[Tfug] Check file system and restore array

[Bexley Hall]

Hi Erich,

On 2/10/2013 11:18 AM, erich wrote:
> Yeah,
> In my own case, I've tried to troubleshoot a workstation that had trouble
> starting up and showed all the signs of a hardware problem, (bad capacitors
> etc.)

Most computers are "consumer" (i.e., disposable) items that aren't
really intended for long lifespans.  E.g., even if the manufacturer
has used "good* caps, adequate cooling, rated for the proper operating
temperature *and* used them in a properly designed circuit, they might
still only be rated (typically) for 2000 hours (you can purchase caps
rated for 5000, 8000 hours -- at a premium price!).  And, other
things also show wear (e.g., fans, optical drives, etc.)

["Re-capping" a motherboard is a waste of time.  The cost of the caps
"at retail" plus the fact that most folks don't have good rework tools
means you're more likely to spend a lot of time, money *and* ruin the
board!]

OTOH, things like LCD monitors are no-brainers -- an hour of your time
and a few dollars in good caps will give you years of useful life!

[I only re-cap monitors, TV's, small "appliances", some "bricks", and
"special" computers]

> I'm using a substitute workstation, and building up something new in my
> shop. I just ran Knoppix 7.0 on it, and I like what I see. I'm not going
> to cling and spend anymore time and money on the old computer.

For most of the free Eunices out there, you often don't have much
"invested" in proprietary file formats.  You're dealing with ASCII
text, HTML, XML, or other "open" file formats.  So, moving to
another machine (*and* OS) is relatively easy.  E.g., each time I
want to build/migrate a NetBSD system, it's half an hour to be
up and running *with* my "old data".

The bane of Windows (and I assume Macs, as well), is the proliferation
of "proprietary" file formats and their associated applications.  E.g,
I have PCB layouts done with version X of a tool that can *only* be
maintained with version X of that same tool (not even X+1!).  So,
you (I) get tied to particular hardware/software implementations
for longer than you (I) would like!

E.g., I have a ~600pp manual that I wrote many years ago using
Ventura Publisher v3 (last time I checked, VP was at version 10!).
At that time, VP used *text* files that were largely intuitive
(an HTML-ish markup language) so you could modify the "VP document"
from within any old text editor.  This made it easy to do things
that weren't supported in VP itself (e.g., change all references to
"figures" to be of the form, "Figure: <chapter>-<figure>" by writing
a macro to do a programmed search and replace).

Later versions of VP (I think as early as v4) did away with this
"cleartext" representation of the document in favor of a more
"compiled" one (i.e., proprietary, non-ASCII).  So, not only were
the simple text processing tools (text editors) ineffective, but
you would have to spend a fair bit of effort to decipher the
(undocumented) encoding that they used.  *Then* write a piece
of code to do whatever you wanted to do with the document(s)!

Additionally, I exploited several undocumented (though logically
intuitive!) capabilities in the v3 version of the software to do
things that "weren't possible".  <grin>  And, *still* aren't!
But, the newer version of the software has apparently changed some
of the layout algorithms so that the hacks that I have exploited
no longer produce the results I desire.  "Progress".  <frown>

So, I've had to keep that original version of VP "live" so that
I can continue to maintain the document efficiently.

[I now use FrameMaker for most of my DTP needs.  And, even there,
am reluctant to "upgrade" out of fear that some existing document
will prove to be unmaintainable.]

Bottom line:  changing Windows machines comes with lots of baggage.
It also tends to keep you away from "today's" technology -- since
you can't find drivers for older versions of Windows on newer
machines!  (e.g., I *just* upgraded to XP this past year -- and
MS has XP scheduled for EOL *next* year!  :-/ )