I’ve been thinking back about how I seem to have the worst luck when it comes to hardware. Just some strange happenings with stuff I get or try to work with.

Problematic PC#

 It all started with my main PC build, I was excited to finally get a workstation computer that I could do all my tasks on, from light gaming to heavy coding projects. I’ve been stuck with an old laptop for a while and I was desperate to upgrade. After the CPU finally arrived, I happily slotted it in, and tried to boot it up. Fans turned on, some LED status lights, but the graphics card was silent. Since the CPU didn’t have integrated graphics, the discrete card was a requirement. I worried that the card was dead, it got warm, so it was receiving power, but maybe the PSU was faulty and not delivering enough power. Maybe it was the CPU, maybe the motherboard.

 I tried everything aside from changing CPU and GPU, as I didn’t have any spares. I reset the BIOS manually, I swapped RAM slots, I swapped GPU PCIe slots, and I even tried a different AC cable (obviously changed nothing). I decided that it would be best to take it to a professional, thankfully there was one only about an hour away. They eventually got back to me, only to be as stumped as I was. The PC was assembled correctly and they tested the individual components, no issues found. They suggested that it was probably the motherboard, if everything else seemed fine. I still had a few days left for an RMA, so I went for it, at least I knew.

 However, shortly after I confirmed the RMA, they called back. Apparently, after reassembling the PC with its original components, they decided to try it out one last time, and it just worked. Just like that, all original parts, same configuration as I had it. They had no explanation, but at least I felt vindicated that I wasn’t insane. They gave it back to me without charging anything, since they didn’t do much, technically speaking. So, it was settled at least.

I eventually came to upgrade again, the GPU and RAM, and by extension, the PSU. The old GPU was an AMD FirePro W7100, which I got for a good price, but it wasn’t a good GPU for my needs. It did its job, but it couldn’t game that much, except with Source games, which can run perfectly fine on integrated GPUs. It was an old workstation card, it wasn’t made for gaming, it was made for CAD, but I couldn’t use Blender with it (at least for rendering), it also had lackluster encoders, and pitiful cooling (it got very hot, even on idle), so in the end, it didn’t last very long.

Troublesome ThinkPad#

 At some point, I wanted to try out my hand at Linux-izing a ThinkPad, since that’s what people say to get when getting a cheap Linux laptop. I already had a ThinkPad, but it was rather old, and I already had bad experience with it due to its WiFi card drivers. I did buy a docking station for it, only to find out it was the wrong kind. But, it served as an opportunity, just buy a ThinkPad that went with the dock! And so I did. An old ThinkPad T470, no drive, so no OS to replace. I got a 2.5" SATA SSD for it, but it was apparently an NVMe model, but it can always be upgraded, so I kept the caddy and just used the SATA drive.

 I booted Linux from a flash drive, since it didn’t have an optical drive, I guess it was faster anyway. Everything seemd fine, except that it didn’t have WiFi, just like my other one. I tried to debug it, installing different drivers, loading different kernel modules, trying to see if this was something people encountered before. It wasn’t a proprietary driver that was needed, it should’ve been in the kernel. I must’ve spent a week trying to debug it in various ways. Then, when I was looking at a breakdown of the internals, it struck me. Initially as a joke, but I thought, “what if it just didn’t have a WiFi card at all?”

 I had already taken it apart for the drive installation, so I already knew what to do; I peeled back the flap for the slot and lo and behold, the card was missing indeed. I brought it up to the seller, who refunded me partially. I’m assuming when they got this laptop, they inspected the internals, which presumably involved removing of components. They probably just forgot to put the card back in before shipping it out. It was easy enough to replace with a card sufficiently similar. I also added an LTE card, since the model could have one.

I didn’t have a need for another laptop, so I ended up gifting it. Seems to still be working fine. I never got to setup the fingerprint reader or test if the LTE card worked, at least with Linux, but it otherwise seemed to be fine.

Pangolin Panic#

 I quite like my System76 Pangolin (not sponsored). It’s light, powerful, and while expensive, I think it’s quite reasonable. If you don’t want to hassle with installing Linux on a laptop that might not be fully supported and/or want something powerful for the price, I do recommend something from System76. The Pangolin is mid-range (I think?), at least compared to its kin. My only complaints are the keyboard (although, it’s still a pretty good keyboard for a laptop, in my experience, just not the best) and the lid not opening to a full 180°, which I’ve quickly grown to like since I’ve first used it.

 My issue was thankfully, one-off, but curious nonetheless.

Maybe I’ll talk about my software issues at some point, who knows.