New Desktop Computer - Part 9 IT LIVES!

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Continued from viewtopic.php?p=2437926#p2437926

Now that the last internal cable was connected, I connected the minimal external cables and fired her up. The pucker factor was at 9.44 while waiting for it to boot up, aggravated by the fact that I had replaced the original boot SSD with a much larger one that I had cloned with Foxclone before tearing down the computer causing that first boot to take longer.

But boot it did! Whew!

I had a boat load of updates to do, including finding a new mirror, which I ran after creating a Timeshift snapshot.

Being a coward, before making that first boot, I unplugged the power cables for the hot swap bay and the LEDs I added from the PSU since those were cables I made or modified and wanted to rule out any mistakes I may have had before booting up. After booting up and updating, I plugged in each cable one at a time, then tested the devices they were connected to.


This is what the case looks like from my desk chair with the LEDs off.

And the LEDs on.

Nothing spectacular but I wasn't really expecting it to be. They will stay turned off most of the time.

I also tested the hot swap bays by plugging an SSD in them to see if the computer could read them and write to them. It could.

There are a couple of glitches I need to troubleshoot. The pilot light for HDD activity doesn't work. I may not try to fix it since the pilot for the power button is fairly bright and I'm not too sure I want a bight light blinking at me at night. I don't mind a steady green light but a blinking one? Not so much.

The other is the pilot lights on two of the four hot swap bays aren't lit. I'll probably fiddle with them some to see if they will light up but, since they are blue and don't do anything but glow steadily, with or without a drive inserted, even when there is activity taking place, I may just disable all of them by unplugging the little connectors for them.

I have a lot of set up work to do. I need to make an fstab entry for the data partition on the new boot drive. I also need to set the fan curves from the BIOS and I'm too wiped out from waddling errands yesterday to do much for the next few days, not to mention I have other things I need to do. I'll also need to sync up data between the two computers.

I also need to install the USB, etc. "hub" I made earlier onto the desk and connect all those cables to the computer. That is going to be a chore my old carcass is not looking forward to.

[Oldun]

Congratulations Lady F!!!
I've been monitoring your progress from day one in your quest to get the "perfect" case, what an achievement.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Congratulations Lady F!!!
I've been monitoring your progress from day one in your quest to get the "perfect" case, what an achievement.

Thanks! I was sweating bullets when I first fired it up since there was so much that could have gone wrong.

(Anyone need any bullets? )

[diyliberty]

Congrats! It looks great.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Congrats! It looks great.

Thanks!

[all41]

absolutely no one milks a topic better

[Lady Fitzgerald]

absolutely no one milks a topic better

Jealous?

[all41]

absolutely no one milks a topic better

Jealous?

no--vamped maybe

[Lady Fitzgerald]

To further milk this topic (I need to get a three legged milking stool), I checked the connections for the activity lights on the hot swap bays this morning and couldn't find anything wrong so, since I didn't want blue lights glowing in my bedroom anyway, no matter how small, I just disconnected all four of the leads going to the light sockets. The hot swap bays still function just fine without them.

I then checked the HDD activity light on the reset switch. I tried reversing the connector on the odd chance I got the polarity bass ackwards but no joy. I also checked in the BIOS to if there was a setting to enable or disable it; bupkis.

When you consider that there are four SSDs active at all times and four hot swap bays that will also be active some of the time, that indicator light will be too busy to really indicate anything accurately. Also, I don't know if I would want a blinking green light shining in my bedroom at night (the steady green light of the power switch isn't a problem) so I just decided to not waste any time trying to figure it out and leave it nonfunctioning.

I then went into the BIOS and set preliminary fan curves, then went back into the OS (I tested the reset button to do it). The CPU Tccl temperature currently idles at 13C°over ambient (currently 25°C) and the CPU TCCD1 is averaging 31°C. I have Avatar running since it has some pretty intense CGI and it still runs the same temperature. The GPU edge and junction readings are steady 43°C and the GPU mem reading is averaging 46°C with an occasional peak at 48°C. The GPU cooling fans don't kick in until 50°C and, so far, haven't kicked in all (when not running the movie, the temperatures are around 32°C).

I can barely hear the fans from my chair and notice it only if I'm thinking about it. Occasionally, the CPU Ttcl will briefly jump to the low 60s when checking for updates or I run Timeshift and the fans will noticeably ramp up. There is a slight flow of air coming out of the back of the graphics card so I'm running slightly positive case pressure. The CPU series is notorious for running hot so I may have to do some undervolting on the CPU (something I've never needed to do before so it could be "interesting") to keep things cooler. Strictly speaking, even the peaks are well under the 95°C peak temperature for this CPU but I really haven't loaded this thing down yet.

For now, I'm just going to let it run to see what happens when the ambient goes up later today, then decide what will be next. I'm shutting down Avatar since it's been stable for a while. Getting the fan curves where I want them may take a few days. As is, this case is definitely cooling just fine so far, better than the old one that was running at negative case pressure and more fan noise.

[MurphCID]

Outstanding! IT IS ALIVE! (insert maniacal laughter). Glad it is working, and now YOU have a battlestation!

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Outstanding! IT IS ALIVE! (insert maniacal laughter). Glad it is working, and now YOU have a battlestation!

Thanks, Murph!

There's still a lot of work to do before I can make it my battle station...er...daily driver. I need to do some more horsing around with the fan curves, look into under-volting it so it will run cooler, install the USB "hub" and route those cables, and sync data between my current daily driver (laptop) and the new one. So far, when idling, the CPU Cttl is pretty stable at 37°C despite the ambient swinging between 23°C and 26°C but it briefly shoots up to 61°C when auto-checking for updates.

And I still have life to deal with, such as doing my taxes. So far, it looks like scanning all my 1099s is going to be the hardest part; I went through HELL this morning trying to get my ADF scanner to behave properly after a Vuescan update I had to make so it would be compatible with a new "portable" flatbed scanner I bought earlier this year. Vuescan is a wonderful program once you get the settings set up correctly but getting there for multiple scanners (I have three: two flat beds and the ADF) can be a nightmare.

OK, time to get off my virtual milking stool and go back to work (pardon the profanity).

[Lady Fitzgerald]

After an absolutely crappy day farting around with my ADF printer after the Vuescan update I had needed to use the new "portable" flatbed scanner I bought earlier this year mucked up the ADF scanner's settings , fighting with my taxes due to a poor website
I had to use (this year; it's been fine in the past) because any others required texting for 2FA (I don't text and I don't give out that phone number) , and trying to get my printer to booklet print on A5 paper (it works fine on letter) , I was too wound up to sleep so I tried to tackle under-volting the CPU so it would run cooler under load.

Even that didn't work as it should since, apparently, System 76 had installed their own BIOS firmware with under-volting and power limiting settings that appear to be working fairly well but blocked my attempts to change any of them. (My eyes are hurting from all the rolling.) I was able to disable Core Performance Boost and that has made a difference. Running Avatar hasn't increased CPU temps any and, when I had 20 tabs, all running boobtube videos, temps only went up 5°C (that would have raised temps around 20°C on my laptop running the same browser). Refreshing the Update Manager now increases the CPU temperature by only 5°C instead of spiking as much as 20°C. I'll probably never notice the reduction in performance.

I also fiddled some with the fan curves to get a bit more positive case air pressure and run the fans a bit quieter. Interestingly enough, the GPU is approached 60°C but it's fans haven't kicked in (they used to kick in at 50°C) but the increase in positive case pressure is moving more air through the graphics card, keeping it cooler without the cards fans.

Now that I've done all I can in the BIOS to get the CPU to run cooler, my next step, after making an fstab entry for the data partition on the new boot drive (I'm too pooped to do it now), will be to either start syncing data between my laptop and the desktop or to install the USB "hub" on my desk and hook up all the cables.

It's time to put away my milking stool and crawl into bed. zzzzz

[MurphCID]

Aaannnddd, how is it working? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Aaannnddd, how is it working? Inquiring minds want to know.

For now, it's working pretty stable. The temps don't fluctuate much when I load it down and I may be able to dial up performance some and dial down the idle fan speeds a bit more once I can start putting it to work (the fans are currently pretty quiet. sounding like soft white noise, but I can still hear them from my desk when the furnace, TV, A/C, etc. are all off). Getting all that dialed in will take a while but won't keep me from making the computer my daily driver while doing so.

The filters are doing their job and are easy to clean. It looks like a weekly cleaning schedule will be fine. The desktop will run 24/7 but I shut down my computers once a week to make my weekly images so, while the desktop is still shut down after making the image, I can quickly pull the filters out and blow them clean.

I still need to sync data between my laptop, my current daily driver, with the new desktop and install the USB "hub" but I'm trying to figure out how to do that first data sync without introducing excessive drive writes and be able to sync between them in the future (I have a couple of large folders that are throwing a monkey wrench into the works). I do have one way worked out but it's a bit cumbersome looking albeit not difficult to use so I'm still mentally scratching my head before I commit. I also have to finalize a procedure for using the hot swap bays since Mint is not all that hot plug friendly.

The USB "hub" is going to be a physical bugger to install. It would be easier if I was 20 years younger, heck, even ten years younger, but my old carcass just doesn't like me doing things like crawling through the knee hole of my desk so I can to the backside to screw in the "hub", especially since I'm still having problems with my back from when I blew it out back in May.

I'll also have to get the settings on several of my programs working correctly. I'm having to abandon some of my old programs and replace them with new ones since the old ones won't work with Mint 21.1. Oh well (spelled with an "H").

I'm also going to replace the tiny WiFi and Bluetooth antennas that System 76 installed in place of the larger ones that came with the MOBO. The ones that System 76 installed sit deep in a well so reception will be hampered. I don't care much about the WiFi since don't use it but I would like better range from old Harald's tooth (Bluetooth is named after an ancient king of parts of what is now Denmark and Norway named Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson). I didn't get any with the basket case I bought to get the missing rear I/O shield so I've ordered a pair. System 76 should include unused MOBO, PSU, etc. components with their computers since customers paid for them.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I haven't been doing much lately. I'm still trying to wrap the last functioning brain cell of the three I have left around how to set up a system for syncing data between the desktop and laptop computers. It's hard to concentrate when my nose thinks it's running in the Kentucky Derby.

Last week, it dawned on that one brain cell that I hadn't tested the added USB ports on the back of the computer so I took a USB stick to them. One didn't work. I was hoping that it would be a bad cable/port but, when I finally checked it out this morning with another cable/port set, it was a bad MOBO header. So, I disconnected everything and laid the computer on its side on my bed.

This is the connector and header that was causing me grief.

Note the little square in a slot in the center of this photo.

Sadly, I didn't notice that it wasn't seated all the way in the slot when I installed the cable.

Once I disconnected the connector from the header, it was hard to see inside the header since it was mounted sideways but I did manage to see a bent pin (sorry, but I couldn't get in there to take a picture). I didn't want to pull the MOBO from the case so I tried to fix it in situ. That was a wee bit of a nightmare but, using a couple of "dental" probes (aka picks), a flashlight, a small hand magnifier, an inspection mirror, and some of the words Mama told me not to use, I was able to get that pin straightened out.

Or so I thought. When I reconnected cables to the computer, fired it up, and tested the ports, the bad one was working but the other one coming off that stupid header had died. So, I had to disconnect cables and move the computer back to the bed where I eventually found another bent pin.

I couldn't see worth crap in there and working while watching through a mirror is a nightmare for me because everything in the mirror is reversed. My hands were shaking by then which didn't help any. After a while (and exhausting the list of words Mama told me not to use), I finally gave up and pulled the MOBO from the case which is no quick and easy job.

After I propped the MOBO up on my desk to where I could could look directly into the header without killing my back any more than it was already aching, I was able to get the pins (I found another bent one ) straightened out using a magnifying hood, a flashlight held in my mouth, a couple "dental" picks, a small pair of true needle nose pliers (not long nose pliers that most people mistakenly call needle nose pliers), and one headache later, I managed to get all the pins straight. I checked them with a conventional USB 3.0 header connector and the smaller fussier one that is on ribbon type USB 3.0 header extension cables and was able to easily plug and unplug them without bending pins.

I then reinstalled the MOBO (including dropping a screw and having to hunt for it ) and reconnecting all the cables, being especially careful with that pesky USB header extension cable. Note the position of that little square in the slot.

4.jpg (8.66 KiB) Viewed 216 times

It's now fully seated.

I buttoned up the computer, reconnected the external cables I'm currently using, fired it up, and tested all the added I/O ports, including the hot swap bays. They all worked! Whew! Getting that stupid thing fixed only took 3 1/2 hours and took the starch out of me (I still say old age sucks like a Hoover on steroids!).

[Lady Fitzgerald]

After resting a while, I decided to deal with another problem. Another one of System 76's brilliant engineering decisions [/sarcasm] was to replace the perfectly good (and longer) WiFi and Bluetooth antennas that came with the MOBO and replace them with these stupid, stunted ones.

it's bad enough they are so short but, buried deep in that well, they aren't going to be able to receive diddly poo. I had already ordered some extensions from Amazon so they would stick out a little farther but decided afterward to just replace them with longer ones. I don't use WiFi but I would like a little better range from Bluetooth.

Sadly, the basket case MOBO I bought to get the rear I/O shield from didn't have the antennas so I ordered a couple from Amazon. I picked them, and the extensions, up from my mail service while waddling errands before getting picked up by a friend to Thai one on (our expression for going to a Thai restaurant). These are the antennas and extensions.

That red doodad is a cap that protected the male threads on an extension. I don't know why I included it, and only the one, in the photo.

Here are the antennas after installing them.

Sorry, I was too tired to try for a better picture. They are properly aligned.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I shut down the computer on Saturday mornings to make a Foxclone image so that is a good time to clean the filters. Here is one I took out last Saturday.

And this it after brushing and blowing out the dust.

The filters are definitely doing their job. I didn't see any dust inside the computer while I was horsing around in it this morning.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I wasn't happy with the rose sticker I got for the right side of the case—it was too indistinct and busy looking—so I ordered a different one. It looked better but it had a stupid white border that I didn't like either so I ordered the same one again (and picked up yesterday morning) and carefully cut off the white border. Here is the before and after.

Lousy photos but the panel looks much better!

My tired hurts and my brain cell feels fried so I'm vegetating for the next day or two.

[MurphCID]

Impressive (adds loud applause), and I hope it works just great for you!

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Impressive (adds loud applause), and I hope it works just great for you!

That explains that odd sound I recently heard. Thanks, Murph!