rec.autos.simulators

I've got that one beat.  I was working on my machine without
unplugging it.  I've been inside the things so many times over the
years and at work that I take it for granted.  Anyway, I had the HSF
off my Athlon 1.33ghz when I bumped the power button with my knee.
Before the machine even posted there was SMOKE coming off the
processor die.  I immediately held the power button in waiting for the
5-second cutoff.  Yep...deader than doornail in less than 7 seconds.

Them T-birds sure run hot!

Neal

Neal "Headcrash" Shifflett

remove "NOTAT" to replay by email.

"I know you think you understand what you thought I said, but I'm not sure what you heard was what I meant!"

Ouch!  That's when you get that sick feeling in the pit of your stomach and
the words "Oh God No!" fly through your head as you breath the stench of the
electical fire LOL.  Ive done even dummer things but Im too embareased to
post them.  Complacency is the breeding ground for accidents waiting to
happen.

Now that Im poor and can't afford new toys, Im much more carefull though
LOL.

I'm not sure what's worse, the fact that these processors are so fragile, or
that the power buttons on these things are not simple on/off switches
anymore, but rather "software power switches". They oughta have a real
mechanical power switch on these things, otherwise start reaching for the
power cord on the back as soon as possible.

    Yousuf Khan

As others have said, this is what started this whole thread in the first
place. If it were simply a safety feature protecting against dire emergency
situations, then fine, nobody would have an issue with it -- in fact people
would be applauding the approach. But it seems to also be a feature to
advertise higher clock speeds on the P4 than is actually available to it.

Here's the original posting in the thread:

Most newer motherboards let you configure it either way in CMOS most of my
newer machines will let me set to either 4 sec delay / keyboard ON or to
instant OFF.  I still think that CPUs should not be so darn fragil though.
But at least they are cheaper.

Yes, they do allow you to configure between a 4 sec delay and an instant
off, but you'll notice one thing: this is still a software-based feature,
and therefore it doesn't work in during certain sections of the boot
sequence. The instant off feature doesn't take effect until after many
events have already taken place, such as the RAM counter test, etc. You'll
notice that during this time that the power switch is still assuming 4
seconds until it has had a chance to read its settings in CMOS which tell it
that "no, you must power off instantly from this point forward".

So really it's a useless feature. You still need a true mechanical on/off
switch.

    Yousuf Khan

On Mon, 04 Jun 2001 11:56:17 GMT, "Yousuf Khan"

There is one on the better power supplies, but of course that's at the
back of the computer and may not be easy to access.

Actually, I have a true on/off switch on the back of my power supply :o).

Unfortunately, most ATX PSs do not have such a switch and that's a pity.

Oh, damn - that sucks.  But why didn't you unplug the machine?  That would have
saved you the 5 second shutdown...

Eldred
--
Dale Earnhardt, Sr. R.I.P. 1951-2001
Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett
F1 hcp. +24.63...F2 +151.26...

Never argue with an idiot.  He brings you down to his level, then beats you
with experience...
Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

<snip>

Roger that!  I'm in the same boat as you now.  Imagine how it went
when I had to go tell my angelic wife I needed to buy another
processor to replace the one I bought less than two weeks previous.
She just smiled and looked at me like I was retarded.

Neal

Neal "Headcrash" Shifflett

remove "NOTAT" to replay by email.

"I know you think you understand what you thought I said, but I'm not sure what you heard was what I meant!"

Sounds like something a politician would say... :)

Eldred
--
Dale Earnhardt, Sr. R.I.P. 1951-2001
Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett
F1 hcp. +20.90...F2 +151.26...

Never argue with an idiot.  He brings you down to his level, then beats you
with experience...
Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.