Victoria Fox's Blog, page 160

Youtuber and repairman is overloaded with RTX 4090s with cracked PCBs

Youtuber and repairman NorthridgeFix has received no fewer than 19 RTX 4090 video cards from a single customer. Almost all GPUs had the problem that the PCB was cracked near the mechanism that attaches the cards to the PCIe slot on the motherboard. This type of damage fits in with a trend that has started due to increasingly larger and heavier GPUs. It is not certain what the reason is for the damage with this specific batch of video cards.

A batch of video cards with so many similar defects is therefore quite rare. It is possible that the user simply did not handle the cards properly, but it is also possible that it is a manufacturing defect. The chance that it happened in transport is not crazy, but what is striking is that all the defective video cards come from Asus, the defective Gigabyte cards from this customer had no cracks in the PCB. This does not mean that the problem lies with Asus, it may be that a system builder did not provide the cards with sufficient support during transport.

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Unfortunately, it is not financially interesting to repair these video cards. It is not completely impossible to fix the 12 to 15 layer PCB, but it takes a lot of time and effort, as NorthridgeFix showed in a video earlier this year. The YouTuber expects that the video cards possibly came from eBay and where the customer wanted to make a profit by having them repaired and then reselling them. Apart from the PCB damage, the video cards seemed to be in good condition. The cards themselves are not completely useless, they can still be used to get parts for other defective cards. Cards with broken PCBs have become more common in recent years as the top models from GPU makers have become increasingly heavier. Last year there was also a design error by Gigabyte that caused cracks in the PCB to occur very often.

Source: Tom’s Hardware

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Review RedMagic 9 Pro. Lightning-fast gamer phone is the first with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

Gamer phone

Whenever a new SoC comes out of Qualcomm’s stable, ZTE (RedMagic) is usually quick to use it in a lightning-fast gaming phone. This is also the case this time; the new chip is built into the RedMagic 9 Pro. This device is not only fast, but also very interesting in other respects. We have taken care of it, but this time in a slightly different environment than you are used to from us. The device is sold via www.redmagic.gg.

The new phone will be available in three versions. As with previous generations, you can choose from a ‘sexy’ transparent and a more standard black or silver variant. If you choose one of the last two, not everyone will immediately notice that you have something special in your hands.

The device is available in three variants.

In the latter case, bystanders cannot immediately see that this is a special device, but if they have sharp ears, they can hear it. Like previous devices in this series, the RedMagic 9 Pro has a fan on board that makes some noise. You can control that fan via an app, so you don’t have to be bothered by it all the time.

The fan should mainly ensure that the RedMagic 9 Pro throttles less when you put it under pressure, for example when playing games. Spoiler alert: the degree of throttling seems to be not too bad with this device. In this context, a ten-layer thick heat sink has also been placed under the screen, with a surface area of no less than 10,182 mm².

You don’t often find an active cooler in mobile phones.

The RedMagic 9 Pro does not compete in the featherweight category. With a weight of 229 grams, it is by no means light. The design is extremely sleek. The back of the device is even completely flat; There is no annoying camera bump like you see on most other phones.

The fan runs at 16,000 rpm and is equipped with RGB.

The device is a real gaming phone. On the corners you will find triggers that allow you to use it like a real handheld. If you are a gamer, this is a very useful addition.

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New 'Nashville' Bluetooth speaker from Klipsch has extra long battery life

Manufacturer Klipsch has announced a new Bluetooth speaker that should deliver relatively high bass for its small size, and should last a very long time on a single battery charge. The manufacturer from Indianapolis states that the bass must sound ‘musical’ and must be able to produce good sound from 55Hz. The battery should allow for up to 24 hours of constant listening pleasure.

The Nashville is equipped with two full-range speakers with a diameter of six centimeters. The built-in amplifier must be able to deliver an RMS power of ten watts per channel. Two rectangular membranes are used to serve as two passive radiators. This should benefit the bass extension, allowing a depth of 55 Hz to be achieved.

The Bluetooth speaker uses the 5.3 standard and can be operated via the Klipsch Connect app. In the app you can find, among other things, an equalizer and this can be linked to up to ten devices. The Nashville speaker also has a microphone that allows users to give voice commands, if that is not possible via the app or the buttons on the device. The speaker is certified for IP67 protection against dust and immersion up to one meter deep. The built-in battery can be fully charged in 90 minutes, so that the speaker can play for another 24 hours. The Klipsch Nashville is available from 179 euros.

Source: FairAudio

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Windows 11 update prevents some students from connecting to university Wi-Fi

The Windows 11 security update KB5033375 released this month is reportedly causing some users in “semi-public” places like universities and businesses to have trouble connecting to the Wi-Fi access point. Most users report that the WiFi connection is suddenly very slow, and in other cases it may no longer be possible to connect at all.

Windows Latest discovered the notifications and saw that several universities have already advised students to undo this update. The site cites US and UK universities, but based on a Reddit thread, universities in the Netherlands and Belgium are also affected. So it seems to be a fairly widespread problem, although the exact cause is still unclear. Windows Latest speculates that it has to do with the operating system’s Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol settings, as the problem appears to occur on Wi-Fi connections that run via this security protocol.

So, in addition to uninstalling the KB5033375 update, switching to the eap-tls protocol may solve the problem. In addition, it is claimed on Reddit that disabling the 802.11r standard (which allows seamless switching from one access point to another) also solves the problem, but this leads to roaming problems. Microsoft has not yet indicated that it is aware of the problem. So it remains to be seen whether a fix will be released.

Sources: Windows Latest, Reddit

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Samsung shows 27" QD-OLED panel with 360Hz refresh rate and 32" model with pixel density record

Samsung Display has announced two new QD OLED panels for gaming monitors; one of 31.5″ and one with a 27″ diagonal. The first has a pixel density of 140ppi, which, according to the manufacturer, has the highest pixel density of all OLED monitors on the market so far. According to Samsung, the pixel density is comparable to that of a 65″-8k television. The company states that a special ‘ultra-precision’ inkjet printing technology has been applied to the QD layer to make this possible.

The smaller model has a peak refresh rate of 360Hz and a response time of 0.03ms. This makes this the first OLED monitor with such a high refresh rate, says the South Korean manufacturer. The company has used its proprietary AI algorithm Quantum Enhancer to achieve this refresh rate. Finally, the larger variant has a 4K resolution, while the 27″ model has 2560×1440 pixels (wqhd).

Samsung wants to start mass production of the 31.5″ panels this month. The intention is to ship monitors that use those panels early next year. The company does not say when the 27″ model will go into production.

The 31.5″ panel with UHD resolution (left), and the 27″ WQHD model

Source: Samsung

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Finetwork will close its new wholesale agreement in January and pre-agrees on the sale of fiber for up to 20 million

Finetwork wants to have closed its new fixed and mobile network wholesale agreement for the period 2024-2028 – which the company has valued at around 700 million euros – between January 15 and 30 of next year, while already It has a preliminary agreement for the sale of around 91,500 accesses of its fiber network located in towns in Levante and Toledo for an amount of between 15 and 20 million euros.

“We, between January 15 and 30 at the latest , and with the ambition of it being before January 15, are going to close a wholesale agreement, whether or not with Vodafone ,” said the CEO of Finetwork.

The company’s strategy involves accessing a mobile network with “quality” 5G technology and also reaching at least between 17 and 20 million fiber homes.

Regarding this agreement, there are several open scenarios due to the changes in the ‘teleco’ sector that have taken place recently and that can cause a series of cascading effects.

One of the most important is Digi’s agreement to be the recipient of the ‘remedies’ of the merger between Orange and MásMóvil and by which the Romanian operator will acquire 60 megahertz (MHz) of radio space from MásMóvil and also an option of wholesale agreement with Orange on advantageous conditions, although all of this is subject to the European Commission approving the merger.

That Digi finally becomes the recipient of the ‘remedies’ poses a threat to Telefónica , given that the Romanian operator has a wholesale contract with the company chaired by José María Álvarez-Pallete valued, according to various analysts, at around 300 million euros. annually and ending in September 2026.

Added to this movement in the sector is the acquisition by Zegona of the Vodafone business in Spain for 5,000 million euros, an operation in which, according to market sources consulted by Europa Press, it is expected that the British fund will take control of the company. operator at the end of March 2024.

In this context, the fact that Finetwork wants to close its new wholesale agreement in January 2024 represents , a priori, an obstacle for the company to renew the contract with Vodafone, despite the fact that, as Vilda maintains, the operator remains its “preferred partner” due to the years of relationship between both companies.

However, Zegona has not yet contacted Finetwork to address the renewal of the contract , Vilda stated, although the president of Zegona, Eamonn O’Hare , explained in an interview with ‘El Mundo’ that this conversation was not It has occurred because the British fund has not yet taken possession of the business.

Furthermore, Vodafone’s fiber network does not completely meet Finetwork’s objectives, given that the operator’s coverage is around 11 million homes (compared to the 17-20 million that Finetwork aspires to), although Vilda has pointed out on several occasions that this obstacle could be overcome with complementary agreements with other companies such as Adamo or Avatel , among others.

“I think that here (in Spain) there are three 5G networks that work properly. One will be that of Orange and Másmóvil, now that it seems that the operation is going to be closed; another is that of Vodafone and another is that of Telefónica. I mean , any of those three 5G networks are fine for us,” Vilda stated.

Thus, another possible scenario is that Telefónica takes advantage of the situation and closes a wholesale agreement with Finetwork to make up for a possible reduction in its income due to the agreement reached by Digi with Orange and MásMóvil.

“We spoke with Telefónica because it is a great company and has an excellent network (…) For us it would be a good option and it meets everything we need ,” said Vilda, who has not gone into assessing the situation of the Digi wholesale contract with Telefónica.

Although all possibilities are open, the manager has insisted that his “priority, for convenience, will always be Vodafone” , although he has warned that “it has to be able” to offer them “everything” they need.

“This agreement will probably mark the future of our company, so we are going to take it very slowly to make the best possible decision (…) If it were necessary to maintain the quality of the network that we want to have in the future, we would leave Vodafone We will not have any kind of consideration,” he added.

Along these lines, he has also pointed out that the company works from a technical point of view in the scenario of having to migrate its clients’ networks.

Regarding the sale of the around 91,500 accesses of the Finetwork fiber network in Levante and Toledo , Vilda has assured that they already have a pre-agreement for an amount of between 15 and 20 million euros.

“We already have a principle of agreement for the sale of these units (…) It has to be finalized in an agreement in the next two or three weeks (…) The range (of the operation) is going to be between 15 and 20 million euros. That is where we have the agreement already closed,” said the manager.

Although he has not revealed the name of the company acquiring these assets due to the confidentiality agreements signed , Vilda has dropped that it is “one of the institutions that participates in the global world in fiber networks.”

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AVM risks sales ban on Fritz!Box routers due to possible infringement of Huawei's WLAN patents

AVM is accused of violating two Huawei WLAN patents with its Fritz!Box routers. The latter therefore filed two lawsuits, one of which was dismissed. The other has been approved and in an initial ruling the Munich court considers a sales ban justified, Heise writes.

This concerns the Wi-Fi 6 technique orthogonal frequency-division multiple access , which allows WLAN channels to send data packets to multiple clients simultaneously. Huawei’s patent concerns an addition to this that ensures that signal fields can be used to determine whether the packet should go through one or more clients, so that packet collisions are prevented.

Because Fritz!Boxes use the latter technology, Huawei argues that AVM should have paid a license. However, the German manufacturer refers to the FRAND law in its defense. In short, this means that companies may temporarily use a patent that is considered essential for the standard, without paying a license, provided that the patent holder (in this case Huawei) does not (or does not conclude in time) the discussions surrounding a licensing agreement. trying to end.

However, the latter is not the case here, the Munich Regional Court states in its first ruling. Huawei has been fully vindicated and all AVM objections have been rejected. If this judgment becomes final, AVM will no longer be allowed to sell its WLAN products with support for the Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 standards, including all top models of the Fritz!Box. Because AVM has appealed against the aforementioned ruling, it is not yet binding.

Source: Heise

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AMD crypto mining card with defective PS5 APU appears on eBay for 500 USD

A BC-250 crypto mining card from AMD has appeared on eBay for 500 USD, VideoCardz discovered. The unique thing about this GPU is that it uses the PlayStation 5 APUs (codenamed Oberon). In 2022, twelve BC-250s were offered in an ASRock mining system for a total price of no less than 13,499 euros, but the card can now also be purchased separately for a much more affordable price.

This does not concern complete Oberon APUs, but versions with non-functional parts, such as some CPU and GPU cores. The card also contains only 8GB of GDDR6 memory, instead of the 16GB in the versions actually used in PlayStation 5 consoles.

Furthermore, the question remains what use such a card is in 2023. In the almost two years since the mining system was released, crypto mining has become a lot less lucrative. This is mainly due to Ethereum’s transition to a proof of stake model, which means it is no longer possible to mine these coins. While each card could yield approximately USD 2 per day in March 2022, it is now closer to USD 0.2 per day. So you won’t get your investment out of it, even though the price per BC-250 is now much lower than last year.

Sources: VideoCardz, eBay

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Microsoft is ending support for Command Prompt 'Legacy Console' mode in Windows

Microsoft is ending support for ‘Legacy Console’ mode in the Windows cmd, according to an update to the list of deprecated Windows features, Neowin discovered. Starting this month, the feature will no longer be updated. In future versions of the operating system, this mode will no longer be available by default, but users will have to manually install it as a Feature on Demand. No reason was given for the termination of the position.

Legacy Console Mode allows users to revert to an older version of the shell (Command Prompt or PowerShell) in case a program does not function properly with the latest version. To do this, users must right-click on the top bar and select ‘Properties’. Under ‘Options’ they can then check ‘Use legacy console’.

This is far from the only feature Microsoft has discontinued in recent times. Wordpad, the Tips app, Cortana’s Windows app, VBScript, peer-to-peer Win32 services, security protocols TLS 1.0 and 1.1 and several other Windows components have also been disconnected this year.

Sources: Microsoft, Neowin

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Telefónica will respond this Monday to the demands of the unions to improve the ERE

Telefónica will predictably communicate this Monday to the unions its response to the demands they have made to significantly improve the latest conditions proposed for the Employment Regulation File (ERE).

Management and worker representatives will hold this Monday the fifth meeting of the ERE negotiating tables in the three subsidiaries affected by the collective dismissal (Telefónica España, Móviles and Soluciones).

According to sources in the negotiation that informed Servimedia, the company will most likely offer improvements with respect to its latest proposal , in which it has already agreed to reduce the number of affected workers by nearly a thousand compared to the initial plan, from the 5,124 that it initially announced to 3,959 . However, unions still find this figure excessive.

In addition, Telefónica will respond to the union demand that the departures are not forced but voluntary and universal, including personnel in critical areas.

Regarding the benefits that would be established in the ERE, the unions demand a “substantial” improvement in the proposed income, Social Security coverage and risk and health insurance.

UGT warned in the statement that if “significant progress” is not achieved this coming week, “it will be difficult to reach an agreement.”

The calendar of one month of negotiations initially sets January 4 as the deadline to reach an agreement.

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