My second garage find PC

[majpooper]

This is the second time I ended up with a perfectly good PC that someone wanted out of their garage. The first one is the story below from Nov 2020. In this case I know the person well - a good friend actually. I have talked to them about linux but they are that special breed of Windows user that go with when their computer starts to bog down and freeze the solution is a new computer - with Windows of course. Anyway they had (which I now have) an HP all-in-one PC. It came with Windows 7 and somehow ended up with Windows 10. I don't really know exactly what was wrong with it other than they (my friend and his wife) wanted a new computer - a laptop or so they said. We were visiting them and I asked if they got their new laptop and how they liked it. Well turns out they got another HP all-in-one with Windows 10 and they really like it . . . . OK good for them. I offered to install linux on the old one and they could use it for a backup.

Well no they didn't need a back up as a matter of fact it was out in the garage and they wanted to know if I knew a good place to take it for recycle - they took to one place but that place wouldn't take it. I told them sure I would be glad to take it because I could get it running on linux and use for testing or maybe even find someone to give it to who needs a PC.
I upgraded the RAM with some I had in my stash and sprang for a cheap SSD - I took the original HHD and put it in an external HDD USB caddy for backups. This is a very nice PC.

Code: Select all

boogers@lm20:~$ inxi -Fxz
System:    Kernel: 5.4.0-94-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 Console: tty 1 Distro: Linux Mint 20.3 Una 
           base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:   Type: Desktop System: Hewlett-Packard product: 310-1124f v: xxx0204GRxxxxxxxx0 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 2AAC serial: <filter> BIOS: American Megatrends v: 6.06 date: 03/22/2011 
CPU:       Topology: Dual Core model: AMD Athlon II X2 240e bits: 64 type: MCP arch: K10 rev: 3 L2 cache: 2048 KiB 
           flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4a svm bogomips: 11171 
           Speed: 800 MHz min/max: 800/2800 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 800 2: 800 
Graphics:  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] RS880M [Mobility Radeon HD 4225/4250] vendor: Hewlett-Packard 
           driver: radeon v: kernel bus ID: 01:05.0 
           Display: server: X.org 1.20.13 driver: ati,radeon unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa tty: 140x40 
           Message: Advanced graphics data unavailable in console. Try -G --display 
Audio:     Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] SBx00 Azalia vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
           bus ID: 00:14.2 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-94-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: r8169 v: kernel 
           port: e800 bus ID: 02:00.0 
           IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Ralink RT3090 Wireless 802.11n 1T/1R PCIe vendor: Lite-On driver: rt2800pci v: 2.3.0 port: e800 
           bus ID: 04:00.0 
           IF: wlp4s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 1.35 TiB used: 17.26 GiB (1.3%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Crucial model: CT480BX500SSD1 size: 447.13 GiB temp: 39 C 
           ID-2: /dev/sdb type: USB vendor: Seagate model: ST1000LM 024 HN-M101M size: 931.51 GiB 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 438.62 GiB used: 9.81 GiB (2.2%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 49.8 C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Info:      Processes: 202 Uptime: 18h 45m Memory: 7.52 GiB used: 1.58 GiB (20.9%) Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: 
           gcc: 9.3.0 Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 inxi: 3.0.38 

I have a good iMac feel good story;
Without getting into all the complicated "6 degrees" a person close to out family knew someone who knew a doctor (a surgeon) she also knew someone who knew a poor family whose Middle School daughter had to share a crappy old laptop with her parents for school.

The doctor's iMac had slowed way down and would freeze. He simply stuck it in the corner of his garage next to his Audi 8 and went out and bought a gazillion $ Mac laptop. When our friend told him she knew someone (me) who could probably fix the iMac the doc said that, that person (me) could have it as he (the doc) would appreciate getting it out of his garage and it would save him the hassle of putting it in his Audi 8 and taking it to a recycle location.

In the mean time a Middle School girl needed a decent PC for school. I did absolutely nothing but hold down one key to get into what that thing that is a sorry excuse for a BIOS and then installed LM 19 Cinnamon. I tweaked Writer to default to .docx and installed Zoom and of course did all of Pjtor's tweaks. When I gave it to her I sat with to make it look like she wanted and put a few shortcuts on the desktop . . . . that was it. That thing is a beast - fast and the graphics are unreal. I think it meant more to the Mom although I could tell the girl was very happy with her new Linux Mac.

[rossdv8]

The one real thing I miss now that I'm retired is the look on someone's face when they see an old 'stuffed' computer with a new lease of life after a relatively simple Linux install.
Sounds like you enjoy bringing that look to faces also

[majpooper]

Yeah I do - I have only helped a few people who really could not afford to buy a new or better computer but it has been very gratifying. Most of the people I have installed mint for have decent PC or laptops but for whatever reason wanted to migrate away from Windows - that to is gratifying in a different way in that they are not really in dire need but end up being pleased with the new life breathed into their computers.

[Pjotr]

Revived an old PC (a small form factor office Hewlett Packard PC) myself recently.... Updated its BIOS, replaced its spinning platter hard disk by the cheapest SSD of a good brand that I could find (a 128 GB ADATA), and Mint just flies on it.

[DisturbedDragon]

Nice find and a good story. Amazing what people will resign to the rubbish bin. Amazing what you can find out there being given away or thrown away. I routinely refurbish and give away computers and laptops to those what need them. Most are single parents and kids that cannot afford a new computer or computer at all, so I don't mid tossing in an SSD or RAM if needed. Most I do an OEM install of Mint. Gave away a Samsung netbook running Lithium and a 15" Asus laptop running Ubuntu Studio this past week. The 58 year old woman that got the Asus was messaging my wife a couple days after. She said she had never heard of the operating system but it's quite straight forward, absolutely loves it and even did some reading about Linux in general

[danielcombs]

Keep an eye open for Chromebooks !

Google sent me a notification that the Chromebook I am using to type this was going to stop receiving security updates in June. I have had this Chromebook a little over three years. Although I have used it daily for three years, it's still like new and the battery holds a 7 hour+ charge. What a disgrace it would be to retire this from service because it is no longer secure (I know, I shouldn't talk about secure and Google Chrome at the same time). Not to mention how horrible it is to think about how many of these things will end up in landfills.

It was a bit challenging, Google tries to lock these things down. However I do now have a very good running, and damn good looking 20.3 xfce system installed. I won't bore you with the details, but I had to remove a write protect screw so I could install a UEFI bios and boot from a USB to install MInt. I resolved a no sound issue relatively easily, but the biggest issue is the 16GB eMMC. Using a usb flash drive for my /home partition, and with some tips I picked up here in the forum, I now have 47% of that eMMC free, and the system runs faster than it ever did with Chrome.

[rossdv8]

It was a bit challenging, Google tries to lock these things down. However I do now have a very good running, and damn good looking 20.3 xfce system installed. I won't bore you with the details, . .

That actually might not be boring us with details - but it deserves a whole Topic and its own thread.
There are a few Chromebooks coming onto the second hand pile - but also I see a lot of adverts from department stores pushing Chromebooks.

There's a case for a decent discussion and tutorials for converting OLD Chromebooks for people like those being helped in this thread, as well as people looking for a new alternative to an Android Tablet, but not as hungry or cumbersome as a Notebook, that can take Mint.

[Petermint]

I am the person my friends call when they find something in a garage.
"Look what we found after the fire brigade left/after the tsunami drained away/underneath the rubble"

My tools, hair dryer, Clonezilla USB, and LM boot USB. I always make them buy an SSD and copy the disk to the SSD as an SSD will survive the next plane crash/gas explosion/Covid virus infection better than a magnetic disk.

[Termy]

Nice find. Nice CPU. AMD Athlon II x2. That's one of the early dual-core processors. I remember having an AMD Athlon single-core CPU and looking through magazines at all these dual-cores and only dreaming of having such power. Good times.

[RollyShed]

I always make them buy an SSD and copy the disk to the SSD as an SSD will survive the next plane crash/gas explosion/Covid virus infection better than a magnetic disk.

I totally agree there and just about all the installations I do are SSD to make the computer really, Really, REALLY usable.

One of the "chuck-outs" was picked up off a driveway when collecting a garden mulcher for someone. "What's happening to that?" "Oh, probably go to recycling."
It needed a hole drilled and a screw in one corner because of a break in the case. It went to a user. She, a few weeks later, called, it wouldn't boot. I suggested the Alt SysRq REISUB shutdown and reboot and also to try a short bit of code (previously mentioned on this forum). A few days later it was on my table and I simply copied across her folder to a spare disk and installed it.

Putting the old disk in another laptop and typing in the code I'd suggested and away it went. However if shaken it rattled so I took it that the disk was probably not reliable. Plenty of spare disks laying around so a "chuck-it" disk and a happy user.

The back story of that laptop was it had Fedora and nothing much else on the original disk. I think university student(s) originally used it.

[sydbat]

Sort of similar experience to majpooper.

Years ago, my brother-in-law had a relatively new computer that was giving him trouble. Not a store brand, one built by a local computer shop. He said Windows kept freezing and he had to turn off the power all the time to get it to reboot and work for awhile. I said I could take a look at it, and he said he was just going to get rid of it and had already bought a new store brand (HP I think). I told him I would take the old box and see if I could parts it out.

He brought it over a couple of days later. First thing I did was open the side to see if anything was loose. I found the issue immediately - fur. Lots and lots of fur. They had 3 cats at that time (we had 2) and a 4th cat was being knitted inside this computer box. I told him I could clean it for him, but he said I could have it because he had gotten a new computer.

Short story long, after cleaning out that box and putting Ubuntu on it, we used it as our HTPC for about 6 years. When I decided to upgrade to a newer self-built HTPC, I finally did parts that old, still functioning computer, and helped partially rebuild 3 other boxes for people.

Lesson - regularly clean out your computer box.

PS. My brother-in-law is just like majpooper's friend - he insists on Windows (he just bought a new Win 11 box) even though his usage does not justify it. He was also unbelieving when my wife told him about our use of his perfectly fine computer with Linux as our HTPC, because "that's impossible! Only Windows can be used like that" <- actual quote
He also believes that you have to have Windows to legally run your computer so...