dbminter

I should be used to it by now. Thanks. You're fitting the cheque.

It's not fun to drink alone. #39;(

I want it to behave like the original CD it came from. But, there's no "CD" option, and, I don't know how/if there's a way to determine the needed information from the CD/boot image file. Hence why I asked. Are we going to start a 10 Goto 20 20 Goto 10 logic here?

Once you create a boot image from a CD using Create Boot Image, then when you load that file under Boot Image, how are we supposed to determine the Emulation Type to use based on that image file? Or based on the CD? Trial and error might work, except for the Custom part. Thanks!

Someone had asked about the bridge in this drive. Well, I decided to cool off from my latest problem, piled on with the others that have been building for 20... 30... 32 years... 80 years... 1 billion years! STOP! Stop at a WHAMMY! And, well, to be honest... I can't FIND a bridge chip I'm familiar with! Unless it's somehow on the HD itself, then, the only chip I could find is a really small one. The board with the external output and input for power and the power switch is a small wafer affair with next to nothing on top. It does have a numbered etched on the board: RD485-A. Once unscrewed and flipped over, one chip is visible. It has this printed on it: CY768300A-56PVC (All of those 6's could be either 6's, S's, or 5's! FUCKERS!) A 04 PHI 0509 CYP 608767 (Same story with the 6's here.) The bottom of the HD itself, a Hitachi Deskstar, Model: HDS722516VLAT20, had three large chips on it. Again, I wouldn't expect to find a bridge on the drive itself, but, I can't seem to find anything else on the enclosure itself, save for that chip listed above. Thus, for those three chips: PCE MLVO 0511 4L 454 JH 0A29000 Malaysia IBM Korea SPR CBM B1 0A29176 PQ 1M02011T0GE Infineon 0A29003 SAB-M3054 D12-G FRKRS1 @INFINEON02 EL445059 G452 You know? All that useful, helpful, clear and coherent shit you can really use... So, any ideas?

SHIT! There's no answer! There's NO FUCKING ANSWER! The problem is too complicated! It can't be replicated with any kind of certainty! It's completely random! Different things happen to different hardware on different system restores! I restored one backup, and, the one connected drive left wouldn't complete writing LeadIn on a DVD-RW that had been burned in the same drive on a different system restore! I restored back to the previous setup that wouldn't complete Closing after 17% on the other drive and the DVD-RW WOULD finish! The only thing left is to remove the two IDE cables, replace them, replace both drives, and start reinstalling everything from the bottom up! Then, if it repeats, the problem is on the mobo, one or both of the IDE controllers, and that means replacing the entire machine. Best to do that than fuck around with it. And, gee, I wonder which one I'LL have to do?! I tell what I should have chosen, 10 goddamn years ago!

Ah, I skipped a few entries on NewEgg because they didn't put the model number in the description. Seems the newest they have is 4570. Even writes to DVD-RAM, it seems. $33. Okay, anyone tried the 4570?

Double post; blame Firefox/the forum.

None. I perform tests on as absolutely virgin systems as possible to minimize the likelihood of weird shit. I destroyed the partitions off of the drive. Nothing but the fucked up stuff already installed by Windows and the necessarily applications to run/test with are installed.

The sudden power off is also what appears to be starting the issue where CD-RW's are no longer able to have their manufacturer ID's pulled from them. The two issues ARE releated. Because, just before this case where the 17% Closing issue forced me to physically power off the machine with Windows running, I had read the MID off of this CD-RW in the same drive that it no longer would afterwards. After the drives started swapping letters again. Uninstalling Alcohol/Daemon Tools and reinstalling it STOPS the drive swapping problem, BUT there is still an unfixable issue about pulling the MID's off of CD's only. And this is WITH the NEC disconnected. So, hopefully, it's some weird case that only happens when the NEC is attached AND the powering off before shut down occurs. If not, and if it occurs ALL the time this would happen, well, it's screwed. Gotta get a new machine as, by that point, I can't figure it out, OR the problems' on the board. Which means might as well replace the entire thing, since god ain't gonna make it easy at that point. Because, IF there's a problem that always occurs if the machine reboots/powers down before Windows shuts down and it can ONLY be fixed by restoring a known, good backup of Windows BEFORE that happened, well, it's like bending over and asking for it. Like Windows would NEVER just suddenly do that or require it.

Well, there was something or some things else also going on. Appears to be related to Alcohol, possibly Daemon Tools, too. BUT, it only seemed... well, it's hard to say. It only showed up if the system had to be powered down before it could be shut down. Then and only then did the drive swapping problems start. Because with the NEC removed, the problem shifted to the Alcohol/Daemon Tools drives. So, who's to say? Something appeared to be written to the Registry settings in this weird case that cannot be undone. No, uninstalling Alcohol/Daemon Tools and reinstalling didn't help. Does it ever?

I was wondering, since it appears I may need to replace my NEC 3500a, after 2.5 years of good service (LAMENT), what is the current, recommended model and its features? Preferably, something I can get from Newegg.com in the US. Newegg currently lists the 3550A at $30... wow. Anyway, it appears to have what I want. In particular DVD-R DL, which I may never to try out, but, at least, it will be there. And even has the faster 6x and 8x DVD RW speeds. Even supports RITEK F1 at 16x for quick temporary stuff. So, who's used the 3550a? Anyone is welcome it reply, but, LUK and other beta test members would be appreciated, of course. I figure at $30, what have I got to lose... except $30, my time, and my mind!

Well, at least, there's FINALLY something close to an answer that makes SOME sense. Of course, it can always be a trick. Seems the cause is in the NEC drive. I only came across it by accident. With a Maxell PHILIPS 4x DVD+RW that would not close session in the NEC. Locked up at 17%. The other drive writes the same image fine to the same disc. So, I swapped around the IDE cables, effectively changing the channels/cables. The drive still wouldn't close the session, so, that rules out the channel and the cable. Now, it could always be a bad disc. DVD-RW is fine, thus far. But, I have no other DVD+RW's to play with. However, the swapping around of the cables above leads me to believe it's more than likely the NEC drive. It helps explain, too, the weird behavior from my last swapping of the IDE cables test. Whatever it is is only manifesting itself on closing sessions for DVD+RW. Of course, if that's across the board problem with ALL DVD+RW's to indicate a problem with the drive, I couldn't say. But, it gives me something to start with.

Well, no, as I said there's really no need to. Pluto WAS still classified as a planet back in 1986, both when 1986 actually came around and in 1966 when the year was just plucked for being 20 years on. I was mostly just nitpicking and bitching. After all, as we've seen, 1986 came and went without any 10th planet coming anywhere near Earth.

You run across the oddest things at the oddest times... http://www.mechadrake.com/junk/racism04.jpg APPARENTLY, I can't be entirely sure... this is from a manga that is trying to show that Astro Boy is a crusader against the revival of Nazis and the rise of anti-Semitism?

You're the one from another planet covered with fur and brandishing an advanced laser weapon. You tell us.

Well, now that people amazingly enough FINALLY agreed with me and declassified Pluto as a planet it brings up an interesting problem with Doctor Who history. Is Mondas the 10th planet anymore? Technically, I guess since Mondas entered Earth's orbit in 1986. The interesting thing, though, is with the new IAU definitions of a planet that caused the declassification of Pluto, it puts 3 objects in the running for planetary status, thus pumping up the number of planets in the system of Sol to 11. One of these, Ceres, was actually called a planet for a long time, until it was declassified as an asteroid around 1845, with the discovery of Neptune. So, Ceres might become a planet again, and, there's the interesting case of 2003UB313. Somehow, I doubt that people will accept a world called 2003UB313. Plus, if it's inhabited, what do you call the visitors should they come here? The 2003B313ians? Thus, to keep the name, I recommend that 2003UB313 be renamed... Mondas.

With a name like that, I guess the women in that country are forced to impregnate themselves with... wait for it, folks... basters?

Maybe Darkfalz uses an Internet cafe there?

Now, this one has me worried... After shuffling off all desired data to kept from the partitions on the SATA drive to a USB drive, and barely managing to fit it all, I went in and attacked it from the POV of removing any FAT problems. Booted from a CD, ran FDISK /mbr, ran FDISK and deleted all the partitions, created a new C:, formatted it with a quick format, ran FDISK /mbr again, ran FDISK again to delete the partition to create all unallocated space, and rebooted with the system recovery CD in, with all USB devices and PCI cards disconnected, save for the monitor card. Only the absolutely required stuff was connected, save for the 2 DVD drives. Just the PS/2 keyboard, the USB mouse connected by the PS/2 bridge, the monitor card, and the two DVD drives. The recovery CD went to work, XP, the "2002 SP 1" update release that came with the default system was set up... and, to my surprise... the two DVD drives did NOT assume the drive letters D and E. Strangely... utterly in shock... they assumed the drive letters R and S which I ALWAYS used before! BUT, I have to set that MANUALLY! The drives SHOULD have assumed the first two available drive letters. With only C:, nothing else, they SHOULD have assumed D and E on a virgin install from the recovery CD. Like they have done before. SOMEHOW, they remembered and saved their drive letters from BEFORE, when I had changed them to R and S in my last Windows setup. WHY? More importantly... how?

Christ! This guy should be nominated for this year's Darwin Award! Even if he didn't die! http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060823/ap_on_...nis_pump_threat Wed Aug 23, 4:12 PM ET CHICAGO - Cook County prosecutors say a 29-year-old man traveling with his mother desperately didn't want her to know he'd packed a sexual aid for their trip to Turkey. So he told security it was a bomb, officials said. Now... the big question is this... why did he know he'd need a sexual aid... if he was travelling with his mother?

Actually, it wasn't that I was fighting with it. I was preforming all kinds of tests since I had one that was exhibiting the trait. So, I had become the guinea pig among the beta testers. Of my own choice, but, I wanted to see if there was a way around it. There wasn't. Especially if it was an ALI bridge of that series before, like Revision 5, where they added the ability to update the firmware of it. FINALLY. BUT, since there were, apparently, hundreds of thousands of these faulty, unsold chips in a warehouse, ALI got rid of them on the cheap, and dozens of manufacturers were using them to save a buck. To Hell with the user. IOMega was one. In 3 external optical drives of theirs, I encountered ALI bridges in the enclosures. I wouldn't be surprised if there was in the USB HD's. I think I will examine that one USB HD enclosure here in a bit, just for my and everyone's edification on the bridge in it. Since the drive is readily accessible right now, and the enclosure WAS easy to remove... AFTER I pried off the idiotic washer type piece of shit thing they had over the STRIPPED screw... So, one of the screws does not hold the drive in place. But, 3 out of 4 is fine.

IT'S PEOPLE! Actually, on second thought... I don't want to know WHAT the secret ingredient is... :& http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060821/od_nm/india_hitler_dc Mon Aug 21, 8:43 AM ET MUMBAI (Reuters) - A new restaurant in India's financial hub, named after Adolf Hitler and promoted with posters showing the German leader and Nazi swastikas, has infuriated the country's small Jewish community. Yes, it's in poor taste... but, I freely admit... the first thing that went through my head when I heard of this? "Yes, but, is it kosher?" I didn't say I was necessarily PROUD that that was the first thing that went through my head... EDIT: I would also like to point out for anyone that missed it, that my response WAS satire against this idiotic idea! HOW could the owner NOT expect the backlash? Simple: he DID and went and did it anyway. Hence, my satirical stab above.

Well, the drives suddenly losing their ability to read CD-RW manufacturer ID's does not appear to be directly related to the issue. I have it now and the drives are NOT swapping their letters around. So, anyone have any FUCKING idea what could cause THIS? Why TWO drives should SUDDENLY STOP BEING ABLE TO READ ONE FIELD, CAN READ ALL THE OTHERS, CAN READ THAT FIELD OFF OF DVD'S, AND STILL SOMEHOW NOT MALFUNCTION?!

Granted, I've seen maybe 10 episodes total. But, no, I don't.