I own a repair shop and use USB to SATA adapters all the time. Sector scans, imaging/cloning, and booting live environments.
It has less to do with the medium and more to do with the quality of your chosen adapter.
I have one of the adapter you pictured, ordered it to test it out because it was comparatively low cost. Did not order more.
I have about a dozen of the Sabrent adapters and they see daily use.
USB can actually be ideal in some data recovery scenarios. HDDSuperClone / OpenSuperClone support a relay mode that turns a disk off and back on to regain access after they drop out, and that is reliant on a USB connection.
Discord has evolved from more or less being a series of chatrooms (like IRC) to having “threads” that work a lot like how a forum would typically be used.
In the repair community, a lot of conversation about component level repair has moved to Discord channels. Sites like badcaps.net or the Rossmann group forums have comparatively low usage. Nested away in Discord, this information doesn’t show up in search engine results and can’t be archived by web crawlers. When a Discord server is deleted or made private, that information is forever lost.
Working in IT Support, the fact that Outlook refers to webmail and two distinct email clients makes understanding user’s problems a nightmare.
useless
pre-7th gen i5’s
I’ve got systems with second and third gen i5s that are handling Windows 10 just fine, seems like what the school really needs is some SSDs.
Linux would definitely run better, so that’s worth it too.
If this school is heavily embedded im the Google ecosystem, ChromeOS Flex is an option. FydeOS is similar but without the Google Account requirement.
*stressed depressed lemon zest
They had (or maybe still have) an extended warranty / free replacement program for this issue
What’s uniquely “proprietary” about Apple’s hardware that distinguishes it from a Dell or Lenovo PC?
Well, for starters, they design their own A_X_ and M_X_ silicon. When they were using Intel x86_64 silicon, the T_X_ security coprocessors were also custom / proprietary.
Consoles are all using custom AMD APUs that are still x86_64 based, so they have more in common with a Dell/Lenovo PC than anything Apple makes. Apple’s entire hardware lineup is about as proprietary as it gets.
Yes
::: spoiler Is having to use spoiler tags really that inconvenient? :::
Yes, though whether or not it’s economical to do so will depend on local economics where you are.
If you bought the card new yourself, it likely would have come with at least a 3 year warranty.
If I understand correctly, you’re getting a sudden loss of signal to the monitor but the rest of your system remains powered on (fans, lights, maybe capslock is also still responsive).
An abrupt full system shutdown is often the result of a thermal or power problem. If a component (CPU, GPU) overheats or the power supply is asked to deliver more power than it is able to, everything will cut out.
Others are citing thermal issues and there is merit in checking your temperatures but that is not likely to be the case here because of what I just listed. I would also add that an overheated GPU will be able to power on again within minutes, not an hour, after the shutdown event.
Symptoms point to a likely defective GPU. The most common point of failure is the VRAM. You can find and run Nvidia MATS/MODS diagnostic software to test the card’s memory and confirm whether or not that is what’s happening.
Ultimately, troubleshooting is a matter of isolating problems and the best way to isolate a hardware issue is by substituting in supplemental hardware.
If you’re able to replicate the issue fairly quickly (e.g by running a benchmark program to force the card to drop out), you might start with the power supply since it’s usually the cheaper component to replace.
Mine didn’t come with a case, it’s a very simple circuit so not much concern of ESD causing a problem.
It basically just runs power through every pin on the cable to illuminate corresponding LEDs.
Here’s the one I use: https://treedix.com/products/treedix-usb-cable-tester-board-usb-cable-checker-data-wire-with-acrylic-case-charging-test-data-line-type-c-micro-type-a-type-b
The exposed pads are also fantastic to break out data lines for measurement when performing electronics repairs.
There are superior versions of this that include every physical USB port (A, B, C, Micro, Mini, and even lightning) so that you can test any cable instead of just type C to type C.
Awesome breakdown and troubleshooting so far!
I wonder if the previous owner removed the battery because of this issue in the first place.
The fact that the flickering is full-width bands that don’t appear in screenshots indicates to me that this is a signal issue to or through the display.
An important variable to pay attention to and experiment with is the display’s refresh rate. It’s possible that is what is changing with and without the battery, though you most likely would have noticed if that were the case.
Since the problem varies based on battery presence, it would be appropriate to source a replacement battery - especially if you purchased a cheap aftermarket battery. The real deal for your system is available for $80USD from Parts People compared to $20-$40USD for low quality Amazon junk.
After the battery, my main suspicion is a fault on the mainboard leaking voltage from the battery circuit and affecting the display signals. Even without the infrequency of the problem that would be tricky to isolate and remedy.
Overall, this screams hardware issue and I don’t believe you will find a software trace of it. The problem is not visible in screenshots, so the software environment does not know that it exists.
A software approach to a hardware problem is an exercise in futility.
Test your memory with Memtest86
Test your disks too. badblocks is a Linux utility. I like the Victoria and HDDScan Windows programs because they’re less pass/fail in their reporting - you can see that a disk is degraded even if all of the sectors technically respond.
I own a repair shop and routinely order from Newegg, Amazon, BHPhoto, Best Buy, and many other vendors. We don’t have any more problems with Newegg than any other vendor, so from my perspective they’re still fine. Amazon has the most flexible and convenient return policy of the bunch.
That motherboard has a single M.2 slot, so as long as the case you choose accommodates them you’d be using SATA 2.5” drives.
Cool thing about PCPartPicker is that it filters for compatibility when browsing parts options and there are tons of filters in the sidebar while you’re browsing. If you want to omit certain vendors, you can deselect them or even create an account and permanently disable them account wide.
Not quite what you’re getting at, but the entirety of Wikipedia without images is available as a 20-30GB download: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Database_download
You should, it’s quite powerful and can work in tandem with both DMDE and UFS Explorer!
Power cycling the drive reboots and reinitializes it. I’ve mostly seen it with SSDs - you get a few dozen MB worth of reads before it drops out, unplugging and reconnecting a SATA power connector that many times would be real tedious so you automate it with a relay.