On Sun, Jul 23, 2023 at 12:20 PM Montague Bestes via users < users@lists.fedoraproject.org> wrote:
> I do stupid stuff once in awhile too, lol. Nice to be able to laugh about > it. > Watch out with vacuuming the motherboard though; I sucked up a few jumpers > once doing that. > Static electricity can also be a problem using vacuums instead of canned air. For extreme situations I have used copper mesh with a ground wire over the vacuum inlet. That would filter out jumpers, but then you have to figure out where they came from, so take photos and make notes before attempting. > > > On Friday, July 21, 2023 at 05:54:16 AM EDT, ToddAndMargo via users < > users@lists.fedoraproject.org> wrote: > > > On 7/19/23 01:02, Tim via users wrote: > > Tim: > >>> Or had the CMOS battery going flat? > > > > ToddAndMargo: > >> Have not noticed my date and time messed up, but ... > > > > I've found that only when a battery was *really* bad that time may be > > off. It could be sufficiently low to be a problem, and your clock > > still keeps time. Especially if your PC supplies mains-derived power > > to the BIOS/UEFI when running, and the battery is a back-up rather than > > the only supply for it. > > > > There's an often stated claim the BIOSs are designed to run slow when > > the power is low, but I don't have faith in that. I think people are > > trying to fit their own explanation into something that happened by > > accident. It may well be that some do that, simply by virtue of how > > the circuit behaves rather than being a deliberate effect, but I've got > > PCs which kept very good time with a near dead battery (they are > > designed to be a really low power consumption device). When their > > batteries did die, the clocks simply resetted to some distant date in > > the past, and drive parameters went haywire. > > > > If motherboard manufacturers wanted to make it obvious that you needed > > to change a battery, they could have designed the BIOS with a voltage > > reading that any OS could easily read without arcane knowledge, and > > your OS could pop up a warning which told you what was needed. > > > > Expecting the masses of computer illiterate to know that the clock > > being off might mean you need to change a battery, rather than them > > just writing the behaviour off as yet another Windows setting screw-up > > is a bit of an ask. And it's a hidden effect by so many systems which > > continuously auto-correct the clock. > > > >> I do change a lot of CMOS batteries for my customers. > > > > Bearing in mind that many of those coin batteries have an expected > > working lifespan of about 3 years (that's less than their shelf-life), > > it may be worth simply replacing them that often without trying to > > squeeze the last morsels of power out of them until things go obviously > > wrong. And modern batteries have worse chemistry than older batteries > > (less pollutant, by a fractional amount, but far more prone to leaking > > and causing corrosive damage). > > > > I give my PCs a vacuum once or twice a year, and I write a maintenance > > log in texta inside the lid (last cleaned so-and-so-date, new battery, > > etc). > > > > I've got a very old iMac sitting next to me that needs a new coin > > battery put in it, but thanks to idiotic design for cosmetics rather > > than practicality, you have to remove every single bit of hardware from > > the casing to get to the battery at the back of everything (lots of > > interconnected boards and devices). Why they couldn't have mounted it > > on the other side of the board I don't know. I'm tempted to use a hole > > saw on the cabinet to make replacing it much easier. That, or I'll > > solder in a battery holder on fly leads and put it in a much more > > sensible place. > > Wonderful write up! > > I tested it with an extended hard power > off (outlet strip). It worked fine. > > So, it must have been something stupid I did. > > > :'( > _______________________________________________ > users mailing list -- users@lists.fedoraproject.org > To unsubscribe send an email to users-le...@lists.fedoraproject.org > Fedora Code of Conduct: > https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/project/code-of-conduct/ > List Guidelines: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines > List Archives: > https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/users@lists.fedoraproject.org > Do not reply to spam, report it: > https://pagure.io/fedora-infrastructure/new_issue > _______________________________________________ > users mailing list -- users@lists.fedoraproject.org > To unsubscribe send an email to users-le...@lists.fedoraproject.org > Fedora Code of Conduct: > https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/project/code-of-conduct/ > List Guidelines: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines > List Archives: > https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/users@lists.fedoraproject.org > Do not reply to spam, report it: > https://pagure.io/fedora-infrastructure/new_issue > -- George N. White III
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