Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Mr. Scram]

I not only remembered I have parts, but I was even able to find them. What's next, them actually working?

[cyclin_al]

      

As I said; I went to the old neighborhood today... while I was driving through, one gentleman was wheeling these to the curb. Needless to say, I stopped immediately and asked if that was really what was in those boxes; the answer was yes, but the hard drives had been removed. I said that was fine, I had a G5 back in the day and this would be a great chance to revisit... but could I please take the sleds off the old drives if he still had them...?

The fellow hemmed & hawed for a minute, then produced a box with 4 750GB Barracuda drives and asked "Are you a computer guy?" I said yes. "Would you please wipe the drives?" "Yeah, no problem!"

I took the box and thanked him, and we were on our way.

https://everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_pro/specs/mac-pro-eight-core-3.0-2008-specs.html

Whuf... this one was loaded for storage & graphics; those HDDs were all part of the original build. As were dual Xeon E5472s, 2GB DDR2-800 RAM,  a GeForce 8800GT GPU, and dual GB Ethernet. Huh.

https://everymac.com/monitors/apple/studio_cinema/specs/apple_cinema_display_30.html

Whuf again... that 30" Cinema Display cost nearly as much as the PC... together nearly $9K with upgrades, or over $10K adjusted.

The 8800GT was a bit of a bastard child; almost DirectX11 but not fully supported. But with any semi-modern GPU and a few more GB RAM, I suspect this thing might even run Win10! Damn... maybe I need to look into BootCamping it for my wife... She loved GarageBand! 

Allright... I've peeked inside the boxes to make sure they didn't contain angry badgers or bobcats; tomorrow after I've had a chance to rest I'll actually unpack and look inside the CPU.

mnem
 

I might be asking you more about this one.
The neighbours kid picked up a G5 in a similar manner, but he does not seem to have much motivation to actually bring it over to my workbench.  It does not power on at the moment.
What a magnificent case on those!

[bd139]

Local PC shop near me has a table made out of two of them and a chunk of glass 

[mnementh]

Starting to get concerned @med is laying at the rear of his wagon with a Tek scope pinning him in place  Anyone heard from him in the last few days?

Been thinking the same....missing him.
Considered sending him email however I know too well how debilitating a crook back can be and you just want to be left alone and not be pestered.

GWS Med.

You're right, last time I heard anything, he was on the mend but slowly and thinking of calling his son to help get the scope out of the CRV. I hope he hasn't gone and made his back worse. Hey Med, if you're lurking, please let us all know how you're doing, will you?

Same here... I was actually thinking of dropping him a note via snail mail.

OTOH, I think of all sorts of weird shit at quarter to 4 in the morning, so not sure... 

In any event... if you're out there reading this somewhere... get well soon, buddy. You are missed. 

mnem
wow, man... my scales are soooo biiiiig...

[mnementh]

      As I said; I went to the old neighborhood today... while I was driving through, one gentleman was wheeling these to the curb. Needless to say, I stopped immediately and asked if that was really what was in those boxes; the answer was yes, but the hard drives had been removed. I said that was fine, I had a G5 back in the day and this would be a great chance to revisit...

I might be asking you more about this one.

The neighbours kid picked up a G5 in a similar manner, but he does not seem to have much motivation to actually bring it over to my workbench.  It does not power on at the moment. What a magnificent case on those!

Of course, the ol' tinkerdwagon couldn't go to bed with a unexplored bit of tech on the bench, no matter how fukkin' tired he is... I was up til 4am unpacking and wiping it down, and... this is all it does. The LEDs come on, I hear HDDs thrashing for a bit, and of course the well-muffled wind-tunnel fans these are notorious for. But no video, not even a splash from the GPU BIOS, and same still true if plugged into another monitor.
So... at this point, it is the most beautiful space heater I've ever owned... 

https://everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_pro/specs/mac-pro-eight-core-3.0-2008-specs.html

https://everymac.com/monitors/apple/studio_cinema/specs/apple_cinema_display_30.html

            

A few quick pics of the insides. Top left bay houses 2 IDE Optical drives. Under that and the PSU, 4 HDD sleds in a nice tidy row; slot on MB and HDD appear to have the SAS unitized connector, so given the architecture and vintage, probably SAS drives in RAID5 for bandwidth and fault-tolerance. I'm guessing SAS-1, as SAS-2 wasn't ratified until 2009.

RAM riser cards are populated identically, one per CPU with ECC DDR2-800MHz RAM. It appears there was some aftermarket upgrading done... one OEM 2GB kit, and one other-branded 8GB kit on each card. 

CPU does appear to start up and shut down normally from pressing the front button, so next step I guess is to drag monitor or PC far enough to connect the 30" monitor to my old hp PC... see if it actually works from a known good DVI signal source. From there I can do further troubleshooting on the CPU.

mnem
 

[tonyalbus]

      As I said; I went to the old neighborhood today... while I was driving through, one gentleman was wheeling these to the curb. Needless to say, I stopped immediately and asked if that was really what was in those boxes; the answer was yes, but the hard drives had been removed. I said that was fine, I had a G5 back in the day and this would be a great chance to revisit...

I might be asking you more about this one.

The neighbours kid picked up a G5 in a similar manner, but he does not seem to have much motivation to actually bring it over to my workbench.  It does not power on at the moment. What a magnificent case on those!

Of course, the ol' tinkerdwagon couldn't go to bed with a unexplored bit of tech on the bench, no matter how fukkin' tired he is... I was up til 4am unpacking and wiping it down, and... this is all it does. The LEDs come on, I hear HDDs thrashing for a bit, and of course the well-muffled wind-tunnel fans these are notorious for. But no video, not even a splash from the GPU BIOS, and same still true if plugged into another monitor.
So... at this point, it is the most beautiful space heater I've ever owned... 

https://everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_pro/specs/mac-pro-eight-core-3.0-2008-specs.html

https://everymac.com/monitors/apple/studio_cinema/specs/apple_cinema_display_30.html

            

A few quick pics of the insides. Top left bay houses 2 IDE Optical drives. Under that and the PSU, 4 HDD sleds in a nice tidy row; slot on MB and HDD appear to have the SAS unitized connector, so given the architecture and vintage, probably SAS drives in RAID5 for bandwidth and fault-tolerance. I'm guessing SAS-1, as SAS-2 wasn't ratified until 2009.

RAM riser cards are populated identically, one per CPU with ECC DDR2-800MHz RAM. It appears there was some aftermarket upgrading done... one OEM 2GB kit, and one other-branded 8GB kit on each card. 

CPU does appear to start up and shut down normally from pressing the front button, so next step I guess is to drag monitor or PC far enough to connect the 30" monitor to my old hp PC... see if it actually works from a known good DVI signal source. From there I can do further troubleshooting on the CPU.

mnem
 

They look great, last year i upgraded same sort of G5.. upgraded memory added SSD... it booted nice and fast, upgraded to latestpossible MacOS..
to find out non of the browsers work on this old version of macOS 
Even made a YT about it. 
All a waist of time it was.

Best thing to do is put in a PC board, i have seen many mods on that....
But they look amazing still..

[mnementh]

Dubbin is an Oz and Kiwi thing it is all I have used on my work and hiking boots for decades. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubbin Basically if it is leather and mine it gets coated 

All of the above are available to me; I just didn't feel like spending the money on a watch band I wasn't even sure I like. That said... I recently bought a new pair of suede hiking boots because cheap and actually decent fit... I suppose I should pony up for some neatsfoot oil to feed those at least. 

C is right aboot vegetable oil going rancid; on the farm I never cared (who's gonna turn their nose up at the smell? The cows & pigs?) and light vegetable oil in a spray bottle was always on hand for oodles of tasks, so it was quick & easy to just give the ol' boots a quick spray whenever they looked dried out.

mnem
 

[mnementh]

   So... at this point, it is the most beautiful space heater I've ever owned... 

They look great, last year i upgraded same sort of G5.. upgraded memory added SSD... it booted nice and fast, upgraded to latestpossible MacOS..
to find out non of the browsers work on this old version of macOS  Even made a YT about it.  Best thing to do is put in a PC board, i have seen many mods on that.... But they look amazing still..

Mmmhmmm... in all honesty, If I'd gotten this thing before building the boi his gaming PC, would probably have done exactly that. But since it's now a toy, I may look further into Boot-Camping it to run Win10 as well, or go Win10 entirely and really piss off Jobs' ghost. 

mnem
 

[mnementh]

Fuck... he must've heard me. Gawddamn thing just turned itself on with nobody anywhere near it... 

mnem
 

[bd139]

Good news that. Check the battery on the main logic board - usually dead if they don’t power up reliably.

[mnementh]

I checked that on the board last night... measured 2.95V, so didn't think it was anywhere near a problem. Kindof loathe to replace it when I can't even see the BIOS yet...

Currently moving the monitor closer to my old hp to test.

mnem
 

[bd139]

Yeah that should be fine. Good luck with it. They are complicated, unreliable and ancient at this point 

[mnementh]

Welp, looks like the monitor is good. Guess I'll need to check PCIe pigtail on GPU, and if that shows good power, swap in another GPU.

At first, center of screen was considerably darker than the rest; but after warming up for aboot 5 min, screen is very even, good contrast and looks ever-so-slightly warm. To be expected, I'd say... probably hasn't seen light of day in 5 years, guessing by how yellowed the tape sealing the carton is.

mnem
 

[mnementh]

Narrowed the Solder Station choices no tips included and there is a new slightly fancier JBC coming so seems the current ones might be reduced at least in Oz. Prices are to my door and Tax paid from local distributors. Looked at TEquipment and a few of the usual suspects and savings are $50-80 and 120V PITA transformer use mainly due to $100+ USD of postage.

JBC CD-B 130W version "General Purpose Station" $574 AUD
Pace ADS200 120W instant setback stand version $680 AUD

By the time a few tips are added they will both finish up about level pegging for price - way to much 

So... does that mean a DIY T12 solution is getting some consideration...? Or maybe scouring fleaBay for a used MX500?

mnem
 

[mansaxel]

Quick lunch time 3478A update.

Destickered and cleaned up finally.  HP stack...



Job done.

I did some comparative measurements with my other two Flukes and everything is within specification. Either that or they're all equally wrong 

Nice! I give this stack 3 months, as I wrote above. 

A 3478 is on my wish list. I did miss the 5245L by sheer unluck -- was helping youngest one fall asleep. A  Nixie counter is therefore still  also on the wish list, but it has to be 5245L or better. And cheap! No insane trans-atlantic shipping charges.

[mansaxel]

I took the box and thanked him, and we were on our way.

Yay! That will probably run very new releases of OS X, I think (El Capitan, which is what I run on my 2015 MBP, and that's fine.). Massive RAM upgrade needed, of course. Don't defile it with Windows, it's a disgrace to an almost Real Computer.

[bd139]

10.5.8. Ancient. 

[mansaxel]

10.5.8. Ancient. 

Oh, yes. I was wrong. But not that wrong. It requires 10.5 as minimum level, but, the "about" site states:

This system can run the last version of OS X 10.8 "Mountain Lion," OS X 10.9 "Mavericks," OS X 10.10 "Yosemite" and OS X 10.11 "El Capitan"

And, I'm on High Sierra, not El Capitan. Work computer is on Catalina. Enough things are broken in Catalina that I need to wait a little bit before I jump to Big Sur. Probably will end up running an OpenBSD VM on it just to have a predictable Unix. Fucking iOS with keyboard.

[Specmaster]

Quick lunch time 3478A update.

Destickered and cleaned up finally.  HP stack...



Job done.

I did some comparative measurements with my other two Flukes and everything is within specification. Either that or they're all equally wrong 

That is a good-looking stack there bd, for sure, job well done.

I think I owe you an apology about PackLink, they are bastards, just sent me a demand for £4.99 being the differance between what I paid for a parcel I sent in Jan and what they say I should have paid  IIRC when using their service, you have input the weight and the carton size, and they use that along with its destination to give you a price, which came to £5.39, and I paid that. I had a long online chat with their agent, and he said that I only paid for the smaller parcel size which was what they call 180 and mine was 200. Apparently they calculate it as being the sum of the 2 shortest sides, multiplied by 2 and add the longest side and claimed all of that info was on screen. He gave a link to their eBay page, so I could check  , it asked me the usual questions from and where to, weight and dimensions, so in goes 5Kg, 45 x 46 x 32 cm and I get a price of £5.99, and it clearly shows on screen 5Kg, 45 x 46 x 32 cm.

I won't be using them again thats for sure.

[AVGresponding]

That is a good-looking stack there bd, for sure, job well done.

I think I owe you an apology about PackLink, they are bastards, just sent me a demand for £4.99 being the differance between what I paid for a parcel I sent in Jan and what they say I should have paid  IIRC when using their service, you have input the weight and the carton size, and they use that along with its destination to give you a price, which came to £5.39, and I paid that. I had a long online chat with their agent, and he said that I only paid for the smaller parcel size which was what they call 180 and mine was 200. Apparently they calculate it as being the sum of the 2 shortest sides, multiplied by 2 and add the longest side and claimed all of that info was on screen. He gave a link to their eBay page, so I could check  , it asked me the usual questions from and where to, weight and dimensions, so in goes 5Kg, 45 x 46 x 32 cm and I get a price of £5.99, and it clearly shows on screen 5Kg, 45 x 46 x 32 cm.

I won't be using them again thats for sure.

I hope you told them which orifice they could insert their demand into.

[Cerebus]

10.5.8. Ancient. 

No. If it's MacPro3,1 (Early 2008) it officially goes to 10.11.6 (El Capitan). If it's MacPro2,1 it officially goes to 10.7.5 (Lion). With a little fiddling all the Intel Mac Pros will run El Capitan, even the MacPro1,1.

I have two MacPro1,1s here, one's running El Capitan, the other's running VMWare EXSi 6.0. 

[ch_scr]

One "ear" on, one to go

[bd139]

Quick lunch time 3478A update.

Destickered and cleaned up finally.  HP stack...



Job done.

I did some comparative measurements with my other two Flukes and everything is within specification. Either that or they're all equally wrong 

That is a good-looking stack there bd, for sure, job well done.

I think I owe you an apology about PackLink, they are bastards, just sent me a demand for £4.99 being the differance between what I paid for a parcel I sent in Jan and what they say I should have paid  IIRC when using their service, you have input the weight and the carton size, and they use that along with its destination to give you a price, which came to £5.39, and I paid that. I had a long online chat with their agent, and he said that I only paid for the smaller parcel size which was what they call 180 and mine was 200. Apparently they calculate it as being the sum of the 2 shortest sides, multiplied by 2 and add the longest side and claimed all of that info was on screen. He gave a link to their eBay page, so I could check  , it asked me the usual questions from and where to, weight and dimensions, so in goes 5Kg, 45 x 46 x 32 cm and I get a price of £5.99, and it clearly shows on screen 5Kg, 45 x 46 x 32 cm.

I won't be using them again thats for sure.

I got done for that as well. Quite frankly I was genuinely taking the piss by about 4cm overall and I know it so I just paid up. I’ve got to give Packlink their due though on a few things:

1. Lost £600 UPS parcel this week. They contacted UPS and got it sorted in 4 days ie found in the depot and sent on.
2. UPS shipped £65 item to Frankfurt instead of Newark. Got full refund this week on top of the postage I paid so am actually £6 up
3. Hermes nicked £120 parcel. Packlink dealt with it and fully refunded (waiting for transfer now). Again I got refunded postage first so am £6 up.

Can’t really complain. They have done good so far.

On top of the eBay payment changes I’m not getting buggered for PayPal fees now so it’s all good. Definitely improvement.

BTW advice for Packlink customers:

1. Take a photo inside the parcel to show how it is packed before you seal it
2. Take a photo outside the parcel showing the label as attached.

Very very important to do both or forget claiming. If you’re a dodgy fucker like me you can find a box close to what you sent, pack something random in it, reprint the label and stick it on the box and send them a picture of that 

[bd139]

10.5.8. Ancient. 

No. If it's MacPro3,1 (Early 2008) it officially goes to 10.11.6 (El Capitan). If it's MacPro2,1 it officially goes to 10.7.5 (Lion). With a little fiddling all the Intel Mac Pros will run El Capitan, even the MacPro1,1.

I have two MacPro1,1s here, one's running El Capitan, the other's running VMWare EXSi 6.0. 

My bad. I thought it was a G5. If it’s Intel it’s still good.

Although over two years it’s probably cheaper and gives better performance to buy a NUC with an NVMe drive than pay for the electricity or worry about the risk of it burning your house down while you’re out.

Use the remaining Mac Pro for this:

[bd139]

Just put a stupid offer on something. I am due some karma and I’m hoping they are a stupid seller