• Re: I knew all that flashy bling was a bad idea...

    From Spalls Hurgenson@spallshurgenson@gmail.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Tue Apr 9 10:48:18 2024
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On Tue, 9 Apr 2024 07:08:01 -0700, Justisaur <justisaur@yahoo.com>
    wrote:

    On 4/9/2024 5:59 AM, Anssi Saari wrote:

    (It's not really related, but modern GPUs are getting burdensomely
    heavy and large too... so much so that the PCIE slots on motherboards
    are having problems supporting that weight. There are reports of the
    slots getting pulled off their traces on the motherboard because of
    the weight. My GPU came with a little adjustable 'brace' meant to be
    placed between GPU and chassis to help hold the massive thing up.

    I put in a GPU brace recently. I think I read the drooping of the GPU
    board itself isn't healty in the long run either. Haven't had PCIe
    sockets pulled off yet or breakage in any GPU though, the current one is
    the first where I've put in a brace.

    My current one seems to be fine in that regard, but I do remember my
    last one drooping.

    I've the brace, but even without it the GPU seems to be in there quite
    solidly and without much droop. That metal bracket in the back seems
    to take up almost all of the weight; even if I don't insert the card
    into the PCIE slot it doesn't shift much.

    But I use the brace because why take chances?

    I've noticed there are some towers which hang the GPU vertically now,
    although whether this is a reaction to the weight or just some radical
    cooling solution, I've no idea.

    At the rate GPUs are growing in bulk, soon maybe we'll be attaching
    the motherboard to the video-card. ;-)


    --- Synchronet 3.20a-Linux NewsLink 1.114
  • From candycanearter07@candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Tue Apr 9 15:00:11 2024
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    Anssi Saari <anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi> wrote at 12:59 this Tuesday (GMT):
    Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> writes:

    There's no real information on how common the problem is, or how long
    it took before the plastic got scorched or, really, any specifics.
    Still, it's another reason to not bling out your PC.

    Yeah, I my motherboard has power and reset buttons which have LEDs and there's the two digit Dr. Debug display too but that's all. It does have
    a total of four pin headers for two different kinds of LED strips stuff
    but I haven't bothered. Apparently there's now some kind of sync thing
    too so you can have all your leds change color in a synchronous
    fashion. Sigh.

    (It's not really related, but modern GPUs are getting burdensomely
    heavy and large too... so much so that the PCIE slots on motherboards
    are having problems supporting that weight. There are reports of the
    slots getting pulled off their traces on the motherboard because of
    the weight. My GPU came with a little adjustable 'brace' meant to be
    placed between GPU and chassis to help hold the massive thing up.

    I put in a GPU brace recently. I think I read the drooping of the GPU
    board itself isn't healty in the long run either. Haven't had PCIe
    sockets pulled off yet or breakage in any GPU though, the current one is
    the first where I've put in a brace.


    What's Dr. Debug?
    --
    user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom
    --- Synchronet 3.20a-Linux NewsLink 1.114
  • From candycanearter07@candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Tue Apr 9 15:20:13 2024
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    Justisaur <justisaur@yahoo.com> wrote at 14:02 this Tuesday (GMT):
    On 4/8/2024 6:00 PM, candycanearter07 wrote:
    Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> wrote at 23:19 this Monday (GMT):
    Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

    You know how all the 'high-end' gaming hardware (RAM, motherboards,
    GPUs, fans, etc.) now includes LEDs? Maybe it wasn't such a good
    idea... and not just because it's ugly and distracting.

    It turns out, some gamers are reporting that their GPUs are getting
    melted/burnt because of the LEDs in their RAM sticks. Cheap LEDs emit
    UV light, and this can leave scorch marks on some plastics...
    including the backplates of GPUs.

    Oops.

    And I'm sure all that UV does great things to people too.

    There's no real information on how common the problem is, or how long
    it took before the plastic got scorched or, really, any specifics.
    Still, it's another reason to not bling out your PC.



    (It's not really related, but modern GPUs are getting burdensomely
    heavy and large too... so much so that the PCIE slots on motherboards
    are having problems supporting that weight. There are reports of the
    slots getting pulled off their traces on the motherboard because of
    the weight. My GPU came with a little adjustable 'brace' meant to be
    placed between GPU and chassis to help hold the massive thing up. I'd
    say that sensible component design seems to be a thing of the past...
    except then I remember 'hard-cards' (hard-drives mounted on ISA cards) >>>> from the AT/XT era and realize we never had sensible component
    designs. ;-)



    * read here:
    https://www.lowyat.net/2024/320127/ram-rbg-led-burn-in-gpu-backplate/
    I never cared about those pretty lights on my PC stuff. The only lights
    are the blinking drive lights, laser under the optical mouses, and power >>> lights. :P

    Funny enough my mouse doesn't have a visible laser, just LEDs under the
    logo and DPI indicator.



    Info lights are cool. Flashy RGB lights are... fine.. sometimes.

    Except for one of the wifi routers which is in our bedroom has super
    bright blue LED info lights. I covered them up with electrical tape,
    but the light still leaks through the vents a little, but at least down
    to 'nightlight' level instead of 'Police helicopter searchlight'


    Why do you keep your router in your room?
    --
    user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom
    --- Synchronet 3.20a-Linux NewsLink 1.114
  • From Anssi Saari@anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Tue Apr 9 18:28:38 2024
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid>
    writes:

    What's Dr. Debug?

    It's a two digit display for numeric error codes. So if the power on
    self test detects some error it'll be displayed there. Fairly useless,
    I've had it on two motherboards now and haven't had much use for
    it. When I got some bad RAM in a memory update some years ago, it just
    showed a random error or nothing.

    You know, they used to sell add on cards back in the day with this functionality. Maybe it was useful at some point.
    --- Synchronet 3.20a-Linux NewsLink 1.114
  • From Justisaur@justisaur@yahoo.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Tue Apr 9 08:30:05 2024
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On 4/9/2024 8:20 AM, candycanearter07 wrote:
    Justisaur <justisaur@yahoo.com> wrote at 14:02 this Tuesday (GMT):
    On 4/8/2024 6:00 PM, candycanearter07 wrote:
    Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> wrote at 23:19 this Monday (GMT):
    Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

    You know how all the 'high-end' gaming hardware (RAM, motherboards,
    GPUs, fans, etc.) now includes LEDs? Maybe it wasn't such a good
    idea... and not just because it's ugly and distracting.

    It turns out, some gamers are reporting that their GPUs are getting
    melted/burnt because of the LEDs in their RAM sticks. Cheap LEDs emit >>>>> UV light, and this can leave scorch marks on some plastics...
    including the backplates of GPUs.

    Oops.

    And I'm sure all that UV does great things to people too.

    There's no real information on how common the problem is, or how long >>>>> it took before the plastic got scorched or, really, any specifics.
    Still, it's another reason to not bling out your PC.



    (It's not really related, but modern GPUs are getting burdensomely
    heavy and large too... so much so that the PCIE slots on motherboards >>>>> are having problems supporting that weight. There are reports of the >>>>> slots getting pulled off their traces on the motherboard because of
    the weight. My GPU came with a little adjustable 'brace' meant to be >>>>> placed between GPU and chassis to help hold the massive thing up. I'd >>>>> say that sensible component design seems to be a thing of the past... >>>>> except then I remember 'hard-cards' (hard-drives mounted on ISA cards) >>>>> from the AT/XT era and realize we never had sensible component
    designs. ;-)



    * read here:
    https://www.lowyat.net/2024/320127/ram-rbg-led-burn-in-gpu-backplate/ >>>> I never cared about those pretty lights on my PC stuff. The only lights >>>> are the blinking drive lights, laser under the optical mouses, and power >>>> lights. :P

    Funny enough my mouse doesn't have a visible laser, just LEDs under the
    logo and DPI indicator.



    Info lights are cool. Flashy RGB lights are... fine.. sometimes.

    Except for one of the wifi routers which is in our bedroom has super
    bright blue LED info lights. I covered them up with electrical tape,
    but the light still leaks through the vents a little, but at least down
    to 'nightlight' level instead of 'Police helicopter searchlight'


    Why do you keep your router in your room?

    Small house, wife doesn't want the wires all over, computers aren't in
    their final destination for wires either (2 & 1/2 years so far.)
    Everything's falling apart and it works, so it's way down on the list of
    stuff to get done, but yes I would like to wire the house with
    Ethernet... eventually. Maybe that'll get done before I move again or
    move on.
    --
    -Justisaur

    ø-ø
    (\_/)\
    `-'\ `--.___,
    ¶¬'\( ,_.-'
    \\
    ^'

    --- Synchronet 3.20a-Linux NewsLink 1.114
  • From H1M3M@wipnoah@gmail.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Tue Apr 9 17:39:36 2024
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

    You know how all the 'high-end' gaming hardware



    Actually, it's more like the opposite. All the low budget crap, gets
    more rgb leds than a christmas tree to make it look High end. At one
    point it was impossible to find a pair of cheap desktop speakers without
    rgb lights.


    idea... and not just because it's ugly and distracting.



    it's ugly and distracting if done wronge My computer has leds on the motherboard, GPU border and two programmable led strips, but...

    - 90% of the time they are off
    - Motherboard and GPU leds actually serve a purpose. They give me the temperature readings, CPU load and how the GPU fan is doing.
    - When in use, brightness is kept to a minimum (this is because I have
    noticed that cheap RGB strips has more power than they should

    - And they are for lanparty usage (Dreamhack size). That's the only time
    of the year I go all out. it contributes to the atmosphere.
    --- Synchronet 3.20a-Linux NewsLink 1.114
  • From candycanearter07@candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Tue Apr 9 16:00:09 2024
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    Anssi Saari <anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi> wrote at 15:28 this Tuesday (GMT):
    candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid>
    writes:

    What's Dr. Debug?

    It's a two digit display for numeric error codes. So if the power on
    self test detects some error it'll be displayed there. Fairly useless,
    I've had it on two motherboards now and haven't had much use for
    it. When I got some bad RAM in a memory update some years ago, it just
    showed a random error or nothing.

    You know, they used to sell add on cards back in the day with this functionality. Maybe it was useful at some point.


    Sounds like a cool concept.
    --
    user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom
    --- Synchronet 3.20a-Linux NewsLink 1.114
  • From candycanearter07@candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Tue Apr 9 16:00:10 2024
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    Justisaur <justisaur@yahoo.com> wrote at 15:30 this Tuesday (GMT):
    On 4/9/2024 8:20 AM, candycanearter07 wrote:
    Justisaur <justisaur@yahoo.com> wrote at 14:02 this Tuesday (GMT):
    On 4/8/2024 6:00 PM, candycanearter07 wrote:
    Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> wrote at 23:19 this Monday (GMT):
    Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

    You know how all the 'high-end' gaming hardware (RAM, motherboards, >>>>>> GPUs, fans, etc.) now includes LEDs? Maybe it wasn't such a good
    idea... and not just because it's ugly and distracting.

    It turns out, some gamers are reporting that their GPUs are getting >>>>>> melted/burnt because of the LEDs in their RAM sticks. Cheap LEDs emit >>>>>> UV light, and this can leave scorch marks on some plastics...
    including the backplates of GPUs.

    Oops.

    And I'm sure all that UV does great things to people too.

    There's no real information on how common the problem is, or how long >>>>>> it took before the plastic got scorched or, really, any specifics. >>>>>> Still, it's another reason to not bling out your PC.



    (It's not really related, but modern GPUs are getting burdensomely >>>>>> heavy and large too... so much so that the PCIE slots on motherboards >>>>>> are having problems supporting that weight. There are reports of the >>>>>> slots getting pulled off their traces on the motherboard because of >>>>>> the weight. My GPU came with a little adjustable 'brace' meant to be >>>>>> placed between GPU and chassis to help hold the massive thing up. I'd >>>>>> say that sensible component design seems to be a thing of the past... >>>>>> except then I remember 'hard-cards' (hard-drives mounted on ISA cards) >>>>>> from the AT/XT era and realize we never had sensible component
    designs. ;-)



    * read here:
    https://www.lowyat.net/2024/320127/ram-rbg-led-burn-in-gpu-backplate/ >>>>> I never cared about those pretty lights on my PC stuff. The only lights >>>>> are the blinking drive lights, laser under the optical mouses, and power >>>>> lights. :P

    Funny enough my mouse doesn't have a visible laser, just LEDs under the
    logo and DPI indicator.



    Info lights are cool. Flashy RGB lights are... fine.. sometimes.

    Except for one of the wifi routers which is in our bedroom has super
    bright blue LED info lights. I covered them up with electrical tape,
    but the light still leaks through the vents a little, but at least down
    to 'nightlight' level instead of 'Police helicopter searchlight'


    Why do you keep your router in your room?

    Small house, wife doesn't want the wires all over, computers aren't in
    their final destination for wires either (2 & 1/2 years so far.) Everything's falling apart and it works, so it's way down on the list of stuff to get done, but yes I would like to wire the house with
    Ethernet... eventually. Maybe that'll get done before I move again or
    move on.


    Fair.
    --
    user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom
    --- Synchronet 3.20a-Linux NewsLink 1.114
  • From JAB@noway@nochance.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Wed Apr 10 09:50:42 2024
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On 09/04/2024 16:30, Justisaur wrote:
    On 4/9/2024 8:20 AM, candycanearter07 wrote:
    Why do you keep your router in your room?

    Small house, wife doesn't want the wires all over, computers aren't in
    their final destination for wires either (2 & 1/2 years so far.) Everything's falling apart and it works, so it's way down on the list of stuff to get done, but yes I would like to wire the house with
    Ethernet... eventually.  Maybe that'll get done before I move again or
    move on.


    I did think about it and then thought what's the point. The router is
    physical connected to the PC in the computer room and everything else
    uses WiFi which is more than adequate. The there's the issue of how do
    you hide the wires as I don't fancy cutting channels into bricks.

    --- Synchronet 3.20a-Linux NewsLink 1.114
  • From Spalls Hurgenson@spallshurgenson@gmail.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Wed Apr 10 11:37:18 2024
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On Tue, 9 Apr 2024 08:30:05 -0700, Justisaur <justisaur@yahoo.com>
    wrote:
    On 4/9/2024 8:20 AM, candycanearter07 wrote:

    Why do you keep your router in your room?

    Small house, wife doesn't want the wires all over, computers aren't in
    their final destination for wires either (2 & 1/2 years so far.) >Everything's falling apart and it works, so it's way down on the list of >stuff to get done, but yes I would like to wire the house with
    Ethernet... eventually. Maybe that'll get done before I move again or
    move on.

    And just as soon as you /do/ get the house wired for Ethernet, there's
    a new standard that requires you to upgrade all the routers, switches
    and cabling to take advantage of it.

    I started with 10mbit ethernet; eventually I upgraded to 100mbit. I'm
    (very slowly) working my way to gigabit ethernet (mostly need to
    replace my old CAT5 cables). By the time I'm done, I'm sure 10gbit
    ethernet will be common and I'll to start all over again. ;-)
    --- Synchronet 3.20a-Linux NewsLink 1.114
  • From Spalls Hurgenson@spallshurgenson@gmail.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Wed Apr 10 11:43:43 2024
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On Tue, 9 Apr 2024 15:00:11 -0000 (UTC), candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:

    Anssi Saari <anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi> wrote at 12:59 this Tuesday (GMT):
    Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> writes:

    There's no real information on how common the problem is, or how long
    it took before the plastic got scorched or, really, any specifics.
    Still, it's another reason to not bling out your PC.

    Yeah, I my motherboard has power and reset buttons which have LEDs and
    there's the two digit Dr. Debug display too but that's all. It does have
    a total of four pin headers for two different kinds of LED strips stuff
    but I haven't bothered. Apparently there's now some kind of sync thing
    too so you can have all your leds change color in a synchronous
    fashion. Sigh.

    (It's not really related, but modern GPUs are getting burdensomely
    heavy and large too... so much so that the PCIE slots on motherboards
    are having problems supporting that weight. There are reports of the
    slots getting pulled off their traces on the motherboard because of
    the weight. My GPU came with a little adjustable 'brace' meant to be
    placed between GPU and chassis to help hold the massive thing up.

    I put in a GPU brace recently. I think I read the drooping of the GPU
    board itself isn't healty in the long run either. Haven't had PCIe
    sockets pulled off yet or breakage in any GPU though, the current one is
    the first where I've put in a brace.


    What's Dr. Debug?

    ASRock's proprietary way of displaying POST error codes. Everytime
    your computer starts up, it runs a variety of processes (check mem,
    check voltage, check vid card installed, etc.) After every process
    completes, it outputs an code, telling you the status of that check.
    If one of these start-up tests fails, the computer halts. Knowing the
    error code of which process fails (usually a two-character hexadecimal
    digit) is very useful in troubleshooting.

    Older PCs used to either show these error codes on screen, or use beep
    codes, but these were imperfect solutions. Having an LED built into
    the motherboard is a lot more useful. Most modern, high-end
    motherboards have this functionality. You can also buy an expansion
    card which has the same ability.

    But ultimately, it's really just a tool for techies. If you're not
    going to troubleshoot and fix your PC yourself - instead, taking it to
    the shoppe when it won't start - then you won't get much use from it.
    That's why most motherboards don't offer it.

    --- Synchronet 3.20a-Linux NewsLink 1.114
  • From candycanearter07@candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Wed Apr 10 16:00:08 2024
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote at 15:43 this Wednesday (GMT):
    On Tue, 9 Apr 2024 15:00:11 -0000 (UTC), candycanearter07
    <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:

    Anssi Saari <anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi> wrote at 12:59 this Tuesday (GMT):
    Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> writes:

    There's no real information on how common the problem is, or how long
    it took before the plastic got scorched or, really, any specifics.
    Still, it's another reason to not bling out your PC.

    Yeah, I my motherboard has power and reset buttons which have LEDs and
    there's the two digit Dr. Debug display too but that's all. It does have >>> a total of four pin headers for two different kinds of LED strips stuff
    but I haven't bothered. Apparently there's now some kind of sync thing
    too so you can have all your leds change color in a synchronous
    fashion. Sigh.

    (It's not really related, but modern GPUs are getting burdensomely
    heavy and large too... so much so that the PCIE slots on motherboards
    are having problems supporting that weight. There are reports of the
    slots getting pulled off their traces on the motherboard because of
    the weight. My GPU came with a little adjustable 'brace' meant to be
    placed between GPU and chassis to help hold the massive thing up.

    I put in a GPU brace recently. I think I read the drooping of the GPU
    board itself isn't healty in the long run either. Haven't had PCIe
    sockets pulled off yet or breakage in any GPU though, the current one is >>> the first where I've put in a brace.


    What's Dr. Debug?

    ASRock's proprietary way of displaying POST error codes. Everytime
    your computer starts up, it runs a variety of processes (check mem,
    check voltage, check vid card installed, etc.) After every process
    completes, it outputs an code, telling you the status of that check.
    If one of these start-up tests fails, the computer halts. Knowing the
    error code of which process fails (usually a two-character hexadecimal
    digit) is very useful in troubleshooting.

    Older PCs used to either show these error codes on screen, or use beep
    codes, but these were imperfect solutions. Having an LED built into
    the motherboard is a lot more useful. Most modern, high-end
    motherboards have this functionality. You can also buy an expansion
    card which has the same ability.

    But ultimately, it's really just a tool for techies. If you're not
    going to troubleshoot and fix your PC yourself - instead, taking it to
    the shoppe when it won't start - then you won't get much use from it.
    That's why most motherboards don't offer it.


    Certainly sounds like it would be nice to have.
    --
    user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom
    --- Synchronet 3.20a-Linux NewsLink 1.114
  • From Spalls Hurgenson@spallshurgenson@gmail.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Thu Apr 11 12:12:47 2024
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On Wed, 10 Apr 2024 16:00:08 -0000 (UTC), candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:

    Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote at 15:43 this Wednesday (GMT):
    On Tue, 9 Apr 2024 15:00:11 -0000 (UTC), candycanearter07 >><candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:

    Anssi Saari <anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi> wrote at 12:59 this Tuesday (GMT):
    Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> writes:

    There's no real information on how common the problem is, or how long >>>>> it took before the plastic got scorched or, really, any specifics.
    Still, it's another reason to not bling out your PC.

    Yeah, I my motherboard has power and reset buttons which have LEDs and >>>> there's the two digit Dr. Debug display too but that's all. It does have >>>> a total of four pin headers for two different kinds of LED strips stuff >>>> but I haven't bothered. Apparently there's now some kind of sync thing >>>> too so you can have all your leds change color in a synchronous
    fashion. Sigh.

    (It's not really related, but modern GPUs are getting burdensomely
    heavy and large too... so much so that the PCIE slots on motherboards >>>>> are having problems supporting that weight. There are reports of the >>>>> slots getting pulled off their traces on the motherboard because of
    the weight. My GPU came with a little adjustable 'brace' meant to be >>>>> placed between GPU and chassis to help hold the massive thing up.

    I put in a GPU brace recently. I think I read the drooping of the GPU
    board itself isn't healty in the long run either. Haven't had PCIe
    sockets pulled off yet or breakage in any GPU though, the current one is >>>> the first where I've put in a brace.


    What's Dr. Debug?

    ASRock's proprietary way of displaying POST error codes. Everytime
    your computer starts up, it runs a variety of processes (check mem,
    check voltage, check vid card installed, etc.) After every process
    completes, it outputs an code, telling you the status of that check.
    If one of these start-up tests fails, the computer halts. Knowing the
    error code of which process fails (usually a two-character hexadecimal
    digit) is very useful in troubleshooting.

    Older PCs used to either show these error codes on screen, or use beep
    codes, but these were imperfect solutions. Having an LED built into
    the motherboard is a lot more useful. Most modern, high-end
    motherboards have this functionality. You can also buy an expansion
    card which has the same ability.

    But ultimately, it's really just a tool for techies. If you're not
    going to troubleshoot and fix your PC yourself - instead, taking it to
    the shoppe when it won't start - then you won't get much use from it.
    That's why most motherboards don't offer it.


    Certainly sounds like it would be nice to have.

    Honestly, it's not as useful as you might think. It only reports POST
    (Power On Startup Tests) results, so once the UEFI or OS takes over,
    it's of no help... and that's when most of the problems usually occur.
    Even when the error codes are for problems that the error codes can
    catch, it's usually something a techie would notice and test
    automatically anyway (e.g., RAM errors or forgot to insert a video
    card ;-). And often the error codes are just too generic to be useful.
    Plus, it all relies on the motherboard itself functioning correctly.

    It's not completely pointless and there are instances when it can be
    helpful. But it's quite limited. Mostly when I use it (I've an ASUS
    board and they call them 'Q-Codes" instead of "Dr Debug", but
    functionally it's the same thing) it is to confirm that the PC got to
    the 'boot into operating system' stage, although even then that's
    usually obvious enough that I don't need to look at the codes. Rarely
    do I look up what error-specific codes mean.

    But in some ways, it's as much 'bling' as the over-the-top LED
    lighting, intended more to look cool than really do anything useful.


    --- Synchronet 3.20a-Linux NewsLink 1.114