Off-Topic Thread V3.0

z0oT

smuggler.ie wrote: »

New files/directories added?
What size is Windows.edb ? Default location C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\
If Windows.edb corrupt, Windows might attempt to rebuild it. Not linux user, but believe it'll behave same if corruption has occurred...
You can delete/rename Windows.edb and allow Win to start from "scratch"

Review your Indexing Options, remove any unwanted directories from there.

That's actually useful thanks. That file in question would have been about 600MB, I've since deleted it. It would have been after the update to Version 2004.

Robert ninja wrote: »

Won't it turn back on every time you boot? Perhaps make a launch script to disable it on after login. Anytime I use a non VM windows the 1st thing I do is open the task manager and shocked to see so much useless junk is running.

You can mark a service as disabled to prevent it starting upon boot, which should make it permanently disabled. I guess there's the possibility of a future update re-enabling it though. A powershell script on boot up would probably be the way to go.

There's certainly a lot more idle activity in Windows. Checking my server now (which is running Debian) the idle CPU usage hovers about a few percent. It's not a totally fair comparison given there's no desktop environment but this is with 4 VMs and a whole slew of services running (all idling though).

smuggler.ie

z0oT wrote: »

...That file in question would have been about 600MB, I've since deleted it. ...

Well...
Indexing, if not mistaking, take place only once system is idle(no user activity).
File size depend on what you have set to index, but mine is ~ 3.4Gb and i never had problems with it.
Note, i am on Win8.1
Win10 with their updates/upgrades often cause various issues, IIRC serious search issues where on 1809/1903
Troubleshooting option should be available from within Indexing Options

Cuddlesworth

Robert ninja wrote: »

Could you do me a favour and launch a game and move the mouse as fast as possible all around like you're having a fit? Probably with in-game sensitivity kinda low so you can actually see the movements. A mouse I had once would stall if the flicks were too fast.

Its a logitech, the laser and receiver are top notch. Its never missed anything on a decent mouse pad.

It does use the business software, not the gaming software and its limited on features. But RSI flareups have been very sporadic since getting and using it.

Danger781

Is anyone here running an ESXi or similar server? I started debating the idea of picking up a cheap second hand 'enterprise' server off Adverts. Something like a Dell R710 for example. I've been reading up about servers like this and apparently they're super loud and power hungry which got me thinking about building my own server with consumer level hardware instead to hopefully reduce noise / power usage which would also give me a lot more resource power. Then of course I started thinking maybe I would just upgrade my desktop do something cool like run ESXi with GPU passthrough to a gaming VM.. and down the rabbit hole I went!

I'm running a Microserver at home as a Media server for Plex and it's fine for that purpose, but with only 16G RAM I can't afford to run much else. I've always been interested in running a homelab - Partly for learning and partly for my own benefit.

Is there another thread / forum where discussions like this are more appropriate?

Serephucus

A few of us have servers. There is actually a 'Servers and Systems' forum under computers and tech here, but it's not the most active.

Any enterprise server (R710s in particular), are going to be loud. Quite a bit louder than you're used to. You'll get people on forums saying you can change fan curves to make them quieter - and you can - but they'll never be "quiet". I built a 2U server a while ago, and even swapping fans to Noctuas, it's still pretty obnoxious. Think very low speed hairdryer.

For some things to google: I'm running a 4U server as my main, built around a 3900X, 64GB RAM, and an X470D4U mobo, running unRAID. There are a few VMs there running game servers, test environments and the like, and a bunch of Docker containers - MineOS, Radarr, Sonarr, Netdata, Bookstack, Docuwiki, Nexcloud, Unifi, Jellyfin, etc.

I also have that secondary 2U box. That was supposed to be a testbed for an ESXi cluster, but I can't seem to get it stable. Something to do with the NIC drivers, on the "hosts" I think.

z0oT

My server is quite similar to Serephucus'. I've the same motherboard, but paired with a 2600 & 32GB of memory instead.

It runs Debian. Very similar usage though - Docker containers to run most applications (Sonarr, Radarr, Lidarr, Plex, OpenVPN and Pi-hole being the main ones), lots of VMs mainly for testing different stuff out, MergerFS to pool all of the drives together into one mount point and Samba for NAS functionality.

You could definitely just run with some consumer grade hardware. If you've an old motherboard/CPU and memory lying around, stick them in a case with a bunch of HDDs and off you go. It should be certainly enough to get started.

Some of the more server-y features like ECC memory or IPMI aren't really essential for a home setup, just really nice to have.

deceit

I used to run custom desktop systems and used them as servers, they were generally a little less reliable for my liking.
I moved over to building custom servers.
I've 4 2u esxi servers. They run dual 5660's with 256gb ram each. Being custom they have custom coolers so are whisper quiet.

I've also recently purchased an R620 (1u) to see if its worth the upgrade. Its running 2 quad cores at the moment and 64gb ram. I've just added 10gb nics to it today and I'm looking to add two 2660v2's (10core cpus) and 768gb ram to it. This one when running cold is quiet but if it doesn't get enough air it sounds like a hairdryer on low like Serephecus said.
If your looking for old servers, I wouldn't get them on adverts as they are well overpriced. I would pick them up from ebay or reddit.
With cpu feature support, I wouldn't get below a r620/r720 though nowadays. You would get a 720 for less on ebay than a 710 on adverts I'm guessing.

K.O.Kiki

Flick Stick aiming seems so interesting, gonna give it a try this week.

Robert ninja

At a glance the title card of the video looked like "FU*K STICK"

Not sure I'd use such a thing though. There's pretty much only 2 PC games I even use a controller with; Tekken 7 & Devil May Cry. I'd certainly not use a gamepad for FPS. What's the target audience? Just people who play everything with gamepads and want better design?

Mr Crispy

Was trying to navigate Dell's website to check a few monitor prices, but every criteria I select from the drop-down gives me "0 Results". Is anyone else having this issue? Doesn't seem to affect other products.

Robert ninja

Just tried it with my adblocker off in 2 different browsers and same thing with no results.

Mr Crispy

Robert ninja wrote: »

Just tried it with my adblocker off in 2 different browsers and same thing with no results.

Thanks for that. Might try their chat service in the morning.

Mr Crispy

Mr Crispy wrote: »

Was trying to navigate Dell's website to check a few monitor prices, but every criteria I select from the drop-down gives me "0 Results". Is anyone else having this issue? Doesn't seem to affect other products.

So it's back working this evening. Unfortunately the monitor I'm interested in isn't listed on the Irish site yet (it is listed on Dell UK, France, Germany etc, and discounted with an introductory offer to boot).

Can anyone tell me, is it possible to order something form the Dell UK site, having it delivered to Parcel Motel for example? I'm guessing not, but worth an ask.

Robert ninja

There's no reason why Dell wouldn't deliver to NA. The only risk would be parcel motel's locker sizes. If you're sure the monitor can fit I'd say go for it. I've had something not fit in them before, though.

smuggler.ie

Shouldn't be a problem

If your parcel does not fit in the Parcel Motel, we will notify you and make alternative arrangements. Please scroll down for full details of our charges or click here to calculate the cost for your oversized/overweight parcel.

https://parcelmotel.com/prices/
https://parcelmotel.zendesk.com/hc/en-gb/articles/115003494669-Parcel-Motel-XL-Depots-Opening-Hours-

Mr Crispy

Cheers. I'll have to double check Dell's T&Cs. A mate was buying a laptop a few years ago, and some of the UK based OEMs wouldn't deliver to "mail forwarding services". He can't remember if it was Dell, Lenovo, or whoever though.

Robert ninja

Sheesh. What business is it of theirs where it goes or what happens to it after it's delivered and why on Earth would they hurt their bottom line like that? Talk about annoying.

JoyPad

Robert ninja wrote: »

Sheesh. What business is it of theirs where it goes or what happens to it after it's delivered and why on Earth would they hurt their bottom line like that? Talk about annoying.

It is their business to abide by the law. In this case, shipping outside of UK means collecting the VAT for the country where the item is shipped to, and settling that VAT with the respective country. Some businesses prefer not to do any kind of international shipping, and just deal with local VAT. If sending a product to a parcel forwarding service puts them at risk with the Exchequer, they simply filter those orders out.

Mr Crispy

All moot in any case; the Irish Dell site has the monitor listed now.

Inviere

Is the used market the best option when looking for a prebuilt 'gaming' machine for ~€700/€800? Somebody asked me to source a machine for games at that price range, & the specs at that bracket seem a bit wanting (10100's etc) for gaming...

Homelander

Not at all. In that range you'd be talking Ryzen 3600 + GTX1660 Super class machine.

TitianGerm

Mr Crispy wrote: »

All moot in any case; the Irish Dell site has the monitor listed now.

Was it the S2721DGF?

Mr Crispy

TitianGerm wrote: »

Was it the S2721DGF?

Yeah, it ticks a few boxes for me. Going to wait a few days for reviews to leak out first though.

TitianGerm

Mr Crispy wrote: »

Yeah, it ticks a few boxes for me. Going to wait a few days for reviews to leak out first though.

I was actually looking at it myself this morning. Seems a lot of monitor for €440ish

Robert ninja

JoyPad wrote: »

It is their business to abide by the law. In this case, shipping outside of UK means collecting the VAT for the country

Parcel Motel has a UK parcel point which is where you get your items delivered. So it's not shipping outside the UK.

TitianGerm wrote: »

I was actually looking at it myself this morning. Seems a lot of monitor for €440ish

Similar specs and price to the one I got but with a little more it seems.

I think this is what customers go for now. Something between 300-500 that can do 1440p and high Hz if they're gamers. The stands are usually bad on these things, one of the ways they keep the costs down. I know mine was. So I suggest a monitor arm with em'.

Cuddlesworth

Robert ninja wrote: »

Parcel Motel has a UK parcel point which is where you get your items delivered. So it's not shipping outside the UK.

If you know that your customer is not in the UK and using a shipping service to redirect the package out of country, most will err on the side of caution as it wouldn't be worth it to them to get tangled in a court case with a foreign country.

Which makes me wonder, does Amazon charge Irish vat if you use a shipping service?

Mr Crispy

TitianGerm wrote: »

I was actually looking at it myself this morning. Seems a lot of monitor for €440ish

Yep. And one benefit of going back to college at my age is I now get a student discount again. So it would be just under €400. I think it uses the same panel as the recent LG and Lenovo with similar specs. Maybe Robert's Acer as well.

Robert ninja wrote: »

I think this is what customers go for now. Something between 300-500 that can do 1440p and high Hz if they're gamers. The stands are usually bad on these things, one of the ways they keep the costs down. I know mine was. So I suggest a monitor arm with em'.

Yeah, it seems to be the sweet spot for most. I'm reluctant to spend more on a monitor when it seems that all price brackets have the same QC issues, and all panel technologies have their inherent cons. I liked the look of the recent 32" Samsung, but there are lots of issues being reported on reddit. Hopefully this will last until micro LED takes off in a few years.

smuggler.ie

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

Which makes me wonder, does Amazon charge Irish vat if you use a shipping service?

Have used Amazon and Ebay to Parcel Motel - local tax as far can remember. On Ebay posting price UK to ROI could be mad £10-15, with PM - ~€4, however not all traders ship to NI once see postal code

Robert ninja

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

If you know that your customer is not in the UK and using a shipping service to redirect the package out of country, most will err on the side of caution as it wouldn't be worth it to them to get tangled in a court case with a foreign country.

Which makes me wonder, does Amazon charge Irish vat if you use a shipping service?

I just had an order shipped to the UK parcel motel address (by mistake) instead of my home one. Here's the price breakdown



Even though the invoice is for my home address I think this is the UK VAT. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm reluctant to spend more on a monitor when it seems that all price brackets have the same QC issues

I actually thought there was something wrong with mine when I first got it. Some kinda of flickering that others were reporting too. I just used a newer display port cable

wotzgoingon

Yea that is 20% VAT rather than our 23%.