• AbsolutelyNotAVelociraptor@sh.itjust.works
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            19 hours ago

            For the primary. It is really useful when your ssd dies (happens more often than you’d think) and you need to keep working because you are operating in a situation where you can’t afford to lose the time that would be required to swap disks opening the laptop. We have at least one spare ssd in my office always ready to be swapped in case of emergency.

            There are also a lot of cool features on them:

            They come with 4 usb ports, 2 ethernet ports + wifi, 1 dvi port, 1 dp, 1 serial port, 1 mpi/profibus port, pcie expansion, dvd unit and bluetooth (which is a given). They also, as per manufacturer warranty, can stand a fall from 1-1.5m without suffering damage.

            • SolarMonkey@slrpnk.net
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              18 hours ago

              If it’s the primary, do you keep those drives with OS pre-installed on them, or is there like… some sort of bios-like built in to hold the ummm… OS image…? And what about the programs and files and stuff? All vpn/network accessed?

              Hopefully you can sort out what that is asking… I know just enough about computers to fix Linux problems… if other people have posted about them… usually… with significant effort.

      • boonhet@lemm.ee
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        15 hours ago

        There was a point where I really wanted a decent laptop with one to run STAR C3. Never bought the laptop nor the kit but never knew if I’ll need it again. I don’t own a Benz anymore but it could literally change on a whim because I do still love them lol

          • Jerkface (any/all)@lemmy.ca
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            15 hours ago

            And how cool would you look carrying your laptop like an attache case, with dongles and wires hanging off it? No thank you. If I need to interface with cold war era serial hardware, this is the way I’m going to do it.

              • Jerkface (any/all)@lemmy.ca
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                1 hour ago

                Yes. Cold war era tech being manufactured today. You do realize there are plows being manufactured today that are intended to be drawn by oxen?

                It was a tongue in cheek comment and you’ve already displayed elsewhere in the thread how much you know about RS232 but you couldn’t let it slide.

              • lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                14 hours ago

                We have brand new machines that use RS232 and RS485. We just did some configurating on one of them last week.

                • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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                  14 hours ago

                  So do some fire panels, come to think of it. They use RS232 for programming, and either RS232 or RS485 for communication between modules.

                  • lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                    12 hours ago

                    Yep. Coincidentally, part of that job involved a fire panel.

                    It falls under the KISS principal - and if it ain’t broke, why fix it?

          • boonhet@lemm.ee
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            15 hours ago

            People have reported those not working very well with STAR / DAS I believe. You can usually buy the kit with a laptop included, I just figured I’d wanna try if it runs on something made less than 23 years ago.