Increase Rear Traction!!1!

"zeontestpilot" (zeontestpilot)
08/21/2018 at 07:31 • Filed to: None

Lately one of my hobbies has been computers and networking. And since I’m heavily restricted in the funds department, I posted on FB (to family and friends) that if they had old computer items, I’d love to take it off their hands, scavenge it for parts, then properly dispose of the leftovers. Someone really took me up on that.

A family member works at McDonalds. Apparently they are renovating and chucked 6 Panasonic POS computers into the garbage. She grabbed them for me.

I will say one thing, I could instantly feel the difference driving with this full load. I even had an hour trip back home with this increased load. I had to drive extra careful because it took longer to speed up and longer to slow down. I don’t envy semi truck drivers with their large trailers .

In the end, I got x6 hard drives (80 G, 250 G, and x4 160 G); x6 sticks of 2 GB DDR2 ram (all may not work though); and x6 screens with neither hdmi, vga, or dvi input. Overall, I’m happy with what I got, and I can definitely reuse the parts.

DISCUSSION (22)

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > zeontestpilot
08/21/2018 at 08:04

Cool, I do the same kinda stuff - computer repair and tutoring on the side apart from my 3 jobs. :)

I try not to get anything TOO ancient, but slightly older stuff is fine as I install Linux on them and resell them rather than Windows (not like I have a million Windows license keys laying around, and Linux is free and works great on older hardware). You know, computers that aren’t gaming machines, but would be fine for everyday stuff like email, Youtube, Netflix, and that sort of basic thing. People seem to have been happy enough so far! :)

Echo51 > zeontestpilot
08/21/2018 at 08:06

Take one of the screens apart and play with the polarized/other plastic layers in them!

pip bip - choose Corrour > zeontestpilot
08/21/2018 at 08:08

i look at stuff like that and have no idea.

Maxima Speed > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
08/21/2018 at 08:09

Linux!!!!!!

functionoverfashion > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
08/21/2018 at 08:15

What is your go-to version of Linux? I’ve only used it once, but I’m intrigued. I didn’t do much homework, but I was able to install a dual-boot thing on my late-model chromebook to just try out Linux. Mostly, I found it was just harder to do everything I wanted to do, but maybe that’s because I had no clue what I was doing. I actually work in IT but support windows and mac systems across a whole university, so I have enough trouble keeping up with all the things we have without delving into linux.

zeontestpilot > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
08/21/2018 at 08:16

All computer here, except one, has some form of Linux on it. For me, it's easier to manage, debug, and fix.

zeontestpilot > functionoverfashion
08/21/2018 at 08:20

At work I use red hat 7. At home, I use ubuntu 16.04 LTS. Though for computers that don’t have a lot of ram, I use the lightweight OS Ubuntu Mate.

For me, it really depends on the specs of the computer. If I'm under 4 GB or ram, I choose either a 32 bit OS or a lightweight OS. If I have 4 GB or higher, I choose a 64 bit OS. I stick in the ubuntu family though, because the layout is the same for each company. Granted, I currently have 4 desktops up and running, with an additional two laptops. All but one run some form of Linux.

zeontestpilot > Echo51
08/21/2018 at 08:22

I was curious if I could reuse them, as in mount them to the wall. Supposedly it’s using VGA, but the connection might be proprietary; as it can support the power, the backlight, the input of the vga, and the output of the touch screen. Shown below.

Kinja'd!!!

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > functionoverfashion
08/21/2018 at 08:24

I have a Core i7 Win10-only desktop for gaming and the like, never really have any problem with Windows. :)

I got into Linux for the fun of tinkering, and run Linux Mint 19 MATE 64-bit as the only OS on my spare Intel Core 2 Duo desktop and my daily-use HP laptop.

There are a few things that can be a pain (like a lot of printer companies don’t provider Linux drivers for their hardware - HP has GREAT Linux support though, FYI!), but otherwise I’ve really had no issues doing anything I’ve wanted to do. Linux has Samba support as well, so my spare desktop and laptop are networked with my Windows PC as well and I can copy files from both to each other over the net wo rk no problem. Windows programs won’t run on Linux (other than some through the WINE emulator, but it can be very buggy so I’ve never tried it), but there are decent equivalents for pretty much everything. Krita or GIMP are good alternatives to Photoshop, for example. Yes, there’s a learning curve a bit, but if you’re an IT tech, I imagine it really wouldn’t be much trouble for you. Give it a shot sometime! :)

zeontestpilot > pip bip - choose Corrour
08/21/2018 at 08:24

I think of it like this, it’s made up of multiple components. It’s just a matter of figuring out the main items and how they operate together. Sort of like how a car works.

pip bip - choose Corrour > zeontestpilot
08/21/2018 at 08:40

my brain just can’t cope with it.

all the tech and jargon leaves me bamboozled

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > zeontestpilot
08/21/2018 at 09:01

Linux Mint is Ubuntu based....when I first started tinkering, it was with Ubuntu, but I dropped it when they switched from GNOME to Unity because I couldn’t stand Unity. I don’t know a lot of command line stuff, but I do use the commands for installing and removing packages a lot, so I stuck with an Ubuntu based distro for that reason, partially, and also because Ubuntu always seemed to work pretty well.

I usually do Mint MATE 64-bit if the computer is decent enough spec, but if it’s a bit lower end, I’ll run Lubuntu 64-bit or Mint XFCE 64-bit on it.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > pip bip - choose Corrour
08/21/2018 at 09:04

You say you can’t cope and yet you use the highly technical term ‘bamboozled’? Clearly you are a genius! :P

I. myself, use such technical terms as confuzzeled and kerfwifeled! :P

Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks > zeontestpilot
08/21/2018 at 09:04

It’s not. It’s LVDS.

yitznewton > zeontestpilot
08/21/2018 at 09:26

Instant electronic traction control upgrade.

zeontestpilot > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
08/21/2018 at 10:42

For work, half of the stuff is CLI, so I had to learn it fast, lol. Half of the tasks at home I do are CLI, because it’s easier to me.

Unity isn't ideal. But gnome switched to a similar layout, so I stuck with unity. :/

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > zeontestpilot
08/21/2018 at 11:48

That’s why I prefer MATE, it’s more like Gnome than Gnome is! :P

thejustache > zeontestpilot
08/21/2018 at 14:50

I had an old NCR POS terminal I pulled out of the trash a couple years back and wanted to use the touch screen for something cool . I never did though so it went to recycling when I moved. I used to write software for a company that did POS apps among other things, and I got pretty sick of messing with them. At least the older ones like these are pretty easy to get into! Some of the new NCR models are a real pain to work on.

My latest tech find was a core i5 desktop at the dump last month. It was good timing too because I’ve been doing some video editing and my old dumpster find computer just wasn’t cutting it. My coworker gave me a gtx760 video card he was no longer using, and with a 500 watt PS and some extra ram from amazon ($85 total) I now I have a machine with a 128gb SSD primary, 1320gb in secondary storage, 16 gb ram, and 2gb in video card memory. Not bad for a dump find, a few bucks, and a couple hours of reinstalling windows.

zeontestpilot > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
08/22/2018 at 06:27

Have you tried to do a Samba share on Mate yet? I found it to be an annoyance. If you didn't know, Samba allows you to share directories across your personal network. On Ubuntu it's really simple. On Mate, even if you set it to share, it won't show up on other computer; you have to go through the CLI and set it up there. I'm not complaining, but it took me a while to figure that out, lol.

zeontestpilot > thejustache
08/22/2018 at 06:30

I’ll have to make a post about it, but I have a ton of computers that I get for free. I simply say of FB I’m willing to take your old stuff, and they give it to me. The most recent purchases I’ve made was for a raspberry pi computer, and a used monitor.

Right now I'm trying to figure out how to get the touchscreen to work on the POS with Linux installed.

Wacko > zeontestpilot
09/18/2018 at 08:53

now you can make a “ carputer” with an in dash touch screen. a bigger screen than a Tesla.

zeontestpilot > Wacko
09/18/2018 at 08:59

Police Officer: “do you know why I pulled you over?”
Me: “was I speeding?”
PO: “No, it was the giant touchscreen that takes up the entire passengers seat.”
Me: “I like to be forward-thinking. ”