Comment by PunchyHamster
3 months ago
> Several years later I learned that Dell computers had larger-than-reasonable analog component problems because Dell sourced the absolute cheapest stuff for their computers; I expect that was also a cause.
Case in point: I was getting memory errors on my gaming machine, that persisted even after replacing the sticks. It caused windows bluesreen maybe once a month so I kinda lived with it as I couldn't afford to replace whole setup (I theoretized something on motherboard is wrong)
Then my power supply finally died (it was cheap-ish, not cheap-est but it had few years already). I replaced it, lo and behold, memory errors were gone
I'm surprised "faulty PSU" is not on GP's list of common problems. Almost every unstable computer I've ever experienced has been due to either a dying PSU (not an under-specced one) or dying power conversion capacitors on the motherboard.
There's a Polish electronics forum that's infamous because it's kind of actively hostile to them noobs. "Blacklisted power supply, closing thread." is a micro meme at this point.
Ye some of the weirdest issues I've fixed have been PSU related.
I had a PC come to me that would boot fine, but if you opened the CD drive it'd shut off instantly.
Used to repair PCs in the mid 90s. Had guy come in with right mouse button not working suddenly. Replaced mouse. No go. Replaced motherboard, CPU, RAM, reinstalled Windows. No go. Changed the PSU. Right mouse button worked.
I concur. A lot of “flakey” issues can be traced to poor quality power supplies. That’s a component that doesn’t get any attention in spec sheets other than a max power rating and I think a lot of manufacturers skimp there. As long as the system boots up and runs for a few minutes, they ship it.
Heck, even dirty power from the wall can contribute. I've seen improvements in stability from putting things behind power conditioners.
1 reply →
I could see that:
- Firefox may be more prevalent on those using Linux, since FF is less “corporate” than Chrome or Edge.
- People using Linux are probably putting Linux on old machines that had versions of Windows that are no longer supported.
However, what I can’t say next is “PSUs would get old and stop putting out as much” because that doesn’t tend to happen. They just die.
Those running Linux on some old tower may hook up too many devices to an underpowered PSU which could cause problems, but I doubt this is the norm.
If it’s not PSUs, what is it? It’s not electromagnetic radiation doing the bitflipping because that’s too rare.
Maybe bitflips could be caused by low-quality peripherals.
People also don’t vacuum out laptops like they used to vacuum out towers and desktops, so maybe it’s dust.
Or maybe it’s all a ruse and FF is buggy, but they don’t have time to figure it out.
>> People using Linux are probably putting Linux on old machines
Maybe for linux noobs. But i would suggest that most linux users are not noobs booting a disused pentium from a live CD. They are running linux on the same hardware as windows users. I would further suggest that as anyone installing a not-windows OS is more tech savvy than the average, that linux users actually take better care of thier machines. Linux users take pride in thier machines whereas the average windows user barely knows that computers have fans.
As any linux user for thier specifications and they will quote system reports and memory figues like Marisa Tomei discussing engine timings. Ask a random windows user and they will probably start with the name of the store that sold it.
2 replies →
It's the powerhouse of the dell :p
yeah dell consumer pc psus were so awful
Which is kinda crazy to me, in light of how durable their business laptops have been in my experience. I’ve owned maybe 6 pc laptops in my career, and the only 2 that’ve survived that nearly 20 year space are both dells.
1 reply →