'No Stupid Questions' (NSQ) Internet & Technology Edition

Alexander Thaut said:
What's a good e-reader to replace my kindle.
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The best (e-ink) e-reader is anything you can install KOReader on. I've had a GuoYue K3 Color for close to half a year now, during which (1) the Chinese released new prettier firmware (2) I did not encounter a document that needed the color (as in, I should've bought grayscale, grayscale is cheaper and the screens are whiter).
 
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What's a good 4G or 5G phone with a 4K camera and long battery life that plays nice with phone plans that don't have contracts?
 
Why is Firefox doing so much disk writing -- like gigabytes per day -- according to that system monitor, even when I'm offline and/or not downloading? I turned caching off.

Or is much of it really writing to the RAM?
 
Is HandBreak just completely gimped on Windows? I keep seeing online that it can't rip DVDs but that can't be true. When I had linux, all I had to do was compile "libdvdnav" from the VLC site and I could rip whatever I wanted from HandBreak. Is there a way to get libdvdnav on Windows?

I've been using MakeMKV for the time being on my DVD, but certain DVDs it has issues reading completely. I tested WinX DVD Ripper but it bugged out and stopped working properly after the first 10 video conversions, so I just uninstalled it. Is there anything else I could try?
 
Is it possible to install Windows Media player under Wine? I recently converted my XFCE desktop to look like XP . The theme even includes a custom task bar program that really replicates the look very well and I think adding WMP9 would really add on to the nostalgia.
 
Lone Wandering Courier said:
Is it possible to install Windows Media player under Wine? I recently converted my XFCE desktop to look like XP . The theme even includes a custom task bar program that really replicates the look very well and I think adding WMP9 would really add on to the nostalgia.
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If I'm not mistaken you should be able to do it via winetricks.
 
I'm a tech illiterate boomer so figured I'd ask to be safe, would I need to do anything special to make this motherboard work with windows 11? Would I have to do a bios update for it? I enabled TPM so I know that parts covered at least

Also while on the motherboard topic I was thinking of getting a m.2 drive, particularly this one or maybe the cheaper variant if the other goes off sale. Would that work with my motherboard? Was there also any risk of physical compatibility if the GPU overhangs the m2 slot? They put it so close to the GPU slot its unavoidable unless you have a thin gpu

If specs matter for any of this I have a ryzen 9 3900x, a 2070 super and 16gb ram
 
SandyCat said:
I'm a tech illiterate boomer so figured I'd ask to be safe, would I need to do anything special to make this motherboard work with windows 11? Would I have to do a bios update for it? I enabled TPM so I know that parts covered at least
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Assuming you're going with a Ryzen CPU newer than the 1000 series [which you already have, as mentioned], it looks like you should be good to fulfill the Windows 11 requirements since most, if not all, of those processors come with a firmware TPM that implements TPM 2.0.

SandyCat said:
Also while on the motherboard topic I was thinking of getting a m.2 drive, particularly this one or maybe the cheaper variant if the other goes off sale. Would that work with my motherboard? Was there also any risk of physical compatibility if the GPU overhangs the m2 slot? They put it so close to the GPU slot its unavoidable unless you have a thin gpu
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Regarding compatibility, it looks like the M.2 would technically be able to fit and work under the GPU you mentioned you have. The main problem would be temperatures and cooling if you have the clearance. I personally don't think it's too much of a problem unless there's insufficient cooling/airflow and the SSD is seen to exceed or get pretty close to its upper operating temperature (for your convenience, the datasheets for the mentioned SSDs: First, Second). If necessary, you could buy an M.2 heatsink if you see the temperatures get to uncomfortable highs under load, but of course you will have to ensure that whatever heatsink you [plan to] buy has clearance between the drive and the GPU.
 
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Wol said:
Regarding compatibility, it looks like the M.2 would technically be able to fit and work under the GPU you mentioned you have. The main problem would be temperatures and cooling if you have the clearance. I personally don't think it's too much of a problem unless there's insufficient cooling/airflow and the SSD is seen to exceed or get pretty close to its upper operating temperature (for your convenience, the datasheets for the mentioned SSDs: First, Second). If necessary, you could buy an M.2 heatsink if you see the temperatures get to uncomfortable highs under load, but of course you will have to ensure that whatever heatsink you [plan to] buy has clearance between the drive and the GPU.
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I impulse bought it, I'll let you all know how it works out. Thanks for the info
 
Wol said:
After looking into it, that is somewhat true. Cross referencing Microsoft's Windows 11 AMD processor support tables, of the 2000 series, it can be seen that the Raven Ridge APUs and the Threadrippers/Colfax processors apparently may not have compatible TPMs (or just wholly considered/determined to be not acceptable for Windows 11) while the Pinnacle Ridge CPUs actually do.
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Seems like you are right. Idk why i was convinced those cpu-s were unsupported.
 
SandyCat said:
I impulse bought it, I'll let you all know how it works out. Thanks for the info
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It fits but the tiny screw they give you to install it was designed by a sadist. It should not be legal for screws to be that tiny. It got stuck in my GPU heatsink at one point and I had to spend a good 10 minutes trying to shake it out
 
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Is there any way to remove the piece of text from the title bar in KDE Plasma? Pretty much every tutorial I see involves removing the entire title bar, which gets rid of the close, restore, and minimize buttons.
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Every time I play any video file in Firefox, it downloads a copy to storage, and then deletes it afterwards. Is there any way to disable that? I already turned caching off.
 
Ok this is a long one. I debated started a thread so here goes:

I need to build a few circuit boards from scratch. I have a few projects I am working on most are RF communication based operating on frequencies often used by common consumer electronics, nothing crazy.

I need to create a prototype and possibly a short run (under 20 units) of a custom built devices based around RF tech that uses a rechargeable LiPo battery to power it. Engineering something like a board is far beyond my level of skill I have obtained. I've taught myself basic electronics such as EEPROM work, soldering, removing multi-leg components to read/write data. I have the tools and skill to field test and explain what it needs to do beyond that it would take me months to do what a good engineer could in a few days.

The primary device is expected to have 30-40 components from resistors/capacitors/diodes/LEDs to micro controllers to switches to antennas to LiPo battery packs roughly IDK 150-200 solder points. Software/firmware are not a concern, parts cost are also very reasonable as the transceivers and micro-controllers are all off the shelf components.

What is the best means to go about this? I've talked to some pajeets on fiver and similar and gotten nowhere. They don't have a means to field test what I designed, they don't seem interested in putting together a carbon prototype. 90% of them want money up front and I'm incredibly hesitant to do this. On the other hand, should I just pay them the bare minimum to CAD something? I acquire all the minor components, solder 200 points and hope their design and my soldering are done correctly?

What do people do when they have a need to prototype and field test something that cannot be made from pre existing devices? What should I expect to pay to have someonequalified overseas to CAD a board? Can I just mail the board and components to someone have them do it fast / cheap?
 
Troon_Patrol said:
What do people do when they have a need to prototype and field test something that cannot be made from pre existing devices?
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Personally I learned to do my own board design.
KiCad is free, and the learning curve sucks but it works just fine.

You can check Tindie's discussions to see what's out there, here's one thread for instance:

Then you can have a PCB house do the boards and/or the full assembly.

Most of the fast/inexpensive ones are Chinese (PCBWay or JLCPCB are the most common and can do assembly) Looks like both of them also can do design, might get a discount if you go with them for the whole project. Might get your design sold on Aliexpress with the serial numbers filed off.

OSHPark does boards only, I think, US Based.
 
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DavidS877 said:
Personally I learned to do my own board design.
KiCad is free, and the learning curve sucks but it works just fine.

You can check Tindie's discussions to see what's out there, here's one thread for instance:

Then you can have a PCB house do the boards and/or the full assembly.

Most of the fast/inexpensive ones are Chinese (PCBWay or JLCPCB are the most common and can do assembly) Looks like both of them also can do design, might get a discount if you go with them for the whole project. Might get your design sold on Aliexpress with the serial numbers filed off.

OSHPark does boards only, I think, US Based.
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First of all, thank you. Thank you very much.

Who would you trust to design something on KiCad or similar? I have a "local guy" who says he can prototype a field test ready my first big device for under 1K USD. We did not go into the means how he would do this. As this first project is RF based multiple boards and specialized antenna are required I would hope separate individual contracts the bugmen will not be able to understand the concept and steal my IP. The other projects I can rig a simply relay to to them taking two very simple pre-existeding devices and reaching my goals.

I won't go into detail but the devices would ideally need to be fairly tough. Pardon this question if it's retarded, how come electronics manufacturers have not encased their tested boards/projects in a non electrically conductive epoxy? Seems like it toughens everything up from shock and as a bonus distributes heat of overheating prone components fairly well, your thoughts?


Thought it was clever when I found for my day job I found I needed to "dig out" the target EEPROM device containing data I need to extract/modify (this was never the factory intention, as all auto manufacturers for the last 15 years DO NOT want a 3rd party such someone like me fucking with the data in their modules), not even tuning for performance just pairing/replacing reasons with crawling to dealership begging not be wallet-fucked for a new OEM airbag sensor module installed and paired plus that $700 airbag. The data ports simply will not allow access to that level of data unless the device is read out of circuit or the oscillator shunted/removed. They just simply do their job, unable of a factory virginization or even provide data corresponding to the system the vehicle needs. Instead of used $50 part you to the OEM manufacturer get the $500 OEM part and pairing costing another $500 should your vehicles. There are some older EEPROM neccisary devices I remove and toss the chip as the new virginzed memory device soldering in one from a prepped virginized stock ready to be paired with minimal diagnostic equipment (literally a paperclip acting as jumper) as long as we are running near nominal voltage of 12DVC works 99% time. There was a time when this process costed around 3-4K overtaking the value of the vehicle itself. I've sat on dealership lots, they wanted to rip out the ECU toss it in the trash and replace it 2-3 grand and 4 days labor. I do it for half price on site and 2 hours later back on the road.
 
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