Juice

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    @ODEN without reading to much about your router, is beamforming configurable? As in, could it be enabled/disabled? Depending on that, you might get a little more juice out of it.

    Another option, which Im going to do in my new house, is setup 2 access points, which is essentially what Eero is anyway (kind of). Im going to do it the old fashioned way and run CAT6 cable, but I would rather do that than mess around with extenders. You definitely have options on how to approach it.
     
  8. Nettdata

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  9. Dcc001

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    See the checklist that's shown in this video:



    Anyone know how I make that in Excel? The checklist function help I can find is woefully inadequate and involves making an individual check box that is only loosely linked to a cell and copying it. I want to make the bad boy shown here but I can't find a tutorial.
     
  10. Rush-O-Matic

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    HP S2031 Monitor is starting to show tracers or shadows are whatever they're called. Is this typically a monitor issue, graphics card or the VGA cable? Is there anything to fix, or do I just throw it out and get a new one? I haven't moved or connected / reconnected wires, so I wouldn't suspect that. And, I don't have another monitor handy at the moment to see if it's the card. The desktop is only a few months old, but the monitor is about 5 years old.
     
  11. Nettdata

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    Cables can work their way loose just due to thermal expansion and contraction... ensure that the cable ends are well seated. (There's a reason old VGA cables have the screws built into the connector).

    But I highly doubt that's the problem.

    "Tracers" sound like a shitty cable. You want to use a heavy (well-shielded), short cable if you can... or try and upgrade to an HDMI or DisplayPort or other digital cable.

    The desktop will have a ton of options other than VGA, does your monitor? If so, go to Monoprice and find yourself a new (non-VGA) cable for $10 and give it a shot.

    $0.02
     
  12. Rush-O-Matic

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    Ok, well that's weird . . .

    The desktop has HDMI and VGA out. The monitor has VGA and DVI in. My old desktop had DVI out and I was using the DVI cable. When I got the new desktop, I kept the monitor, so I had to switch to a VGA cable. It is pretty beefy and has a ferrite core on each end. Just now, I went to check the connections to make sure I didn't have an HDMI input on the monitor. All I did was tip the monitor forward, and didn't actually change anything . . . problem solved. The tracers are gone.

    I meant to post this picture with the first post.
    upload_2017-12-20_10-25-57.png
     
  13. Rush-O-Matic

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    This is it now.
    upload_2017-12-20_10-29-51.png

    So . . . thanks?
     
  14. Nettdata

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    Probably a loose connection that got torqued the right way to re-connect.

    Made you look! (And fixed it in the process).

    You're welcome.
     
  15. Nettdata

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    And this is your friend:

    https://www.monoprice.com/category?c_id=102&cp_id=10231&cs_id=1023104
     
  16. $100T2

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    So I have a pretty crappy old tower left over from when I bought my wife a new computer for Christmas.

    I'd like to wipe it as clean as possible and use it ONLY for a MAME machine. I know when I set it to factory default it will clean up most of the stuff and be just a basic Windows 10 machine, but is there anything else I can do to it to make it as efficient as possible?

    ETA: I'm ordering this to use with the MAME software. I'm also going to build a sick cabinet with seats for it.

    https://shop.xgaming.com/products/x-arcade-tankstick-trackball-usb-included
     
    #1476 $100T2, Jan 7, 2018
    Last edited: Jan 7, 2018
  17. Binary

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    @$100T2

    I mean, if you want to use it only for MAME, I'd probably wipe it and install Linux. Stripping Windows of all its optional services really defeats the purpose of Windows.

    If you'd rather not do that, your next best option is to pick a debloat PowerShell script for Windows 10. There are lots of them, which do varying levels of uninstallation.

    All that said, a bone-stock install of Windows 10 with a few stupid things removed like Candy Crush is pretty efficient. Unless the tower is really old, it's probably not going to gain a whole lot by nitpicking the install to death. Linux will be the most efficient, but stock Windows is pretty good.
     
  18. $100T2

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    Yeah it's not going online or anything. Is strictly going to turn into an arcade machine for shit like Galaga and Donkey Kong Jr.
     
  19. GTE

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    Bought a new work PC a month ago and now the free McAfree anti-virus is expiring. I've used AVG in the past, are they still one of the better free anti-virus options?
    Thanks
     
  20. Rush-O-Matic

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    I don't know squat, but over in the PC thread, from my questions that Binary answered: