At this very moment, I feel like an achey splosh of sore human. I've been working on a deck for the past three days and I'm glad to say it's done now. Before that I was rebuilding a tablet. Before that I was practicing typing for long stretches and re-learning some hypertext stuff. Before that I reinstalled Windows after a few hours of troubleshooting odd errors...
So I feel like I've had a very busy week, and I feel like I haven't done much of anything. I guess I'm tired.
So I feel like I've had a very busy week, and I feel like I haven't done much of anything. I guess I'm tired.
About porches. I helped my grandfather rip up some boards and flip them over for his porch. He also wanted to add something to the handrails, but he did it himself later and I haven't seen it yet. I never thought a rugged old porch could look so much better underneath!
Within a week, I found myself going out at 7:30 to work on a porch with my dad. His intent was to flip over the boards, much like my grandfather and I did. After he forced up about five boards, he changed his mind. They were truly stubborn and refusing to get up very easily... We wound up sawing through the boards and prying up each piece; which went a bit quicker.
We also replaced all the handrails, and added some carriage bolts to the original support beams, as per building code. Two days later, we were done. Of course, Saturday it rained most of the day... things went soggy and slow.
I like going out with family to do projects. They usually go out to eat when we do. :3
About the tablet.
My step-sister had an [HP TouchPad 32gb], but her dog chewed the charging cable off of it.. Afterward, it didn't get used for months on end. Eventually a replacement cable was purchased, but by then the battery was shot; as-is a common problem with this device. Being, when the battery is completely drained, there's a chance it won't be able to charge up again because of the way the charging circuitry works.
Well, it was given to me for diagnosis,I found a battery for $90, and the tablet was discarded as trash. I recovered it though, and continued to pursue a cheaper fix in my free-time. Eventually, Jacen and I dropped by a local computer repair store, which did a free diagnosis and found a battery for $30. The guys were very helpful and even gave me a kit to help get the tablet open, as well as the place I could find the battery.
Within a week, I had cracked it open and learned the innards of it. With a new battery installed, I faced a new challenge. I was expecting a simple "pop in a new battery and it works." Instead, I got this:
My step-sister had an [HP TouchPad 32gb], but her dog chewed the charging cable off of it.. Afterward, it didn't get used for months on end. Eventually a replacement cable was purchased, but by then the battery was shot; as-is a common problem with this device. Being, when the battery is completely drained, there's a chance it won't be able to charge up again because of the way the charging circuitry works.
Well, it was given to me for diagnosis,I found a battery for $90, and the tablet was discarded as trash. I recovered it though, and continued to pursue a cheaper fix in my free-time. Eventually, Jacen and I dropped by a local computer repair store, which did a free diagnosis and found a battery for $30. The guys were very helpful and even gave me a kit to help get the tablet open, as well as the place I could find the battery.
Within a week, I had cracked it open and learned the innards of it. With a new battery installed, I faced a new challenge. I was expecting a simple "pop in a new battery and it works." Instead, I got this:
When I powered on the device, all I got was this screen. I mean, I was elated that the unit powered on, but I was confused. I did not expect having to format and recreate the memory on the device before I could charge it, or even have it recognized in Windows.
Fortunately, I found a [helpful guide]. In it, I installed a 32-bit distro of Ubuntu Live (which was buggy on my x64 system) and ran some scripts to recreate the software on my tablet. At one point I nearly gave up, due to the continuously unstable nature of the live OS, and one of the commands not working correctly... Until Jacen popped onto Skype and let me vent my troubles to him. He said something useful, and it worked, and my troubles were cast aside. Were it not for him at this crucial step, I would likely have trashed the project and returned the new battery.
So now the system had a new battery, and the software was all reset so it could charge. After I followed the guide to reformat everything, though, I began having second-thoughts about buying that battery... I began wondering if I could have done this to the original battery and made it work.
Bah! I've not done anything else with the old battery. I just stuck it up into storage. Perhaps I could use it when I tear up this new one with use and age. Perhaps it will be all corroded and old by then; who knows. I'm also planning to go around buying old broken TouchPads and fixing them... I could probably use some spare parts to swap out between them. I guess I should start checking E-bay!
Back to the repair story, after a large chunk of my day was spent, I got this welcoming sight:
Fortunately, I found a [helpful guide]. In it, I installed a 32-bit distro of Ubuntu Live (which was buggy on my x64 system) and ran some scripts to recreate the software on my tablet. At one point I nearly gave up, due to the continuously unstable nature of the live OS, and one of the commands not working correctly... Until Jacen popped onto Skype and let me vent my troubles to him. He said something useful, and it worked, and my troubles were cast aside. Were it not for him at this crucial step, I would likely have trashed the project and returned the new battery.
So now the system had a new battery, and the software was all reset so it could charge. After I followed the guide to reformat everything, though, I began having second-thoughts about buying that battery... I began wondering if I could have done this to the original battery and made it work.
Bah! I've not done anything else with the old battery. I just stuck it up into storage. Perhaps I could use it when I tear up this new one with use and age. Perhaps it will be all corroded and old by then; who knows. I'm also planning to go around buying old broken TouchPads and fixing them... I could probably use some spare parts to swap out between them. I guess I should start checking E-bay!
Back to the repair story, after a large chunk of my day was spent, I got this welcoming sight:
Of course, I've now pried the unit open at least three times and damaged some of the clips, and the plastic tools I was given... So part of it bulges upward, keeping the seal out of the case, and rendering it susceptible to foreign particles.... Oh well, I'll just have to clean it and stay off the beach. :3
I have a tablet now. I worked to get it.
:D
I am elated!!
I have a tablet now. I worked to get it.
:D
I am elated!!
After I got all that hardware stuff to work, it was a matter of.. well hours, by me waiting on the battery to charge... Before I was already hacking a non-supported OS onto it!
The tablet, codenamed "Tenderloin", was very persistent. As you can see, it wanted to give me many options to not install a new OS.
The tablet, codenamed "Tenderloin", was very persistent. As you can see, it wanted to give me many options to not install a new OS.
Either way, it works beautifully smooth. I'm well satisfied with my time spent. Now I'm customizing it for my personal use.
About my whole "reinstalling Windows" thing.
Apparently [paint.net] no longer worked on my computer. D:
It was a matter of days before I was down to reinstalling the entire OS just to get it back.
Paint.net is worth it to me.
Apparently [paint.net] no longer worked on my computer. D:
It was a matter of days before I was down to reinstalling the entire OS just to get it back.
Paint.net is worth it to me.
About the typing and coding thing.
I'm not intending to be a coder, I just want to know some code. As such I'm on codecademy.com occasionally to refresh myself on some HTML. I've yet to actually complete a single course, however, but I intend to within the next month. My goal is to understand Java programming. I have at least one friend who is proficient in it, and who can serve as my mentor.
Also, I'm desiring to type properly, quickly, and without looking at the keyboard. So I'm at [freetypinggame.net] for some serious tap-tapping practice.
I'm not intending to be a coder, I just want to know some code. As such I'm on codecademy.com occasionally to refresh myself on some HTML. I've yet to actually complete a single course, however, but I intend to within the next month. My goal is to understand Java programming. I have at least one friend who is proficient in it, and who can serve as my mentor.
Also, I'm desiring to type properly, quickly, and without looking at the keyboard. So I'm at [freetypinggame.net] for some serious tap-tapping practice.
So that's pretty much my week. Mostly. Not all of it.
But I'm tired. And I don't want to talk about anything else. And... *yawn*
-Skylark
But I'm tired. And I don't want to talk about anything else. And... *yawn*
-Skylark