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#computerhardware

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#NVIDIA consciously simplified the RTX 4090 power input circuitry to remove a safety feature that existed in the RTX 3090. In the 3090, two wires would get combined to one, and there were three separate power shunts. Any problem in the power delivery would lead to the card shutting down.

In the 4090, all six 12V lines combine to a single terminal, which is then power-shunted as one. Any problem in the individual wires or connector pins will not be noticed. If there is a power delivery problem, the remaining connections will take the load and melt or catch fire. RTX 4090 cards have been melting connectors regularly.

So, RTX 5090 is now available. The cards are several thousand dollars/euros. They also omit this RTX 3090 security feature that likely cost a maximum of a couple of euros/dollars to add.

- 12VHPWR on RTX 5090 is Extremely Concerning - youtube.com/watch?v=Ndmoi1s0ZaY
- How Nvidia made the 12VHPWR connector even worse - youtube.com/watch?v=kb5YzMoVQyw
- RTX 5090 Power Connectors Are Melting... Again - youtube.com/watch?v=e569djy75vE
- The real "User Error" is with Nvidia - youtube.com/watch?v=oB75fEt7tH0
- An Electrical Engineer's take on 12VHPWR and Nvidia's FE board design - reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/1

Continued thread

Part 2/3
Though this has a 64-bit processor, let me try the Win10 x86 32-bit LTSP installer from 2019: and it worked! The install went fine, but it ran dog slow. I used the native browser to download and then upgraded the #BIOS to the latest for the W510 and everything was noticeably slow. Unfortunately, most of the tools I want to use are 64-bit so this version of Win10 is not really an option.
To test & try to troubleshoot, I installed the latest version of #Debian #Linux. The install went fine, and the user experience was much better than the 32-bit Win10 – no real noticeable slowness. Ok, Linux is an option – but not what I had planned for this laptop. Let me wipe the drive (getting rid of #GRUB) and retry installing Win11 or Win10 LTSP.
Now when I boot with either Win11 or Win10 LTSP #USBs the windows logo flashes and the dreaded black screen with blinking cursor appears. We don’t even get the option to install…. (Ugh!)
Currently I booted into #ShredOS and am wiping the drive as a load test.

#siliconValley #SillyValley #sanfrancisco #sanfran #sanfranciscocomputers #sanfrancomputers #sanfranciscovintagecomputers #sanfranvintagecomputers #sanfranciscovintagehardware #sanfranvintagehardware
#vintagecomputing #vintagecomputint #vintagecomputer #vintagecomputers #vintagecomputalk
#vintagehardware #computerHistory #retro #VCF #vintageComputerFestival
#retrocomputing #retroComputers #WallOfRetro #retroTech #retroTechnology
#nerdsOfVintage #happyNerding
#computer #tech #computerHardware #laptop #laptops
#IBM #thinkpad #thinkpads #VintageThinkPad #X86 #WindowsVista #IBMhardware #lenovoHardware #Thinkpadnium
#upcycle #restore #TechnologyRepair #ThinkPadRepair #WasteNoWantNot

Part 1/3
The continuing efforts with the #ThinkPad #W510:
A nice surprise is this has four (4) #DIMM slots, so I was able to upgrade the memory to 32GB (and tested out fine with #MEMTest86+ ver 7)!

Unfortunately, getting an #OS installed has been problematic. As I mentioned previously, to use this as my #workbench #laptop for testing, #imaging, and #wiping #HardDrives and #SSDs (leveraging that #eSATA port) all the manufacturer and optimal #opensource tools are on #Windows.
I started with the #Win11 LTSP: Booted up fine, initial install was fine – and the initial boot want to a black screen with a blinking cursor.
Ok, let me try #Win10 64-bit LTSP with the same results: Booted up fine, initial install was fine – and the initial boot want to a black screen with a blinking cursor.

#siliconValley #SillyValley #sanfrancisco #sanfran #sanfranciscocomputers #sanfrancomputers #sanfranciscovintagecomputers #sanfranvintagecomputers #sanfranciscovintagehardware #sanfranvintagehardware
#vintagecomputing #vintagecomputint #vintagecomputer #vintagecomputers #vintagecomputalk
#vintagehardware #computerHistory #retro #VCF #vintageComputerFestival
#retrocomputing #retroComputers #WallOfRetro #retroTech #retroTechnology
#nerdsOfVintage #happyNerding
#computer #tech #computerHardware #laptop #laptops
#IBM #thinkpad #thinkpads #VintageThinkPad #X86 #WindowsVista #IBMhardware #lenovoHardware #Thinkpadnium
#upcycle #restore #TechnologyRepair #ThinkPadRepair #WasteNoWantNot

Pocket 8086 stuff

I managed to successfully test a null modem connection between my 2 Pocket 8086 laptops, which was cool, but have no idea how to fully use it between them, beyond a couple of multiplayer games, seeing as the spec is still pretty low! The Pocket 386s would open up being able to run more games and software for that sort of thing, but I do need to get a second Pocket 386 first.

This is one thing that older computers can still do over modern computers in most cases, as unless you buy a serial card, you can’t really do that thing on a newer system, and I should note for the record that you can get PCI Express serial cards if they’re needed, because I’ve a dual serial port card using that sort of connection! Coincidentally, that’s partly why I have pairs of older computers with serial and parallel ports, so I can play with null modem connections, and other devices that require the ports, especially as there are some unusual/rare things out there that need them!

That’s actually why I would need to have a dedicated laptop to pick up the slack in that regard, as USB to parallel/serial cables don’t work with every bit of old software, plus I’d want to have specific software for that hardware! Of course, I do have a laptop that is useless for gaming (the screen doesn’t work well with fast movement) that can run Windows XP, and has the relevant ports, though it is a bit on the hefty side!

I will post a few photos later on to show things in action, after my CF cards arrive, as I want to set them all up, though perhaps I’ll do a shortish video of the process instead… Either way, it’ll be next month before I can get any stuff like that done!

#2024 #AtGeekedUp #BookPocket808xLaptops #CompactFlashCards #computerHardware #computers #Filming #laptops #LegacyPCHardware #LegacyPCSoftware #NewsUpdates #PCPlatform_ #retroHardware #retroLaptops #RetroPC #retroPcHardware #StormSWorkshop #StormSWorkshopSGU_ #StormkeeperAtGeekedUp #StormkeeperSWorkshop #Update