I Bought An Old Computer For 10$!!

Catnip · Sep 11, 2023

Lance1 said:
I have Win 10 Pro 32 bit on it now but still toying with Linux distros in VM.

I have been fiddling with Zorin for the past while on a VM. I like it as it looks a lot like Windows and is pretty easy to use for a Linux hater like me. I'm going to be setting up a second Zorin based machine with a KVM for work at home.

One thing about it is that it is not resource heavy, or at least doesn't seem to be. I have tested it on an old AMD Athlon X2 6000+ and it ran, amazingly enough.

bfunke · Sep 11, 2023

Our county e-recycling is first Saturday AM every month. Years ago if I saw a good machine they would let me take it. Now they don’t allow that supposedly for privacy concerns what may be on the HDD. Recently I replaced an AMD Laptop with Win10 and Office2021. It worked great but had a crack in the case. Could not find a home for it so I gave it to the Salvation Army thrift store who accepted it.

bfunke · Sep 11, 2023

Catnip said:
I have been fiddling with Zorin for the past while on a VM. I like it as it looks a lot like Windows and is pretty easy to use for a Linux hater like me. I'm going to be setting up a second Zorin based machine with a KVM for work at home.

One thing about it is that it is not resource heavy, or at least doesn't seem to be. I have tested it on an old AMD Athlon X2 6000+ and it ran, amazingly enough.

You should look at EndeavorOS

Scannerman · Sep 11, 2023

retiredat44 said:
i wouldn't even put linux on that.. need a bit more power... ddr3 and a 3ghz cpu, etc... ddr2 is just way too old for new stuff. IMHO. You can use the case...

Naw, Linux Mint runs on DDR2 just fine for standard stuff. I've also a Dell Inspiron 530 that runs Win 10 32 bit just fine on DDR2. Definitely not a gaming rig but it's great for e-mail and text files etc. I can even watch videos on it. I'd take that machine over a Chrome Book any day of the week. It might not be the sharpest tool in the shed but it still has its uses.

TechnoMage2021 · Sep 12, 2023

Too many numbers, give me hives! My only question with an OLD PC of any style is, "Does it run?" If the answer is YES, then it's something I can work with. If it has a real 64 bit cpu, I'll try Windows 11 (fully Rufusized) on it. And if it's 32 bit only, it gets Windows 10/Pro/32, (again, fully Rufusized) Then it gets my patented (not) PC Tune-Up, which can greatly improve how any PC runs.

When I get done with a "Hand me down" or some dumpster food, more often than not, I've got a good running little PC. In fact, I've got a house full of them. Out of 12 PC's/Laptops, two I built myself, and one (Netbook) I bought, the rest are all foundlings.

I have one real problem with giving away a PC. Then I'm expected to maintain it, teach someone how to use it, etc. etc, etc.
So I just keep what people give to me. Sorry about that!

TM

Scannerman · Sep 13, 2023

TechnoMage2021 said:
Too many numbers, give me hives! My only question with an OLD PC of any style is, "Does it run?" If the answer is YES, then it's something I can work with. If it has a real 64 bit cpu, I'll try Windows 11 (fully Rufusized) on it. And if it's 32 bit only, it gets Windows 10/Pro/32, (again, fully Rufusized) Then it gets my patented (not) PC Tune-Up, which can greatly improve how any PC runs.

When I get done with a "Hand me down" or some dumpster food, more often than not, I've got a good running little PC. In fact, I've got a house full of them. Out of 12 PC's/Laptops, two I built myself, and one (Netbook) I bought, the rest are all foundlings.

I have one real problem with giving away a PC. Then I'm expected to maintain it, teach someone how to use it, etc. etc, etc.
So I just keep what people give to me. Sorry about that!

TM

Bah! You old hoarder, you! C'mon... Give it away. You know you'll only get more if you do. Besides, you got it all wrong. . . You don't keep servicing the stuff you give away. No, no, no. You make them figure it out, you pass on the trade, show them the tricks and share the magic like a good Wizard. lol :winkt:

jimbo45 · Sep 13, 2023

Hi there

I did even better -- Got an old HP microserver Proliant Gen 8 16 GB RAM with 4 bay disk and DVD with dual XEON fitted -- I changed the old DVD for an SSD via power converter (molex cables) and added a half height GPU. It's got two LAN slots and internal video but I use the GPU as it's got sound via HDMI.

The thing cost me zilch - an office was chuckingit out and said I could have it if I could take it home

Worked as a reliable NAS server for about 7 years now !!! running Arch Linux and a few W11 VMs.

The only thing was one couldn't boot from the DVD port unless you used the hideous HP hardware RAID system so I switched to standard AHCI and installed the boot loader on an internal micro SD card. I don't boot the thing up very often so the micro sd card is robust enough for a small Linux /boot partition.

Populated the 4 bay disk with my own HDDs (around 28 TB storage - and its just fine. It sits up in a closet and runs headless most of the time - when I need to access it I just SSH to it.

For a home NAS server you don't need anything mega fast !! and being a server it is designed to run 24/7 too unlike a load of domestic consumer computers.

cheers
jimbo

cheers
jimbo

pparks1 · Sep 13, 2023

jimbo45 said:
Hi there

I did even better -- Got an old HP microserver Proliant Gen 8 16 GB RAM with 4 bay disk and DVD with dual XEON fitted -- I changed the old DVD for an SSD via power converter (molex cables) and added a half height GPU. It's got two LAN slots and internal video but I use the GPU as it's got sound via HDMI.

The problem I have with old server equipment is
1). It's big
2). it's noisy
3). It usually gives off plenty of heat
4). It has a sizeable impact on your electricity bill.

TechnoMage2021 · Sep 13, 2023

Since retiring from the 'Business', PC's are just my hobby now. The older, the better. I love taking an OLD pc or laptop and making it run better than the day if came off of the assembly line. It's what I do!!!

Years ago, I did a total refurbishment on this old PC, with custom paint job on the old front panel.
It had loads of space inside for full sized motherboard, and many HD's. Visible is the DVD drive, MultiCard reader and a floppy disk drive, and two front panel USB ports. I finally sold this PC to an old customer who needed a cheap replacement PC.
Last I knew, it's still running.

TM

Scannerman · Sep 14, 2023

pparks1 said:
The problem I have with old server equipment is
1). It's big
2). it's noisy
3). It usually gives off plenty of heat
4). It has a sizeable impact on your electricity bill.

I liken it to eating watermelon. One simply spits out the seeds.

1. Big isn't necessarily a bad thing. Bigger is often better. Easier to work with, easier to see inside, easier to access. Greater capacity to install other hardware. Better air flow. I could go on.

2. Spit out the seeds. Change the fans. There's no getting around it. Those old server fans are loud, but do you really need them? A: Usually no. At least not in a home conversion job. Few home servers are running commercial scale systems with a 100 SAS drives but not all old server hardware is noisy. We're in an age where now SATA SSDs are considered "old school" and SSDs are not nearly loud.

3. Again, not always. It really depends on what is being used and how much. Even those loud fans can generate heat of their own and they eat a lot of electricity. Converting my basement into a computer room definitely helps with my heating bill — especially during winter months so there is some benefit that way. One thing I definitely agree on is those fans. Chuck 'em or put them to a better use. They're not needed for a home server.

4. With standard SATA SSDs becoming "old school" hardware, impact on the electricity bill should be negligible. Even with a standard home server, using say 20 standard drives, the impact on one's power bill isn't astronomical. Mind, I tossed a number of modern "conveniences" like electric can openers, all my televisions, old microwaves, fridges, washing machines etc. out of my home and run with energy saving appliances so I'm biased.

Still, with what Jimbo did here, running 4 ports over 24TB of storage, in an old server unit is commendable. * Salutes Jimbo45 * I'm thinking that the bill for power would be reasonable in this case (no pun intended) and would even be diminished more as those drives are replaced with SSDs over time. Jimbo has more flexibility with this than most modern day NAS systems and he saved another device from e-waste.

pparks1 · Sep 14, 2023

Many commercial servers don't have after market low noise fan options. And some systems won't post without the required number of fans the manufacturer specified for the hardware in the box. These fans are designed to maximize air flow and cooling, not necessarily to provide low noise.

While hard drives do have higher power draws than SSD, it's typically the Xeon Processors in the box that are consuming the lions share of the power.

Nothing wrong with what was done here, i commend him too on his setup. It's just outside of the realm of what i need anymore. But admittedly, i don't have a bunch of data, media, etc.....that i am storing. Work burns me out these days, so I tinker a lot less at home these days than i used to.

Scannerman · Sep 14, 2023

pparks1 said:
Many commercial servers don't have after market low noise fan options. And some systems won't post without the required number of fans the manufacturer specified for the hardware in the box. These fans are designed to maximize air flow and cooling, not necessarily to provide low noise.

While hard drives do have higher power draws than SSD, it's typically the Xeon Processors in the box that are consuming the lions share of the power.

Nothing wrong with what was done here, i commend him too on his setup. It's just outside of the realm of what i need anymore. But admittedly, i don't have a bunch of data, media, etc.....that i am storing. Work burns me out these days, so I tinker a lot less at home these days than i used to.

You got me there. Sifting through these TBs of data, what family pix to keep, what videos, where to put them, how to extract them from RAW files etc. is a real headache. How does one eat an elephant? A: One byte at a time. It's a good thing I'm more patient than other people or I would have lost it by now. Chilling a Xeon isn't too hard and I rather doubt the chip would run hotter than my 6900K. I'm currently running 33 hard drives inside this beast.

Winuser · Sep 14, 2023

Scannerman said:
Converting my basement into a computer room definitely helps with my heating bill — especially during winter months so there is some benefit that way.

I have to ask. How hot does it get and have you ever used it to cook dinner?

Scannerman · Sep 15, 2023

To be honest it has been a while since I took a reading, but it never thermal throttles and CPU temps are in the 40's. Still with all the PCs we run in the computer room the room temperature does go up a couple of degrees compared to upstairs. No joke. I recently installed another hard drive enclosure inside but I have a large fan in front of the sledded drives that pushes air through those and yet another fan following after that blasts air through the enclosure, sort of positioned the way the fans are placed in a Noctua NHD15, shot gun style. I tested the enclosure without a fan and that metal enclosure absorbed heat real fast. It got so hot I couldn't keep my hand on it. Inside the case with the fans running I can keep my hand on the enclosure indefinitely. The case also has a huge intake fan on the side door that allows me to direct the air flow directly to the HBA cards and the video card. In addition to this there is another huge exhaust fan on top of the case that helps with circulation. These are not standard sized PC fans. They are huge, 200 mm fans and the case employs three of them; because they're large they can run at low R.P.M. and will still move large volumes of air, making them both quiet and efficient at the same time. I get the benefits of a server without the noisy server fans. :wink:

jimbo45 · Sep 15, 2023

pparks1 said:
The problem I have with old server equipment is
1). It's big
2). it's noisy
3). It usually gives off plenty of heat
4). It has a sizeable impact on your electricity bill.

The one I got :
Microserver so its tiny - just a bit bigger than a 4 bay external disk enclosure !!!
Not noisy at all
Heat is manageable -- 2 X XEON processors do use more power than modern CPU's

Power costs here minimal -- unlimited geothermal and hydro electricity -- no need for mega amounts of Russian / Norwegian gas imports or Qatar LPG stuff. !!!

Servers are excellent if you want things running headless 24/7 - they are built for continuous operation, and if you can store them away from your work bench. Robust for Internet gateways, Proxy servers, web site admin, system / data backup, Virtual desktop infrastructure provisioning, media and file serving etc etc. as you probably know only too well. Visitors to my place go through my own proxy server on the Linux NAS for Internet access so I've no concern or worries if any pirated content is downloaded or accessed or other nasty malware etc.

I now only do 2 - 3 days a week on gigs so I've more time to mess around -- haven't got the energy these days or the inclination to work 5 days a week in places where some managers are young enough to be your grand kids and think they have 3,000 years experience !!!!.

cheers
jimbo

Scannerman · Sep 15, 2023

Iceland! You people absolutely rock! Strong, independent, freedom loving individuals with enough backbone and intestinal fortitude to tell the IMF and World Bank where to stuff it. I salute you! Canada has much to learn from your example.

jimbo45 · Sep 15, 2023

Scannerman said:
I liken it to eating watermelon. One simply spits out the seeds.

1. Big isn't necessarily a bad thing. Bigger is often better. Easier to work with, easier to see inside, easier to access. Greater capacity to install other hardware. Better air flow. I could go on.

2. Spit out the seeds. Change the fans. There's no getting around it. Those old server fans are loud, but do you really need them? A: Usually no. At least not in a home conversion job. Few home servers are running commercial scale systems with a 100 SAS drives but not all old server hardware is noisy. We're in an age where now SATA SSDs are considered "old school" and SSDs are not nearly loud.

3. Again, not always. It really depends on what is being used and how much. Even those loud fans can generate heat of their own and they eat a lot of electricity. Converting my basement into a computer room definitely helps with my heating bill — especially during winter months so there is some benefit that way. One thing I definitely agree on is those fans. Chuck 'em or put them to a better use. They're not needed for a home server.

4. With standard SATA SSDs becoming "old school" hardware, impact on the electricity bill should be negligible. Even with a standard home server, using say 20 standard drives, the impact on one's power bill isn't astronomical. Mind, I tossed a number of modern "conveniences" like electric can openers, all my televisions, old microwaves, fridges, washing machines etc. out of my home and run with energy saving appliances so I'm biased.

Still, with what Jimbo did here, running 4 ports over 24TB of storage, in an old server unit is commendable. * Salutes Jimbo45 * I'm thinking that the bill for power would be reasonable in this case (no pun intended) and would even be diminished more as those drives are replaced with SSDs over time. Jimbo has more flexibility with this than most modern day NAS systems and he saved another device from e-waste.

Hi there

I've rescued a few more from the local tip and offices -- it's actually fun to get these up and running probably better than they were when in commercial use. Because a load of data centres cloud infrastructure and server farms are here (cheap energy and 30 year contracts) many are upgrading equipment so there's always opportunities for "pickings from the table".

I now run a load of Windows 11 and 10 as well as Linux Virtual desktops" where I sometimes give courses in a local college on installing windows / Linux and using office etc. They can remotely logon to the VDI -- and so long as the class is limited to around 5 or 6 students each one gets their own VM to mess around with (the power of Ms's vhdx system !!!). I'm too old now to want to expand this any more - 5 or 6 students is fine.

I have now 5 servers of various types, probably around 150TB of "classical disk space" and 3 laptops as well as of course the 2 I have for work- 1 in use and 1 for backup if one gets lost / stolen / broken etc. Sometimes what I see is at larger airports is horrendous - watch out particularly at these airports --Rome, Barcelona, Gatwick (UK), any airport in Greece. Heathrow (UK) is surprisingly OK though --apart from dreadful queues and so is Amsterdam. Not sure these days what US airports are like with laptops.

@Scannerman

Canada has a load of good things about it too !!!

cheers
jimbo

Scannerman · Sep 15, 2023

jimbo45 said:
Hi there

I've rescued a few more from the local tip and offices -- it's actually fun to get these up and running probably better than they were when in commercial use. Because a load of data centres cloud infrastructure and server farms are here (cheap energy and 30 year contracts) many are upgrading equipment so there's always opportunities for "pickings from the table".

I now run a load of Windows 11 and 10 as well as Linux Virtual desktops" where I sometimes give courses in a local college on installing windows / Linux and using office etc. They can remotely logon to the VDI -- and so long as the class is limited to around 5 or 6 students each one gets their own VM to mess around with (the power of Ms's vhdx system !!!). I'm too old now to want to expand this any more - 5 or 6 students is fine.

I have now 5 servers of various types, probably around 150TB of "classical disk space" and 3 laptops as well as of course the 2 I have work work - 1 in use and 1 for backup if one gets lost / stolen / broken etc. Sometimes what I see is at larger airports is horrendous - watch out particularly at these airports --Rome, Barcelona, Gatwick (UK), any airport in Greece. Heathrow (UK) is surprisingly OK though --apart from dreadful queues and so is Amsterdam. Not sure these days what US airports are like with laptops.

@Scannerman

Canada has a load of good things about it too !!!

cheers
jimbo

I'm a first generation Canuck, a Baby Boomer of the Joneser Generation. I love my Country but if I were forced to leave, Iceland would be my first pick if they would have me. Iceland is so diverse in peoples, in culture, in geography, science, and industry. Even politically, they are a force to be reckoned with because their government represents a strong and industrious nation that values freedom and autonomy.

I'm in my mid 60's now and my health isn't what it used to be. I don't frequent airports anymore and I'm not up to travelling like I did when I was a younger man. I've been as far north as Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk and as far south as Houston, Texas, just off the Gulf of Mexico. I didn't get to see the Gulf because of Hurricane Katrina. My visit to Louisiana was like living in a sauna: So hot, so humid! And that was in April! When I left Calgary the flight was nearly cancelled due to snow flurries and when I stepped off the plane in Texas in my wool three-piece suit the 88° F temperature nearly made me black out. lol

I think it's great that you're running a modest server and helping others with Linux as well. Perhaps one day when I get this mess sorted out I'll be able to put Linux back on my work station again. It seems every time I install a new version of Windows it always kills my Linux drive despite being completely isolated to a separate hard drive and boot drive. Aaah well, one project at a time.

jimbo45 · Sep 15, 2023

Scannerman said:
I'm a first generation Canuck, a Baby Boomer of the Joneser Generation. I love my Country but if I were forced to leave, Iceland would be my first pick if they would have me. Iceland is so diverse in peoples, in culture, in geography, science, and industry. Even politically, they are a force to be reckoned with because their government represents a strong and industrious nation that values freedom and autonomy.

I'm in my mid 60's now and my health isn't what it used to be. I don't frequent airports anymore and I'm not up to travelling like I did when I was a younger man. I've been as far north as Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk and as far south as Houston, Texas, just off the Gulf of Mexico. I didn't get to see the Gulf because of Hurricane Katrina. My visit to Louisiana was like living in a sauna: So hot, so humid! And that was in April! When I left Calgary the flight was nearly cancelled due to snow flurries and when I stepped off the plane in Texas in my wool three-piece suit the 88° F temperature nearly made me black out. lol

I think it's great that you're running a modest server and helping others with Linux as well. Perhaps one day when I get this mess sorted out I'll be able to put Linux back on my work station again. It seems every time I install a new version of Windows it always kills my Linux drive despite being completely isolated to a separate hard drive and boot drive. Aaah well, one project at a time.

Install Windows first, then Linux - and at the "Install boot loader bit" on most Linux distros enable "OS-Prober" --this will then add GRUB to the windows boot manager so on the windows boot menu (The windows one not the computers firmware menu) and then in choose operating system scroll to "Use a device" and you should see GRUB on the boot menu and you can boot Linux.

It gets a bit confusing though because if you boot GRUB (from the computers firmware menu) Grub willl have the option on it of booting Windows so you can go round in an endless boot chain !!!!

As Ms uses and is supporting Rocky Linux (fomerly based on CENTOS before CENTOS became a rolling release but now based on RHEL's enterprise server system) Windows and Linux co-operate better with each other and hopefully for those using the WSL subsystem on Windows that will improve such as making it easier to access a full LINUX GUI desktop -- it's do-able bit you have to use a load of tricks. You can often though use individual GUI linux apps though on WSL. For myself I prefer the flexibility of full blown VM's - especially on modern hardware but WSL is good if you don't want to mess around with those.

cheers
jimbo

cheers
jimbo

Berton · Sep 15, 2023

jimbo45 said:
I now only do 2 - 3 days a week on gigs so I've more time to mess around -- haven't got the energy these days or the inclination to work 5 days a week in places where some managers are young enough to be your grand kids and think they have 3,000 years experience !!!!.

I can sympathize with that, reading some of the articles that appear on the Widgets shows that 'youth' attitude to be prevalent in business now. I also don't have as much business in the last couple years. I attribute some of the situation to the problems, with any tech, if a product has issues and I fix it to where I would want to use it the client will want to use it but the downside is if I do fix it that good they don't have to call me back.