Quick [tech] Questions Thread

[Engels]

Can anyone recommend a good (also simple and free) file sync app for Win7 64? I've installed SyncToys 2.1 and started it running my photos backup, which is 150Gb, 20,000 files from local hdd to NAS. It's now been running for 8 hours and is about 5% done, which seems ludicrously slow. I could just manually copy the entire directory a lot faster.

Edit: It's ok, answered my own question. FreeFileSync has just done the same job in 5 minutes. Hurrah.

That's kinda weird, because maybe I'm misinformed, but SyncToy is meant to simply be a gui for simple robocopy commands, which are as basic as you get. Then again, leave it to Windows to not manage a simple file comparison effectively.

[apocrypha]

A bit of googling turned up a bunch of other people having the same problem with SyncToy since it went to version 2 or something. Microsoft support guys posting to update to 2.1 to fix these problems and said people responding that makes no difference and that's as far as the discussions seem to go.

So, if you use SyncToy stick with 1.4 would appear to be the advice.

[apocrypha]

Ah, me again!

Anyone know how I can make the Google search built into Firefox default to .co.uk instead of .com? I've made sure my google account knows I'm in the UK, I've searched for google.co.uk search engine plugins, all failed.

My google-fu is *really* failing me!   

[Chimpy]

Ah, me again!

Anyone know how I can make the Google search built into Firefox default to .co.uk instead of .com? I've made sure my google account knows I'm in the UK, I've searched for google.co.uk search engine plugins, all failed.

My google-fu is *really* failing me!  

Google returns search results based on the geo-location of your IP address. So you may be SOL if the IP address your ISP gives you is not in google's geo-location DB as being in the UK.

Actually.....looks like you can get a plugin that uses the .uk page: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/13514

[apocrypha]

Thanks Chimpy, that addon works great.

It's a weird problem though because as you say, it should send me to google.co.uk automatically. And in fact every other PC in the house does so, just not this one. I'm wondering if there's some odd IP address shenanigans going on with my router...

[Chimpy]

If all of your computers are coming from behind the same NAT that would not make sense.

Is your computer set to send web traffic through a proxy that is not geolocated to the UK or are you always connected to a VPN on that machine?

That is the only thing that I can think of that might cause one machine behind the same home router to be geolocating differently.

[apocrypha]

All going through the same NAT. It makes no sense at all. But it doesn't matter now, Chimpy gave me a workaround 

[SnakeCharmer]

I'm thinking of switching to AT&T U Verse.  Pleased to hear experiences, good and bad.  What questions should I ask with regards to download speeds to determine if it is better/worse than my current Comcast 16Mbps service?  FWIW, I have the the option to getting their 18Mbps or 24Mbps DSL service.  I think pretty much everybody on my street/neighborhood has Comcast...

[Chimpy]

As with any copper loop product, your speeds will be heavily determined by your distance and the quality of the line to the DSLAM in your node. Whatever your speed gets will not be affected by how much your neighbors use it like cable, but AT&T does dynamically adjust the available bandwidth for internet to ensure that you have proper HDTV service if you are watching something on the TV at the same time.

AT&T you will have as shitty (if not shittier) customer service than Comcast so that is always something to keep in mind.

[birdsguts]

We have U-verse and their fastest package.
I hate it. But then again my situation might be caused by the total package that we have.
I think the big issue is that my roommates are always recording on the tv and it is scaling the bandwidth (didn't think of this until I read the above post) and pinching off whatever I'm doing on the computer all the time. So I guess if you aren't recording alot of tv or using that service for cable at all it might be pretty decent, but as it is for our package the thing drives me crazy. Way too unreliable to really enjoy gaming right now. One of the things I'm trying to solve. I need to remember to call them about opening up some bandwidth or something. I dunno.

[Chimpy]

I could have sworn that AT&T wasn't going to QoS the internet down to unusable for relatively low bandwidth applications like gaming or VoIP. Sounds like you may have some other problems as well.

[SnakeCharmer]

I'll be keeping my TV through Comcast, and just switching internet providers, so no worries about that.

I guess, all things being equal, will I see consistently higher speeds with 18Mbps DSL versus 16Mbps cable if a) I am reasonably close to the hub, b) the majority of my neighborhood is cable internet, and c) copper wiring currently in the house is less than 10 years old (or even brand new with a direct from the outside junction box to the outlet in my home office)?  If so, how much appreciably higher will it be?  I know the answer is mostly guestimation on anyones part, but I am interested in opinions on it.

[Chimpy]

I'll be keeping my TV through Comcast, and just switching internet providers, so no worries about that.

I guess, all things being equal, will I see consistently higher speeds with 18Mbps DSL versus 16Mbps cable if a) I am reasonably close to the hub, b) the majority of my neighborhood is cable internet, and c) copper wiring currently in the house is less than 10 years old (or even brand new with a direct from the outside junction box to the outlet in my home office)?  If so, how much appreciably higher will it be?  I know the answer is mostly guestimation on anyones part, but I am interested in opinions on it.

U-Verse upstream speeds even on their highest tier internet will be lower than your Comcast cable modem.

The thing I have heard from all former Comcast customers that went to U-Verse is that the TV is actually the reason to switch as they say TV is a lot better, especially the DVR they give you.

You are also going to pay a premium for not having a bundle with AT&T just like you would with Comcast.

[Lantyssa]

I could have sworn that AT&T wasn't going to QoS the internet down to unusable for relatively low bandwidth applications like gaming or VoIP. Sounds like you may have some other problems as well.

All the internet companies do it.  Watching HighDef kills a bunch of the bandwidth, so if you try to record a show, watch a show, and do internet the connection is going to suffer.  Depending on distance to the office in the case of DSL, there may just not be that much bandwidth available.  Cable has the timing issue since it depends on the local loop.

[caladein]

One of our old-ish CRT televisions started displaying a blank screen and emitting a buzzing noise.

Now usually that would lead me call it dead and leave it at that but the on-screen display (channel number, volume display, etc.) and audio work just fine.  At this point, I'm not finding reports of similar symptoms via searches so uh... help.

I'll be leaving it unplugged overnight at the very least to see if that does anything.

[apocrypha]

If the OSD works then I'd guess it was the tuner that was fucked. I'm totally making this up as I go along, but surely the OSD uses the CRT and steering coils to display information, so all of that must be working yeah?

What happens if you play an external source, like a DVD player, through it?

On another note, why do routers break? My ADSL modem/router has started dying - frequent connection dropouts, especially when someone rings the landline, which means it's a sensitivity issue with the ADSL modem yeah? I've changed the microfilters but no dice. I'm having to reboot it once or twice a day at the moment, which is a PITA.

Odd thing is that this is the 2nd ADSL modem/router I've had die in 12 months. My previous one worked perfectly for 5 years and then just went this way suddenly, but this one is only about 9 months old and is doing the same.

[Yegolev]

I started having DSL disconnects a while back.  Replaced the modem, no joy.  Eventually the tech moved my pair to another cabinet and, minus taking WAY too long to provision me, works fantastically now.  So, might not be the modem.

[Engels]

Eventually the tech moved my pair to another cabinet

...

[caladein]

If the OSD works then I'd guess it was the tuner that was fucked. I'm totally making this up as I go along, but surely the OSD uses the CRT and steering coils to display information, so all of that must be working yeah?

What happens if you play an external source, like a DVD player, through it?

Yeah, trying the DVD player and getting the same issue is what lead me to rule out the DTV tuner.  Not really sure what it was, but leaving it unplugged overnight appears to have fixed it for now.

[apocrypha]

I started having DSL disconnects a while back.  Replaced the modem, no joy.  Eventually the tech moved my pair to another cabinet and, minus taking WAY too long to provision me, works fantastically now.  So, might not be the modem.

Hmm, long wait time in telephone queue to have chat with ISP tomorrow then.

[Lantyssa]

On another note, why do routers break? My ADSL modem/router has started dying - frequent connection dropouts, especially when someone rings the landline, which means it's a sensitivity issue with the ADSL modem yeah? I've changed the microfilters but no dice. I'm having to reboot it once or twice a day at the moment, which is a PITA.

It could be for any number of reasons.  Most commonly, cheap soldering or components, causing them to wear out with just being on.  (Leaky transistors, heat eroding components, etc.)  If it's a router with software, then it could be a degradation in memory chips, or full logs, or a software state entered that wasn't accounted for.

Often it's external as Yeg mentions though.  One bad connection to one wire you've got problems.

[Chimpy]

Combo ADSL modems/routers are more prone to failure for weird reasons than a purely modem + external router.

I think a lot of it has to do with heat. All that circuitry packed in a small package, and I have found that ADSL modems for whatever reason generate a lot more heat than other network devices. Not sure exactly why, but I never had a cable modem that heated up as much as my DSL modems have.

[apocrypha]

Hmm, so would I be better off getting a seperate modem & router? That sounds like more things for me to fuck up...

[Yegolev]

I'll say that you will have more flexibility if you put a router behind your modem and stick the router in the DMZ, but also you will have to learn things.  The separate router will be more reliable and probably faster, but that's less important if you're not transferring a lot on your LAN.  Also if you are like me you might forget which IP ranges you set and various other tidbits and have to get angry at yourself when you rebuild your WAN/LAN incorrectly a few times.

[apocrypha]

Hmm that does sound like stuff I would be very good at fucking up. I'll get round to calling the ISP one day next week and see if they can drop me down to ADSL1 instead of 2 and see if that stabilises things.

[Sky]

I love ISPs. I've been getting intermittent 20% packet loss. An hour will be lossy, then a fine for a while, then lossy again. I've unplugged the cable box to exclude dual HD recording as a suspect. I'm thinking it's either a faulty piece of equipment on a pole (read: fixed when hell freezes) or a neighbor has suddenly begun hogging the shit out of the bandwidth, though I should'nt really be getting loss under that scenario, eh?

Been a couple weeks now, I'm starting to get pissed.

[Chimpy]

Is it packet loss to your default gateway, or just to sites around the internet?

I know I had issues with Comcast years ago where they had a bad router at the point it left their network but everything to the CMTS was fine. If you have a neighbor who is on the same Upstream channel on the CMTS as you who is upstream torrenting a storm, it is possible you would see issues as the upstream channel you are on will have a maximum total throughput of ~ 32Mb/s if you are on a DOCSIS 2 plant (though it might be lower depending on configuration).

[Sky]

Good idea, I'll ping that tonight and see what I see. My usual ping target is www.apple.com (har) as a constant because I know what the times should be for that from several locations. Then I add in a ping to whatever servers I'm trying to access and having problems with ( ) So is the WAN default gateway the CMTS? And that's the local 'hub' for a cable network, right? How do I not know this stuff, heh.

I did chat with TW a few nights ago about it, they do some reset on their end that has helped with this in the past (it's happened a couple times in the last two years), but it didn't work this time. It was a funny transcript, because only about...20%...of my responses made it to the chat tech.

What should I be asking the techs to do on their end?

[Lantyssa]

Try a traceroute instead of a ping when the connection goes wonky.  (And maybe when it's alright for a control.)  That might give you more information on where packets start dropping.  If you get a decent tech on the line, it'll be helpful to resolving the problem.

[Chimpy]

Good idea, I'll ping that tonight and see what I see. My usual ping target is www.apple.com (har) as a constant because I know what the times should be for that from several locations. Then I add in a ping to whatever servers I'm trying to access and having problems with ( ) So is the WAN default gateway the CMTS? And that's the local 'hub' for a cable network, right? How do I not know this stuff, heh.

I did chat with TW a few nights ago about it, they do some reset on their end that has helped with this in the past (it's happened a couple times in the last two years), but it didn't work this time. It was a funny transcript, because only about...20%...of my responses made it to the chat tech.

What should I be asking the techs to do on their end?

It depends on how their network is setup. In the case of a large setup like TWs, the CMTS will usually be between you and the DGW, but only by one step (similar to how your library probably has you plugged into a switch which then feeds into the router which is your DGW).

If you are talking to TW on the phone and they can see into the CMTS, they should know what SNR and upstream power to expect. You could ask them if they have the ability to check the amount of usage on the upstream interface you are connected to when you are having troubles, this would indicate quickly whether or not it is a bandwidth issue.

Like Lantyssa said, a traceroute to someplace like Apple or Google will help determine where the drops are happening. In most cases, you will find that your problem is somewhere a couple hops upstream of your DGW.

[SnakeCharmer]

My video card has been RMA'd and been in limbo for 3 weeks now.  Manufacturer wants to send me 2 GTX 460 OC's in place of my old GTX 470 (or a GTX 480) as they say they won't have any in for another 2-3 weeks.  I have a Thermaltake TR2 WX 850W PSU (69A @ 12V). 
Two questions:
Should I take the two 460's?  Or wait?  Performance would be better according to a post by , and I'm not scared of SLI
Will my PSU handle it?  Keep in mind, I'm overclocked at 4.0Ghz (i5-750), 8GB of RAM (no big deal)

[Sky]

After looking over the stuff at anands I've shifted my position to cautiously optimistic about two 460s in SLI vs a 480. As long as the money end comes together ok and you are up for SLI, I don't see why not.

Also, on the cable issue...I forgot I had tapped into the line when I moved the a/v stuff into the den while we worked on the living room. It shouldn't make a difference, the tap has one of those little booster dealies in it, but I changed it out for the barrel connector that was originally in the line there. Worked fine for at least a few hours last night, we'll see going forward if it was the problem.

[Chimpy]

After looking over the stuff at anands I've shifted my position to cautiously optimistic about two 460s in SLI vs a 480. As long as the money end comes together ok and you are up for SLI, I don't see why not.

Also, on the cable issue...I forgot I had tapped into the line when I moved the a/v stuff into the den while we worked on the living room. It shouldn't make a difference, the tap has one of those little booster dealies in it, but I changed it out for the barrel connector that was originally in the line there. Worked fine for at least a few hours last night, we'll see going forward if it was the problem.

If the tap/amp you put in does not have a return path amp in it, then it would probably be the cause. Most cheap tap/amps only amp on the downstream and cable modems rely on the upstream power level more than the downstream.

[SnakeCharmer]

What I'm not sure about is the amp requirement.  The 460 OC needs 38A @ 12v rail.  Does that mean that two will require 76A @ 12v?  Or does it not scale that way?  According to the Thermaltake rep I spoke to, he said everything should be fine - but I'm not 100 percent sure he knew what he was talking about...

[Sheepherder]

What I'm not sure about is the amp requirement.  The 460 OC needs 38A @ 12v rail.  Does that mean that two will require 76A @ 12v?  Or does it not scale that way?  According to the Thermaltake rep I spoke to, he said everything should be fine - but I'm not 100 percent sure he knew what he was talking about...

38A is awfully fucking high for a single 460, they're probably factoring for shitty PSU's.  Two of those should kick some major ass.

Also, I think my new HDD is dead.  Fuck my life.