griping again

[Joel Olson]

A stealth update that never finished left me unable to boot up;
at the Norman Computer shop, it worked perfectly, so I took it
back home, where I was able to get into the boot menu and bring
it up. (They'd finished the update.) Ran a cleanup program and
thereafter was not only unable to boot up, but could also no longer
get into the boot menu, nor the restore, settings or other low level
options. Finally found that the usb cable to my printer was holding
things up. Haven't tried to reboot after re-arranging use of the
back panel usb slots, but I sure did back up the stuff I'm working
on, and the documents folder. :-)

[tim]

Anyone using USB3? My box was built before that came out. Can those be
installed via software alone, or must the ports be physically replaced?
Probably need a new motherboard?

I've had a series of a dozen or more Kernel Power crashes, which Microsoft
declares occult and without obvious cause and/or correction. A while ago I
was poking about in my UPS control panel and looked at the history, and
there it was. Slight over-voltage from my power company, and the USB was
closing down the computer before over-voltage could burn things up. Before
I discovered USBs, I thought low voltage was the villain, but here it's high
voltage. It peaks at 140 volts and shuts down the computer. Event Viewer
calls this Kernel Power crash, but doesn't connect to the real reason.
Half-assed, and thank you very much Microsoft and Windows.

Just downloaded Warbirds 2013. Very nice on my monster gaming machine. It
is so nice to be free from the limited download mandates of Verizon.

Post by Joel Olson
A stealth update that never finished left me unable to boot up;
at the Norman Computer shop, it worked perfectly, so I took it
back home, where I was able to get into the boot menu and bring
it up. (They'd finished the update.) Ran a cleanup program and
thereafter was not only unable to boot up, but could also no longer
get into the boot menu, nor the restore, settings or other low level
options. Finally found that the usb cable to my printer was holding
things up. Haven't tried to reboot after re-arranging use of the
back panel usb slots, but I sure did back up the stuff I'm working
on, and the documents folder. :-)

[Joel Olson]

Post by tim
Anyone using USB3? My box was built before that came out. Can those be
installed via software alone, or must the ports be physically replaced?
Probably need a new motherboard?
I've had a series of a dozen or more Kernel Power crashes, which Microsoft
declares occult and without obvious cause and/or correction. A while ago I
was poking about in my UPS control panel and looked at the history, and there
it was. Slight over-voltage from my power company, and the USB was closing
down the computer before over-voltage could burn things up. Before I
discovered USBs, I thought low voltage was the villain, but here it's high
voltage. It peaks at 140 volts and shuts down the computer. Event Viewer
calls this Kernel Power crash, but doesn't connect to the real reason.
Half-assed, and thank you very much Microsoft and Windows.
Just downloaded Warbirds 2013. Very nice on my monster gaming machine. It is
so nice to be free from the limited download mandates of Verizon.

Post by Joel Olson
A stealth update that never finished left me unable to boot up;
at the Norman Computer shop, it worked perfectly, so I took it
back home, where I was able to get into the boot menu and bring
it up. (They'd finished the update.) Ran a cleanup program and
thereafter was not only unable to boot up, but could also no longer
get into the boot menu, nor the restore, settings or other low level
options. Finally found that the usb cable to my printer was holding
things up. Haven't tried to reboot after re-arranging use of the
back panel usb slots, but I sure did back up the stuff I'm working
on, and the documents folder. :-)

Rebooting now works if I unplug that usb cable.

Turns out the speedy guy at the computer shop also teaches an electronics
class to the local metrotech. I'm intending to take my solar panel setup
to him as see if we can't get it working. The panel generates DC ~30-some
Volts; I want it to run a 12V car radio, and have a converter from Jameco
that is supposed to bring it down, but doesn't. Be nice to have it working
by Sept - the Sierra Club will be tabling at the Sunday Guthrie Green Roots
Music concerts in Tulsa.