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Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>: Jun 09 10:20AM -0700 On Fri, 9 Jun 2017 07:01:08 +1000, Trevor Wilson   >**My Windows 10 laptop boots in less than 30 seconds, is speedy and easy >to use. It is MUCH faster than any Win XP machine I've owned. All done >without an SSD too.   It boots that fast because it never really shut down. Try disabling Windoze 10 "fast startup" feature and time how long it takes when it has to load everything from scratch: <https://in.answers.acer.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/37059/~/windows-10%3A-enable-or-disable-fast-startup>   -- Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Trevor Wilson <trevor@SPAMBLOCKrageaudio.com.au>: Jun 10 02:41PM +1000 On 10/06/2017 3:20 AM, Jeff Liebermann wrote: > Windoze 10 "fast startup" feature and time how long it takes when it > has to load everything from scratch: > <https://in.answers.acer.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/37059/~/windows-10%3A-enable-or-disable-fast-startup>   **Are you suggesting that Windows 10 is, somehow, magically operating on my laptop? A laptop, I might add, that has the battery removed, because I only run it on mains power? AFAIK, when I switch on a laptop, which has no battery connected, then that qualifies as a 'cold boot'.   -- Trevor Wilson www.rageaudio.com.au

rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com>: Jun 10 12:48AM -0400 Trevor Wilson wrote on 6/10/2017 12:41 AM: > laptop? A laptop, I might add, that has the battery removed, because I only > run it on mains power? AFAIK, when I switch on a laptop, which has no > battery connected, then that qualifies as a 'cold boot'.   My laptop manages to "cold boot" from the saved image on the hard drive that was saved the last time I turned it off. I think they call that hibernate rather than sleep. But I believe what Jeff is talking about is something similar, but automatic rather than you having to set it to hibernate when powering off. I'm using Win8.   --   Rick C

Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>: Jun 10 12:18AM -0700 On Sat, 10 Jun 2017 14:41:43 +1000, Trevor Wilson >> <https://in.answers.acer.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/37059/~/windows-10%3A-enable-or-disable-fast-startup>   >**Are you suggesting that Windows 10 is, somehow, magically operating on >my laptop?   Well, yes. You stated: "**My Windows 10 laptop boots in less than 30 seconds..." which suggests that your laptop is under the control of Microsoft Windoze 10. Further resistance is futile. You have been assimilated.   >A laptop, I might add, that has the battery removed, because >I only run it on mains power?   Unless you have the power management set to reduce the CPU speed when running on battery, your laptop should operate at the same speed on either battery or mains power. I've run my own benchmarks comparing XP and Win 10. However, the comparison isn't fair. I never could get 64 bit Windoze XP to work reliably, so all my XP machines are running 32 bit. Most of my Win 10 machines are running 64 bit. The machines that were intentionally or surreptitiously upgraded ran a mix of 32 and 64 bit Win 10. The difference in speed between 32 and 64 bit Win 10 was sufficient for me to justify loading 64bit Win 10 from scratch. So, if you're comparing the speed of XP and Win 10, you're comparing a 32 bit XP, which is limited to 3.5GB of RAM, with 64 bit Win 10 which can use far more RAM. Apples and oranges.   >AFAIK, when I switch on a laptop, which >has no battery connected, then that qualifies as a 'cold boot'.   Methinks we have different definitions of "cold boot". I'm referring to the time it takes from starting the laptop from a power off state to when it is ready to use. When you disable "fast startup", a similar hardware XP machine should boot at approximately the same speed, mostly depending on how many background programs need to be started.   What the "fast startup" feature does (which incidentally is enabled by default in Windoze 10) only partly shuts down when you turn off the computah. This explains it better than I can: <https://www.howtogeek.com/243901/the-pros-and-cons-of-windows-10s-fast-startup-mode/> Windoze 8.1 has the same features (which incidentally are disabled by default) but with slightly different feature names: <http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/windows-and-office/how-windows-8-hybrid-shutdown-fast-boot-feature-works/>   Opinions vary on whether "fast startup" is a good or bad thing. In general, I find it beneficial and harmless on most systems. However, about once a month, I get a customer call for various boot time errors that are eventually traced to "fast startup" and are cleared by doing a full shutdown. I also have similar problems when running Win 10 inside a virtual machine (both VMware and Virtual Box). So far, nobody has lost data, so I think you're safe to leave it running[1].   Nine different ways to do a full (and other) shutdowns in Win 10: <https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/7418-shut-down-computer-windows-10-a.html>   Note that if you have "fast startup" enabled, and turn off your computah, you cannot force it to do a full boot. You have to do the full shutdown first, before it will load everything from scratch.   If you need more detail, please ask. It's midnight and I've had a long day which included living on party food. I expect to survive but right now, my brain is almost off-line.     [1] I turn off "fast startup" and sell my customers an SSD if they want more speed. In general, an SSD will make everything go 3X to 5X faster.       -- Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

bruce2bowser@gmail.com: Jun 10 12:53AM -0700 >to exchangeable tokens. "Why would I give you these nice >vegetables for this inscribed chunk of clay, or that paper?"   >That's all cash is, tokens. That's all Bitcoins are, too.   But dogs can't smell bitcoins.

Trevor Wilson <trevor@SPAMBLOCKrageaudio.com.au>: Jun 10 07:57PM +1000 On 10/06/2017 5:18 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:   > Unless you have the power management set to reduce the CPU speed when > running on battery, your laptop should operate at the same speed on > either battery or mains power.   **You're not reading what I wrote. I do not operate my laptop with the battery installed. It operates only on mains power. It cold boots in around 30 seconds.     I've run my own benchmarks comparing > Windoze 8.1 has the same features (which incidentally are disabled by > default) but with slightly different feature names: > <http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/windows-and-office/how-windows-8-hybrid-shutdown-fast-boot-feature-works/>   **I didn't read any of your cites (though I may do later), because, I assume, that feature doesn't apply to a laptop which has no battery installed. Feel free to correct my assumption.     > Note that if you have "fast startup" enabled, and turn off your > computah, you cannot force it to do a full boot. You have to do the > full shutdown first, before it will load everything from scratch.   **I'll check to see if it enabled or not.     > [1] I turn off "fast startup" and sell my customers an SSD if they > want more speed. In general, an SSD will make everything go 3X to 5X > faster.   **Sure does. I installed an SSD in my Win 7 desktop machine (first gen i5 CPU) and it hums along quite nicely. Boot times are quite respectable, but nowhere near as quick as my laptop (5th or 6th gen i5 CPU).     -- Trevor Wilson www.rageaudio.com.au

Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>: Jun 10 08:55AM -0700 On Sat, 10 Jun 2017 19:57:55 +1000, Trevor Wilson   >**You're not reading what I wrote. I do not operate my laptop with the >battery installed. It operates only on mains power. It cold boots in >around 30 seconds.   Trust me. I even read between your lines. If your laptop is booting at what I would consider to be an unusually high speed, then something is going on to make that happen. Unfortunately, few of my Win 10 customers remove their laptop batteries when shutting down, so I don't have any personal experience in how this works. My guess(tm) is that "fast startup" does not write the entire memory image to your hard disk drive as in hibernate, but instead writes only those parts of memory that have changed since the last memory image was written. That would really speed up shutdown and startup. I'll play with it when I get back to my palatial office on Monday.   Meanwhile, just try disabling "fast startup" and compare the boot times. I predict that a normal cold boot will take quite a bit a bit longer with "fast startup" disabled.   >**I didn't read any of your cites (though I may do later), because, I >assume, that feature doesn't apply to a laptop which has no battery >installed. Feel free to correct my assumption.   Gladly, but not today. I need a Win 10 machine and all I have are XP, Win 7 and several Chromebooks at home. Monday or Tues please. There should also be an explanation of how "fast startup" works on the MSDN (Microsoft Developers Network). I'll see if I can find it later tonite.   >i5 CPU) and it hums along quite nicely. Boot times are quite >respectable, but nowhere near as quick as my laptop (5th or 6th gen i5 >CPU).   Win 7 does NOT have the Win 10 "fast startup" or the Win 8.1 "fast boot" feature. Unless you have hibernate enabled or have performed some of the Win 7 boot tweaks found on YouTube and elsewhere, Win 7 boots normally (cold boot) every time.       -- Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>: Jun 09 11:02AM -0700 On Fri, 09 Jun 2017 09:16:52 -0700, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com> wrote: (...)   A bit more on the cost of a replacement capacitor. A company that I worked for in about 1977 was having a similar issue selling replacement and repair components to its dealers. So, I calculated what it cost the company to sell an empty box. That's a repair component that costs zero dollars to purchase and requires no manufacturing. However, it does carry all the overhead involved in shipping a product, such as incoming inspection, QA inspection, inventory control, warehousing, packing, order taking, boxing, documentation, billing, handling, etc. I estimated $75 cost to shipping (not including postage). My guess(tm) is that it would be about 4 times that (due mostly to increased overhead and inflation) today. That would be $300 to ship an empty box today, which is about what Marconi is charging.   We "solved" the problem by offering the dealers almost any quantity of the smaller parts involved for about the same price. Or, we would throw in a handful of random floor sweepings with a little of everything we thought might be useful. Either way, the minimum price to ship anything remained at $75.   -- Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Winfield Hill <hill@rowland.harvard.edu>: Jun 09 11:02AM -0700 Bert Hickman wrote...   > Our 170 pound energy discharge capacitors, each 70 uF > at 12 kVDC: >http://capturedlightning.com/photos/Energy_Discharge_Caps/MAXCAP3.JPG   Whoa, you have 11 of them! My caps look like those.     -- Thanks, - Win

Cursitor Doom <curd@notformail.com>: Jun 09 06:43PM On Fri, 09 Jun 2017 08:00:30 -0400, bitrex wrote:   > used a 1N4002 in this one mass-produced rack effects box when a 1N4001 > would've been fine from a ratings perspective and it's cuz "that's what > they use in everything"   That, unlike most everything else you post, makes sense.

Cursitor Doom <curd@notformail.com>: Jun 09 10:20PM On Fri, 09 Jun 2017 09:16:52 -0700, Jeff Liebermann wrote: > replacement physically smaller capacitor inside the can, connecting the > capacitor leads to the base to match the original. Solder it back onto > the PCB and you're done.   An old friend of mine who collected vintage broadcast radios would use this technique when re-furbing them to keep up the appearance of originality. I never considered doing this with non-classic gear before, but it does make sense as the existing through holes can be used without needing to accommodate the different lead spacings of the new component. Thank you, Jeff.

bitrex <bitrex@de.lete.earthlink.net>: Jun 09 06:32PM -0400 On 06/09/2017 02:43 PM, Cursitor Doom wrote: >> would've been fine from a ratings perspective and it's cuz "that's what >> they use in everything"   > That, unlike most everything else you post, makes sense.   I may be a "communist", but I do understand economies of scale. Build everything out of LM324s, TL431s, and 555 timers if you can, so long as it meets the spec.   The old '324 and 555 are sort of disparaged around here, but there's a reason they're made in their billions each year and it's not because of sales driven by hobbyists.   I think the reason a lot of software is so bad is because lines of code are basically free. Hey! There's a library for that, don't "reinvent the wheel." So what if it's 40,000 lines long and was written by God knows who

Ralph Barone <ralph@invalid.com>: Jun 09 11:19PM > sections so maybe it's not technically true to say "bigger capacitor" > (singular). :^) Ratings were around 100s uF, 2000V, lots of amps.   > Tim   66 uF, 276 kV, 3000 A but that was an aggregation of multiple cans.

Cursitor Doom <curd@notformail.com>: Jun 10 11:27AM On Fri, 09 Jun 2017 18:32:35 -0400, bitrex wrote:   > are basically free. Hey! There's a library for that, don't "reinvent the > wheel." So what if it's 40,000 lines long and was written by God knows > who   Er, yes, good point but not sure what it's got to do with the subject matter of this thread.

Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>: Jun 09 10:16AM -0700 On Wed, 31 May 2017 14:29:47 +0200, Miguel Giménez <me@privacy.net> wrote:     >Why this happen? Do I need to adjust laser current after change? Are >they basically unreliable?   >TIA   This might be more than what you might want: "List of failure modes and mechanisms in Laser Diodes" <http://www.diee.unica.it/~vanzi/ListFailures1of2.pdf> This is from 2004, so some things will be out of date. The chart on Pg 2 showing various failure mechanism might be a good start. I haven't had time to read through the report.   What little post mortem testing I've done seems to point to a deterioration in laser output, but I've never investigated further and some crude measurements using a flat photodiode as a light meter.   This may also be helpful: "Notes on the Troubleshooting and Repair of Compact Disc Players and CDROM Drives" <https://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_cdfaqd.html>   -- Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>: Jun 09 09:58AM -0700 >spectacle of himself. The madness comes out. Regularly. I try to learn >from everyone, but I wouldn't want to work with him. >NT   You probably would not want to work with or for me. I really don't care who's right or wrong. When such discussions would appear, I ask that discussion of the problem at hand be temporarily terminated, and that we only discuss who is at fault. After about 15 minutes of watching everyone involved make complete fools of themselves, they usually get the clue, and the tribunal mode doesn't resurface.   Things become more difficult when dealing with foreign educated engineers, where admitting that they are mistaken is a mortal insult and should be avoided at all cost. Getting them to abandon a lifetime of covering their ass is difficult, but not impossible.   More recently, I've been involved in a few virtual companies, where the participants are scattered all over the planet and in some cases have never met. The distances involved and medium of communications tends to amplify personality conflicts and differences of opinion, which are sometimes considered mistakes. I have directories of saved project emails that make Phil's colorful comments read like praise and compliments. There are ways to prevent such things from getting out of hand. I used one of them on you in my previous message.   As for "the madness comes out", you don't understand the problem until you have worked with the extremes of what you might consider madness. I had to work with a technician who was in some program that distilled to "get a job or go back to jail". I was seriously worried that he would try to kill me if there was a disagreement. In the end, we discovered that he was quite good at programming and I used him to build and program an automated test system for a product that I was helping design.   I have other less extreme example if you need them. In most cases, I was able to successfully work with what would normally be considered very difficult co-workers. The trick was to spend the time trying to understand their motivations, inspirations, and what makes them tick. In the previous example, the tech had failed at literally everything he tried doing, and was in critical need of any success to boost his pride and self-esteem.   I don't know what makes Phil run. I also don't care. If I did know, I wouldn't discuss it in public because they have nothing to do with the repair problems under discussion. All I care is that he continue to produce correct answers and offer useful experiences. Behind the keyboard, he could be the reincarnation of Vlad the Impaler, and I would still say nice things about his troubleshooting and experience.     -- Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

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