FTP Downtime

[tmp]

My apologies to all users of the FTP for the downtime. As most US members
are aware, there was a severe snowstorm here on the east coast of the US
and the internet connection went down for about 6 hours.

Some changes to the FTP:

I've installed an internal hard drive(finally !) for FTP access that will be limited
to administrators/moderators/librarians and private accounts. As soon as
they're setup I will PM the appropiate people. This will not have an effect on
the existing members. The new drive is for additional storage and backups.

Megalomania, has given us a list under the thread "Raping RapidShare". Many
of these files are password protected. Currently, I'm decompressing the files
and recompressing without the need for passwords(in WinZip).

I'm also in the process of converting WinRar files to WinZip. The reason is
that WinRar wants money to even use their reader after a trial period. To me
this is a RIPOFF ! I paid for my copy of WinRar and even though the price
was relatively cheap, I realize that some members are on very limited budgets.

Again my sincerest apologies, and YES I'm still raping RapidShare as time
permits !

[tmp]

The ISP screwed up and the MAC ID on the modem was mistakenly assigned to
another subscriber. Expect the FTP to be quirky the next couple of days until the
ISP makes the necessary permanent changes. This error wouldn't even allow
access to the Internet for the last 2 days.

[nbk2000]

Who the hell pays for software? That's why God created Warez! :)

Of course, everyone makes mistakes in their youth, so you can be forgiven.

There are plenty of free RAR extractors, plus RAR gives better compression and the ability to repair corrupted files (if they include a recovery record), something .ZIP doesn't offer.

[megalomania]

No, no. We all pay for our software like the good law abiding citizens every one here is. We all say we pay for all our software. Warez? Isn't that a town in Mexico? Yeah, we all buy our software in Warez Mexico, and then say we pay our taxes.

[tmp]

The FTP, in fact the entire computer, went down just after midnight. I'm
having a problem with a file called MUP.DLL. Despite executing a system
recovery, the damn thing hangs up on MUP.DLL even in safe mode. When I
tried to reinstall the driver for the FTP(external) hard drive it hung up it in
what seems to be a loop. The MUP.DLL file is one of Microshit's incarnations.
I don't even know what it does. The next step is to vacuum the motherboard
and all devices attached to it. The processor fan runs non-stop at times.
Does anybody have any thoughts on MUP.DLL ?

[Jack2k2]

As odd as it sounds, after a long google search, I have found a person claiming to have fixed the problem by swapping ram chips around.

I can't really confirm this, but it is worth a try because it looks as if no other solution exists except for reinstalling Windows XP.

Good Luck.

[tmp]

My bad - that's the file's name, not .DLL. Vacuumed out the inside of the
case, especially the CPU heat sink and fan. In checking other forums on the
net, there appears to be a shopping list of things that can cause that
problem. I've done system recovery 5 times now. I'm going to have to do
this a step at a time given all of the potential causes. I hope the hell it's
not the Maxtor external drive ! That's where the FTP is located. The next
step will be pulling individual components to see if that's the cause. I'm at
work and have been searching the net extensively for an answer. Even the
(claims to be) MS service techs responding in these forums can't agree on
the solution. Also some computers, only days old, are being affected. I'll
keep you posted on the progress. I can get to the net when the computer
finally starts up but for some reason no other computer(including the one I'm
sitting at) can't connect to my server despite the fact that Filezilla is
running.

[Third_Rail]

Dang! My external drive (also a Maxtor) just went down a few days ago - it's where I stored all my files from your FTP. Strange.

[nbk2000]

A link posted by a banned newbie for a memory testing program:

http://www.memtest.org/#downiso

[tmp]

NBK, thanks for the link ! I'll test on the memory tomorrow. Using a
combination of solutions, all linked to the BIOS, I've managed to get the damn
thing to boot, although slowly. I still couldn't access the FTP from here at
work, the sound card(Creative Labs Audigy Platinum no less !) still won't
work and the system is going batshit in assigning drive letters when I do the
system recovery.

Bad news: I got home about 12:30 AM and while the computer is booting properly now, the
Maxtor external drive is installed but I can't access it and now it's making HORRIBLE noises !
According to Maxtor's website ANY fairly audible noise other than the clicking sounds it
makes is an indication of drive damage. I'll contact them in the morning to see what can be
done. This FUCKING drive isn't even a year old ! Third_Rail, how old is your drive ?
All I want is a way to get the data back. I've never had a problem with any of Maxtor's
internal drives, but this external model is proving to be a real piece of shit ! I'll look at
Western Digital for my next drive. Headache after fucking headache ! There is no justice !

[Bugger]

Maxtor hard drives have a bad reputation with me. I once had a 30 Gb one that suddenly failed, without warning, after only a few weeks' moderate use, but fortunately I had all the data on it backed up on another drive. I use almost exclusively Seagate drives, but even they are not 100% reliable; I have had two 250 Gb ATA Seagate drives fail unexpectedly on me recently after only a few months' use.

[defiant]

If the Maxtor is fried its unlikely that the data will be retrievable.

I've got a good deal (but by no means all) that was on your ftp, and would be glad to get you whatever I have that wasn't backed up. The files aren't organized like your ftp - but that's secondary under the circumstances.

[tmp]

Sadly, I have to report that the drive is damaged beyond repair. I had
wondered why my system had a fit installing it. Upon checking my purchase
receipt, the drive barely lasted over its one year warranty and Maxtor will do
nothing about it. No choice. I have to start over. Currently, I have assigned
an internal drive the letter M although there's nothing on it at the moment.
Strangely enough, the internal drive is a Maxtor 120 GB unit, over 3 years old,
and never gives a hint of a problem. My older P3 computer, which I gave to
my brother, has a Maxtor 60 GB main drive - no problems to date. I guess
that's why I trusted them.

I don't know if anyone can even get to the M drive yet. I couldn't access the
other drives from work last night even though Filezilla has been running. I'll
never use another Maxtor drive despite the fact that the internal drives have
lasted. It's the same policy I use with any manufacturer - FUCK ME ONCE
AND I'LL NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH YOU AGAIN !

Can anyone, anywhere, recommend a reliable hard drive ? At this point I
don't care whether its internal or external. The worst part is that a year's
uploads have been lost depsite Maxtor's internal backups.

I'm really bummed out right now ! I'm sure you understand. Starting over
will be tough with the expense involved and the required uploading. :(

[Jack2k2]

That is really a shame, it is no fun when drives just last over their warranty period.

As for a good drive, I have always used Western Digital drives without a hint of trouble. Right now I carry a 250gb, 200gb, and 120gb WD, and all are going strong. I have even tested having the 200gb laying vertically and it still works fine. The model number for the 250gb version is WD2500JB.

I usually wait until Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving) to buy my hard drives. I got the 250gb for 80 dollars at Office Max if I remember correctly.

[Sausagemit]

A Seagate Barracuda serial ATA drive is the new "best drive you can buy" from what I hear. But, Seagate bought Maxtor. So if doing business with a company that bought another company that you have a problem with then your on your own.

The thing about Maxtor's DiamondMax family is they work great, never corrupt data, but they run a little bit hotter than most drives of the same size and speed. And as you should probably know, heat is the number 1 enemy of a HDD. It can corrupt data quicker than repeated 50 G shocks while the HDD is spinning. So if you can cool a Maxtor effectively, it will work for many years without any problems.

And the Seagate Barracuda's run 5-10 deg F cooler than the next comparable DiamondMax in a confined space. And that can mean life or death for a HDD.

And if your worried about reliability, why don't you use a Linux distro like Gentoo with a HDD format like RiserFS. It's tons more reliable and takes up far less processes and space than Windows XP/server. And you don't have to have new hardware either.

I would recommend getting an old comp, installing Linux on the box as soon as possible and screwing around with it. And please don't install the GUI as it just takes up space.

Linux affords you with limitless possibilities while Microsoft limits you to what it can sell you.

Some links for you enjoyment and learning the linux.

http://www.gentoo.org/
http://www.freshmeat.com/
http://distrowatch.com/
http://easylinuxguide.com/

[tmp]

Sausagemit, I tried hooking up the drive to the computer at work with the
same results - it's toasted ! Funny thing is I've never had any trouble with
Maxtor's internal drives. There's one in my computer now that's at least 3
years old. You would think that an external drive, sitting out in the open,
wouldn't have the heating problems of an enclosed internal drive. It's really
weird. Does anybody know of any software that may be useful in recovering
crashed drives ? Also, there's other problems. None of my PnP devices will
operate. That may be a corrupted BIOS or some other strange shit. Another
issue - I can't log onto my server from the computer at work. More pain !
I'm still working on it.

Filezilla is active again. Some users are uploading now. Forgot to turn off that
pain-in-the-ass firewall after I restored the system. Sound card restored. That
leaves the the WinPVR recorder. Still haven't figured out what's up with that.
I'm going to BestBuy in the morning with the dead drive in hand to have a bitching
session with these people ! I'm going to pickup with a new drive - probably a
Western Digital SATA internal in the 250 GB range. Wish me luck !

It's been a week of hell with the fucked up hardware and software issues. To
American Megatrends, Intel, Maxtor, and Microsoft - MAY YOU BURN IN HELL !
After I get done with BestBuy it's time to get a bottle of whiskey and get
piss ass drunk !

[grendel23]

Any hardware can fail, the best safety net is to buy not one, but two drives.
Either run a RAID 1 array, or do as I do and use Ghost to make backups once or twice a week.
I have two 200GB drives, a Hitachi and a Western Digital. I run on the Hitachi, it's a bit faster, and can get three ghost images of that drive on the WD.

[tmp]

I'm going out the door as soon as I find the receipt for that drive. I've
decided the best way to backup will be to DVD+RW discs. They've never
failed on me. The rule of thumb will be to wait for about 4 GB of data to
build up and then burn the disc to minimize wear and tear. That way I'll
have my own backups versus some internal method that's already proven,
to me at least, to be unreliable. I've found some of the files I had used on
the C drive and put them on the M drive already.

[Third_Rail]

Well, between all of us we ought to be able to get most everything back. I now keep files on a mirrored RAID, you may want to look into that.

[nbk2000]

I've stopped using DVD media for backups.

I've had more problems with file corruption on DVD's than I ever had with CDs.

And Pixar uses CD-R's for their data backup, not DVD's, for the same reason.

Yes, you have to use 6x as many disks for the same storage, at nearly the same cost, but reliability is far more important than space savings. CD-R's are rated for a century, while DVD-R's are a decade or less.

[akinrog]

I've stopped using DVD media for backups.

I've had more problems with file corruption on DVD's than I ever had with CDs.


I am currently using DVDs for backup. However in my case, I am making two copies one a current backup (which I use for restoring files) and another as a backup of backup, which I never use but store away.

In addition, I always check integrity of the files by copying the files on DVD back to harddisk if there is a problem then it simply reports it. In addition I use UDF format on DVDs, which seems better for backup. HTH.

[Alexires]

I too would ward you from DVD's. All it takes is one little scratch and part of the data is fucked, where as with CD-R they can be scratched to hell yet still be readable.

The problem ofcourse is cost. While CD-R may be cheap, backing up a 200gig HD every week or so is going to be expensive. Maybe buy two slow 200 gig HD and use them to make copies of the FTP every week. The chances of 3 HD going down is pretty slim. Keep the 2 slow HD in a HD rack and only use them once a week to back up data.

Here (http://www.deadharddrive.com/) is supposedly a good forum of HD recovery.

And ho daddy, look at the storage (http://www.physorg.com/news66555256.html).

" Imagine having computer memory so dense that a cubic centimeter contains 12.8 million gigabytes of information."

Thats what I'm talking about.

[tmp]

The new drive is installed ! It's a Western Digital at 320 GB. The fried
Maxtor spins but makes a hell of a racket. I'll open it up when I have more
time.

[defiant]

Guess I've been lucky cause I've never had a problem backing up to either CD or DVD.

Verifying the burn is worth the additional time.

There is no real advantage I can see to RW for backup purposes. If you don't finalize a disc you can add files. If your burning software doesn't allow for non-finalized burns - get new software. The only advantage to RW discs is that you can erase files, but that only works a half dozen or so times before problems occur and data is lost.

The most commonplace problem is backing up frequently enough to minimize loss. That and being around in 100 years to get the full value of a CD-R :)

[FUTI]

Strange paradox happend...I can't login on ftp anymore...is it just me or other members too have this problem.

[kubr]

Yes, I can't login too

[defiant]

I can't login either. Presumably TMP is still setting things up.

[Jack2k2]

I as well have the problem of not being able to access the FTP. It gives a Timed Out error, which would make it seem like the no-ip thing isn't resolving to the real FTP IP, otherwise I would believe that it would give a Connection Refused error.

I think tmp will clear this up shortly so we can continue to upload files.

[tmp]

No, it had nothing to do will setting up. The damn DNS server didn't update
the IP address. I just did it manually. You should be able to connect now.

Follow up: I reinstalled FileZilla but I still don't see any users on it. The only
other possibility I can think of right now is Vonage, the phone service I had
installed after being ripped off by MCI. Vonage, if you're familiar with their
commercials, routes phone traffic through the Internet. I set it up yesterday
after installing the new hard drive. I'll contact them shortly to see if their
connection is blocking FileZilla. I welcome any comments on Vonage from any
member if you've had experience and/or trouble with them.

Follow up: Follow up: MY VERY, VERY BAD ! I failed to realize that the Vonage
Internet connection device is a router. So, I didn't call them and bother them with
shit I already knew about routers. I looked at the back of the thing, checked
the Connection stats and got my answer. It's prefixed 192.168.. ! I should
have had a fucking clue at that point ! Well I DMZed that damn thing like I did
with old LinkSys router. That should take care of the problem ! Sorry for all the
shits that's happened. It's been an extremely bad week for the computer and me.

[Sausagemit]

A differential tape backup is the only way to make sure that all of your data will be secure for the next 100's of 1000's of years or so. They are extremely reliable, way more reliable than optical media as the aluminum used on a CD can break down and come off of the plastic if not stored properly. And most cheap CD-R's are only rated for 10 years. And I've had the data come off brand new CD-R's before because they sat in my car for a day before I used them.

My neighbor has a 1.5TB (soon to be 9TB) server and I myself have close to .5TB of data. And I would go ballistic if my all my data was lost (especially my music) so I have been looking into differential tape backups for about a month and so has my neighbor. And there doesn't seem to be a better way to back up data.

[defiant]

TMP: Accessed the ftp with no problems. Thank you for your efforts - its very much appreciated.

Sausagemit: your absolutely right about differential tape, and it makes perfect sense for backing up TB's of data. But starting at around $2000, they're not for everyone.

Also, for those who might not know, heat shortens the life of CD's and DVD's.

[Storm on the Horizon]

TMP,

Thanks for getting it back up. I'll try and get some files uploaded tonight. Thanks again.

[nbk2000]

The problem with CD and DVD media isn't only with high temperatures, but thermal cycling - the change in temperatures.

Every time the disc changes temperatures, heating up and cooling down, the plastic is stressed, and the lamination bond of the dye layer and the disc is weakened, causing stress cracking of the disc or delamination of the dye layer.

Either one will cause loss of data.

Storage media lifespan is calculated on the assumption of a single write-to, controlled storage with constant temperature and humidity, and NO reads.

You start reading the data, letting it get warm and cool, and lifespan dramatically decreases. Your '100 year Archival Quality' CD-R starts falling apart after 3 years. :(

In a previous topic created by me (though damned if I can find it), I told of how I had CD-R's fracture to pieces before my very eyes! The 'Imation' brand. Which is why I'll never use them again.

For sharing huge amounts of data, sending someone a cheap HDD is much more efficient than trying to send discs. What'd you'd spend on mailing it both ways wouldn't even be the cost of a 50 disc spindle, yet have several times the capacity, as well as vastly increased ease-of-use and transfer speeds.

That's what I did when getting a backup copy of Retrosynthetic's FTP.

[Sausagemit]

Crappy CD-Rs and AOL CDs still have a use.

Most people here probabbly have a dremel (this works best with a variable speed model that goes all the way up to 35k rpm). If you havn't allready noticed, a CD fits perfectly on the sanding wheel (http://www.dremel.com/DremelCMS/Templates/Product/AttachmentAccessory/AttachmentAccessoryDetail.aspx?NRMODE=Published&NRNODEGUID=%7b265F6ED3-9C00-4034-97F4-3F1754550A14%7d&NRORIGINALURL=%2fen-us%2fattachments-and-accessories%2fattachment-accessory-detail%2ehtm%3fH%3d188569%26G%3d66408%26I%3d66415&NRCACHEHINT=Guest&G=66408&H=188569&I=66415#) attachement.

If the CD doesn't explode (only had this happen twice) during the spin up, give it a little off axis shaking and watch it fly.

It works best in a carpeted place like a long hallway, preferabbly somewhere where you don't have to clean it up because this makes a big mess. And also, don't stand in the radial pathway of the CD, that's just asking to get stuck by a piece of plastic flying at incredible speeds.

And so far this (http://www.osta.org/) is the best website I have found for reliable information regarding optical storage. And slightly more pertinent to the subject at hand, http://www.osta.org/technology/cosa.htm.

[Corona]

"Imation"???

O my God... that is what I used all the time.... DVDs (R and RW) as well as CD-R and CD-RWs. Seems to be quite popular. For CDs I recently switched over to "LG".. I think they're better... drive senses them a bit faster.

Thanks for the warning.

[FUTI]

This is OT in a way...but I remember that somewhere I read about storing data on ordinary VHS type cassete. It supposedly gives higher capacity and storage lifetime...but access time is horrible AFAIR. I saw couple of those systems mainly on surveilance systems but don't know anything else. So if it turns out to be true I hope that TMP has his old VHS recorder somewhere. FTP is just fine right now I'm logged.

[tmp]

There have been some problems with the FTP. I'll have to check it when I
get home later tonight. FileZilla may be losing its mind again. Others have
reported problems and I can't connect from here at work. I'll go over it
again. Some people have reported connecting using another client.

Maxtor disk drive autopsy: I opened up the Maxtor external drive and wasn't
suprised to find that it's one of their internal drives equipped with an on/off
switch, power supply, and an IDE/USB converter. The internal drive is type
6B200P0 - 200 GB. Removed from it's external housing, and attached as a
slave drive with an IDE cable, it caused another computer to hang on bootup.
As before the drive made a screeching noise and then stopped running. Upon
opening this drive the cause of the screeching was obvious. About 1/4
inch on one of the disk surfaces was scored and looked like a smudge ring
around the center of the surface. Just thought you all would like to know.
This is a quality control problem and I'll never go back to Maxtor.

[Skean Dhu]

I remember that Thread NBK about the 'shattering' of the Imation disks, wasn't it in the water cooler?

Also be careful when copying disks, I was copying a file from a one disk to another the other day, and after taking it from the backup CD to my HDD and fiddling with Nero I forgot to take it out and replace it with a fresh CD-R before commencing the burn. Now I realised this about 75% through the process, and began mashing buttons to abort, but the damage was done. Despite being a finalized CD-R that had been burned a couple of years ago It had overwritten the previous data.

I didn't think that was possible,but as demostrated by my mistake under certain circumstances it is. So be aware of what you're doing when you are backing up or copying backups. Thankfully the data lost was stuff that is simple to replace now that I have Broadband acess.

[tmp]

I checked everything on the computer and restarted the server. For some
goddamn reason, the Vonage router cleared the "DMZ" tag. This was the
problem I had the first time I set it up. Let me know if problems persist.

[akinrog]

Maxtor disk drive autopsy: I opened up the Maxtor external drive and wasn't
This is a quality control problem and I'll never go back to Maxtor.

Good choice!... If I were in your boots, I never use Maxtor, Samsung HDDs. But Seagate seems a goood and reliable option. I made a mistake to purchase Samsung HDDs and I really repent for that. I want to purchase a new Seagate drive but nowadays I can't seem to be finding a high Capacity (need 120+ GB) Seagate HDD. :(

[Skean Dhu]

www.newegg.com Has a Western digital 250HDD for 75USD after mail in rebate. They also have a 750GB Seagate HDD for a mere 409USD (all taxes and shipping excluded)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Brand=1305&N=2000150014+50001305&Submit=ENE&Manufactory=1305&SubCategory=14
I've never had a seagate, but I can vouch for the WD 'caviar' line. I've had my 80GB HDD for just about 2 years, running in a warm case, in un-airconditioned rooms 24/7(except for power failures) , its been through a couple reformats and never given me any trouble. A very stand up brand from my experience

[tmp]

Skean Dhu, I lost faith in Maxtor after this experience. Granted, it's my
fault for not having backed up the FTP on a timely basis. I hope all of you
will forgive me. I say this because a lot of hard work went into building up
the disk. I have replaced the Maxtor with a Western Digital 320 GB internal
drive and purchased the 3-year extended warranty. Nevertheless, I backup
to an internal drive(a Maxtor no less) and to CDs and DVDs.

Maxtor disappointed me to no end. I gave my old P3-993 MHZ computer to
my brother. It has a Maxtor 60 GB drive installed from the factory. To
date it hasn't shown even a hint of a problem and the goddamn thing is over
5 years old ! The 120 GB Maxtor on my current computer has never given me
a problem and it's over 3 years old. I pulled it from the older P3 before giving
that to my brother and it serves as an extremely reliable backup drive. I
don't know. Maybe I was one of the unlucky few who happened to get a
defect. On to other things.

My phone service, VONAGE, fucked up royally today. I can't even make a
phone call. I locked the server - no users on it, in an attempt to prove that
the bandwidth problems may be caused by too many users - BLAH ! BLAH !
BLAH ! As it turns out, this wasn't even the case ! Even with a server
lockout I still couldn't dial out ! Time for this shit to go ! I'm going home
back to Verizon because I never had any problems with them. So much for
routing calls over the Internet. BTW, I don't recommend ANY phone service
that relies on the Internet.

Follow up: I forgot to mention that my main hard drive is a Western Digital
250 GB drive. SO LONG VONAGE, HELLO VERIZON !

[nbk2000]

Extended warranties are a crock.

In three years time, the money that the warranty cost you will be able to buy you a replacement drive of almost equal capacity as the one you have now, thanks to Moores Law.

If the drive is defective, it'll break within the 30 days and you can return it to the store for a refund/exchange. If it breaks within a year, the manufacturers warranty covers it. After a year, it's more cost effective to buy a replacement due to the devaluation via Moores Law.

I've had several Western Digital drives go belly-up on me in the past, and I've had no problems exchanging them for new ones from WD, even though several years old. :)

And I hope Maxtor isn't shite, because I've got a lot of data on a Maxtor drive.

When it comes to phone calls, landline rules!

Thanks to the monopoly of Ma Bell, there's a highly reliable telco infrastructure in place, that the baby bells have inherited and are slowly fucking off.

When's the last time you picked up a handset and not gotten a dial tone? I can count the number of times in my life that's happened on one hand. Now try that with your ISP, and you would probably need both hands for one month!

[tmp]

Sorry, about the momentary FTP disruption a few minutes ago. I was pulling
out the Vonage gear now that my phone service is back on a land line.
Adios, to crappy internet phone service !

[tmp]

I'm on a computer at work entering this. About 3 PM today a transformer
exploded. I was outside at the time and it sounded like a shotgun going
off. The FTP server won't be back up until the power company fixes the
damn thing. Sorry for the inconvenience !

Well, it's back up. It took the assholes 9 fucking hours to restore power.
Again, my apologies.

[nbk2000]

Access corresponds with the worth of the requestor.

How have you proven your worth to this community such that you are worthy of sharing in the labors of its other members?

Other than the mere fact that you've deigned to grace us with your estimable presence, naturally. :p

[NoltaiR]

How come in the history of theForum, it seems we can't ever get an FTP system that doesn't cause us problems..

And one more thing.. in NBKs signature area it says blog last update.. where is this blog it speaks of?

[FUTI]

I noticed that I can logon to tmp's FTP, but I think that dates of new uploaded files are fu*ked up. It seems that system report new files as like they were uploaded one month earlier. Is there some reason for this or that is an obvious software glitch?

[NoltaiR]

While I am sure someone has probably commented elsewhere, I had to mention that I just downloaded NBKs little "fire fight" video from the FTP and it is impressive. Did you (NBK) make that yourself? If so I say you have good taste in background music. Ramstein rocks

[nbk2000]

Yeah, I made it for Stormfront. :)

[tmp]

I think I lost the power supply in the computer and my internet
connection apparently fucked up also. I tried connecting a
laptop to the ISP connection but to no avail. I'm at another
computer right now looking for troubleshooting guides and
replacement parts for the computer. The 300-watt power supply
that HP supplied with it in all probability gave out over the
years because of additonal hard drives, premium sound card, TV
tuner card etc.. As soon as I get the cable connection back up
I'll communicate using the laptop to keep everyone aware of the
progress on the desktop. :mad: :mad: :mad:

Edit: The service tech from my ISP will be there next Tuesday,
01/02/07. From their end no signal was coming in or out. They
suspect a faulty signal splitter. If it is then it's the second
time. I picked up a new, high wattage, power supply to try out
when I get home. The douche-bag at Circuit City told me they
usually test power supply problems by swapping a known, good,
unit for the existing hardware - DUH ! I had taken the older
unit with me hoping they could test it. They didn't even have
the gear necessary for the test and said I could check the
voltages myself. This is a professional service tech ? I'll
update when I have more info.

[D Moon]

Toy bad about the power supply. Same happend to me a week ago :(

It burst into flames and destroyed my hard drive but shit happens (think my cat had something to do with it)

Waiting eagerly for ftp to go up so I can contribute with my huge archive. :)

[Bugger]

One of my older computers is a Pentium Classic, which has had up to 7 hard drives attached to it at once, along with the CRT screen and about 7 expansion cards - all with only a 250-watt power supply.

[tmp]

Bugger, how many of those hard drives were internal ? D_Moon,
are you sure your cat didn't take a piss on your CPU ?

I'm still trying to do a full debug of the hardware. Another
issue may be one of the original memory sticks. I looked for the
flashing fault light on the power supply. Low and behold, it
stopped flashing when I pulled the bastard. None of the PCI
cards or drives show this reaction. The light kept flashing when
the power supply was hooked to the motherboard. I'm hoping that
the problems are limited to the memory and/or power supply. If
it's the motherboard or processor I mays as well strip all the
peripherals and buy another computer.

Progress report so far: Computer is back up and running. I had
to tear it apart, clean it, and replace 2 bad components. The
power supply and one DIMM went bad and have been replaced. The
comtemptible sound card had to be moved to another PCI slot.
NO DAMAGE TO ANY DISK DRIVES ! The FTP is in tact ! Now, the only
other issue is for the cable company to get out here on Tuesday and
restore my internet service. BTW, the new power supply is 550 watts.
Might be a good new year after all despite the expense !

[tmp]

In addition to the aforementioned computer problems, the cable connection
had a bad splitter(no surprise there !) and a weak line off the splitter. The
lines for the CATV service are still good. The FTP has been backed up and
I'm back to getting caught up on paperwork !

[D Moon]

The cat didn't take a piss on the cpu, but manage to flip a switch back on my power supply saying 110 volt and 220 volt so it fried my motherboard and a hard drive and a gforce card yepp nice cat . (The cat still lives):mad: but next time it`s nine lives are over :D

[tmp]

I have 2 of them and won't allow them in the same room as the computer.
If my computer cooked itself and I determined that ONE of the cats was
responsible, there would be TWO dead pussies in the garbage can ! I love my
cats but there are limits ! It's bad enough that my couch is torn up from
them sharpening their claws despite having a perfectly good scratching post.
They used to go after the grill cloths on my speakers and I finally broke them
of that by smacking the shit out of them when I caught them in the act.

[nbk2000]

It'd probably be a good idea to RTPB "Plan for Failure" and assume the cats will get in somehow and make a straight beeline for the FTP computer, for immediate claw sharpening and pee-marking.

Attachi the computers powersupply to an UPS, the UPS (and computer) being inside a locked case, with the UPS cord being armored (old waterhose) against cat chewing, and the plug being connected to the outlet inside of a locked outlet box, like the kind used for outdoor outlets.

Next, embed RFID tracking chips in the cats (might as well include any relatives and friends who live or visit there) with an automatic sentry gun set to kill upon detection. :D

[tmp]

I'm posting this from work. The noreaster still hitting Maryland has caused
massive problems with power, cable, and phone. Here at work, we just got
our power back about 20 minutes ago. I'll post again when the weather
settles down. Sorry for the inconvenience.

[tmp]

When I get home tonight, I will shut down the computer because it appears
that a virus got in. It uses a file named "C:\T.INX'. I can't even access the
FTP from here at work. The computer rebooted itself twice in a row this
morning without reason. A current search of the net talks about something
called 'BraveSentry' - a piece of malicious anti-spyware that gets it and tries
to take over the computer. I'd like to kill the bastards who pull this shit !

Any comments ?

[joffe]

This is my first post som I'm a little bit scared. But this shit is something I know a little bit about. "BraveSentry" is a "SpySherrif" clone - one of the most devious malwares ever developed. This website has some good tools for removing it from your computer:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic55983.html

[FUTI]

That is bad. Only good thing about it is that I freaked out thinking you are "eaten alive" by some fedgov agency when I couldn't login to ftp today. Use Spybot or Adware not some stupid lame antispyware. I become little paranoid and I will reinstall AV program and run all antispywares I got on my machine.

[tmp]

Good news - All of the data on the FTP drive appears to be intact.
Bad news - FileZilla was corrupted and the entire user/password file was
destroyed. I had to uninstall and re-install the server to get by the damage.
Users will once again have to request access. I make it a policy to NEVER
store passwords anywhere on the computer and for this reason the user data
is lost.

[tmp]

The FTP is down again. The culprit is my ISP, Comcast. I couldn't reach
them by phone before coming to work. I'll try again tomorrow. The modem,
a Motorola SB5100, lost all connectivity sometime Friday night. It tried to
reconnect for all of 2 minutes earlier today. I apologize for the
inconvenience.

I found the problem with the connection. It's that damn cheapass cable line that Comcast
replaced last time ! No need for a service call. I took the modem directly to the line that
comes in the house and sure enough the entire modem panel lit up ! I swapped the lines on
the splitter between the TV and the modem. The modem lit up and the TV signal turned to
shit. It won't be until tomorrow until I can get a new line for the TV. Besides, the Internet
service is more important to me. It's funny how a 10 year old piece of cable I bought at
RadioShack is still holding up and Comcast's line turned to shit in less than a year !

[tmp]

Sorry about the FTP disruption a few minutes ago. The fucking router lost it's
mind and Santa didn't bring me new one ! I HATE wireless shit !

[Charles Owlen Picket]

It's a pity that [only] when a person passes away do we look at the contributions of that person as closely as we do.... With that thought in mind...

Thank you for setting up and maintaining the FTP and a big "thank you" to those who have contributed! The origins of this whole endeavor (that essentially started with Megalomania investing his time for this information exchange within the Board itself) was really a selfless work. Hell; no one makes money off the thing....

I honestly appreciate the information exchange that ALL of you guys [who made this Board and the FTP possible] have worked at....

[tmp]

I had to shut down the computer for a few minutes to install a new keyboard.
The old one, from the last computer was going up. This one, a Saitek, glows
in the dark ! Background blue-lit keys.

[Mr Science]

I know this is a little off topic, yet not important enough to start its own thread, but out of curiousity TMP, what happened to NBK's folder on the FTP? There was a lot of good material on there, including several of my own videos from DVD's I rented (he beat me on uploading some to the FTP).

[Man Down Under]

I was going to ask that very same question, since NBK posted a directory path to a file I was interested in and I found no such folder. :confused:

His folder is listed in the FILELIST.TXT file on the FTPs main directory.

[tmp]

It was NBK's own request that his files be taken down in the event of an
untimely death pending a future release. NBK was cryptic about this. It is
likely that the decision will probably be made by those in charge of his estate.

Current problems. A piece of extortion-ware got through the firewall, no
damage to the FTP but I had to restore the system files and reinstall several
applications. Let me know, by PM, if you encounter problems with the FTP.

[Kaczynski]

I am submitting my question to this thread because it has the most recent postings regarding ftp access. I know how strict you guys are about postings, so I can only fucking pray that I do not get banned for this.

In a nutshell, the most recent posting to the "Rogue Science FTP ftp:204.210.178.212:990" thread was October 2006. Yet, the thread entitled "Keep personal info out of your uploads" has received postings quite recently. The totality of the postings make clear that there is an ftp server containing the mother lode which literally makes me salivate. However, I've tried the IP numbers of old postings as well as the other miscellaneous instructions for ftp'ing, and none of them work. Because I ftp all of the time, I can only conclude that the ftp information on these old threads is no longer accurate. YES, I've searched the old threads before posting this. I swear.

Sooooo, I am writing to ask how does one gain access to this elusive ftp server? :confused::confused::confused: Before banning me, please allow me to say this: I have much to offer and I really, really would like to contribute but have not done so because (1) Rapidshare ripped me off by overbilling my credit card, (2) Because of Rapidshare's fraud, I refuse to deal with them again (you know, the ol' fuck me twice, shame on me thing), (3) I could and would gladly contribute freely from my 1.7 Tb of information and programs if I could gain access to the ftp server because I am too goddam old to be sitting, waiting for Rapidshare's timer to run out so I can acess a file or two, like some sort of data crack addict.

Until I hear from someone, I will sit here patiently with my fingers crossed, praying that I have not offended the Roguesci Gods.

[megalomania]

PM tmp, it's his show.

[iHME]

Kaczynski, why don't you set up your own ftp? I is not hard. My connection was finally upgraded to 8/1m so I have a 1mb upstream. On my part theres still work to be done though. I have to buy new "ethernet clamps" or what are they called to attach rj45 plug to the cable to my server. Then I could finally do my write up about setting up a ftp server in linux. I have ran a small server as a test for a week once, then it lost power whem i tripped over its power cord, this lead to wonderful corruption of 2,0% of its file system. The box was a Pentium1 @100Mhz having 64mb ram and 1gb hdd. It ran Apache(web server), proftpd(ftp server) and Samba (so I could use it as a networked harddrive). I admit it was a bit slow, but still a wonder full little server. The "new" system will be a 500Mhz pentium 3 machine with 256mb ram for the ftp and 1Ghz Athlon with also 256mb ram for the web server. The servers will probably do more work as space heaters as for "real usage". Time will only tell how long it will take for me to do it. Hey, it's all just for learning.

I hope that I don't detour the conversation.

Small update, I found a long enough networkcable, its originally made from five parts but it has workd this far. Now its a about getting the bios to detect
the second hdd and then its just about software. I'll look more into it tomorrow. Its 23.23 and I need my beautyseleep. :p

[Silentnite]

Kacz, you could also check into other file transfer's then Rapidshit. There's a whole lot of free uncapped ones waiting to be used.

[tmp]

Sorry about the interruption. The processor cooling fan kept coming on even
for routine tasks. Sure enough, after popping the fan and the heat sink it
was clogged with dust. This happens about once a year. I leave the side
panels off the computer case for easier cooling and access. Usually the
machine burps once or twice on reboot after the cleaning operation. It also
happens whenever I install a new device. The next new device will be a
larger hard disk drive. I intend to stick with an internal if it's at all possible.
I have plenty of connectors left on the power supply. I'll let you know when
I intend to install the new drive.

[billo]

tmp, you could add a processor grease between the processor and the heat sink, with time the older grease goes away and loses it worth. I did the same thing and now i have a bottle full of the same grease just one drop is enough. I have touched it and it feels like ......... bits and pieces of very thinly ground bits of aluminum or metal mixed with a wax. Seems like wax but doesnt catch fire nor does it melt with a matchstick. It sticks to fingers. A Shop sells here in very small qualtities and just sells it without showing the container so that i no one would know the manufacturing company.
After one year, single droplet application feels like the temperature of CPU goes down at least 10 C. Make something ;-)

[tmp]

Kaczynski, the FTP you referred to is long gone. Today, I added a new drive.
I found out that I have no more internal connection points so this is an
external drive. It's 1 TB in size. The system was copying the FTP data
earlier today. Also, a new router and I forgot to set the DMZ option. I'll set
it when I get home later tonight. Between the copy operation and firewall, no
one will be able to connect to the FTP until I change some settings. Sorry for
the inconvenience.

BTW, Billo the processor still has plenty of grease between it and the heat
sink. Thanks for the tip though !

FTP is now set to new drive and router firewall has been DMZed. Everything
should be accessible now. Thanks for your patience !

[billo]

tmp
In the FTP i didnt seem to find the NBK2000 folder. My heart has sunken to an abyss.
Has the folder been remmoved??
Is there anyone who can share Fighting pistol with me?

[Gammaray1981]

NBK had his stuff removed by prior agreement with tmp.

[billo]

Is there anyplace or anyone where i can find the Fighting Pistol .rv set?
I really want to see that set as it is important piece of information for me.
tmp is there anyone else who has the set?

[Bugger]

NBK had his stuff removed by prior agreement with tmp.It now appears, from another thread, that the report of his death at age 37 was premature, and that therefore the removal of his stuff from the FTP was also premature. It must be reinstated as soon as possible. From the other thread, it appears that, as the result of lawful exercise of his rights under the U$ Constitution (particularly the First, Second, and Fourth Amendments), he had to become a political refugee in Canada, where the FBI had him arrested on trumped-up charges with which he has been framed for political purposes, along with a request for extradition back to the U$A.

[Microtek]

I realize this is probably not the correct place to do it, but how do you request access to the FTP? Is it via PM or email maybe? It's just that I've tried those without success for about a week now, but maybe tmp is just very busy?

[BlackFalcoN]

I think the FTP is currently down for a hardware upgrade; tmp probably is unable to create accounts right now.
Keep an eye out for new forum messages, as I believe it should be back fairly soon. :)

[tmp]

For whatever reason, the modem wasn't communicating correctly with the
ISP. I just had to cycle it a couple of times to get it restarted. I suspected
something was amiss when the blue light on the external drive wasn't flashing.
This happens once in a while. Usually when I'm at work. I have work in a
few hours. I'll check it from there to be sure.