The Computer Thread

Bit better in terms of capability, that set. I've got the K-suffix version of that processor but I only got that because I like gaming and Windows 10 likes more power.

Even on Linux, games like a lot of power. Crusader Kings 2 has been a resource hog since they added India and Civilization 5 and Beyond Earth always chugged on my laptop, and then the Rising Tide patch just completely fucked it for me. This will be great for Stellaris and Hearts of Iron IV, too.

Oh, and now I can step up from 1366×768 to 1980×1080

Facebook makes my computer crash.

I smell magic in the air. Or maybe barbecue.

Speaking of, Google Play Music has been consistently crashing my Android OS when I open it, sending the phone back to the lock screen. Any suggested fix? Alcatel One Touch.

It only crashes on the first load; once I unlock the phone again, Play Music works just fine.

edited 9th Mar '16 7:55:37 AM by Yinyang107

The TV Tropes website is doing that thing again. It's like it just can't completely load. :S

I smell magic in the air. Or maybe barbecue.

I've noticed an alarming trend over the course of at least a couple months for the laptop I'm currently using where it gradually uses more processing power to do the same amount of work. I brushed it off as nothing major until it started idling at 100% processing power doing absolutely nothing but background tasks. I also noticed that it was building a hell of a lot of heat, to the point of shutting itself off after freezing repeatedly, which prompted me to do something. Not only did I need to clean a lot of dust, but I also had to replace the cooling fan inside that died for some reason (no jams or anything of the sort).

So after not only replacing the fan, cleaning the insides, applying new thermal compound, and even going so far as to purchase a cooling pad and new battery, I thought I fixed the problem...but didn't. So after hoping in vain that fixing the registry, deleting junk from the system caches, retooling how programs launch for better performance, and other tuneup actions would do something, I decided to update my BIOS and drivers...which seems to have helped somewhat, as most processing seems to have gone back to healthy levels more or less.

Thing is I feel like I missed a step or something, because even though the computer isn't burning itself to death by working hard at hardly working, it still seems to be having a harder time than it should processing the same amount of work. For one thing it's browsing the internet with a 60-70% processing strain with Steam in the background, when it used to be able to do that with only at 30-40% CPU usage. I'm honestly not sure if there's anyway to ease the strain on the CPU to somewhere near how it used to perform. I could try installing a new processing chip, but I don't think that's going to do me any good. I have to wonder if the motherboard's going bad, as this is a refurbished laptop with a warranty that expired in 2013, and it wasn't exactly anything close to Alienware.

Living The Fever Dream

Oh, that sounds really weird. The first thing I'd do is check the cpu clock frequency and compare it to the standard clock frequency for that chip. If the chips clock frequency is still around (i'm guessing 1.5ghz), then what you've got is more stuff running in the background than you probably realize. A clean install of your OS might work. Be careful to reinstall as little software as possible. You never know what it was that you installed that decided to add that one malfunctioning background process.

(windows) If that is too much, I like deleting everything from the various run and runOnce folders in the registry and anything that was nice enough to install itself into the startup folder as well. You never need those things like ever.

(windows) The task manager can have its processes sorted by CPU usage. Remember to select view all processes. Just kill the one that uses the most CPU and hope the computer keeps working. It usually does. If the process is svchost, then you are in trouble. It means a service is malfunctioning.

Well the machine is powered by an intel core duo processor at about 2.23 G Hz, and unfortunately svchost is the most heavily taxed system in the task manager. I should have also mentioned that I already ran chkdsk and had no memory-related problems, and it seems that the laptop has developed an ominous warning that it's about to force a shutdown by constantly disconnecting and reconnecting on any network. I suspect this might have been because the NIC was damaged by a thermal event, but I'm not too sure. I would try to reinstall the OS, but I'm concerned that the stupid thing will shut itself off during the reinstallation process and ruin everything.

Living The Fever Dream

I am just going to completely take a shot in the dark. Windows 7? Both stop and disable the windows update service. (You should be able to do this from services under computer management.) If that does not immediately cause your cpu usage to return to normal, then my best guess is that a hardware malfunction is causing another system service to busy-wait indefinitely.

edited 14th Mar '16 12:21:31 PM by war877

Not only did I stop and disable the Windows Update Service (if I want updates, I can find them myself thank you! Only a matter of time before they stop releasing them for Win 7 anyhow), I also did some research to find a fix for Svc Host taking up so much processing power and got an update that seems to have alleviated most of that. CPU usage appears to be mostly normal, now my only concern is how the damn internet connection on this machine only keeps disconnecting and having a very hard time reconnecting. Might I need a new Network Interface Card for its wi-fi? Iunno, I do have an external wireless adapter that used to belong to a computer I once had that's still pretty new...might need to disable whatever processes manage the wi-fi in this thing. I've already spent some money replacing parts and adding more RAM to this machine, not sure if I want to spend much more.

Living The Fever Dream

IT LIVES!

My new computer works fine and the only hitch I hit in construction is that I don't have enough 3/4-pin fan power connections to power all six fans, so for now, there's no side panel fan. Still, it's whisper quiet when at low power use (haven't had a chance to let it rip with something demanding, since I'm still redownloading games from Steam).

Only downside is that I'm going to need to return the monitor, as it has a stuck pixel and nothing I've tried seems to fix it.

In my experience, stuck pixels are always permanent.

edited 15th Mar '16 12:14:49 AM by war877

Well, turns out that what I initially thought was good had a hidden sack of shit for me to find - the audio is borked, sending me on a LONG Google expedition while I flounder for solutions to other people's similar problems and hope that one of them actually had the same one and I haven't invented a whole new fuck up.

At least it's audio instead of video this time around.

I think I've finally managed to fix my machine for good...or at the very least for the rest of the semester. I managed to fix my intermittent connectivity problems by disabling the onboard NIC and installing an external wireless adapter I used to have for an older machine. The adapter's fairly new, so it should last a while.

UPDATE: If there's any flaw for this external adapter, it's that it seems to only be able to handle so much traffic at a time. Trying to listen to music on youtube while web browsing seems to be out of the question, but I guess that's better than no internet. Plus I'm getting a new machine that's an improved model with better specs by the end of the week. Think I might keep this one as a backup in case I need it.

edited 15th Mar '16 11:03:41 AM by ParadoxialStratagem

Living The Fever Dream

How do you access audio? HDMI from your graphics card, or from a speaker port from your motherboard's onboard audio output?

I tried both. ALSA doesn't think I even have an sound card, only a "dummy output".

I've spent a good 4 hours by now trying things that fixed other people's audio, but to no avail. I can't install the Realtek drivers (make generates errors and make install doesn't fix anything), I've purged and reinstalled the entire ALSA suite like five times, reinstalled my damn kernel, and at this point, I'm installing a newer kernel because, hey, it helped someone else and I don't have any better ideas left.

Not that I can readily check on it right now, since I repacked my monitor to exchange it for one without a stuck pixel only for my car's battery to be dead and am posting from my laptop.

edited 15th Mar '16 3:02:37 PM by Balmung

Not all monitors have speakers. Are you getting no sound or bad sound?

No sound, and none through headphones, either.

Again, my computer does not think it has any sound card or other audio device. Hardware list things identify both audio devices, but no driver seems to identify the audio devices, so nothing comes out of any jack.

Holy shitsnacks. I have no earthly idea why that worked, but upgrading from the 3.19.xxx kernel to the 4.3.xxx kernel fixed my sound. No idea if the HDMI sound is working, but I don't care because I'm using the 3.5mm outputs. And the front jack works, too! I never got that one working on my first desktop, and I don't think I pulled it off when helping with my friend's desktop build either.

And I got my monitor replaced with one that doesn't have a stuck pixel.

The old laptop is officially obsolete.

edited 15th Mar '16 5:01:12 PM by Balmung

The driver probably needed some kind of support from the kernel that wasn't in the old version.

Fresh-eyed movie blog

Speaking of sound, my speakers make a buzzing no use at certain frequencies, most notable whenever a projectile is fired in a game, any idea what's wrong?

If they are cheap speakers, that could be a low quality reverberator inside the speaker. NVM, I know nothing about speakers.

edited 15th Mar '16 5:53:19 PM by war877

Hmm... I'm not an expert on speakers (I'm still using a pair of 20 year old Altec Lansing stereo speakers), but is it just your speakers, or does the same happen if you use headphones or a different pair of speakers?

---

Oh wow, I did not realize just how big a 24" screen would be when it's right up in my face until I got my now operational computer up on my desk and compared to the 16" laptop screen I've been using for six years, it's like a goddamn IMAX.

edited 15th Mar '16 9:08:28 PM by Balmung

Its the speakers themselfs yes, using the old USB pair, or headsets does not have the issue, and they were not a really cheap pair no.

edited 15th Mar '16 9:18:11 PM by Imca

If you listen to them loud: Put a stack of napkins under them (assuming they are small enough to do so), in order to eliminate the table they are on as the cause. (yes, that can happen) Also test them at a lower volume. If the problem goes away, it is almost certainly not a software or wiring problem.

edited 15th Mar '16 9:22:30 PM by war877