Tech-related problems

[reine]

yeah I mean it's in external USB case but mine's without a fan. Oh it's not a brand new one but relatively new, so I can't return it.

[NAzu]

yeah I mean it's in external USB case but mine's without a fan. Oh it's not a brand new one but relatively new, so I can't return it.

if the usb case doesn't have a fan then it is most certainly designed to work without one. Have you checked that it hasn't got warranty left? Most HD's have a 3 years warranty (Seagate has 5 years with it's newer models).

[frblckstr1]

thanks frblckstr, turned out to be bad sector in the HD after all. I just forgot to type the /R parameter while doing chkdsk *doh* is it normal for a new HD to have bad sector already, I only had it for around 1.5 years. My old HD (6 years old) never had any problem, is it  because I put the HD in external storage device without fan?

edit: gah looks like I spoke too soon, no more CRC error but my HD writes realllly slow now, usually takes only a couple of sec to write 200-300mb of files now it takes 30 secs or more T.T. Defraging right now. only 32 hours to go T.T . But if anyone has any suggestion, I'd appreciate it.

I have lots (last count is 25 disks in external (USB) housings without fans, but I have a tendency not to run those for more then a few hours: just long enough to copy stuff on or off.

If this is a Maxtor, it to me indicates its starting to fail, my experience is then it will fully fail within a week (e.g just enough time to copy off all data).
Even new drives can develop failures/bad blocks, it is called a 'mean time between failure'.

Defragging will not help (it might destroy your data even)
Advice: copy all data off to another drive and use the manufacturers check utility (some are mentioned above)

[ferrar1]

Hi bros and siss, need some advice.

For watching HD files as in 1080i or bigger, which of the below component of a lappy (or a pc ) is more important? I'm currently watching these files on my old ferrari with AMD XP 2800+, 128mb 9200 radeon and 1GB RAM and still find it very jerky.

1) Processor
2) Video Card
3) RAM

or even HDD?? but i doubt 5200 rpm and 7200 rpm makes alot of difference during playback right? I only understand the latter opens my files and folders faster.

Actually i'm thinking of getting the dell XPS M1210, but wonder whether should i go for the optional graphic cards. The only game i'm playing is dota and i played dota on my office lappy as well with on board graphiscs and found it playable, no lags no jerks. So please i need advice.

[Biggie578]

CPU all the way! its the biggest factor in PC preformance. And dont get the vid card, the prices are dropping fast so upgrade when you need it.

[ferrar1]

^ Thanks i'm getting a lappy so i probably cant change anything except for RAM and HDD. I don't see the need for the graphic card but if it helps alot in rendering the graphics then i might go for it.

[NAzu]

When playing HD videos cpu power is the most important thing. More ram makes the computer smoother to use.

[frblckstr1]

Ahum, sorry to disagree with the above 'CPU power' people, but the video card if it can do H264/MPEG2 in hardware is more important then the CPU.

If it can't do hardware decode, then yes you will need CPU power to do the decoding/shuffling into video memory.

For HDTV files that are MPEG2 I can use my 1.83GHz Laptop without problems, for H264 its a problem, might also have to do with the encoders

[NAzu]

9200 doesn't support Ati's Avivo so raw processing power is needed.

[ohbahsan]

Ahum, sorry to disagree with the above 'CPU power' people, but the video card if it can do H264/MPEG2 in hardware is more important then the CPU.

QFT.  You better off getting a video card that can do hardware decoding.

[ferrar1]

^ Sorry like ?? which series for ati or nvideo? and i'm getting a lappy not a pc so i think there's not much choices

[NAzu]

^ Sorry like ?? which series for ati or nvideo? and i'm getting a lappy not a pc so i think there's not much choices

From Ati X1xxx series supports Avivo (=hardware decoding) and for Nvidia there's Purevideo, for videocards that support it check this

[ferrar1]

^ Thank you noted

[reine]

so which type of video card can do decoding?
and does it do deinterlacing on the fly as well or only CPU does that? I have problem playing 1900x1200 ts files and deinterlacing them on the fly.

[frblckstr1]

so which type of video card can do decoding?
and does it do deinterlacing on the fly as well or only CPU does that? I have problem playing 1900x1200 ts files and deinterlacing them on the fly.

NAzu just posted that info, and I do not think there are 1900x1200 ts files, the maximum defined resolution for .ts is 1920x1080.

If you have problems de-interlacing, just use the 'drop' option, should help.

[ebc]

so which type of video card can do decoding?
and does it do deinterlacing on the fly as well or only CPU does that? I have problem playing 1900x1200 ts files and deinterlacing them on the fly.

Just a question, what program are you using to play the ts files back?
 
Mainly I ask because if it's vlc then it doesn't matter what videocard you have, all deinterlacing is done by software and you'll need a good CPU.
That said, pretty much any videocard in laptops nowadays supports DXVA. Even the laptop I'm on now it's some Intel Extreme graphics 2 and it plays TS files perfectly fine using the latest PowerDVD with hardware acceleration (DXVA) turned on.
 
IMO it depends mostly on the software you use to play the file.
A lot of people like vlc cause it plays everything with no worrying about codecs but then I don't really like it cause it doesn't have proper hardware support for mpeg2 like PowerDVD etc.

[Shinora]

just today i was checking my router and on the activity log, there was a bunch of "SYN Flood Attack Detect".  this might explain why my dad's sent and recieved packets vary so much (sent in the gigs while recieved is in the 100000's)  does this mean my connection is getting accessed by other ppl?  can anyone please recommend a way to fix this a.s.a.p cuz this is quite annoying.
p.s i tried reseting the modem to acquire a new address a while back, but apparently it doesn't work.

[frblckstr1]

^ "SYN Flooding" is an (old) way of trying to break into a computer, the newer TCP/IP stacks are hardened against it.

There is not really anything you can do against it because it coming 'from the outside', you might checkup on the firmware of the router to see if is has a version that ignores them better.

[tiny]

A SYN flood is a form of denial-of-service attack in which an attacker sends a succession of SYN requests to a target's system.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SYN_flood

[Masabi]

Graphics card help!?

I have a Compaq Presario 6000 and I don't know what graphics cards will be compatible with my computer.  I'm trying to find a really cheap one off of ebay for 20 dollars considering the one I have right now was in a bargain computer .. in 2003.  So it's safe to assume ANYTHING I buy would be better than this piece of crap..

So, if you can help, link me to some compatible cards under $20 (including shipping) on ebay?  Primarily I'm looking for ones that fit these requirements[/url].

How can I find out what graphics cards are compatible?  Also, how do I install it myself?  Any and all help is appreciated.