Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with power

Help me find a external drive that doesn't plug in for power

Thrillhouse — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 12:16:42 -0800

Help me find a non-AC-powered external drive. I'm looking for a 750GB or 1TB external drive that is either firewire (preferable) or USB2.0 and somewhere in the $125-150 range AND is of quality. No Maxtor or Iomega.
The kicker is that I do NOT want to have to plug it into AC as well. It must be powered via the USB/Firewire port.
It doesn't have to be small. It's mostly going to be used around the house but I just don't want to have to plug it into AC.

I'm on a Mac.

Thanks!

UPS and battery reference on the large scale

thewalrus — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:04:11 -0800

I would like to learn more about large-scale UPS systems, particularly the battery strings used in traditional RBOC/Telco applications. These are the sort of beasts that use huge strings of 6V 220aH deep cycle batteries, or even large numbers of 2V 400aH batteries on very strong earthquake-resistant shelving wired up to create a 48V mega-battery. Can anyone point me to the most definitive reference materials on the subject?

An easier modem power-cycle?

cgs — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:27:05 -0800

I want to add a power switch to my modem + router so I can easily restart them. Advice? When my connection poops out, I do the following:
1. unplug my cable modem + router
2. wait a bit
3. plug back in the modem
4. pause, then power up router.

And I do all this by squatting down, moving some crap around on my shelf, reaching behind each and pulling out its power source. I'd like to buy something or splice something so that I can flip an easily-reached switch, then flip it back on and it does it all.

Questions:
1. do I need to wait (in step 2)? I've heard I need to wait for the ip address to reset.
2. do I need to pause in step 4? I thought I should wait for the modem to do its thing before turning on the router.

If #2 is "no", then I guess I could just get a powerstrip w/ a switch on it. Any better ideas?

Thanks for your help-
cgs

What am I doing wrong with my PSU?

battlebison — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:36:45 -0800

PSU was missing from computer. Bought a new one, now it gives me one continuous BIOS beep when I turn it on. What have I done wrong and how do I fix this? From what I understand, one continuous beep means it isn't getting enough power. I have a 450W PSU brand new from NewEgg and this computer is fairly old, so I figured it would have been good enough! I forget the specs exactly, but I think it's a single core 3.8 GHz AMD processor and it has a GeForce 7800 GT as its graphics card. Everything else about it is very pedestrian.

There is the usual ATX power slot on the motherboard as well as what looks like a 4-pin slot near it. It looks like this:
[::]
[::::::::::]
There are two 4-pin connectors coming out of the PSU: one attached the main plug and one that just kind of hangs out on its own separate from any other cable. The computer will only get as far as turning on and beeping at me if I have either the main plug in on its own or it and the loose 4-pin plug. It doesn't do anything at all if I use the 4-pin plug attached to the main plug.

Does it matter that the plug coming from the PSU seems to be missing a pin? [:::::::.::]

Help me revive this old computer!

Thanks for reading this ridiculously long explanation of what is probably an easy problem.

I hate being a slave to tv, help me get my DVR back.

NoraCharles — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:10:39 -0800

How do I go about figuring out what is causing my cable (or power) troubles and hopefully fix it? (sorry for the length, I just want to provide as much information about the problem and symptoms in the hope that someone can help me)

I have Comcast with the DVR. I was watching tv one night and the box just turned off. It came back on and showed 8888 and reset all the channel information. I could still get to my DVR and the shows I'd recorded, but when I couldn't get to On Demand later on, I called Comcast and reported error "4" (which is what the screen told me to do.) I told her what happened and she sent a signal, but that didn't help. I unplugged for five minutes, plugged it back in, that didn't help. I have digital cable in the bedroom (with no DVR) and that was working fine, no interruptions, the channel guide was fine.
So we set up a service call because I couldn't get to On Demand and the channel guide wasn't loading, but I could still watch tv.

So later over the weekend, it popped off, flashed to 8888 and reset all the channels and the guide again a few more times. Then sometime Sunday, I lost the ability to access my recorded programs. Then by Monday, I lost all onscreen guides and functions altogether, the only thing I could do was change channels and the volume. The time was frozen at 12:00. I only mention that because in retrospect, it was like it was slowly dying, bit by bit, it wasn't like everything stopped working at once, I don't know if this matters or not.

But like I said, I could still watch all my channels - I didn't know what they were or what was on, but I could watch. I did still occasionally get the power off, 8888 problem.

The Comcast guy finally shows up today and swapped out the box. Everything seemed fine at first. Then it flashed off, came back on with 8888 and all the channels were reset. He told me that the problem must be electrical and not in the cable or with the box because something was interrupting the power and causing it to reset.

We then tried unplugging it from the surge protector and plugging the box directly into the wall, same error. Then we got an extension cord and tried another outlet across the room, same error. He had originally used the old DVR power cord and put in a new one. Same error. He told me the new box could be fried already.

He was also there to install Comcast phone service, so we took a break and did that. When we were done, we tried one last thing with the box- unplugging all the other stuff hooked up to it: a DVD player and a switcher box I had that is hooked up to a dustcovered Playstation and a VCR. All we had was the tv plugged into the box (power cord and cable) and the box plugged into an extension cord to an outlet across the room. IT WORKED!!!! I could get to On Demand and the guide was still loading, but I could see channel call letters, that channel 65 was Comedy Central, etc. He said the guide would take a while to load. I signed the paperwork and he left.

About 10 minutes after he left it happened again.

:sigh: I'm fried.

My landlord is away for the weekend, so I can't call him up and ask about the electrical in the outlet until Sunday night. I've never had problems before and everything else that was plugged into that surge protector still worked fine.

So I have several questions....

-Is it possible the new box is fried and I should just go to Comcast tomorrow and exchange it?
-I really don't want to fry another one of their boxes (if it is) so is there any other way I can figure out what is causing the problem so it doesn't happen again?
-What would my landlord look for to be wrong? Would we have to call an electrician?
-Could it be another piece of equipment that was hooked up to it that is causing the problem? Can anyone recommend a method of testing things out?

Thanks in advance!

Can you swap one apple power adapter attachment for another older one?

ndicecco — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:13:47 -0800

Is it safe to swap the power adapter attachment between an iBook G4 and an intel MacBook? Please bear with me, because I'm not sure of the proper terminology: my girlfriend has an intel-based MacBook (2 or 3 years old - from just after the switch to intel). She was unplugging her power cord and the casing came off the power adapter attachment... I'm referring specifically to the piece that can be swapped out for a longer cable (if this is still unclear, let me know).

I have a seemingly identical piece from my old iBook G4 - both say "2.5A 12.5V-" on the bottom. The piece fits perfectly, but is it safe to use? Will it void her applecare? She's going to call them tomorrow to see if they will replace the piece, but I don't see why they would. She still has the long cable, but she would prefer not to carry around the extra weight.

RIP, Robert Dziekanski

randomstriker — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:38:47 -0800

October 14 will be the 2nd anniversary of Robert Dziekanski's death. I want to peacefully protest at Vancouver International Airport. Are security / police allowed to remove me? My intention is to stand with a stapler in one hand, held high. Preferably with as many people as possible doing the same thing. What will happen when we do, assuming we are completely peaceful and non-violent?

Also, how do I spread the word about this protest as far and wide as possible? I am not much of an internet junkie...MeFi is pretty much the only blog/forum that I participate in (obsessively, at that).

Name that book: super powers from imagining you're sucking on a funny shape?

vytae — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 15:57:29 -0800

Is this a real book? All I remember is that 1 or more characters could activate some kind of special powers or transformational abilities by imagining the shape of a particular object in their mouth. I vaguely remember a story from my youth in which the character(s) could trigger something special by very explicitly imagining how a particular shape would feel in the mouth. My memory is that they would try to vividly conjure the feeling of holding a diamond-shaped, dice-like object in the mouth. If they did it right, they would temporarily have some magical power, or they would change into another form, or something. I've also got this phrase "form the sembler" attached to this particular memory, but I have no idea whether it's really related. I think the characters had to use these powers to fight against something sinister.

I think I would have read this between the ages of 10 and 15, so early 1990s, but I was reading a mixture of youth and grown-up fiction at that point.

Does this sound at all familiar? Google is giving me nothing, probably because I can't think of a concise way to describe imagining the shape of an object in the mouth.

Find the power cord

bravowhiskey — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:21:49 -0800

Does anyone know where to find a power cord replacement for a Technics 1200 mk2 turntable European edition? 220v power cord? My dog chewed through the cable all the way to the base of the plug so I can't reuse it to do even a quick fix.

How to long until we hit 1.21 gigawatts?

advicepig — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 08:03:57 -0800

How can we present instantaneous stats on our energy consumption and generation in a site with a windmill and possibly other forms of energy generation? We have a number of sites where we're going to install windmills, solar, and other green bits. We'd like to have the meters attached to these sites continuously report how much energy they are drawing from the grid, putting on the grid, and how much is being generated by each device.

We were using a meter that I'll choose not to slander here. According to spec, we should be able to get this data, but we found its serial modbus connection to be lacking. Ideally, the equipment on site would be internet connected and not rely on a server at the site, but relay data to a central server under our control.

BitLocker and the battery NomNoms

@homer — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:55:36 -0800

How much will BitLocker eat my battery? I've been using BitLocker on my laptop since Vista came out and continue to use it with the Windows 7 RC. In my experience the drive performance with and without BitLocker is about the same. What I don't know is if power usage is the same. I've read everything I can find about BitLocker and anything related to resource usage talks about disk reads and writes and system speed impact and how little impact there is. I can guess that since there is encryption and decryption that my battery life between charges is shortened. What I'd like to know is by how much. Are there any hard numbers from Microsoft or is there any way for me to calculate the extra load and figure out power usage from that?

What would you do if you had an engineering degree?

MechEng — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 08:55:15 -0800

What would you do if you were a recent engineering graduate? (What companies would you be looking into across Canada?) Suggestions for all branches of engineering are welcome.

A bit of background about myself:
Recent Mechanical Engineering graduate. ( with ~ 2 years of co-op experience). I am interested in almost anything Mechanical Engineering related, from vehicle engineering (aircraft, trains, automotive, etc) , HVAC, to power generation. What would you suggest as companies to apply for within Canada?

Willing to move anywhere for the right Job / experience. (Although Major cities of interest are Ottawa, Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto)

It has also been suggested to go back to school for something business related (seen a bunch of links about mba on ask metafilter)

I understand that mechanical engineering is a wide branch of engineering on it's own, and would like some suggestions as to which direction I should take.

$48 for marriage license; how much for gay couples to get similar protections?

hworth — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:06:22 -0800

We are a gay couple living in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. We would like to get as much protection as we can to make decisions for each other and visit each other in hospitals. I have been calling around to gay and lesbian lawyers in the area, and no one will give me a 'straight' answer about cost. How much is it going to cost us to get a health care directive, durable power of attorney, and medical power of attorney for each of us?

Are we being punked?

Tallguy — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 08:53:37 -0800

In order to fix a malfunctioning printer we have been told to unplug it and hold down the power button for one minute to release static. Are we being punked? My wife is working through the scripted advice generated by HP on addressing an ink jet printer that is not functioning correctly. Most of the steps are to be expected (clean rollers, check paper feeds, etc.) They also ask her to unplug the power and USB cable and hold down the power button for 1 minute to release static. That was the first I ever heard of using that as a fix. When I google it, there are people who recommend it for fixing other electronic devices such as laptops that won't boot (first remove the battery then hold the power button for 1 minute).

Does this actually do anything or is it electronic device voodoo? Where is this static that is supposedly being released and how does holding the power button release it? And since the device is unplugged and is not grounded where is this static going? I am not an electronics expert and I would love to hear from those who are.

Unlock iPhone with busted power button?

obiwanwasabi — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 04:27:43 -0800

Is there any way to jailbreak / unlock a 2G iPhone that has a busted power button? Phone was working fine with 2.something firmware, jailbroken, unlocked, happy days. Today I was greeted with Steve Jobs saying something annoying in Russian, indicating the phone was in recovery mode.

Restored in iTunes figuring I'd just do whatever the latest jailbreak / unlock thing is, only to find that the frigging power button doesn't work so I can't get the phone into DFU mode to unlock it.

I remember an older version of WinPwn (?) would try to put the phone into DFU mode automagically, only prompting you to do the 'hold power + home' thing if it failed. Does anything like this exist for what I assume is now a 3.0 phone?

Question on power inverter.

Cosine — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:12:18 -0800

Electricity Filter: Roadtrip starts tomorrow, picked up a 400w power inverter to run laptop in car for road tunes, question... Picked up an inverter with an integrated power switch to avoid the clumsy and awkward need to dig around in the centre console for the 12v cig lighter plug every time we shut off the car. Made the mistake of reading the manual and noticed "When the power inverter is not in use, unplug it from the 12v outlet to prevent a slight discharge of the battery." Really? Isn't the switch enough? If the switch on the inverter is off and the 12v plug is left in what are the chances of clicky-click-click tomorrow morning when trying to start the car?

Would an adapter work, or do I need a new power supply?

ZaneJ. — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 17:43:35 -0800

Do I need a new power supply with the correct connection, or can I get an adapter and not fry anything? I'm building a new gaming computer for myself. The motherboard is a DP45SG, from Intel. The power supply is this one here. The motherboard's slot to power to the CPU is a 2x2 connection. The power supply doesn't have a 2x2 connection. It has a plethora of connections to power SATA devices, as well as a 12v 2x4 connection. So, do I need to send back the power supply and get a new one, or can I use an adapter such as this? I've also seen adapters that attach to a SATA power connection and have the 2x2 connection.

This is my first computer I've constructed by myself without friends cohorts lending a significant hand. Any assistance would be grand.

I need power tools to rebuild my house

dness2 — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:02:10 -0800

It's time to buy proper power tools and quit borrowing from the neighbors. I would like some recommendations on what has worked well for other people. I have the small items, but I need a good drill and a good circular saw. I strongly prefer cordless tools if available and up to the task, and of course want to buy into only one battery family. Given that I do some respectable renovation projects, will I be happy with an 18V system? Do you have any recommendations on the brand? I also need a compound miter saw (time to do the trim work), does anyone have a tool they love in that department? I realize this is all going to cost a few hundred - I'm looking for quality first, then budget. What tools will the neighbors want to borrow from me?

Calculate daily KW usage?

matholio — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 22:35:26 -0800

If I know my current power usage, how do I calculate my daily kw? I'm monitoring my power and have a CurrentCost device providing current KW usage.

I'll sample the usage every minute, and store it in a db, but how do I calculate my totaly daily usage?

Use the average kw per hour and add them up for the day?

(this feels like a question with an obvious answer and I'm just not getting it today)

How to provide power to a dozen (or more!) home computers?

skyscraper — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 10:21:48 -0800

My sister and brother-in-law have a large (12) and growing number of desktop boxes at home. They're rightly concerned that they're putting a strain on the electrical circuits they're using. What should they be asking an electrician to do to set them up correctly? No problems with networking or internet service here, just power. It sounds from her description (note that I'm in Seattle and they're in Chicago) that the main electrical panel is relatively new and sized appropriately. The computers are in a finished basement room.

They're not sure what to ask for & would like to be somewhat informed before talking to an electrician. With this level of power demand (with some room for growth) would they be okay with new dedicated circuits run form the main panel, a new subpanel in the basement with dedicated circuits, might they need a new main panel, or what?

Cost is not a primary issue - this will be a business expense.

Secondary question: any recommendations for an electrician to handle this type of thing in suburban Chicago (Glen Ellyn)?

Tertiary question: They're using their computers for raw computational power, nothing internet-related. If I was hip & in the know, what would I call the individual computer? I suspect "server box" is not appropriate.

Extra RAM destroys my PSU!

edbyford — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 08:31:32 -0800

I installed new RAM, and blew my power supply. Now, after installing a better power supply, the same symptoms which led to the broken power supply are happening again. What is going on? I recently ordered a pair of these to upgrade my computer from 2GB RAM to 6GB, after installing Windows 7 64-bit. This is what Crucial told me is compatible with my Intel DG965RY motherboard.

After turning the computer back on, I noticed that Windows hung on startup. I shut it down and ran Memtest86+, but that ran very slowly (although didn't show any errors).

I then restarted, and after a couple of beeps from the mobo, the computer wouldn't turn on. SO I ordered a new, more powerful PSU.
For comparison, the model I had originally was this one. It is 430W and has a max current on 22A across the +3.3V rail (I think this is important if you want to add more RAM, right?)

The one I have now is this one. This is 600W and has 35A across the +3.3V rail.

Just to be safe, I sent the RAM back and bought exactly the same type again. I installed it, and then ran both Memtest86+ and Windows Memory Diagnostic before attempting to boot Windows. They both showed no errors. When I then tried to boot Windows my computer froze! Scared of blowing my PSU again, I shut it down and removed the RAM. It now seems to work fine.

What can I do? Surely my power supply is more than adequate for some RAM?

Thanks in advance

My printer won't turn on after leaving it unplugged for 2 weeks. Why, and how can I fix it?

Beep — Mon, 25 May 2009 16:59:06 -0800

My printer, an HP PSC 1410 All-in-One, will not turn on after leaving it unplugged for two weeks (I was out of town and always unplug everything to save on electrical costs). It's connected through a power module, and I have tried unplugging the power cord from the power module and the power module from the printer, and reconnecting them all again. I have tried different outlets, and it will simply not turn on. I have also tried disconnecting the USB cable that runs from the printer to the computer, just in case it was interfering in some way. Does anyone know how this could have happened, and what I can do to fix it?

How much power can an HP9000E provide?

trokair — Wed, 20 May 2009 13:26:28 -0800

[ElectricalGeneratorFilter] Does anyone have a spec sheet for an HP9000E generator? The site my fiancee and I have picked out for our wedding has an HP9000E generator on hand, but nobody there seems to be able to give me any concrete specs on how much power it provides. Our DJ and caterer both need to know the specs on such a generator.

Electrically-inclined MeFiers, lend me your aid!

iBook shuts down when I don't want it to!

rossination — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:02:31 -0800

Is my aging iBook about to die? (power management problems inside?) Whenever I put my iBook (4 years old) to sleep and/or close the lid, it shuts off completely. Google suggested a PMU reset, which I did (I think -- although I guess I have no way of verifying that I did this correctly), and I still have the problem. I replaced the battery about 4 months ago with a 3rd party battery -- could this be part of the problem?

What does this mean? Is this thing about to die? Is there anything I can do to pull another year or 2 out of it, other than backing up religiously?

Lighting up a Salt Lamp without electricity?

GJSchaller — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 19:41:52 -0800

Looking to power (light) a Himalayan Salt Lamp for about 48 hours, without using an outlet. My friends and I play in a Live RPG, where we will set up in a campsite that does not always have electricity available. One of the decorations we'd like to use are Himalayan Salt Lamps in various forms - some as lighting, some as props.

I have several lamps that run off a standard Nightlight Bulb, and have a power cord to plug into an outlet, but I don't have a power source. Ideally, they should be able to run for 48 hours straight, although 24 hours would be OK (Only at night, or when in use). The cord has a snap mechanism to hold it into the lamp, so if I were to use a different power source, I'd need to replace the holding mechanism or find a new one.

I was thinking a computer UPS, but I don't know the power usage / metrics to figure out the one I need to last that long. It would be one lamp per battery / location.