Just a random speed test between different peripherals
Peripherals:
Samsung 830 128GB SSD
Western Digital 80GB internal SATA HDD
Astone External Enclosure with Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB SATA HDD USB3.0
Seagate Goflex Desktop 1TB External HDD USB2.0
System:
HP DC7800 Small Form Factor
Intel E8400 3.0 Ghz
4GB PC6400 DDR2
Intel Q35 Motherboard
Window 7 Ultimate 64 bits
ATI HD 6570
Test file: Single 2.5GB MP4 file
Sampling: Transfer rate (MB/s) was recorded once the speed has stagnant
It seems like my computer is utilizing the new USB 3.0 PCIe pretty well. Whenever I transfer from local hard drives to external USB 3.0, I can easily achieve 100 - 130 MB/s, which is about 3 to 4 times faster than the USB 2.0. This gives me more reason to upgrade my current Seagate Goflex desktop to USB 3.0.
Worth to mention that, SSD burst speed is significantly faster than normal spinning hard drive, I could easily reach 400MB/s in the beginning of the transfer. I cannot help but address that SSD can make any old computer a beast. If you are still using Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad and want a performance boost, SSD is the way to go.
By the way, I did similar speed test in Window Vista 32 bit before. I tested the transfer speed of internal spinning hard drive to USB 3.0. I managed to achieve a pathetic 50MB/s in the previous test. This may due to several reasons: (1) Window 7 is optimized to USB 3.0 (2) Spinning hard drive with OS is running slower than spinning hard drive without OS.
Just realize I have not written anything for quite a while. Thesis writing has been pain in the ass, I have been trying to wrap it up. Hopefully I can get it done soon so I can proceed to more exciting repairing projects.
I have two repairing projects on the hand now. I have fully dismantled a MSI U100 netbook, waiting for a new LCD screen to revive this nice little netbook.
Second project is a 22 inch Dell LCD monitor, I has dismantled it too, now trying to figure out how to run a test on the power board that I suspect to have broken down.
Will do more updates once I have finished the projects.
p.s Just upgrade my booting hard drive to a Samsung 830 SSD, it runs like a beast. :)
Hard drive is a device for storing and retrieving digital information. In the Era of High Definition, hard drive space just does not seem to enough. I vaguely recall my first desktop only has 6.4GB of space, and I never fill it up. Now, even my key-size USB drive has 8GB of space.
If you have seen my previous posts, I have set up an old HP DC7800 as my HTPC, so number of internal hard drive is restricted to two due to the limited SATA ports and space. I have been using generic brand hard drives for years. Prior to the recent upgrades, I owned three 1TB external hard drives. These hard drives just take up too much of space so I decided to replace them with one single 3TB hard drive. Despite of buying single 3TB external hard drive, I opt for an external enclosure that will take two 3TB hard drives so I will have 6TB in a case. Having survey the external enclosure prices for weeks, I decided to go for a dual-bay external enclosure from Astone that only costs AUD 45 in local PC store. The model is Astone ISO RD230. it made of aluminium alloy case claimed to dissipate the heat better. It has USB 3.0, fully compatible with SATA I and II hard drives. In addition, it also supports RAID 0, RAID 1 and JBOD (just a bunch of drives).
Since this is a fanless design enclosure, I decided to go for low-power Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB hard drive. WD Caviar Green is a new series hard drive that is designed with environment in mind (make sense to call it green). Caviar Green generates less heat and uses less power compared to normal hard drive. This design however comes with a price, it runs at 5400 rpm instead of 7200 rpm in normal hard drive. Caviar Green therefore might run slower than conventional hard drive.
Astone RD230 external enclosure
Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB
My first impression of Astone RD230 when I received it was bad. I think it has stupid design as the screws used to lock the hard drive bracket are small and difficult to hold property with screw driver.
To install hard drive bracket back to the enclosure, you have to hold the case, let the bottom facing down when you put the screws back. This is because if you put the enclosure bottom facing up as shown in the picture above, the screws are too short to reach the hard drive bracket.
Second, the hard drive indicator light connector is positioned in a awkward location. When you open the hard drive enclosure, there is one connector connects the indicator light cable from the front to the electronic board at the back of the case. This connector is small and flimsy, you have to use precision screwdriver to pull it out or install it back.
Well, guess that's what I should be expecting from the cheapest 2-bay external enclosure I could find.
Caviar Green with hard drive bracket in Astone RD230
Indicator light connector and main board
Upon the installation, the new external hard drive runs quite well. My only complain is the amount of heat generated is slow to dissipate. Using a software called CPUID HW monitor, the external hard drive constantly goes near to 50 degree Celsius. I know the temperature is well within the working range (<60), but I don't like the hard drive goes anyway near to 50, so I decided to make a USB powered fan attaches to the front part of the enclosure, hoping that the fan will draw more air into the case and reduces the hard drive temperature.
I ordered two 12V DC fans from ebay (AUD2.50 for both). then wind up cables according to their polarity: black to black, red to red. Then I recycled an old USB cable, cut it open and reveals 4 cables inside (red, black, white and green). Get rid of green and white and connect the red cable from USB to red cable from the fan and the same for black cable. Once you plug in the USB port, the fan should run.
DC fans ordered online (5cm)
Wind the cables with same polarity together
Inside USB cable once rubber cover is removed
There are 4 wires inside a USB cable
Next, I cut out a cardboard that is large enough to cover the front part of the external exclosure. At the centre of the cardboard, 2 holes with the size of DC fan were made. DC fans then were glued to the card board with blowing side facing the external enclosure.
stick the fans to the cover
making fan cover with holes
Lastly, just use some black tapes to stick the fans to the front cover of the external enclosure. I know it does not look very good.
Stick the DC fans with cover to the external enclosure
So, how well does the home made cooler work? I did some tests using the CPUID I mentioned above, without the fan, hard drive ran around 47 degrees. Once the fans were installed, it ran between 40-41 degrees.
WD Caviar Green temperature Before and After the fans installation
Despite of the temperature drops, it is still slightly away from my ideal temperature, which is below 40 degree. I figure the ventilation might work better if I drill some holes on the plastic barrier placed between the hard drive and the fans. I don't have any drilling tool now, so gonna wait for a bit.
Despite of previous failure attempt to fix an Ipod touch, I decided to try my luck again to fix my old laptop that has a faulty DC power jack. This is my 4-year old Asus laptop, model F3SV. Core 2 duo T7300, 2GB ram with external Geforce 8600M GS graphic card. It was one of the higher end laptops back in the day when most of the laptops on the market were using on board graphic card. This laptop has served me well, despite of having the not-so-popular Window Vista. Believe it or not, my vista has been running flawlessly for the past few years without any antivirus program. Due to the external graphic card, this laptop simply plays any videos files smoothly I throw at it.
This laptop however has a lousy DC power jack design. As a matter of fact, this is not the first time I ran into the same trouble. About 2 years back, I accidentally hit the DC power jack to the wall, the laptop not powered up instantly. I sent to the Asus service centre and they quoted AUD120 to fix the matter. When the same issue occurred again (I didn't even knock the DC power jack this time), I brought it back to Asus service centre, expecting them to fix the problem with the same price. Unfortunately, this time they quoted AUD400 as they claimed this is an obsolete machine, so they have to change the whole motherboard instead of replacing the DC power jack. I did not get it fixed this time as $400 is just way too much for a 4-years old laptop. So I decided to DIY again.
I guess Youtube is a pretty good place to learn new things. I have watched these videos countless times before I started the repair. I have to stress that this is an advanced repair as it requires a full dismantle of the laptop. So try at your own risk.
The videos on the top will guide you how to dismantle the Asus F3SV. I will attach some photos so you get a better idea how to get it done properly.
Here is my Asus F3SV
back
You can see that there are many screws at the back cover. 1st thing you need to do is, open the ram cover.
Once you open the cover, you can see the cooling fan, ram and motherboard.
Next, remove the hard drive and the battery. The hard drive is located at the bottom right corner.
In order to remove the screen. You need to unplug the cables connect to the motherboard which I point out in the picture below. Just pull it out vertically. Mark down the location of each wire so you won't plug into the wrong place later.
Once the cable is unplugged, flip the laptop and open the covers on screen hinges. The hinge cover should come out easily. Once you open the hinge cover, just unscrew the screw in the hinge, unplug the screen connectors and gently pull out the cables that were previously connected to the motherboard.
Flip the laptop to the back and open the screws on both top corners.
Next, flip the laptop again and gently open the screen. Hold both sides of the hinges and put the screen vertically. The screen should come out easily.
The next thing you need to do is removing the keyboard. You can use this guide to replace the keyboard as well, there is no need to remove the screen if you just want to replace a faulty keyboard.
In order to remove the keyboard, flip to the laptop backside again and open 2 screws with a 'K' letter as shown in the pictures below.
Once you remove these screws, flip it to the front side again. Look for small silver clips on top of the keyboard, using something flat, gently push the small clip and lift the keyboard. There are about 4 - 5 clips on the top of the keyboard.
When you lift the keyboard, do it slowly as there is ribbon connect the keyboard to the motherboard. Just lift the keyboard halfway, then use a flat screwdriver to gently push down the clip that is holding the ribbon. Once the clip is released, the ribbon should come out easily.
This is just another laptop picture intends to show how the ribbon looks like
From now onward will be the complicated part.
First, you need to remove the DVD rom. There are 2 screws you need to remove as shown in the picture below.
Once the correct screws are removed, the DVD rom should come out easily.
Now, you need to remove all the screws that are on the black covers. I don't remember how many of them, you just have to look for them carefully.
After you have removed all the screws at the bottom cover, flip to the front. Now open the screws on the silver cover. Once you remove all the screws on the front, the silver cover should come out easily. Don't lift the cover yet as there is one more ribbon from the touch pad connects to the motherboard.
You will be able to see the motherboard after the silver cover is removed. In order to move the motherboard, first you need to unplug three connectors connect to the motherboard. Two on the top, one on the side.
After unplugging the connectors, there are couple more screws on the motherboard you need to remove. Again, look carefully which screw to remove before the motherboard can be lifted up.
To replace DC power jack, I order the part from online that only costs AUD4.
Asus F3SV DC power jack
To replace faulty one, you need a solder ironing. Carefully melt the old solder and pull out the old DC jack from the motherboard. Then solder the new one onto the motherboard.
Once you have done it. Reverse the whole procedures to assembly the parts into one piece.
Good luck and have fun.
Estimated time to dismantle and assemble : 2.5 hours
It been weeks since I have done any DIY stuffs. Due to the bore-some, I decided to repair my 4-year old Ipod touch that has a faulty headphone jack. Having watched many online videos and read many online instructions, I think I am confident to repair the Ipod touch myself. So, I went online and order a set of Ipod touch repair kits and OEM audio jack. After 2-week of waiting, they are finally here.
Just cut things short, here is one of the video guides I had watched.
The basic of the repair is simple. Remove the digitizer, lift the LCD, unsolder the headphone jack and replace with a new one. Sound easy right?
Here is what happens after 1 hour.
First I broke the digitizer when I tried to remove it from the metal case. The digitizer is tightly inserted until the plastic removal tool was broken before the digitizer was lifted up. So I was forced to use a harder tool that did not do any good on the digitizer. The tool I used had successfully lifted the digitizer, but at the same time cracked the digitizer. I checked online and realized a new digitizer costs around AUD10, So I thought maybe its worthwhile to continue the repair. When I tried to lift the LCD panel, unequal pressure put stress and damage the centre part of the screen. A new LCD with digitizer now will cost AUD30. Having broken both parts, I am not sure if I can replace both of them flawlessly even with the new parts. Considered a new Ipod touch only costs AUD200. I decided to give up on repairing.
Lesson for myself, just because you like DIY, does not mean you can do everything yourself. Sometimes, its easier said than done. So leave the jobs for the professional.
Look on the bright side, it gives me more reasons to get an Iphone.
When Universal Serial Bus (USB) connectivity was first introduced in mid 90, it becomes an instant hit in the world of PC where many peripherals introduced later are based on USB design. I have not tried any USB 1.1 before, so I never know how USB 1.1 performs, but I did buy one USB 1.1 hub unintentionally couple years ago from store. The transfer speed was awful, I ended up threw the hub away since it was just ridiculous slow. The first real high speed USB interface is USB 2.0. It has a theoretically speed of 480 megabit/second. Most people are wondering, why they are getting 30mb/s instead of 480mb/s. Where is extra speed gone? As a matter of fact, one is 'megabit' while the other one is megabyte. 1 megabit is equal to 0.125 megabyte. So, USB 2.0 theoretical speed should be 60mb/s. In adidition, due to the fact that USB 2.0 is a half duplex, means it allows communication in both directions but only one direction at a time, so it should max out at 30mb/s. Don't worry if you are getting 30mb/s when you are using USB 2.0.
I was pretty excited when USB 3.0 was first introduced couple years back. A promised speed of 5Gbit/s equal to 640 megabyte/s. I thought this will be an instant solution for big files transfer since 1 TB hard drive is such a common storage nowadays and it can be easily filled up with HD contents. In my previous post where I was writing about building a home theatre PC (HTPC), I mentioned the reasons I choose small form factor over ultra-small form factor is due to its upgrade flexibility. As a matter of fact, the empty PCI-express 1x slot is proven to be useful for USB3.0 upgrade.
In order to have USB 3.0 ports, I bought a USB3.0 PCI-express 1x card off Ebay that costs me AUD10. As soon as the package arrives, I install it to my HTPC.
USB 3.0 PCI-express 1x with normal bracket and low profile bracket.
After installing the express card, it fits comfortably above my ATI HD 6570.
Now, I have two USB 3.0 ports. I am ready for super speed.
After the driver is installed, I can't wait to do a test run. I recorded a burst speed of 95megabyte/s and a stable transfer speed of 57megabyte/s. Well, that's actually quite disappointed as I was expecting a stable transfer speed over 100megabyte/s.
Disappointed transfer speed.
Having read some of the online comments. I realize that 650megabyte/s is a theoretical speed but not a realistic speed. The speed is usually bottlenecked by hard drive reading and writing speed. So, a maximum transfer speed should be around 80-100megabyte/s and It is common to have a transfer speed around 60megabyte/s.
Despite an overall improved performance over USB2.0. I feel USB3.0 is more of a hype than actual performance boost. At least at this stage, actual USB3.0 speed is bottlenecked by hardware. USB3.0 is not all about speed, but rather better power management that potentially useful for power-hungry USB peripherals.
My obsession with space and wireless devices has always been a weakness. I own a Microsoft wireless keyboard and mouse, super reliable, sometimes I wish they die on me so that I have excuse to buy a fancier keyboard and mouse.
This full size keyboard has served me pretty well for the past few years. I have used the same keyboard and mouse on three different computers. Anyway, despite of its reliability, I still think it is not a suitable device to control a HTPC. You need something small, something you can hold in your palm and control the HTPC from viewing distance. I have been searching for this type of device for quite a while until I saw this mini keyboard only costs AUD20 in Ebay. Online shopping has been my favourite, goods are cheap and you can get it without leaving the house. The only disadvantage is, it takes time to arrive if you are buying from oversea seller.
After a week of waiting (surprisingly fast compared to other oversea goods I bought), it reached my mail box. Well, it looks smaller than I expected, it come with a mini bluetooth dongle, build-in battery that can be charged using mini USB port, and backlight that is rather useful in the dark. The device works after I plug in bluetooth dongle, no software installation is required in Window Vista or 7.
Only trouble I had was, the keyboard seems to be laggy when I was using it 2 meters away from the dongle. This is ridiculous as the seller claims that it has a working distance of 10 meters. After several hours of trial and errors, I realize the keyboard works when the dongle is sitting almost the same level with the keyboard. So, I connect the bluetooth dongle to a USB extension cable and let the dongle sits on a higher position. Now the keyboard works flawlessly. The mouse pad is rather sensitive but small to navigate if you have big finger. This mini keyboard is suitable for casual use (HTPC) and it is not a replacement for full size keyboard and mouse. Overall, I think this is a nice addition to your HTPC.
You can see a 'Fn' button sitting at the bottom left, so it allows media controls.
The mouse pad is small but its quite sensitive.
This is how the mini keyboard looks like when it sits beside a GoCard.
I have always enjoyed watching movies. Well, to be honest, movie might be my only hobby lately. I always want a home theatre PC that I can just hid under the cabinet and watch movie from the PC. Here is my recent project of converting a second hand PC to a Home Theatre PC (HTPC).
1st question is, what are the basic requirements for a full HD playback machine? I read many online posts where most suggest you need at least a 3 GHz CPU to handle those movie files. Some even suggest a dual core processor is preferable since decoding media file is CPU intensive. Having thought the options available. I opted for a core 2 processor.
Core 2 processor is an Intel X86 64 bits microprocessor that was first introduce in 2006 (I know this is a pretty obsolete technology). This processor comprises of solo, duo and quad cores subfamilies, CPU clock speed range from 1.06 GHz to 3.5 GHz. It has two types of feature sizes where early CPU introduced is 65 nm, later has gone down to 45nm. Core 2 processor socket is LGA775, so if you are still a Pentium D processor user, you might be able to upgrade for cheap with significant performance boosts. This processor has been famous among the over-clock enthusiasts where some manage to push it safely to 4.0 GHz with additional cooling elements.
2nd question is, where do you want to put your HTPC? I am pretty obsess with the case size, so I will go for a small form factor where it can fit comfortably under my TV cabinet.
Alternatively, if size is not your concern, you can go for a tower computer that has better upgrade options in the future.
As mentioned early, this project is meant to convert an old computer to a HTPC. If you have an old PC, you can just use it and do some minor upgrade to become a decent HTPC. If you don't have any old PC, like me, go for a second hand PC. I manage to get my hand on a HP DC7800 small form factor unit for AUD100 (E6750, 2GB DDR2, 160GB HDD). The reason why I choose the small form factor over its sibling ultra small form factor is, small form factor usually comes with empty slots while ultra form factor is not upgradable.
From the left: tower, small form factor and ultra small form factor
DC7800 small form factor has one empty SATA slot with extra hard drive space, two PCI-E 1x slots, one PCI-E 16x, and one PCI slots. In addition, it comes with four DDR2 memory slots that can support up to 2GB per slot. The beauty of having a PCI-E 16x slot is, you can add a graphic card for better graphic performance in the future. Integrated graphic card is GMA3100, some claim this graphic card is sufficient for a full HD playback. I have not tried it myself. But I will tell you the reason for having extra graphic card.
As mentioned early, movie file decoding usually is very CPU intensive. However, recent advance in graphic card technology helps to move this tedious job to Graphic Processing Unit (GPU). I am not a gamer, this obsolete machine is not meant to be anyway, but I just want a smooth HD playback, so I decided to spend extra to get a graphic card that has DVI and HDMI outputs with video decoding capability. This however proven to be a headache for a small form factor computer. I have limited choices of graphic cards since small form factor PC only supports low profile graphic card (half size) with low power drawing. Bear in mind that a small form factor power unit is between 230-300w where most graphic card recommendation for power is 400w.
I did some searches online and read many posts and come to a conclusion, a 400w recommendation video cards should work fine in a low-powered small form factor. The reason is, most graphic cards I recommended below have maximum drawing power of 60w. Under normal circumstances where you just watch HD movie, internet or documentation, it will not even consume half of this number.
Here are some choices you can consider: Ge force: GT440, GT430, GT240, GT220, GT520, GT210, 9500GT, 9600GT ATI: HD 6570, HD 5570, HD 6450, HD 5450 These are the few I have seen people install in a weak PSU (230w-300w) with stable performance. Anyway, please install it on your own risk.
Top of the line should be GT440 and HD6570 that are priced between AUD60-70
Basic one like GT210, GT520, HD5450 and HD 6450 are priced between AUD30-40 If you just want a HTPC, a basic graphic card will be alright. If you are a light gamer, GT440 and HD6570 will give you more flexibility. I bought a fanless HD6570 1GB DDR3 for AUD60. The graphic card comes with a low profile bracket. Make sure the graphic you buy is bundle with a low profile bracket otherwise you need to spend extra dollars.
Its fairly easy to install this card. First, you need to replace the normal length bracket with a low profile bracket. Second, open the DC7800 cover by pressing two release buttons sitting on both sides of the box. Slide the cover backward and lift it to unveil the motherboard. Remove the low profile cover on the back of the DC7800. Plug in the graphic card and lock it. Close the cover and it is ready to go.
One of the frustrating things about this video card is, it automatically disables the audio jack once you install it. To fix this, you just need to enable the AUX in bios setting.
Install the ATI driver and the PC is ready to go. Worth to mention is, ATI graphic card is supporting Eyefinity, so HD6570 theoretically can support 3 displays. I will test after buying a new DVI splitter cable.
Software
Since this is a new set up. I have not tested with any new HTPC software yet. Briefly tested with Window Vista Media Center, was disgusted, so not going use it at all. Instead of using VLC player that is highly recommended by many, I recommend two media playback programs: The KM player and Baidu Player. These two are the most stable and reliable media players I have tried. Just give you an idea how many programs I have been through: VLC, GOM, Real Player, Baidu player, The KM player, Window Media Player, Window classic Media Player, PPS player and etc.
Movie Database
I have used Movie Monkey and Eric's Movie Database before. I quite like the Movie Monkey simple yet beautiful interface, so most probably will get it set up when I have more free time.
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