Monday, June 30, 2008
Turning an Aging Computer into a Media Center - Part 1 - The video card
My other ongoing project, and it’s a much more complicated process then revamping a website, is to turn my old Dell Dimension 4300 into a Windows Media Center PC. This one has been a huge challenge. I haven’t built a computer since 1997 and the options for upgrading are both numerous and tricky. Hardware has changed so much over the years and I have not been keeping up. This post and the next few in this series will likely be boring to most casual blog readers, but I’m hoping to provide some information for others who might be trying the same thing. Learn from my time-wasting mistakes.
Anyway, back to my project. One of my first priorities was to install a new graphics card that would be HD capable. The problem was that the vast majority of graphics cards these days all require a PCI Express interface (also known as PCIE). I’m not sure when this became the new standard, but my computer definitely doesn’t have one of these. My current video card uses an AGP slot. All the HD capable AGP cards were 8x, while the specs on mine said it was 4x. I thought I read somewhere that they were incompatible, so I was stuck finding a standard PCI video card.
These are very scarce. In fact, I was only able to find one PCI card that was HD ready, the VisionTek 2400 (this comes in both PCI and PCI Express, so pay attention). My attempts to install the thing were mired in one frustration after another. First I tried to simply swap out my old card and put the new one in. No response, the screen was blank, and I don’t think the computer even booted up. I put the old card back in and and plugged the monitor back into it - that worked fine. I tried putting both in at the same time, the new card still didn’t work.
I did a little online research and found out that a lot of machines with AGP slots need to have those slots disabled before a PCI video card will work. So I went into the BIOS and looked for something AGP-related. There was only one, and it only allowed me to switch the video display from AGP to Auto, whatever that meant. I switched it to Auto, rebooted, and now neither card would work. I pulled out the PCI card and the old card worked again. More online reading said some people had to locate jumpers on their motherboards to disable AGP. I peered at my motherboard for quite some time and could find none. I was getting really pissed off. All my attempts at logical resolutions were being met with failure, so I finally gave up after 2 hours of wasted effort and drove to the electronics store to pick up a new one, this time an AGP card, since my Dell obviously would not accept any other kind.
I spent about 45 minutes there, staring at the wall of boxed video cards, the vast majority of which were PCI Express. I finally found a couple of AGP ones, one of which was HD ready and had the DVI output I wanted (the PNY GeForce 6200). Unfortunately it said it was 8x. I thought to myself, what if my original assumption that it wouldn’t work was incorrect? I couldn’t remember how I had come to that conclusion anyway. I asked one of the store reps for help, and according to him, 8x AGP cards can degrade nicely and work on a 4x AGP slot, but not vice versa (you can’t use a 4x card in an 8x slot).
Had I only known. I was kicking myself for my previous mistaken assumption. AGP is faster than PCI anyway, better suited for video processing. I took it home, plugged it into the slot, and like magic it started up instantly. Moral of this story? There are several actually:
- Check your facts before you fly off into the wrong direction.
- If you’re upgrading by getting various parts you’re not quite sure about, get it from a brick-and-mortar electronics store because it’s faster and easier to return. The money you save from ordering online is moot when you have to pay to have it shipped back. In fact, you lose money because most online stores won’t pay for return delivery unless the part was broken. Incompatibility does not equal broken to them.
- Unless your computer does not have an AGP or PCIE slot, stay away from PCI video cards.
- If you have the money, save yourself a lot of time by buying a damn Media Center PC. This was only Step 1 of I don’t know how many steps and it nearly took me all night.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Reviving my inner geek
In the past year or more I’ve become comfortable, complacent, and… oh all right, yes I’ve become lazy. What kind of a self-proclaimed geek has a five-year old cell phone, a six-year old computer, and a “professional” website that hasn’t been been updated in seven years? *coughLOSERcough*
Thanks to some needed prodding from my beloved girlfiend, I’ve decided to take action on multiple fronts. I’ll spread the details across multiple posts, but my current project is to completely revamp my website offering web design services (http://www.pennydragon.com). It is sooooo pitifully out of date and not representative of my current skillset at all. Here’s what’s there currently:
Bear in mind that when I created this, I had never had a real web design job. It was mostly taking designs that actual designers made and building/coding them. I was happy with it at the time, but now it just looks cute and childish. I want to pull my site out of the land of novices and into the world of polished professionalism. Here’s what I’ve got so far:
I’m still working on the content and the layout of all the text, but it’s more or less the direction I want to go in. I also plan on adding a couple snazzy features to make it seem more impressive… though I’m not quite sure what at the moment, heh. Any opinions? Better to get any changes in before I start coding, so any thoughts as an end user would be much appreciated, thanks!
Monday, June 16, 2008
What will YOU do with your stimulus check?
I received my “stimulus check” the other day from the government. Getting free money is always nice, but the reasoning behind it is a little silly. So I’ve got an extra $600 now… I guess I’ll go save the economy by spending, right? Can I get that HD flat-panel TV I’ve been eyeing? Oh… nope that’s way more than $600. How about a blazing fast new computer… nope, that’s more that $600 too. Okay how about a nice vacation? Hmm, maybe a cheap one. Will that even cover airfare for two people? Barely, if we don’t go far. How about a downpayment for a new car? The dealership would probably laugh. Can I even pay rent with this money? Not even half.
I’m no economist by any stretch of the imagination, but from what little I understand, the flailing housing market is part of the reason for the depressed economy. People can no longer afford the ridiculous loans they got for the house they shouldn’t have bought (believe me, I know this feeling all too well) and now foreclosures are skyrocketing. Will $600 save their homes?
No, realistically, I’m going to pay off a little more of my credit card bill, which I’m still trying to get down to a reasonable level after that fiasco with the house. Will the $600 take care of even half of it? Not even close. But it’ll be a little closer to zero than before, so that’s something. So tell me, how much of a difference will $600 in your pocket make in your life?
Posted by
Geeky Dragon Girl on 06/16 at 09:36 AM
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Thinking aloud
Monday, June 09, 2008
Sweet shirt of the day
My sweety came home from the store the other day and brought me this awesome shirt:
Please ignore the yellow paint on the comforter… never paint anything in your room without covering everything in plastic. Actually, it kinda adds to the theme of the shirt, doesn’t it?
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
I'm sure there are SOME SUV drivers who aren't assholes
There are some areas in the office parking garage designated for compact cars. These spots are noticeably narrower than the standard spots. And yet that doesn’t stop lazy idiots from parking in them.
That renders the neighboring space barely useable. And if someone does park there, I have no doubt that this idiot SUV driver wouldn’t think twice about denting the other car just to get in. If you insist that you need to drive a behemoth to the office, don’t be an ass. Find a spot your size.
Posted by
Geeky Dragon Girl on 06/04 at 12:45 PM
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Grrrrrr...
Monday, June 02, 2008
I'm a Wii bit sore
Actually, I’m a lot sore. I haven’t gotten the Wii Fit yet (reminds me of the Honda Fit, which makes me wonder if it’s fuel efficient because it’s operated by foot power like the Flintstones?) since it’s pretty pricey (the game, not the car). I actually haven’t touched my Wii in a couple months. After watching a video review of Wii Fit, it reminded me that I shouldn’t ignore my poor neglected Wii console. So I fired up Wii Sports yesterday and did some boxing, some baseball, and then more boxing.
I seem to like boxing a lot. It’s my favorite sport in that collection of games. Am I secretly violent? Am I harboring aggressive tendencies and a repressed desire to knock people’s lights out? Hmm… Well whatever the case, there isn’t an ounce of that in me today. My arms are sore. Every single muscle in them are screaming, “You happy now, you violent freak??” I felt like an invalid trying to pull my pants up this morning it was so painful. You think they’d mind if went to work in my undies? They’d ask me why and I’d answer, “The pants were too heavy.” They would probably walk away wondering if I had planned on wearing chainmail to work. Or something.
Anyway, I don’t think I’ll be going to the gym today. I’m not that crazy.
