Computer Stuff thread

[m7600]

Just a thread for posting stuff about computers.

Yesterday my system failed to install some updates for some reason (I was using Ubuntu Focal Fossa), and today my headphones didn't work. I knew that they were perfectly fine, and I suspected they stopped working due to the failed updates, but I couldn't figure out the problem. I made a few searches, went down a rabbit hole of options, and basically came up with nothing.

So, I do what I always do when I don't know how to proceed: I just nuked my entire operating system with a new installation. I saved the folders and files from my job, a few games, but everything else got wiped out. I needed to do some housecleaning anyway, too many useless files. Plus I finally replaced Focal Fossa with Jammy Jellyfish. And what do you know, my headphones work just fine now! lol. You might say that it was overkill, like killing a mosquito with a shotgun, but hey, if it works, it works...

How about you? Got any amusing or interesting anecdotes to share?

 

[OrlonKronsteen]

Sometimes nuking's a good thing. When I get new computers - which is every six to eight years - I never port my data over. I always look at it as an opportunity to start anew. I save the data I want to keep, discard the rest, and reorganize.

As for amusing anecdotes - sure. Too many to count, probably. One of the funniest: I was a late adopter. I didn't buy my first pc until I was 30. I went to a custom shop that built computers for you. Because I was a noob, I had no idea that the guy who built them had no idea what he was doing. Literally none. The first pc he built was garbage - I got a year or two out of it. The second pc I got was also a disaster. Windows XP was brand new, and the hardware had compatibility issues. I was forever having to install and reinstall drivers, the order of which was critical. It was a nightmare.

A couple years later I took it into a new shop where the owner and techs were actually good. The owner asked me, "is this a joke?"

I said, 'no, why?"

He said, "the guy who built it didn't put in a power supply. This shouldn't be able to run at all."

It was the most mystified he'd ever been. I could only shrug. True story. Perhaps one of you would know why it was able to run without a power supply. One friend theorized that it was getting enough power through the mother board, but I didn't really understand that, still don't understand that, and have never had a satisfactory answer.

 

[m7600]

A friend of mine used to work repairing computers, he had some funny stories. I remember one in which a client called him because the "cup holder" of her PC broke, and she wanted to know if it could be fixed or if she had to buy a new one. My friend asked, in a puzzle tone "the what broke?" She replied "the cup holder". So, he went to her house to take a look at the PC. It turns out that she had been using the CD/DVD tray as cup holder for her beverages.