Octopus Overlords

I sort of want BT glasses, but I am NOT about to pay for $200 or whatever for Bose or even Amazon (or Razer). I did find an alternative... JLabs JBud Frames. Basically, a set of wireless earbuds reengineered to clip onto your glasses' temples so they sorta act as BT glasses. They seem to work okay despite some pretty savage reviews from Tom's Hardware. Took a couple tries to get the two to pair together as I keep getting sound from only one side. Not as "sleek" as the clip-ons are pretty large, but then, who said smart glasses are sleek looking at all? They usually look a bit like clown glasses with super-thick frames anyway. Razer at least tried to make them look a bit sleeker, but it's obvious it's not regular glasses, while not as crazy as Google glasses for AR.

Supposedly comes with a 2-year warranty. We shall see. It's probably time to return the "stretchable" bone conduction set I was trying.

I have some Jlabs wireless bluetooth earbuds and they are nice.

Came home and started my PC and realized there is a weird sound from the chassis. Opened the panels and determined it's not from the fans. But blew out the dust anyway. Ran 3dmark, cpu score is way down. Check temp... It's 98 C. This is on an AIO waterblock. Must conclude that the pump have failed. Ordered replacement and should be here tomorrow. Also time to put in the case fans I bought...

Dont plan to use water in a pc myself.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Sun Aug 01, 2021 4:27 pm Dont plan to use water in a pc myself.

I've had liquid cooling on my current and previous machines without any issues. It's like the difference between the old VW bugs and the newer machines, air cooling can only do so much.

The "all in one" (AIO) waterblocks are virtually leakproof and no harder to install than top-tier air coolers.

There is a reason the highest-end builds all use water cooling. It isn't like you're spraying water around in there, or running a leaky garden hose through it. It's like you have an industrially sealed container of water that isn't going to break unless you do it intentionally.

I no longer overclock. Also I can see my fan spinning plus if it dies the large heat sink will do for a while if I fail to notice it.And if it ever did spring a leak it would just spew air everywhere.

Kids, grass, lawn.

The parts are in, but I won't have time to install them until tomorrow. AND I have to move room again, as my room sprung a leak.

EDIT: Waterblock replaced. CPU temp down to 60C, instead of 98C. I didn't even install the additional fans. The old waterblock had TWO fans on its (sandwiched).

EDIT2: On sustained ops, the CPU can still get up to 80C, looks like I should install additional fans after all, or tune the internal fans.

EDIT3: Did I configure the BIOS wrong? I set one of the fans to water pump mode, and the temp went up to 90's, as if it's never on. Switched back to fan mode, and I'm back at right about 70C. Now it's making more sense. I will need to get the additional fans installed... soon. As soon as I figure out the fan wind direction.

I was trying to control my room's light switch with a snap-on rather than replacing the switch (let's just say the master switch is in a different floor and difficult to access, or I would have tried to rewire it myself). I did find a good wifi "switch flipper" that's like only $25. However, it's a Zigbee device, which means I need a Zigbee hub, which is when I learned that my first gen Amazon Echo Show has no Zigbee capabilities. I need Echo Show 5 or later. And even a refurb is like $50. Hmmm... Tempting! Maybe I can send the old one to my mom, who's a bit of tech luddite...

EDIT: Actually refurbs are down to $42, but when Amazon is having a sale and a new one is $45, and a 2nd gen 2021 release is $55, guess which one I am getting? And yeah, I'm sending my old one to my mom.

You seem to have the weirdest wiring in San Fran.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Mon Aug 09, 2021 6:17 pm You seem to have the weirdest wiring in San Fran.

I rent main floor and mezzanine floor from my landlord who's in a separate unit upstairs from me. The basement is yet another unit downstairs (separate entrance too) and where all the breakers are.

Previously I've mentioned that I was having a hard time getting a pair of bone conduction headsets to fit my XL head, and I've even looked into getting military-style bone-conduction headsets (mostly marketed to Airsoft-ers) turns out there is a set that is completely "band-free" so it will fit my head. It however, has the unfortunate name "BoneBudz", that they don't advertise that name. And yes, it really is bone conduction. Despite looking very much like a regular set. The difference is the sound does NOT come from the earpiece. Battery life is pretty good, but the main peeve is one side has shorter battery life than the other, which should be specific to my unit, not a general design flaw. It has a battery case and a regular charge base, so that's nice.

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Wed Aug 11, 2021 5:49 pm "BoneBudz"

This conversation is going on right now with Comcast/Xfinity support.

Me: I've been trying all day to forward a couple of ports, and regardless of what I do, they are not accessible from outside. I need to figure out if this is a problem with my router, or if something at Xfinity is interfering.
Tech: Ok, you are trying to forward ports.
Me: Yes.
Tech: Is this the telephone or ethernet port?
Me: No, I'm trying to forward ports through my router.
Tech: Oh! (staticy, accented) Ports!
Me: Yes.
(Another minute of confusing questions follow)
Tech: Exactly which sports are you trying to get?

I may have giggled. I get that too. I stopped bothering. I think their scripts need updating.

Tech: Ok, I'm going to walk you through the process of disabling bridge mode on your gateway.
Me: No, bridge mode is what allows my router to function. If I turn it back on, I'll have two routers.
Tech: If we enable bridge mode, I can walk you through forwarding the ports.
Me: I already know how to forward the ports. It isn't working.
Tech: First, I want you to enter (IP address for the admin panel, which I already know servers no purpose in this instance except to turn Bridge mode off.) The username will be "Admin", and the password is "Password."
Me: Ok, although I changed the password a long time ago.
Tech: Please hold. I need to investigate why the password isn't "Password."
Me: Because I changed it! It was the first thing I did.
Tech: Please hold while I investigate.

Now they're telling me that since they can't change settings on my gateway because it's in bridge mode, the problem is that my router needs to be configured. Which it is. Thoroughly. When I asked them why they thought it wasn't configured already, they told me because my gateway is in bridge mode.

The tech gave up, mostly because my issue isn't covered in the flowchart book. They scheduled a tech.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Sat Aug 14, 2021 4:48 pm This conversation is going on right now with Comcast/Xfinity support.

Me: I've been trying all day to forward a couple of ports, and regardless of what I do, they are not accessible from outside. I need to figure out if this is a problem with my router, or if something at Xfinity is interfering.
Tech: Ok, you are trying to forward ports.
Me: Yes.
Tech: Is this the telephone or ethernet port?
Me: No, I'm trying to forward ports through my router.
Tech: Oh! (staticy, accented) Ports!
Me: Yes.
(Another minute of confusing questions follow)
Tech: Exactly which sports are you trying to get?

FWIW, PCWinTech.com provides a free Simple Port Tester, along with a helpful port forwarding troubleshooting guide. You may find that to be more useful than the manuscript adhered to by a poorly-compensated Comcast telephone support flunky.

Believe it or not, I'd already eliminated every single option on that list (it's a great list, by the way.) I tried with with Windows Firewall configured to let it through and with it disabled. I tried it on two different systems. I triple checked settings, addresses, and ports in the fields. I power cycled. And not only did I do that, I tried it with two different routers (with the Comcast gateway before I disabled it and switched to a third-party router.)

I really don't think the issue is my network. That's what I was trying to ask Comcast: Is there something on your end that's interfering with port forwarding.

That's a handy utility, though.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Sat Aug 14, 2021 6:04 pm Believe it or not, I'd already eliminated every single option on that list (it's a great list, by the way.) I tried with with Windows Firewall configured to let it through and with it disabled. I tried it on two different systems. I triple checked settings, addresses, and ports in the fields. I power cycled. And not only did I do that, I tried it with two different routers (with the Comcast gateway before I disabled it and switched to a third-party router.)

I really don't think the issue is my network. That's what I was trying to ask Comcast: Is there something on your end that's interfering with port forwarding.

That's a handy utility, though.

Don't overlook Problem #4 in that list, i.e. antivirus or online security software. Because an awful lot of such proprietary software includes some sort of built-in firewall or 'online shield' to protect users from themselves. So I highly recommend carefully perusing your list of installed programs in the Windows control panel. If you do not see any software of that sort listed there, consider whether you've previously had any products like that installed. Because as observed in that guide, sometimes even uninstalling it does not properly remove its firewall or shield elements. If you've previously had any software like that installed, ESET provides a handy list of removal tool uninstallers for most common Windows AV software, which may help more thoroughly remove any such remaining detritus.

Already taken into account. The testing included disabling the Windows firewall (and, separately, granting access) and turning off the security features on the router (it has its own firewall and AV.) I haven't used a third-party AV or firewall in years, and have never had any of them installed on either system (one of which is a week-old fresh Windows install.) I know every resident program, what it does, and why I have it there. Orphaned start-ups don't last long with me.

Comcast absolutely blocks some port forwarding, and the stuff that's not blocked can only be configured through their Xfinity app. But since you said you tried using your own equipment instead of their gateway - that part I don't know.

gilraen wrote: ↑Sat Aug 14, 2021 7:30 pm Comcast absolutely blocks some port forwarding, and the stuff that's not blocked can only be configured through their Xfinity app. But since you said you tried using your own equipment instead of their gateway - that part I don't know.

When you set their obnoxious gateway to bridge mode, it turns all of those 'features' off and just functions as a basic modem. That is now attached to a quality third party router. After the switch signal strength went up considerably, and interference/hiccups went down considerably. I can get 5GHz at max bars in the bedroom now, where before I could only get two. VR doesn't stutter when someone does something nearby. Overall speed didn't change, but responsiveness within the house improved considerably, and I'm able to actually interact with the settings again (like changing the 2.4GHz channel from the one every nearby router also uses.)

Has anybody ever used a separate, standalone numpad? If so, does Windows recognize the keys as numpad keys, or as a different form of input? IE, does the 5 register as 'numpad 5'?

Depends on how they are programmed. THey should behave as numpad if they are designed as standalone numpads.

EDIT Windows doesn't care how many keyboards you connect all at once. They ALL would work simultaneously, no switching needed, AFAIK.

Ok, I think I'll give it a whirl. I've been poking around with a couple of simulators lately, and they are not tenkeyless friendly. I still prefer my TKL keyboard, as I use a very low mouse sensitivity and need the extra six inches of mouse space, but for those games I do need one (and it would be nice for when I'm doing the bills, too.) I'd like to be able to plug one in and then remove it afterwards.

one thing i like about the Microsoft Sculpt keyboard is the numpad is a separate unit, and it's of a size where it could also be used as a wireless remote for the PC.

hitbyambulance wrote: ↑Sun Aug 15, 2021 4:45 pm one thing i like about the Microsoft Sculpt keyboard is the numpad is a separate unit, and it's of a size where it could also be used as a wireless remote for the PC.

I also have that keyboard in the bedroom. It's a good ergonomic.

Can somebody help me translate my mobo specs into what I would actually need to get in terms of a m.2 SSD? There are so many codes and acronyms that I've gotten lost. I have a 3rd gen Ryzen processor. It looks like that matters.

I'm pretty sure that I need an NVMe m.2 SSD of the lengths listed (the four-digit codes) that uses an M key. But I'm not sure - the manual doesn't say anything about NVMe in relation to SSDs. I'm also seeing that the drives are branded as Gen3 or Gen4, but neither of those terms appear anywhere in the manual

Why can't they use plain #*(*!& English?

I'd read similar articles elsewhere, but it doesn't solve the problems with inconsistent terminology.

Is PCIe 4.0 mean Gen4? Does it mean NVMe? I think it does in both cases (not that PCIe and NVMe are the same, but I think that PCIe means it supports NVMe), but it's not really clear. Lots of "I thinks' aren't a good idea when spending money.

When the drives use one set of terms and the motherboard uses another, it makes it really confusing to figure out what's compatible.

Okay, here's a quick summary:

PCIe Gen 2 aka 2.0: 16 lanes of 500 MB/s per lane

PCIe Gen 3 aka 3.0: 16 lanes of 1 GB/s per lane

PCIe Gen 4 aka 4.0: 16 lanes of 2 GB/s per lane (so total throughput is about 32 GB/s)

SATA, being serial, has one lane only, and tops out at 600 MB/s with SATA III.

NVMe is a "protocol" to talk to Flash drives, esp. SSD super-fast. It's not a hardware format like SATA or PCIe.

AHCI is a protocol to talk to spinning disks and works with SATA. SSDs can talk AHCI, but it's not optimal.

So if you have an M.2 port of any sort, you really want the device you attach to have NVMe to get the best performance. Most OS now has NVMe drivers built-in.

Ok, so NVMe is a given with PCIe, and and the M.2 generation is the same as the PCIe version number.

So my board and CPU support M.2 PCIe NVMe Gen4 M key 2242/2260/2280/22110 SSDs.

In other words, the board manufacturer (Assus, sic) shorthanded it (not mentioning NVMe or Gen1/2/3/4), while the SSD manufacturers shorthand it in a different way (not mentioning PCIe or revision numbers.) And all of the article writers are already so familiar with the standards that they don't realize that their audience doesn't know the two sets of terms apart.

They really need to standardize their terminology.

Thanks, Kasey.

Technically speaking NVM Express (NVMe) has just 2.0a and 2.0. There are older versions (1.4x, 1.3x, and so on).

https://nvmexpress.org/developers/nvme-specification/

M.2 is a "form factor" (like 2.5" , 3.5", and so on) and should have no "gen" or "version"

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Thu Aug 19, 2021 3:17 pm Technically speaking NVM Express (NVMe) has just 2.0a and 2.0. There are older versions (1.4x, 1.3x, and so on).

https://nvmexpress.org/developers/nvme-specification/

M.2 is a "form factor" (like 2.5" , 3.5", and so on) and should have no "gen" or "version"

Might want to let the people who name the things on the retail sites know. Those naming conventions are all over the place.