Eclipse Community

To be honest ... once my Optiplex 745 craps out (could be any day) I would not go back to XP and would likely be using windows 11 at some point. I look online at computers and everything is so over-priced nowadays - I didn't buy my two computers they were gifts and the association would prefer clients to all be on a phone or tablet but I don't want that for myself. Is ASUS any good? I read good things but I wonder about the proprietary drivers and hardware that is fixed if that makes sense (not sure if that was the right phrasing). I've never done much with the hardware other than just to keep them clean inside and out. I guess I would have to debloate after the fact because that would be far over my head sad to admit. I would likely also be using stock then. Ugh! I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get there. My Dell Dimension 3000 Pentium 4 is useless with only 2GB of ram (can't upgrade) and can't handle the modern web ... it's in very good shape though because it never got much usage after I was gifted the Optiplex 745.

xperceniol_sal wrote: *

14 Mar 2026, 23:35

I guess I would have to debloate after the fact because that would be far over my head sad to admit.

It's pretty easy and adequately effective, even "after the fact" (ie, do a regular install from regular .iso or using factory "recovery" as starting point).

https://privacy.sexy/ is a good starting point.

MUCH more trustworthy than the very wide range of stuff on GitHub.
With GitHub, you get "professional" *and* you get "amateur high school project" ALL IN ONE PLACE.
Be prepared to reinstall/recover multiple times if trying miscellaneous stuff from GitHub.
You really NEVER KNOW if the uploader is a "professional" or if the uploader is a "amateur high school project".

I imagine this PC still has some life left unless things suddenly change for the worse. The issue with resume used to happen once in a blue moon and I suspect it's a bit more likely to happen with external USB HDD plugged in, though I'm not sure yet. I didn't notice anything else off.

Hardware is overall more expensive due to AI craze and who knows what else. I'd probably try to go with Win10 first if I suddenly ended up with new PC. Probably something pre-built...ASUS doesn't sound bad, but I'm very out of the loop with computer hardware.

I have a Raspberry Pi 5 and I guess I could try that instead, but, it's Linux...and Linux is weird, buggy, fonts don't look nice...

UCyborg wrote: *

15 Mar 2026, 14:27

Hardware is overall more expensive due to AI craze and who knows what else.

BINGO !!! So DO NOT WAIT, upgrade NOW!

That's why I bought a 9-month old laptop a year ago and a brand-new desktop this past November.
Get the upgrades in place *before* all that ***CRAP HARDWARE*** is in place (and NOW while that ***CRAP HARDWARE*** can still be *DISABLED*).

You wait until your ALREADY-DYING is completely DEAD, then the writing is on the wall on just what type of hardware you're going to end up with a year from now, three years from now, etc.

CRAP HARDWARE as in AI-enabled hardware or such?

I've been looking at new computers couple of months ago. But I thought, do I really need a new computer? I don't even do anything interesting on the old one.

I asked on another forum about this resume from sleep issue, it could be flaky +5V SB (stand-by) rail. Which in theory, could be easily fixed by replacing power supply.

UCyborg wrote: *

15 Mar 2026, 18:41

...But I thought, do I really need a new computer? I don't even do anything interesting on the old one...

This is sort of where I"m at ... I don't do anything important on my computers either other than watching movies and TV. My computer is my only outlet to the outside world and I'm much better online and typing. My communication skills suck.

I should change that, but given amount of time I spend on it at work...

Feeling all weird, I hate needles, mouth flooded with saliva, was at dental surgeon, rotten wisdom tooth, ugh...

This country is so stupid, why can't the place where you were operated at issue electronic sick leave? Instead, you have to send the papers to your physician for them to do it.

Computer failed to resume again, this time, without phone or external disk plugged in. :/

UCyborg wrote: *

17 Mar 2026, 09:35

Computer failed to resume again, this time, without phone or external disk plugged in. :/

Is there any difference if you resume from "hybrid sleep" versus "hibernation"?

I once had a laptop "fail to resume".
For me, I only used "hibernate".
For me, it wasn't technically failing on RESUME, but rather it was not COMPLETING its go-into hibernate.
When it "looked like" it was done going into hibernate, I could put my ear to it and still hear an internal fan or HDD, something, still *ON*.
It was this stage that it would "fail to resume".

BUT...
If at this stage, I pressed AND HELD IN the power button for SEVERAL seconds (with my ear still on it!), I could hear it complete the "go-into".
At this stage, I could release the power button, return a day later, press the power button normally, and it would RESUME FROM HIBERNATE.

But... That only bought me so much time. It was a "freebie" but I still wanted to get as much life out of it as I could.
I ended up getting too FRUSTRATED with that sort of "go-into" that I stopped even TRYING to "go-into".
I ended up never actually using the Start Menu to power down / reboot / or go into hibernate.

I would just always PRESS AND HOLD the power button for SEVERAL seconds and basically FORCE a **CRASH** whenever I wanted to power it down.

Resuming from RAM specifically is the problem, resuming off disk (hibernation) is fine. I think it goes into sleep OK, just doesn't always wake up.

Ah, I've seen that before.
In my case, I had *mixed RAM*.
Despite both being the same TYPE of RAM.
I had one slot populated with Brand A and the second slot populated with Brand B.
Third slot was empty.

Despite that *mixed RAM* working, once it finally powered on, it would never have any power-up issues if Brand A was removed, or if Brand B was removed. It just stopped liking both of them being populated. :/

After some quick tests, after the conclusion was that it might just be unstable with resume only when all 3 sticks were used, the situation has worsened radically after putting things back like they were. Same symptoms after initial power up, after two power cycles, same. I unplugged the power cable of one of the disks and then it could POST, I went into BIOS to put things how they were (no CMOS battery) and after couple of seconds on the BIOS settings screen, screen went garbled. It normally responded to power button and went off, I unplugged the power and will leave it as is until new power supply arrives.

It was ordered before the situation worsened, but for all I know, it might already be too late, we'll see.

Yikes! May already be too late. :/

You knocked the dust lose and made things worse.

It's like running a "detergent" through a very old engine.
The "sludge" in that engine wasn't really hurting anything clinging to NON-VITAL WALLS of the insides of that engine.
But running that "detergent" knocked the sludge off the non-vital walls and into very critical and vital moving parts of the insides of that engine.

I'm sorry to hear of this news, UCyborg

This is why I don't dare take anything apart on my old machines for the reason(s) you mentioned the-10-pen. I'd bet my computers are already held together by the debris and sludge - better to leave things as they are when dealing with old machines. I didn't know that about a vehicle ... I'll pass this information along to my drivers and support workers.

EDIT: Fixed mistakes. Sorry!

I blow out dust every year or two. And the tests were just seeing how it works with only the original 2 RAM sticks and then with the third one on its own. There weren't any errors on Memtest86 in single pass.

Looks new PSU is not arriving before next week. Also have spare graphics card in case the current one got wonky.

Time is really dragging by now. This computer is one of the few (good) things I have in this life.

UCyborg wrote: *

19 Mar 2026, 18:51

...This computer is one of the few (good) things I have in this life...

I feel the same ... I'd be lost without my computers because I'm not social and the forum is my only outlet to the people. You'd be shocked if you knew me ... online I'm chatty but in person I'm practically a mute and extremely awkward around sheeple.

I also have mismatched RAM sticks in my PC and I get frequent memory errors and crashes. I'll put up with it so long as I can.

Good luck getting your computer back to where you need it.

In similar boat when it comes to being mute in these types of situations. I wish I could navigate them better.

Regarding desktop computer, guess I'll see what still works or not next week. The laptop also got a new problem in recent months that upper and lower portion of the screen blinks in white for short periods, most often when it's turned on, seems it's triggered by lid movement.

Elections are tomorrow. No idea what to vote for. Does it even matter? For all I know, the end of the world is coming.

UCyborg wrote: *

21 Mar 2026, 22:20

...
Regarding desktop computer, guess I'll see what still works or not next week. The laptop also got a new problem in recent months that upper and lower portion of the screen blinks in white for short periods, most often when it's turned on, seems it's triggered by lid movement...

Any luck? Gosh, two computers on the fritz ... I hope you get things working. Good luck.

UCyborg wrote: *

21 Mar 2026, 22:20

...For all I know, the end of the world is coming...

It does feel that way nowadays.

UCyborg wrote: *

21 Mar 2026, 22:20

For all I know, the end of the world is coming.

The end of our civilization as we know it for 2000 years, maybe.
The end of human kind, surely. Sooner or later.
But the end of the world, no. The world, our planet, has about 4 billions years to go so it will have time to try many things before being eaten by the dying sun. We, humans, are not the world, despite of what we think.

I installed new PSU on Monday and things seem to be back to normal.

Computer still works, sooo, going for another 17 years?

Things already feel surreal today...

Windows went a bit loco yesterday. When I opened Explorer's save dialog through Thorium, got notifications about the number of file associations being reset. Who knows what's got into it.

UCyborg wrote: *

02 Apr 2026, 19:44

Computer still works, sooo, going for another 17 years?

Don't Do It !!! I'm being dead serious! Do Not Throw More Money At That Computer!

I'm speaking from a "been there, done that" perspective.
Because I too used to throw money at computers in order to own them for TWENTY-PLUS YEARS.

I did this for THREE different computers over the span of thirty years, give or take.
Overlapping ownership, I'm not 80+ years old with the first at age 20 or late teens, lol.
Brought on through a realization from my "decade of decadence" (Motley Crue reference) of owning computers for 2.5 to 5 years before replacing.
ps - listening to this as I write the remainder of my post --- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQpXUD1FCTc

So I went from the "lifestyle" of replacing a computer every 2.5 to 5 years to throwing money at them but replacing only after 20+ years.
Again, I did this on three different computers. Making a computer last 20+ years is very very VERY easy easy EASY.
It is *NOT* some "wear it on your sleeve" rite of passage into some form of Ageless Wisdom. Rather, it is the OPPOSITE.
It does 'require' THROWING MONEY AT THEM. RAM here, PSU there, CPU here, motherboard there, another round of RAM, et cetera.

In a nutshell, DON'T THROW GOOD MONEY AFTER BAD MONEY.
You don't (though many do!) spend $1000 on tires JUST TO SELL the vehicle and the new tires got you an extra $100 on the sale price.
You're still IN THE HOLE $900.

LAW OF DIMINISHING RETURNS !!!
Hint: You already passed it by buying a new PSU instead of replacing a capacitor in the old one!
A *few* dollars for a capacitor and firing up your own soldering iron and your own labor versus spending 130-TIMES to 500-TIMES for the new PSU!

I'm not going to go as far as to say it was the "biggest mistake I ever made", it was *NOT*.
BUT... There is a point of diminishing returns. And again, you passed it by spending money for a new PSU.
I applaud the goal on one hand. Again, been there, done that.
But the other hand KNOWS FROM EXPERIENCE that 12 to 17 years is one thing!
But 20+ is something entirely different (and becomes borderline insane, again, "been there, done that").


It reminds me of a project dad had me do on a Commodore 64 in the late 80s.
He had me do an "amortization table" on his 30yr mortgage on the house we moved into when I was in my early teens.
He retired a decade or so later and another decade or so after that, he came to me with that old C64 printout (and some grade-school drawings).

It was a moment of pride for him, "Look, I bought a house for $34k in 1982 and I just sold it for $112k".
After originally listing it at $135k and taking over six months to sell !!!

It was a moment of pride for me. I handed it back to him and proudly proclaimed, "YOU LOST MONEY! You have to account for the mortgage interest, the new siding, the new furnace, the new roof, and the pool and deck you added but only used that last half-summer of ownership. Every "investment" has to account for deposits and withdrawals before you can call it a gain or a loss based solely on first number versus last number. Inflation ALONE puts you over $105k, YOU LOST MONEY."

I thought about the issue with some capacitor. Might open the old PSU some day to see if anything stands out (me and electronics, though). I just wanted a quick fix, this computer's been with me for so long that it's hard to just let go.

Money always finds the way to slip out off one's pocket. I threw more of it at dumber shit at times, even if I'm considered more of a saving type. My brother always says better spend it to have something rather than save it and have nothing.

The point of diminishing returns definitely stands. About the money part, you'd also have to get something used rather than new to save it. It's not much different from cars, huh?

In any case, I do appreciate your thoughts.

My newest laptop is a screamer and it came from a PAWN SHOP.
Still in the original box, still had all of the plastic stretch-wrap, battery was still in a separate box.
Literally all but BRAND NEW, never used, battery never inserted.
But technically ONE YEAR OLD (okay, 10 months!).

Got it for HALF what it sells for per "MSRP".
Sure, a large bit of "right place, right time".
But it turned me into somebody that now visits PAWN SHOPS ***OFTEN*** just to look at the new arrivals.
They only take laptops and not desktops and only take one year old or younger and MUST HAVE ORIGINAL BOX.
Turns out, the PAWN SHOP works with several local BUSINESSES and basically buys their "surplus".

If your town doesn't have any PAWN SHOPS, it's WELL WORTH IT to drive the hour or two to the nearest "big city".

And I totally get the money bit. More so than anyone else on the planet.
That's not bragging, that's just lessons learned the hard way!

During my college years, I had ***TWENTY SIX*** credit cards !!!
They would set up tables at the cafeteria and hand out applications like Tic Tacs.

I had a credit card debt over THREE TIMES my annual income!
NEVER late on ANY payment, NEVER late on rent! No real DIME to my name!
My dad told me to file bankruptcy and it INFURIATED ME.
I asked for "help" and he told me to file bankruptcy, saying I'd never pay all that debt.

I DID PAY IT ALL BACK !!!
*ZERO* handouts from anybody, *ZERO* debt-reduction "services".
I PAID EVERY D@MN PENNY BACK - then showed dad my statements and said TOLD YOU SO.

Truth be told and in full honesty, IT WAS BECAUSE OF 9/11 THAT I WAS ABLE TO DIG MYSELF OUT OF THAT HOLE !!!
Everything went to ZERO PERCENT balance transfer promos.
I had TWENTY SIX credit cards. All I had to do is transfer every balance to another card's ZERO PERCENT promo.
Then transfer again 6, 9, 12 months later.
NEVER late on ANY payments. I was able to keep transfering for ZERO PERCENT until that entire mountain was paid off.

UCyborg wrote: *

03 Apr 2026, 20:14

...this computer's been with me for so long that it's hard to just let go...

I feel the same about my computer, but I refuse to throw money at it (I couldn't afford to anyway) and when it goes (giving me lots of trouble) I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

Good you got it working again, though.

happy easter to all who celebrate today and if not hope you have a good day

It's just like the rest of 364 days for me.