From owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Wed May 20 12:56:47 2020 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@mailman.nyi.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2610:1c1:1:606c::19:1]) by mailman.nyi.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id AE41F2D9886 for ; Wed, 20 May 2020 12:56:47 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from frank@woodcruft.co.uk) Received: from lime.woodcruft.co.uk (woodcruft.co.uk [81.187.27.248]) (using TLSv1.3 with cipher TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 (256/256 bits) key-exchange X25519 server-signature RSA-PSS (4096 bits) server-digest SHA256) (Client did not present a certificate) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 49Rt722xxqz4BBm for ; Wed, 20 May 2020 12:56:46 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from frank@woodcruft.co.uk) Received: by lime.woodcruft.co.uk (Postfix, from userid 1001) id 5C0A773CEF; Wed, 20 May 2020 13:56:39 +0100 (BST) Date: Wed, 20 May 2020 13:56:39 +0100 From: Frank Shute To: David Christensen Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: OT: Weird Hardware Problem Message-ID: <20200520125639.GA64538@lime.woodcruft.co.uk> Reply-To: Frank Shute Mail-Followup-To: David Christensen , freebsd-questions@freebsd.org References: <0a9f810d-7b4b-f4e6-4b7c-716044a9cf69@tundraware.com> <299b37be-11af-6c0a-6957-54a788d19fe5@tundraware.com> <0df1c88e-3c7b-8c4d-6b4f-95da54a46226@holgerdanske.com> <42405faa-b644-7e90-6cc7-8b63e7bd244a@yahoo.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: X-Ring-Status: 'Complete' X-Organisation: 'Woodcruft Ltd.' X-Rspamd-Queue-Id: 49Rt722xxqz4BBm X-Spamd-Bar: - Authentication-Results: mx1.freebsd.org; dkim=none; dmarc=none; spf=pass (mx1.freebsd.org: domain of frank@woodcruft.co.uk designates 81.187.27.248 as permitted sender) smtp.mailfrom=frank@woodcruft.co.uk X-Spamd-Result: default: False [-1.07 / 15.00]; HAS_REPLYTO(0.00)[frank@woodcruft.co.uk]; ARC_NA(0.00)[]; REPLYTO_EQ_FROM(0.00)[]; FROM_HAS_DN(0.00)[]; TO_DN_SOME(0.00)[]; R_SPF_ALLOW(-0.20)[+mx]; MIME_GOOD(-0.10)[text/plain]; DMARC_NA(0.00)[woodcruft.co.uk]; NEURAL_HAM_MEDIUM(-0.42)[-0.418]; TO_MATCH_ENVRCPT_SOME(0.00)[]; NEURAL_HAM_SHORT(-0.35)[-0.351]; RCPT_COUNT_TWO(0.00)[2]; RCVD_COUNT_ZERO(0.00)[0]; FROM_EQ_ENVFROM(0.00)[]; R_DKIM_NA(0.00)[]; MIME_TRACE(0.00)[0:+]; ASN(0.00)[asn:20712, ipnet:81.187.0.0/16, country:GB] X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.33 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 20 May 2020 12:56:47 -0000 On Tue, May 19, 2020 at 11:26:24PM , David Christensen wrote: > > > I have also seen power supplies that were marginal and/or that had > partial failures (one bad rail). Thankfully, the components they were > powering did not appear to be permanently damaged once I replaced the > power supply. > > > I am not the OP -- I was attempting to give suggestions to the OP that I > had not seen posted yet. The OP stated that he had installed a new > power supply, and Arthur Chance has already mentioned the power supply. > Without information about the loads, the original power supply, and the > new power supply, we cannot verify the OP's choice. I can only assume > that the OP selected a "correct" part for his application. > > > Of course, the OP could do more testing with yet another power supply as > a double-check. A 500+ Watt ATX2 power supply should be adequate > overkill for a desktop box with a motherboard, an optical drive, and one > or two HDD's. > > > Without full engineering information and (expensive) test equipment, our > efforts are limited to "monkey see, monkey do". We throw ideas at the > OP, he tries what he wants, and perhaps he'll get lucky. > > > Understand that this is an obsolete low-end consumer-grade Dell product, > albeit with big CPU and memory options. It was designed for casual > Windows Home users, not Linux/ FreeBSD madmen like us who want to flog > it like a workstation and server. ;-) > > > Perhaps it is time to cannibalize the good parts and junk the rest -- > FCLGA1150 motherboards are still available new, and some are made with > high-spec parts (for gamers). But, a new motherboard may require a new > case, as I believe Dell uses the uncommon BTX motherboard form factor. > Alternatively, Inspiron 3847 motherboards start at $40 on eBay. > > > That said, given the shrinking margin of memory and storage sizes vs. > bit error rates, and the increasing risk of bit rot, I now put my money > into computers with ECC memory. > > > David I'm in agreement with David on this one. It's a Dell, dude... What one has to remember is that we are technical people and are thus prone to behaving like a dog with a bone when we come across a technical problem, more often than not much to our own detriment. Of course, we all know about our 'sunk cost' cognitive bias but it's still very hard not to be a victim to it. So we end up expending time, money and energy chasing problems like this down which means that we then don't have the money to buy decent hardware; recurse. Tim, for the sake of your sanity as much as anything, spend some money! If you haven't got any money then do the usual: sell kids into slavery, wife into prostitution etc. If you haven't got a wife or kids then steal your neighbours. Regards, -- Frank --* The Machine stops. *-- \verb# infinity # ----------------> $ \infty $