Post Computer Pictures Here

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > YOSPOS > Post Computer Pictures Here

Golden-i: Sep 18, 2006; One big, stumpy family

C.H.O.M.E posted:

here is the uncorrupted version:

in vga text mode, you write the text for the frame, then you send that to the vga hardware and the VGA hardware is just gonna look up the glyph for each text character by the ascii code.

the glyphs that I see substituted (and their ascii codes) are

o->g
0x6F->0x67

n->f
0x6E->0x66

N->F
0x4E->0x46

,->$
0x2C->0x24

i->a
0x69-0x61

so you immediately notice that they're all off by 8, that is, they all are a difference of one bit flipping, the bit in position 3 (because 2^3 is 8).
code:
position: 7 6 5 4 _ 3 2 1 0
bit:      0 0 0 0 _ X 0 0 0
so for example
code:
position: 7 6 5 4 _ 3 2 1 0
bit:      0 0 0 0 _ X 0 0 0
n (0x6E): 0 1 1 0 _ 1 1 1 0 
f (0x66): 0 1 1 0 _ 0 1 1 0
so it's an intermittently stuck wire somewhere, could be that the hardware is overheated and causing the timing to screw up and sometimes not flip that position 3 bit to 1 fast enough before it gets latched, or something like that.

Back in my desktop days circa 2004-2007 I had this happen once, but the corruption kept asking us to start Windows in "Cafe Mode".

Once I stopped laughing I eventually figured it down to the video card and probably bad video memory, but I never actually figured out what the cause was, so thanks for this post.

# ¿ Aug 26, 2016 02:08

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# ¿ May 7, 2024 12:06

Golden-i: Sep 18, 2006; One big, stumpy family

Hogge Wild posted:

486

i found a functional 486 system running a windows 95 installation with some custom software on it in the development lab at work a few months ago. absolutely no idea what it's used for, but it was powered on and running.

# ¿ Dec 25, 2016 02:53

Golden-i: Sep 18, 2006; One big, stumpy family

Sniep posted:

apparently one current use of 386/lower end 486 computers is to program motorola radios - like cop radios - the software that does it hasnt changed since like 1991 and it requires a clock speed like 25mhz or 33mhz or else it will brick the radios lol

this rules, i never knew that

i think the system I found is for supporting some product we sold back in the early 90s and promised customers we'd support until 2019 or something like that, so they're contractually obligated to keep one running lol

# ¿ Dec 25, 2016 02:57

Golden-i: Sep 18, 2006; One big, stumpy family

Sweevo posted:

same. its the size of a small car, yet for some reason without anything to judge the size against i always assumed it was like a big suitcase or something

it's about 2000lbs I think, which makes that whole "sky crane" thing sound even more insane

# ¿ Jan 30, 2017 15:25

Golden-i: Sep 18, 2006; One big, stumpy family

Boiled Water posted:

makes the accomplishment the more greater when you think about it. "Hey we just landed an SUV on mars and it's been driving around for 13 years".

that one's Opportunity, it's a lot smaller (still decently sized, though)

also pretty amazing considering that its primary mission was 90 sols and it's now a teenager

# ¿ Jan 30, 2017 15:36

Golden-i: Sep 18, 2006; One big, stumpy family

Shaggar posted:

it sounds like they made the tires as light as possible to save weight for that specific part of the landing. I wonder if they were overly conservative on the total weight and they're kicking themselves over how thin they made the tires.

I remember reading that they're not too worried about the wheels at this point. The strong parts are the treads and each wheel can break several while still being operational. I don't think any of the wheels have lost any of the treads. Also, I think they can completely lose two wheels and still be fully operational through some magic with the suspension.

# ¿ Jan 30, 2017 15:41

Golden-i: Sep 18, 2006; One big, stumpy family

NoneMoreNegative posted:

https://m.curiosity.com/topics/every-year-the-curiosity-rover-sings-a-lonely-birthday-song-curiosity/

aww

I wonder what it actually sounds like. Since there's very little atmosphere on Mars, wouldn't sound waves travel at a higher frequency than on Earth?

# ¿ Jan 30, 2017 16:06

Golden-i: Sep 18, 2006; One big, stumpy family

ADINSX posted:

so its kotor 2

kotor2 is way better than any mass effect game and kotor2 wasn't even finished

# ¿ Mar 16, 2017 16:50

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# ¿ May 7, 2024 12:06

Golden-i: Sep 18, 2006; One big, stumpy family

Shaggar posted:

kotor 2 was great

never played kotor 1 though, so i guess i can't compare them. i've got a copy on steam but can never get it to run stably.

# ¿ Mar 16, 2017 16:58

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > YOSPOS > Post Computer Pictures Here