[PLUG] Computer hell

[John Jason Jordan]

On Mon, 21 Jul 2014 12:46:03 -0700
Dale Snell <ddsnell at frontier.com> dijo:

>On Mon, 21 Jul 2014 10:54:54 -0700
>John Jason Jordan <johnxj at comcast.net> wrote:

>> Several hours later the screen suddenly became distorted. It appeared
>> as if there was some RF interference that was causing "static." After
>> puzzling about it I rebooted, which went fast as it usually does, and
>> the video problem disappeared. The video is a GeForce GTX 750M, and I
>> am using only the Intel video in the chip.

>Hmm.  Sounds like perhaps the machine was overheating?  I'm not
>sure what to say.  Except perhaps, to see if your laptop is still
>in warranty.

Not sure about the warranty, but I doubt it was overheating. It has
gotten hotter at my house than it did at Free Geek yesterday, and I
wasn't using it intensively at the time. I should have mentioned that I
have never installed the proprietary nVidia drivers; just using
the Ubuntu flavor of nouveau.

>> When I got home I restarted the computer and it proceeded normally.
>> However, my computer life was about to enter hell. I spent an hour
>> updating the PLUG flyer, intending to print new ones for OSCON, only
>> to discover that my network had lost the conection to the printer. It
>> took an hour to solve the problem (I *hate* network issues!), and
>> then I discovered that there is something wrong with the cyan in the
>> printer. An hour later I gave up trying to fix it. We'll have to make
>> do with the old flyers.

>Can't help much with the printer, I'm afraid.  Except to ask: have
>you've tried to run a self-test page from the printer directly?
>The cyan ink port may have plugged in the printhead; running the
>printer's cleaning routine may help.

It's a Phaser 7400DN, enormous laser for printing on 12 by 18 inch
card stock. I'll have to deal with it later.

>> I continued with other things at he computer, and as I was doing so I
>> knocked a liter of soda directly into the keyboard. 

>OUCH!  Soda (or coffee, tea, whatever) and keyboards do NOT mix
>well.  How did you "dry it up"?  Your best bet would have been to
>shut down the computer, disconnect the power supply and remove the
>battery.  The rinse the keyboard gently with warm water;
>de-ionized would probably be best.  (Yes, I know, it sounds
>terrible -- "water and electronics don't mix!" -- but how do you
>think the electronics are cleaned at the factory?)  Soda will
>leave a lot of sugar and other residue, which will cause major
>keyboard malfunctions if it isn't removed.  The rest of the laptop
>would probably benefit as well.  Once it's been cleaned, allow it
>to air dry _thoroughly_.  Overnight in a dish rack would be a good
>place.

It was diet soda, so no sugar, but it still had a lot of stuff in it
that is hard to pronounce.

>If you don't know how to remove the keyboard, check the user's
>manual that should have come with the laptop.  If one didn't,
>google for it on the web.  It should show you how to remove the
>keyboard.  Find some way to store the screws -- an egg carton
>would work well.  Or perhaps a set of pill bottles.  They're very
>easy to lose.  Very easy.

System76 provides no user manual, no parts list, nada. All I got was a
single sheet of paper with cursory instructions and links to Ubuntu
help sites (they ship it with straight Ubuntu Unity, although I nuked
it and installed Xubuntu instead). I might be able to get something
from Sager, since it's the same as their NP9380, but I haven't checked
with them yet.

>Yeah, this looks like the soda dried inside the keyboard.  Once
>you've got the keyboard removed, you can soak it in warm water.
>Clean water won't hurt the keyboard, so long as it's unplugged.
>
>> I called System76 just now and a replacement keyboard will cost
>> probably $100.
>
>OUCH!  Again!  I'd definitely try cleaning the keyboard before I
>spent that kind of money.

I think I am going to order the keyboard anyway. Then I'll try cleaning
the old keyboard, but I'll have the replacement on hand in cse I need
it. I'll be at OSCON until Thursday, by which time the replacement
should be here.

Thanks for the ideas.