• tombruzzo
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    3 months ago

    I spilt coffee on the kids laptop a while ago and is started having issues, mainly it will disconnect from the wifi and you have to restart to connect again. I spent ages trying to fix drivers and reinstalled Mint but it still happens, so it might be a hardware issue.

    Should I go to some computer guy to get it cleaned out or is it not worth it for a 10 year old laptop intended for a pair of toddlers?

      • tombruzzo
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        3 months ago

        That is a good deal and I have considered it. This laptop has a bit of sentimental value because it looks really nice and I used it through uni and my first jobs. I’ll go down this path if the need to update is more urgent

        • TinyBreak
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          3 months ago

          haha no worries, good luck! I should caution that the comments dump on the model a fair bit. And I’ve no love lost for HP. But I got a Lenovo T480s for about that price ~12 months ago so theres always some sort of deal on.

    • dumblederp
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      3 months ago

      Wifi usb dongle for under $10 at MSY?

      God old ethernet to the router?

      • TinyBreak
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        3 months ago

        God old ethernet to the router?

        Man its 2024, pretty sure that shits against the geneva convention these days. No joke when I suggested it at work as a troubleshooting step I was told off because it was an “OH and S risk”. I rolled my eyes so hard I’m pretty sure it was audible 4 floors above and below.

      • tombruzzo
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        3 months ago

        Dongle could be an option as long as it’s one of those small flat ones like a logitech receiver.

        The laptop is on the other side of the room to the server cabinet and the fewer cables plugged into this laptop the better. I do bring it over to the dining table and plug it into the ethernet for a stable connection when I’m doing troubleshooting.

        No internet at times could be a good thing. It has enough access for updates and downloading new software, then it cuts out so no chance of rogue browsing

    • NathA
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      3 months ago

      I had this issue for ages with Linux. Something about power saving kills the wifi connection. Fedora finally fixed whatever it is. Try booting off a fedora USB and seeing if it goes away.

      • tombruzzo
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        3 months ago

        It does tend to lose connection after it goes to sleep so that could be part of it. I’ll try Fedora if I’m still having problems as well because I’m running it on my laptop and really like it.

        This laptop is so old windows stopped supporting the wifi drivers years ago. I’m lucky it can connect to the internet at all

        • NathA
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          3 months ago

          Yep, the laptop (actually more like a tablet PC with detachable keyboard) I had issues with is a 2015 vintage HP thing with only 2gb RAM. I used the xfce spin.

          It’s no speed demon, but it’s ok for simple stuff.

    • Gibsonisafluffybutt
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      3 months ago

      You could give it a go yourself with some contact cleaner, otherwise you could probably grab a lappie for maybe 100 bucks off marketplace that would suit the purpose.

      • tombruzzo
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        3 months ago

        I think I’ll give this a proper go. This laptop is from the age where you could actually pull them apart and upgrade the RAM so it’s possible to get into the internals a bit.

        I’ll get some good PC cleaner because the spacebar and left SHIFT also stick when you press them, giving no feedback if the computer has registered the input