Computers Are Evil

I finally got around to cleaning my office Sunday. It's been nine years since we got the basement finished and I moved in and I don't think it has been thoroughly cleaned since then.

I wanted to move my Linux box over by my desk, so I could share a monitor with my Windows box. Doing that was going to require crawling around under tables and fiddling with cables, and that means I was going to run into dust bunnies. Lots of big, hairy dust bunnies. So I bit the bullet, took all the small stuff out of the room, vacuumed, swept and mopped. Dust bunnies vanquished. Then I put things back together and all was well.


I had Windows and Linux sharing my flat screen monitor, keyboard and mouse through a KVM (Keyboard, Video & Mouse) switch. I had a second monitor that I could connect to the second video port on my Linux box. Both systems were running.

There were a couple of minor problems to take care of, but nothing serious. The USB (Universal Serial Bus) printer cable was not quite long enough to run along the wall, it cut diagonally across the corner of the room. The corner isn't a walkway, so I could have left it, but stuff gets put in there, and I didn't want something snagging on it, so I wanted a slightly longer cable.


I have an external hard disk that has a very short USB cable. It was so short it prompted me to keep the drive sitting on top of the computer. This led to one accident. I don't want another, so I decided to keep the drive on top of my desk. The cable is just barely long enough to reach if I put the drive in the just the right spot. Once again all I need is a slightly longer cable.


The video card in the Linux box has two DVI (Digital Video Interface) sockets. I have been using one socket with a DVI to VGA adaptor. We used to have a bunch of these lying around, but about a year ago my son got rid of all his excess computer stuff, and now I am lucky to have the one.

So a trip to the local computer shop is in order. The DVI and VGA adaptor and the six foot USB cable for the external disk drive are no problem, but no USB cables longer than ten feet. They have extensions, but if you are going longer than ten feet, then you may need to use a booster. A simple six foot USB extension cable is $2.50, the extension cable with the booster is $15. Criminently, do I really need a booster for this? I gamble and take the $2 extension.

Back home the printer works fine with the short extension without the booster. However, the external disk drive does not want to cooperate. I fiddle with it for a bit and keep getting messages on the Windows system that it cannot identify the device. I finally realize there is something wrong with the power connector, it does not want to plug in all the way. It is one of these stupid DIN plugs that used to be used for mice and keyboards. Close inspection reveals that two of the pins have gotten bent. How the devil did that happen?

I try straightening them out with my pocket knife and I see sparks, and then I realize (a little late) that this is a power cable and it is live. Fortunately it is only low voltage DC, so I am still around to right this tale of woe. Turn off the power, straighten the pins, which requires light and my eyeglasses (where in tarnation are they?), but I get it done, plug it in and all is well.

Now for the video. Plug in the adaptor and the CRT into the second port on the Linux box. Search the web for some info on setting up Linux to use a dual port card. Find some relatively current instructions. Download and activate a new Nvidia driver. Reboot the system. Nothing. Nada. The BIOS doesn't even flash on. Well, that KVM switch could be causing problems. Switch the CRT to the other port. Oh look, the plug is half way pulled out. Better tighten the screws on the adaptor. The thing is in the corner of the room, down near the floor, back to the wall, with a bunch of other cables all snaking around, and I have to get a small straight bladed screw driver into the screw slot, at an angle, and tighten the screw. By careful concentration I manage without cursing more than a time or six.

So now we can switch the CRT to the other port. No help. Dead as a doornail. Joy of all joys. More fun to come.

As an aside I have 12 seperate devices requiring electrical power on my desk:

1. Desk lamp
2. LCD Monitor
3. CRT Monitor
4. Dell Computer
5. Linux Computer
6. Speakers for computer #1
7. Speakers for computer #2
8. Cordless telephone
9. External disk drive
10. Printer
11. Network hub
12. Floor lamp

Okay, technically the floor lamp isn't on my desk, but I had to stretch the cord because all the close outlets were taken up with computer stuff. All this stuff required five wall warts (little black power transformers that plug into the wall) and two power strips.

Update: both displays are working, but the resolution isn't up to snuff, and there's some other stuff that doesn't work quite right. Chewearn's blog gave me some clues.