Thanks.  Due to UPS on all the computers, we had orderly shutdowns all around.

Mine will run my computer (and internet modem/router) through about an hour power drop, but if it's off more than ten minutes or so we shut down and transfer the battery units to the aquarium (and we don't need to run the heater unless it's down overnight, so that draws a good bit less than a computer).  Partner's UPS has a bigger battery than mine, but two iMacs and a Mac Mini (plus their monitors, one of which is a Wacom tablet screen) draw a bit more power than my single computer, which automatically shuts down BOINC tasks when on battery so goes to a pretty low idle draw.

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 224):

I am going on vacation and will be afk for a week

Sounds very reasonable... hopefully your family gets some rest and recuperation.

I'll be traveling for the next week or so.

In reply to Berry (msg # 227):

be safe and enjoy

In reply to Narrator (msg # 228):

Oly messaged me to say his internet line has been cut, and is restricted to phone posting on very rare occasions until it is rectified. It seems unlikely to be before next Friday though.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:38, Fri 02 Dec 2022.

In reply to Christine Bjorn (msg # 229):

aw crap

I am good now, fixed faster than they saidthey could ... for how long? Not sure, but so long as they keep the idiots with back hoes away!

I've got computer problems -- main desktop machine failed an upgrade and wouldn't boot after, now after being turned off for almost 24 hours it won't even power on.  Looks like a power supply problem is the first issue to solve.

I've got a laptop (with a hazardously outdated operating system, but it works) -- problem is, my current character sheets are only on the desktop machine and I've been remiss in updating the ones stored here.  So, I can get in here and play, more or less, but I may be a little fuzzy on what I'm carrying, how exhausted/wounded characters are, etc.

I'll try to continue to check in, but it's likely to be Christmas weekend before I have everything fixed.

This affects Ardenas Barehand, Aldous Hack, Chou-Zhen Mou, Frog sisters, Mario Crowfoot, and Virgilio Hohlfeld.

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 232):

yikes! I hope you are able to recover everything else on that computer.

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 232):

I had a similar thing a couple of months ago. It was the main power cable.
Worth checking before stripping things down again!
Lots cheaper to fix than the other options

My data's safe, boss -- I learned LONG ago to partition my storage and put the data in different volumes from the operating system.  I just have to get to it -- get the machine to start up again, and then fix the operating system.


Thanks for the suggestion, Hannatti; I think I have a spare power cable around so I'll be sure to check that before I spend $80-$85 on a power supply.

You're very welcome!
Good luck

Maybe let me know how it goes?

I'll update here.  Gotta dig up that cord...

Okay, it wasn't the power cord; I'm currently running a new power supply with the same old power cord (because it's a PITA to crawl under my desk to thread a new one to the UPS).

And for future reference, the only practical difference between a 500W and 700W power supply is number of 12V accessory connectors.  Each one of those connectors has the same current limit, so if you haven't upgraded your motherboard, video card, or case fan (that runs on direct power supply connection, unlike mine that piggybacks on an old school hard disk power connector), there's nothing gained by going to a higher rated power supply vs. the old one (if it failed, it was probably just component aging or power condition related component damage -- in my case, the dead one had run almost continuously for about six years since my last hardware rebuild, three or four of those years before I got a UPS).

Anyway, the machine is back up; after installing the power supply I had to rerun the Kubuntu 22.04 installer (three times, as it turned out; something damaged my boot loader, then Boot Repair erased a bunch of stuff so I reinstalled to be sure I wasn't missing anything critical, and both of those times I had the wrong username so my old desktop settings and such weren't picked up).

But now I have everything working, my SeaMonkey bookmarks were preserved (meaning that config file, at least, wasn't harmed), and I've gotten critical items reinstalled.  I'll probably be finding and reinstalling third party software I need for the next several weeks, depending how frequently I use a particular package, but the core is done.

Sounds like a good job done well. Congrats!!

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 238):

Job well done!

In reply to Christine Bjorn (msg # 240):

impressive and beyond my skillset!

Honestly, every time I upgrade this, it borders on exceeding my skillset.  Linux isn't really designed for "users" as much as for "gurus" and it doesn't hold your hand the way Windows does.  Then again, it doesn't look over your shoulder the way Windows might, or decide it knows better than you how you want your computer to look or act (like both Windows and Mac do).

And yet, somehow, every time I ask for advice on why the upgrade doesn't work, all I get is "it works perfectly if you only use software in the Ubuntu repositories" followed by "well, if you choose to use software from third parties, it's up to you to determine if it'll work."  Also, "the upgrader is tested to be flawless with only repository packages."

Near as I can figure, every one of these individualists is just like the next; none of them use, say, Vuescan to get images from film to hard disk, or want/need the newest version of Skype instead of the one supplied by the repositories (which in the past has gotten so far out of date before the OS loses support that it can't even log in).

Which is to say, this is more like driving an old farm truck that requires significant banging stuff under the hood with a hammer, than like even driving a reasonably new Ford, never mind a brand new Lexus.

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 242):

Linux systems are all the same so much more stable when you get it right though.

But they aren't "all the same".  Even the clones use different apps, one guy writes novels and has Organon installed, another guy does a lot of digital art so has Inkscape as well as GIMP (from a Snap, because the one in the repo is years out of date), or runs a VM with a cracked Windows 10/11 inside to be able to use a pirated copy of Photoshop.

"We can't test against every third party app, we don't have the resources Microsoft has and can't control what you're allowed to install like Apple tries to."

Hell, they even make it near impossible for someone who isn't a developer to file a bug report, asking for details like system logs I don't even know where to find (instead of automating that as part of the automatic crash reporter -- which asks for the same things).

Sometimes it seems like Canonical is trying to create a closed ecosystem like MacOS or iOS -- and completely failing at it.  Other times, it seems like the Wild West and my Peacemaker has just jammed up from too much powder fouling on the pivot pin...

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 244):

Pretty sure Linux still has programs, not apps...but software is unique for all computers. Even Mac systems have different software...

As I remember, Mac and Windows just crashed, and did not bother sending a bug report half the time. With Linux, just reboot, and you are good to go...the autosave does most of the rest. I don't want to talk about the hours and days lost on Microsoft machines because a crash locked me out of the backup forever...

I made the decision to abandon Windows when XP was still "supported" but after I had to remove the FBI Moneypak malware a second time.  I actually made the jump after determining that my (then) one "killer app", the client for There.com, could be installed and run well under Wine (there never was an official There client for any platform except Windows).  Since I'm not much of a gamer, other games not running well on Linux wasn't ever a big deal, and now most Steam games can run under Steam's Proton flavor of Wine even if they don't have an actual Linux version.

I've never really taken to VMs, though.  If I can't run it natively in Kubuntu, I probably won't bother.  Hence I haven't played another game from Cyan Worlds since Uru (which does/did run well under Wine).  I've also never really mastered the process of figuring out what Winetricks are needed to make a Windows app run well, so I pretty well stick to stuff that's been tested and the tricks worked out -- but again, since I'm not much of a "gamer" it rarely matters to me.

On the other hand, Vuescan (controls my Epson scanner, for which there has never been Linux software from Epson) is critical, along with GIMP and sometimes Inkscape.  Also GCS, but I've already got that up and running (along with full access to my character sheets again).

Semantically, "app" is short for "application" which every operating system has -- and to paraphrase grade school geometry, every application is a program, but not all programs are applications.

Well, there's no question now that I have a hardware problem; I was getting well along in restoring my preferred setup (slightly modified by stuff that was changed or eliminated in the new Kubuntu version), and then this morning the computer started spontaneously restarting.  I thought it was a thermal problem, so I throttled my BOINC distributed computing tasks, and when the problem recurred again, I unplugged everything external to the tower, hauled it out on the front porch, and used a dog dryer to blow (almost) all the dust out of it.

After which it wouldn't start; the front panel power light and graphics card show-off lighting comes on, the fans run, and the platter hard drive spins up (I can hear it), but POST doesn't complete.

I suspect either the new power supply is defective (unlikely, but possible) or the six year old motherboard has crapped out.  Not looking forward to $500 or more to replace MB, CPU, CPU cooler, and RAM (RAM may not need replaced if the new MB can used DDR3 1600).  Unfortunately, I have no way to test whether it's MB or power supply other than replace stuff until it works.

So, I'll be back on the laptop for, at a guess, at least a week.

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 247):
Ouch! poor you