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

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.