Who's treated themselves to some new hardware recently?

[belham2]

I use a usb sound card on my Compaq Presario desktop, it's a Sound
Blaster X-Fi Go! Pro .
I saw a usb powered speaker advertised and bought one of those, it
plugs into the headphone jack on the Sound Blaster X-Fi Go! Pro and the
usb connecter to a nearby usb port, there is also a microhone jack on the
Sound Blaster X-Fi Go Pro (that I don't need/use)
This setup works well with kodi and vlc, haven't found a way to use it
with nexuiz.
The speaker volume is good, and the sound quality is good enough for my
tin ear

I have it clamped to the side of the table that the monitor sits on.
-----------------------------------------
EDIT:
This setup works well with kodi and vlc, haven't found a way to use it
with nexuiz.
In Fatdog-800 alpha I opened the control panel and made it the default sound card, then rebooted.

Can hear the guns blazing now.

Hi Bill,

Hey, you know we have the same Compaq computer, so I can I be a dimwit here?

I've always struggled with sound with it, but it sounds like you got it licked.

What exactly, in totality, do I need to get to make my setup like yours?

I look on Amazon and found the "Sound
Blaster X-Fi Go! Pro" for $19, what else (connectors, cables, and especially which 'Powered USB Speaker'?) do I need to get???

It'd be nice if this old Compaq could come alivejust a bit. Also, I am a country mile from being a stickler for sound quality. I just want to hear something, anything, lol.....and you sound (no pun intended) like you got it solved for out machine


Thanks for any help/hints/tips!

[nic007]

I bought a VGA to TV converter so I can connect my old laptop to TV.

[Billtoo]

I look on Amazon and found the "Sound
Blaster X-Fi Go! Pro" for $19, what else (connectors, cables, and especially which 'Powered USB Speaker'?) do I need to get???

It'd be nice if this old Compaq could come alivejust a bit. Also, I am a country mile from being a stickler for sound quality. I just want to hear something, anything, lol.....and you sound (no pun intended) like you got it solved for out machine


Thanks for any help/hints/tips!

Hi belham2,

I bought my presario in 2009, one of the last sold as an HP compaq I think:
# uname -ra
Linux fatdog64-11b 4.19.1 #1 SMP Wed Nov 7 18:52:51 EST 2018 x86_64 Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU E5200 @ 2.50GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux
#
I have an older presario from 2004 that just had a hard drive failure recently so I've retired that one.

Anyway, the usb powered speaker came from Staples for 30 canuck-bucks.

I find it handy because I don't have to get on hands and knees to pull the connector from a pair of powered speakers that I was sharing with a couple of other computers,doing that ain't easy when you're old

Good luck.

[Mike Walsh]

Lashed out again! - (kind of...) - in the 'Black Friday' sale event.

I decided it was time to replace the (very) cheap'n'cheerful headset I've been using for the last coupla years. So I've treated myself to a Logitech H340 'digital' headset...one of these:-





Nice short, neat mike 'boom' instead of the long, whippy one with the old headset. Has its own built-in sound card (needs selecting, but not much in the way of setup required).....and the sound quality is exquisite. The sound card is obviously why the USB connector is big and 'chunky'....but boy, does it make a difference.

https://www.logitech.com/en-gb/product/usb-headset-h340

Normally retailing at around GBP £30, I snagged these for a tenner. And along with Fredx181 having released some up-to-date compilations of ffmpeg, to replace the ancient default Puppy versions, audio recording is once again an entirely feasible proposition for me. Bacon Audio Recorder, mhWaveEdit, etc.,they all now do what they're supposed to (at long last!)

So a decent mike & headphones were finally in order....


Mike.

[rufwoof]

Next move OSS Mike ???

[Mike Walsh]

Next move OSS Mike ???

No, mate; ALSA will do me. I'm not that much of an audiophile..!

As long as I can get crisp, clear treble, and some deep, rich bass, I'm a happy bunny.....


Mike.

[Flash]

I bought a Sabrent AU-MMSA USB sound card at Fry's electronics for $5. I plugged it into my computer (currently running Upup Bionic Beaver in RAM) and the Alsa sound wizard saw it. So I activated it, plugged some amplified speakers into its output and it worked. I thought it might have at least a small amplifier in it, but apparently not because I could barely hear anything when I plugged in some un-amplified speakers. It's basically just a D-to-A converter without an amplifier, but it works in at least Upup BB without having to install any hardware in the computer. It would work fine with headphones or amplified speakers.

[Mike Walsh]

I bought a Sabrent AU-MMSA USB sound card at Fry's electronics for $5. I plugged it into my computer (currently running Upup Bionic Beaver in RAM) and the Alsa sound wizard saw it. So I activated it, plugged some amplified speakers into its output and it worked. I thought it might have at least a small amplifier in it, but apparently not because I could barely hear anything when I plugged in some un-amplified speakers. It's basically just a D-to-A converter without an amplifier, but it works in at least Upup BB without having to install any hardware in the computer. It would work fine with headphones or amplified speakers.

@ Flash:-

That's almost exactly the same one I'm using with the old Dell lappie. Because it only has two USB ports (and if I don't have the external HDD plugged into one of those, for some reason Puppy won't shut down properly), the other one is occupied by a 7-port powered USB adapter. The webcam, mouse & wireless keyboard dongles are all plugged into that.

It is possible to set Retrovol to control it directly, but I honestly find it quicker & easier to simply open uo

Code: Select all

alsamixer

....in a terminal, leave it running on another desktop, and control it from there. As you say, they don't have an amp built-in; out of curiosity, what slider controls do you have showing for yours?


Mike.

[Flash]

... out of curiosity, what slider controls do you have showing for yours?

I don't have it plugged in any more but I think there were only three sliders: one was the master volume, one was the mike volume or gain and I don't remember what the third one was.

I only bought the thing because it was so cheap and to see how loud it would be. Since it is no louder than the built-in sound of the motherboard, I lost interest in it. It's there if I need a sound card though.

[Puppyt]

Guilty here too of some Christmas spluging on the hardware. Treating myself? Consider it more an act of altruism:

For my Lenovo X130e I bought a 500GB Samsung Evo SSD, and an 8GB DDR3 stick to take it to 10GB total.

So the Panasonic CF-52 wouldn't get upset I gave it the 320GB HDD from the X130e, plus I bought it a twin-port 3.0 USB /54 Expresscard. The card refused to load with the correct drivers in any of the Linux versions I threw at it, so it was given to my parents' Dell 1525 - and runs OOTB in Vista (!!? Circa 2008 I believe).

Not to be outdone, the Lenovo T60 got its original 80gb HDD temporarily replaced with the hand-me-down 160gb from the CF-52, and also a new Cardbus CF-card adapter. Even with a new 128gb udma7 CF-card however it runs as slow as a USB 2.0 card reader - so will look to either use the 44-pin ATA-CF card adapter I have on hand to convert it into a mock SSD - or, wait for the arrival of the "SATA3 mini-to-mSATA adapter" so that I can *actually fit* my new 128gb SATA3 SSD. Economies being what they are currently - the 128gb CF-card was nearly 3 times the cost of the 128gb SATA3-mini SSD, and the former was more expensive than the 500GB Evo SSD. (Dammit)

...when I made the trip interstate recently to upgrade the parent's Dell 1525 ram (and usb ports, supervise new keyboard replacement, advise on replacing their HDD with an SSD option *and* complete their conversion to Puppy Linux), I sussed out options to turn their old lappie into a music server. Bought a bluetooth DAC box to sit connected with their speaker system, and a BT card to fit with their Dell (a 1395 something if memory serves). After ordering the latter - I realised that a Blutooth USB dongle was likely a better "future-proof" option. So one is on its way for me to experiment with on my own Puppy music server before I launch a parallel setup at theirs, in the New Year. Nonetheless I am jealous of the USB DACs and Bluetooth speakers already listed in this thread.

So a couple of mis-steps in hardware purchases that will need to be re-thunk in due course. Another was the USB-PS/2 adapter and "converter" for a project to root a retired smartphone and hook up old PS/2 mouse and keyboard. Of course it didn't convert - a complaint and refund later, along with a replacement twin-plug adapter/converter, is otherwise looking encouraging.

Now I'm thinking that I could whack the 128gb CF-card into my (daughters) Dell 1100 (with fully-functioning coffee-free original keyboard) and convert the DVD into a caddy for a recycled HDD somebody else on the forums has going in their similarly-vintaged models...(not naming any names, MW)

(P.S. I have a replacement USB 3.0 54 Expresscard *and* USB 3.0 multi-card reader coming for the CF-52 - a surprise for it )

[sheldonisaac]

Puppyt, your splurging makes mine look puny.

Last week somewhere online I saw a 64GB microSDXC card, and got it with part of the $50 from Amazon for signing up for their credit card (hope it doesn't get me into trouble).

Anyhow, I'd wondered whether it would work with my oldish equipment:

The card slot on this Dell E6410 laptop saw it as a blank 64GB exFAT drive.

The 2003 Casio Exilim camera wouldn't turn on with the card in it.

The LG cell phone didn't like it, offered to format; I said OK.
As a result, it became FAT32; and the phone accepts it.

So does the Sony Blu-Ray player, via a USB card reader.

The computer still recognizes it.

And a years-old Sansa Clip+ media player does, too.

But the camera still won't use it.


Sheldon

[Mike Walsh]

@ Sheldon:-

Probably won't work with the camera simply due to its age. I believe that support for SDXC cards wouldn't have become 'standard' until several years after that camera was built.

Just my two-penn'orth, FWIW.


Mike.

[Flash]

There might be a firmware upgrade for the camera that you can download for free and install. Firmware upgrades often include the ability to use larger memories.

[sheldonisaac]

There might be a firmware upgrade for the camera that you can download for free and install. Firmware upgrades often include the ability to use larger memories.

Oh, thanks! I looked there, and got to
https://support.casio.com/download.php?cid=001&pid=1389
It seems they don't have a firmware upgrade for my model EX-Z40

[BarryK]

Well, this is "new" for me!

I picked up a 10 year old Compaq Presario PC from the road verge.

Posted about it, with photo, on my blog:

http://bkhome.org/news/201811/compaq-pr ... verge.html

[Mike Walsh]

Well, this is "new" for me!

I picked up a 10 year old Compaq Presario PC from the road verge.

Posted about it, with photo, on my blog:

http://bkhome.org/news/201811/compaq-pr ... verge.html

@ Barry:-

Jammy beggar!

That was a nice 'find'. Like you say, it's astounding what some folks will deem to be 'fit for the scrapheap'.

Our local council have a somewhat strange policy at their re-cycling centres. If you fancy having a look through someone else's 'throwouts', you're quite free to do so.....so long as you do it while it's still in the other person's boot/trunk/loading-bay, whatever. As far as the Council's concerned, the instant it touches the concrete apron of the recycling centre, it then becomes 'their' property. If you get one of the self-officious staff watching you while you unload, put something down, then have second thoughts, and pick it up & decide to take it away with you again, you're summarily accused of stealing 'council property'..!

(I guess this probably has something to do with the fact that, like all cash-strapped UK county councils, they take every opportunity to generate extra income. In this case, there's a 'shop' on the premises, where tidy items are cleaned up & sold for a small nominal fee.)

Moral of the story? Make very certain you want to part with stuff before even entering the premises.....


Mike.

[bigpup]

WE have the same rules at our trash collection/recycle center!
I see all kinds of stuff I could use, if they would let you take it.


I have a HP Chromebook 14 I got at discount, because it was from an open box return. Whoever did not like Chrome OS.

Put Puppy on a micro USB flash drive.
Internal storage is 16GB.
The micro USB is 32GB.
Still have a sdcard slot to put something in, if I need more storage.
Flashed the bios to one that lets you boot something other than Chrome OS.

Brand new Puppy laptop for less than $200.

Touchpad works, but I do not like using them.

Got a basic Logitech wireless mouse.

For all you people that think having stuff sticking out of a laptop is not good.
The micro USB flash drive sticks out about 1/2 inch.
The mouse wireless USB transmitter also about 1/2 inch.

It boots all the Puppies I have tried, but Bionicpup64 7.9.7 seems to have best support for the hardware.

[nosystemdthanks]

For all you people that think having stuff sticking out of a laptop is not good.
The micro USB flash drive sticks out about 1/2 inch.
The mouse wireless USB transmitter also about 1/2 inch.

the even smaller ones (the size of the logitech transmitters) are great though.

usb ports dont break themselves (well, eventually) and you cant put that laptop in a bag (or most laptop cases) with that usb stuff there.

[bigpup]

you cant put that laptop in a bag (or most laptop cases) with that usb stuff there.

Laptop bag.
We don't need no laptop bag!

Is it really that hard to unplug a USB device, to put laptop in bag and plug it in, when you remove laptop from bag?
When warranty runs out. Chrome OS is gone and Puppy goes on internal storage.

[nosystemdthanks]

Is it really that hard to unplug a USB device, to put laptop in bag and plug it in

it is if the os is mounted on it, plus people forget. note that im a fan of bootable usbs, i usually boot them to ram (and this is part of the reason.) i got an hp laptop with 2 gb of ram a few years ago, and i decided it would be great to give to someones grandniece, but with all i figured it would be taking i didnt put in a hard drive. i just left a small usb (the logitech size) to boot debian 7 from. it had lxde and i made a second partition on it for files.

solutions arent one-size-fits-all and if it works for you, it probably works for someone else too. a 1/2 inch usb is a step forward because it is less of a lever.

if you drop something fairly lightweight on it, thats better than a normal size usb which is more likely to do more damage on average for the same amount of pressure.

when i find a broken usb i try to pull out the pins so they cant touch (every other pin is probably even better.) then i cover it with tape because someone is sure to try to stick something in there sooner or later. people dont always look before they plug things in, even if they know better.