|
|
|
fuck you, Dell Optiplex
Wednesday, May 12 2021
Back a month or so ago, I bought a Lenovo desktop motherboard-with-CPU on eBay in hopes of having a faster server-like Windows 10 machine for compiling Typescript into Javascript (the most demanding task I ask of my computers). The CPU was a Core i5 2500 rated to run about 80% the speed of Woodchuck, which was going to be significantly faster than the Core 2 Quad I'd been using. I was happy with the new computer I made with that motherboard, though (as I complained in here at the time), it was unreliable during reboots, meaning I couldn't rely on it to reboot remotely (that is, if I wanted to make sure it would come up after a reboot, I'd have to be physically there with the machine). Due to this issue, I bought another motherboard on eBay. That motherboard was so nonstandard, I ended up getting a refund and ordering a different motherboard. But by the time I had that motherboard in my possession (one from a Dell Optiplex 7010), I'd fixed the thermal issues that had apparently been the source of the Lenovo motherboard's unreliability. This led me to order another compatible CPU so I could have a second "server-like" computer running near-Woodchuck speeds. The first of these was a Core i5 3570 which I sent back because it was incompatible with the Lenovo board. But subsequent research suggested that all Ivy Bridge processors (such as the 3570) are incompatible with the Lenovo motherboard. Today, after an unexpected delay, I took delivery of a Core i7 3770, the fastest processor ever made for LGA 1155 motherboards (and the fastest consumer processor of 2012). It was used and had cost a little less than $100 on eBay.
There are a lot of cheap LGA 1155 motherboards on eBay, and after being burned by that first one, I'd made sure to get one with a proper ATX-style power connector. But, being a Dell motherboard, the one I got was still non-standard (this was probably why it cost less than $30), though in small ways intended to inflict financial pain on consumers trying to use commodity parts. (The connectors are engineered to destroy standard fans, among other things.) The chief incompatiblities were in the design of the fan connector, the power switch connector, and front-panel USB connections. All of these needed to be dealt with or the computer would require a user to press the F1 button during every boot, thereby thwarting unattended operation. Fortunately there was plenty of documentation on the web about how to evade these proprietary issues, all of which I'd absorbed before the Core i7 arrived today.
One of the major incompatibilities Dell had incorporated into their design was the use of connectors with 2mm (instead of the standard 2.54 millimeter) pitch. Fortunately, though, old IDE laptop hard drives have connectors with 0.2 mm pitch, and I was able to make a power switch connector from part of an old IDE adapter for a Macintosh laptop. Others stupid Dell-specific issues could be resolved by simply bridging connections, which I could do with a soldering iron. I attacked these issues one after the other, using plenty of paint and marker to color-code wires and connectors along the way.
At some point I got distracted by my uncertainty over the functionality of some RAM sticks I'd dropped on the floor (and that Oscar the cat had walked through with his static-y body). So I found myself testing laptop DDR3 memory using partially-build Compaq 2740p laptops. I was in a hurry and tried to hook the 2740p's screen up to the docking port (which has a similarly-sized connector). This produced a spark and a cloud of smoke, and initially I was sure I'd ruined either the screen or the 2740p motherboard. But no, they'd both survived. It's rare to produce smoke and have nothing be destroyed, so maybe something small was in fact destroyed.
Normally I cook dinner on Wednesday evenings, but at 5:00pm I heard Powerful chopping vegetables, so I knew I was home free. He made a rigatoni with a vegan-chorizo-rich red sauce that was easily as good as the chili I would've made.
After Jeopardy! I was finally able to get the Dell motherboard with its Core i7 processor to boot with the Wolverine boot drive. I did some tests with node compilations and was happy with how much faster they were now happening.
For linking purposes this article's URL is:
http://asecular.com/blog.php?210512 feedback
previous | next |
