Little Guys 5: Three Of Them [MediaSite / NCR N3000]

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  • čas přidán 22. 07. 2024
  • It took three computers to fix one that wasn't broken.
    Support me on Patreon: / cathoderaydude
    Tip me: ko-fi.com/cathoderaydude
    00:00 Intro
    00:36 Mediasite overview
    08:04 Mediasite innards
    12:25 Crappy mini-ITX machine
    16:21 Troubleshooting the Mediasite
    19:16 Mediasite disassembly & analysis
    25:29 NCR N3000 disassembly & analysis
    35:05 Firing up NCR N3000
    41:26 Fixing the Mediasite
    44:02 Firing up Mediasite
    44:22 INVADED BY DARK SPIRIT
    44:56 Testing capture cards & software
    47:42 Conclusion / Outro
  • Věda a technologie

Komentáře • 569

  • @daemonspudguy
    @daemonspudguy Před 2 měsíci +553

    Needing 3 computers to fix one that isn't actually broken is a Certified Cathode Ray Dude Moment™.

    • @lucyinchat
      @lucyinchat Před 2 měsíci +4

      Correct Spud

    • @BrunodeSouzaLino
      @BrunodeSouzaLino Před 2 měsíci +19

      Hey at least it isn't a "I found a near mint 5K iMac in the trash" type of video.

    • @Fay7666
      @Fay7666 Před 2 měsíci +7

      I'm facing a similar situation: as-is X299, turns out it goes through the whole boot sequence (in the 7-segment readout) just fine but still doesn't show image. And I'm figuring out it has an IPMI that I can't find the access to, and a VGA port that I don't have the header for.

  • @Codename_Thumblesteen
    @Codename_Thumblesteen Před 2 měsíci +52

    "Soba you are not ESD safe"
    Sickest own of the century. Absolutely ROASTED. Way outta pocket.

  • @netsurferx1
    @netsurferx1 Před 2 měsíci +113

    Quite the healthy engine on Soba, I must say.

    • @bluewombat
      @bluewombat Před 2 měsíci +4

      Who cammed that cat? 🤣💀

  • @maxpower9708
    @maxpower9708 Před 2 měsíci +206

    Oh, the hidden functionality. I remember how we bought a phone for my dad many a year ago. The data sheet said that it didn't have a micro sd slot, but when I opened it to install the mini-SIM card -- there it was, a micro sd slot. It worked and the phone detected it and could use it.

    • @der.Schtefan
      @der.Schtefan Před 2 měsíci +9

      This is not the slot you're looking for!

    • @kintustis
      @kintustis Před 2 měsíci +1

      What phone?

    • @Fay7666
      @Fay7666 Před 2 měsíci +34

      ​@@kintustis their dad's

    • @kintustis
      @kintustis Před 2 měsíci +2

      @@Fay7666 lol but what model?

    • @Wyatt_James
      @Wyatt_James Před 2 měsíci +30

      I have an old action replay DSi, without an SD slot. After it bricked itself years ago, I eventually found a cable at Goodwill, and summarily unbricked it. I also found out about the version with a micro SD slot online. I cracked mine open and, sure enough, the pads were there. I cut up a laptop motherboard to harvest its full-size SD slot, soldered it on with some miserable kynar wire, flashed the SD version's firmware, and presto! It works perfectly.

  • @kriskehrer6410
    @kriskehrer6410 Před 2 měsíci +32

    The minor-key rework of the "Lets ask the Internet" theme for the appearance of Soba is absolutely great!
    Yes, I am a music nerd.

    • @Toonrick12
      @Toonrick12 Před 2 měsíci +5

      Oh, so THAT'S what the tune is. Clever.

  • @BlackravenX9
    @BlackravenX9 Před 2 měsíci +22

    It brightens my day when one of Gravis' cats interrupts a video. My favorite little guys.

    • @catfish552
      @catfish552 Před 2 měsíci +4

      So fluffy, so beautiful ❤
      I love creator pets, they're always a delight when they make a surprise appearance in videos or streams.

  • @elektrokinesis4150
    @elektrokinesis4150 Před 2 měsíci +23

    funny realization that NCR seemingly could easily make a better silent HTPC than Niveus Media

  • @AnonymousFreakYT
    @AnonymousFreakYT Před 2 měsíci +104

    I worked at Intel when that generation of board was being developed. I don't recall ever working directly with this model, but definitely with some of its siblings. Intel reused the basic "block" for many boards, which is why you'll often see reference to multiple different boards as being the same. Because they often are. Either physically identical circuit board with a different chipset (H77 instead of Q77 maybe,) or different on-board features (only one NIC, no mPCIe, "full height" mITX, mATX, etc. In fact, on many of Intel's later "full ATX" motherboards, you can _clearly_ see that it's just a Micro ATX board with some extra PCB with a couple extra PCI/PCIe slots. Some even have literal "perforations" that allow you to physically snap off the "extra past mATX" bit!) I still have a pre-production DQ67SW board with an engineering sample Core i7-2600S in a low-profile chassis as a "spare gaming machine". (with Radeon R5 240 that I should probably upgrade, IIRC.)

    • @CathodeRayDude
      @CathodeRayDude  Před 2 měsíci +28

      This is fascinating, thank you!

    • @MOS6582
      @MOS6582 Před 2 měsíci +12

      @@CathodeRayDudeHi Gravis and to OP, many apologies to spam your comment but for laziness and dumb app reasons this is how I’ll tell Gravis that the RL220 mediasite variant has a very very good Datapath capture card with full RGB digital capture up to 4K30/1080p60, no chroma subsampling nonsense as with Avermedia. And some of the earlier 2RU and suitcase style mediasites have analog/DVI Datapath cards, also awesome quality 1200p60 and above (160hz? something high) and both can be had for less than the going price for the capture cards alone. Again excuse me barging in thank you

    • @DigitalJedi
      @DigitalJedi Před 2 měsíci +8

      I was at Gigabyte during this time period and worked on boards a lot like this one. We were a collaborator on the design of these little ones, and I also have a funny engineering sample guy living back home. Mine is mATX and got what should be an i7 3770, but instead just shows "GENUINE INTEL PROCESSOR" and has no iGPU, so I guess 3770F. Funnily enough I ended up working at Intel a few years after and now do chip fabrication R&D, so the circuits just got a lot smaller between then and now. That little ES board and a 750ti I found in the trash are my couch PC now.

    • @AnonymousFreakYT
      @AnonymousFreakYT Před 2 měsíci +6

      @@DigitalJedi The great Intel tradition of dumpster diving. I got a first-generation i7 Extreme with dual Radeon 4870X2s and dual Velociraptor hard drives because it had gotten roughed up in shipping. All the components worked fine, though!

    • @DigitalJedi
      @DigitalJedi Před 2 měsíci +6

      @@AnonymousFreakYT It doesn't stop even internally either. There is one of probably very few socketable Meteor Lake-S chips on my desk. It's very useless as no chipset will ever support it, but man is it funny to flip over a CPU and there's just pads for extra pins.

  • @swordgun25
    @swordgun25 Před 2 měsíci +57

    ‘Little guys’ officially in my vintage computer lexicon now… just labeled a tote full of them.

    • @MOS6582
      @MOS6582 Před 2 měsíci +4

      +1, it’s perfect
      “SFF” is awful to say and to hear. Every other label is some string of words you’d find on a flyer from the most boring stand at a boring tradeshow.
      “Little guys” brings on an urge to think up unnecessary computing tasks just for the fun of getting to deploy computers everywhere.

    • @AngelaTheSephira
      @AngelaTheSephira Před 2 měsíci

      But I have a SFF that is CERTIFIABLY not a lil guy

  • @maplesmusicarchive
    @maplesmusicarchive Před 2 měsíci +103

    ah yes, INVADED BY DARK SPIRIT, my favourite thing to do with little guys
    edit: okay i thought this was going to be some kind of cursed software error BUT IT WAS THE BEST LITTLE GUY WE COULD HAVE EVER SEEN

  • @imark7777777
    @imark7777777 Před 2 měsíci +16

    That green anodized aluminum is a bold choice and I certainly like it.

  • @gromph4
    @gromph4 Před 2 měsíci +49

    It is always fascinating to me to find little guys like this out in the wild because the only time you do is when they are not working. There are a number of buses in my area that are supposed to tell you the next stop(visually and audibly) that are just stuck in a boot loop, and who can forget the next checkout indicator at a pharmacy that was just stuck on the grub bootloader for probably a decade.

  • @PaulRiismandel
    @PaulRiismandel Před 2 měsíci +151

    I worked in educational technology and media production in the aughts through 2013 and deployed several Mediasite boxes in smart classrooms for recording lectures and presentations. This was before Zoom and the like were practical, and so you needed a system to quickly capture computer display output and combine with standard video without any setup on the presenter’s computer. It was a reliable and scalable solution at the time.

    • @monad_tcp
      @monad_tcp Před 2 měsíci +5

      It probably still is seeing how crapple keeps being incompatible with everything you plug. Or if you're brave enough to do any sort of presentation on linux.

    • @jessi74
      @jessi74 Před 2 měsíci +7

      This dug up a long-forgotten memory. When I went to medical school starting in the year 2010, they had a setup of these in all the lecture halls. Not only would media site allow you to stream a live lecture, it also allowed you to play back a recorded lecture at a faster speed. It was reliable and available minutes after the lecture finished. They had the system in place for a number of years before I even started. Certain lecturers would not allow their lectures to be recorded because they wanted in person attendance.

    • @flp322
      @flp322 Před 2 měsíci

      TU Delft had this system too when I was there (pretty sure they still do!) It must have been this exact system, as the website to play back lectures was based on this ‘MediaSite’ software, and re-visiting it now, it does contain links to SonicFoundry’s website (which has an out-of-date certificate, hilariously).
      I remember the operators had this kind of portable rig on wheels with everything they needed (including camera). They’d just wheel it into the lecture hall of whatever lecture they’d be recording and hook it up. I think there was also one lecture hall with an experimental permanent setup.
      A nice thing was that they always had two video feeds: one for the camera, and another for the lecturer’s computer screen (i.e. slides). The player played both simultaneously, and you could also speed up playback (very handy for boring lectures…) It worked remarkably well.

  • @cojawfee
    @cojawfee Před 2 měsíci +6

    That's why mediasite looked so familiar to me. My school uses this for class recording. It records a camera pointed at the front of the classroom as well as the professor's screen. Once class is over, the video is automatically added to canvas. Kind of creepy on days when there's no class but it still records an empty classroom.

  • @neighborsgoat
    @neighborsgoat Před 2 měsíci +158

    Hey! Sonic Foundry rings a bell: Soundforge was created by them, before Sony purchased it.

    • @tonicblue
      @tonicblue Před 2 měsíci +8

      Knew I'd seen that name before. Thanks!

    • @MrJeroendemuzikant
      @MrJeroendemuzikant Před 2 měsíci +5

      Yep, I had the same thing. That name sounded familiar. And I placed a reaction about it a minute ago... And then saw this reaction placed 5 minutes ago. 😁

    • @cromulence
      @cromulence Před 2 měsíci +5

      Yup, surprised to see that name still! I thought Sony purchased all their assets but it seems they still exist doing… stuff?

    • @sgeneralgrievous
      @sgeneralgrievous Před 2 měsíci +10

      Vegas video too!

    • @PXAbstraction
      @PXAbstraction Před 2 měsíci +12

      And Vegas and ACiD music too. I had a totes legit copy of Sound Forge 4.0 back in the day. :) And Sony proceeded to sell all that software onto Magix, who quickly made them irrelevant. I mean, they were arguably relevant under Sony's reign too, but yeah. Edited the first few years of my own channel on Vegas before I moved to Resolve.

  • @BSFJeebus
    @BSFJeebus Před 2 měsíci +15

    this is why I've told myself, anytime someone brings me a dead system, pull the board out first, slap it on a desk, and test it there, so many times I've had issues with the chassis or a short, and no one thought to just pull everything out and start with the basics. I've saved so many systems with this one simple trick. I expected this outcome, lol, as soon as you said it was dead "watch, if he pulls the board it'll work for the lulz"

    • @Incommensurabilities
      @Incommensurabilities Před 2 měsíci

      Absolutely. One of the ram slots wasn't working on an old motherboard I had. Turns out there was a loose motherboard screw shorting out that slot. Removed the screw, ram slot worked. Nice!

  • @erik23ize
    @erik23ize Před 2 měsíci +18

    46:06 vMix MultiCorder which is a built-in feature actually does recording multiple sources to separate files really well, it even creates an .xml file that you can import into Premiere and it creates a synchonized sequence automatically that makes multicam editing very easy, we use it at work almost daily and I can't even imagine how many hours of copying files from multiple SD cards and synchronizing footage it has saved me. I wish OBS could do it too.

    • @CathodeRayDude
      @CathodeRayDude  Před 2 měsíci +4

      Wow, thank you for the recommendation, I'll have to look into that.

  • @huntereddy4014
    @huntereddy4014 Před 2 měsíci +21

    When I was young my father was working for NCR on a team that was working with fully contained point of sale kiosks. While POS isn’t the most exciting stuff in the world to me, he was working in software for movie rental kiosks and more than once we got to see and play around with the demo units in his office YEARS before Redbox or similar was common.
    I have no clue what kind of hardware was inside one of those kiosks but I’m sure it was an off the shelf unit NCR already was using and with the decline of movie kiosks I wouldn’t be shocked if some of the machines running the software my dad wrote got out into the wild. I couldn’t help but have some aimless hope you’d show us the NCR machine and it comes up with logos and software from the machines I remember seeing at my dad’s office 20 years ago.

  • @the-bizzy-bee
    @the-bizzy-bee Před 2 měsíci +5

    soba's invasion music both scared me and made me go awe

  • @4l6ag3
    @4l6ag3 Před 2 měsíci +35

    "there is a whole cottage industry that makes things that's only purpose is to do video streams for people who don't know how to set up video software"
    I can for, uh, job reasons confirm this is absolutely true and this stays true from the low level like churches and universities and stuff all the way up to the highest most expensive levels for hollywood movie production. Every movie you've ever seen by the mouse company has gone through a box not much different from this one.
    I'm shocked that that is windows! Gear in this kind of space is one of the places where linux seems more common than windows for this kind of appliance thing.

    • @brandonallen2372
      @brandonallen2372 Před 2 měsíci +2

      Setting up the software is the easy part. Training the users is the hard part, provided they are even willing to learn in the first place.

  • @der.Schtefan
    @der.Schtefan Před 2 měsíci +22

    Fun fact: if you ever have an ear worm stuck, just replace it by thinking of the Intel jingle. It is long enough to push past the 1-2 second we perceive as "now", yet not long enough or suitable to loop. It will break any looping sound.

    • @DigitalJedi
      @DigitalJedi Před 2 měsíci +6

      Unless you work at Intel. In which case, that sound is permanently engraved into your brain. Please help.

    • @GP1138
      @GP1138 Před 2 měsíci +2

      The dead silence after that jingle I think is what does it. For me at 39 years old it comes with the rising hiss associated with broadcast audio companding and VHS noise.

    • @sivalley
      @sivalley Před 2 měsíci

      My brain just cross-connected the Intel and Nokia jingles and it's helllllllll

    • @Iristallite
      @Iristallite Před měsícem +2

      great, now the intel sound is my earworm

  • @23Scadu
    @23Scadu Před 2 měsíci +3

    I love the NCR N3000. Look at that subtle lime-green coloring. The tasteful thickness of it. Oh my god, it even has dual heat pipes! Definitely one of the most handsome little guys I've seen.

    • @sivalley
      @sivalley Před 2 měsíci

      I love the subtle American Psycho reference.

  • @lemagreengreen
    @lemagreengreen Před 2 měsíci +46

    I like geeking out with you, nobody else really does videos like these and little industrial computers are definitely good geeking out material.

  • @roypennock8046
    @roypennock8046 Před 2 měsíci +29

    Sometimes I'll be watching someone else's video and someone will say "two of them..." and I will find myself mildly disappointed when the kittens don't appear... 🤣🤣

  • @funkmon
    @funkmon Před 2 měsíci +6

    These videos going absolutely wild are the best parts man. You have genuinely stumbled on computer/AV nerd crack. It doesn't matter how half-cocked your commentary gets because you're honest about it and it's exactly what any of us would do when faced with the same situations: Google what is intriguing and massively overlook everything else, get distracted by a more interesting project and fuck everything up until some natural end.
    The thing is, it's not actually the content of the video. You make excellent videos. Your editing and voiceover are getting so good that you're keeping these exciting. You know what we find exciting and informative and focus on that. It's amazing.
    Like, I wouldn't be mad if this was your whole channel. I would be sad at the loss of the great videos on mouse balls and stupid removable media that go on for 5 hours, but this is excellent.

  • @xmlthegreat
    @xmlthegreat Před 2 měsíci +10

    Soba may not be ESD-safe but she is OSHA certified

  • @Shmoozo55
    @Shmoozo55 Před 2 měsíci +4

    The "Thin Mini ITX" is an older standard created by Intel (I think) that in addition to being notably thin (and came with both a regular and a low profile I/O shield) it had its CPU socket specifically located off further toward the PCIE slot side of the board which facilitated special cooling solutions that ran heat pipes past that PCIE slot edge of the board to a heat sink that was oriented to allow front to back air flow in the very thin cases to cool the CPU. These boards had external power supply jacks like the one on the board you have which allowed for the use of external power bricks.
    Those odd connectors along the front edge of the board were, in fact, a few different types of display panel connectors. One of them was an oddball internal display port connector. These were employed when the boards were used inside electronic signage or kiosk products that had the display panel and the motherboard integrated into the same chassis.
    That motherboard also has a redundant internal power supply header back in the same corner as the external connector so an internal power supply could be used.
    These kinds of motherboards were generally set up to use lower TDP versions of desktop CPUs. They are the ones that have a "T" at the end of their model number, as, for example, the Core i5-3470T which has a 35 watt TDP.
    Interesting products, but not especially commonplace in the PCs most of us have lying around.

  • @saysheate197
    @saysheate197 Před 2 měsíci +13

    Great vid all-around, but the Soba purring footage was the best part.

  • @DvdXploitr
    @DvdXploitr Před 2 měsíci +3

    My kitty must have heard your kitty's purr....she came running onto my lap! (Beautiful cat!)

  • @Nukle0n
    @Nukle0n Před 2 měsíci +23

    HP swapped to a thinner plug, we found that out by surprise at the refurbishing operation i worked at, because our universal laptop power supplies didn't have adapters for those. Luckily i realized that we also got the docks for the machines in the shipment (the docks used the old power supply plug), so we could prop the docks up on the deletion/testing stations and get them processed without having to get out a hundred of the power supplies also and having to figure out ways to hook them up. Never got even a pat on the back for that...

    • @kaitlyn__L
      @kaitlyn__L Před 2 měsíci +7

      Thank you for your service to corporate laptop erasure, Bubger Kirg.

  • @mikewifak
    @mikewifak Před 2 měsíci +14

    Sonic Foundry also made the Acid loop sequencer. It was pretty great back in the day.

  • @aprillovelock4260
    @aprillovelock4260 Před 2 měsíci +6

    oh heck yeah! NCR machines, I used to work with these a bunch in the albertsons and what not around the west coast. this was a great episode

  • @Null_Experis
    @Null_Experis Před 2 měsíci +9

    All the reset-cmos pin does is short the power supply to the SRAM to ground. If you don't unplug the battery, it still supplies power to the SRAM, you're just discharging the battery very quickly.
    It WOULD work if you left it shorted for 20-30 minutes.
    The chassis on that "crappy" ITX machine is that large because it's a standard form factor piece for beefier ITX boards.
    that dead space on top is perfect for a FlexATX PSU, which would open up the possibility of 200-300W builds. The only thing is' missing is the spot-welded bracket, a cutout on the rear, and some screw holes. With the double-width low-profile expansion slot, it makes for a nice little set-top box to hook up to a TV.

  • @jenniferwagner4595
    @jenniferwagner4595 Před 2 měsíci +5

    I have worked on varied embedded systems for automatic cashiers, coin counters, video surveillance, etc. That NCR is a pretty cool cat. I worked on them in restaurants and they run the POS for the whole restaurant / bar. They are pretty sweet and are bullet proof. I see these guys stacked up on a managers desk covered with paperwork from ten years ago along with the cable modem, network switch, etc. Most of the time they send them back to the Mothership , so I never get to keep them when they are replaced every five to ten years.

    • @simcapener6935
      @simcapener6935 Před 2 měsíci +1

      They get sent back to ExpressPoint in Texas to get reworked & get put back into service.

  • @gudenau
    @gudenau Před 2 měsíci +3

    Those capture cards are really cool and I have a hyper specific project idea for them.

    • @MOS6582
      @MOS6582 Před 2 měsíci

      Hyper specific projects are the best projects. Good luck👍

  • @alankingvideo
    @alankingvideo Před 2 měsíci +22

    The 19v Dell connector is not a centre positive connector. It actually has 3 conductors. The tiny centre pin is a control pin. The negative is the outside of the barrel, and the positive is the inside of the barrel.

    • @kreuner11
      @kreuner11 Před 2 měsíci

      Ohhhhh really? I've never knew that and always thought that's such a slimsy connector

  • @fluffyfloof9267
    @fluffyfloof9267 Před 2 měsíci +4

    23:23 those offset SATA ports are for SATA-DOMs, which usually are a bite wider than the socket - you'll figure the rest out.

  • @zacharycoleman1117
    @zacharycoleman1117 Před 2 měsíci +9

    My college used devices similar to these. They would automatically record during class and then they would appear on the class’s page in our grading/assignment platform. It was basically only set up for the largest of classes (400+) prior to Covid. During the times when the classes went in person optional in Spring 2021 and beyond it was a lot more common for smaller classes to have this set up. You could both watch live and also see a recording afterwards. Very handy in case you couldn’t remember something that was said out loud but wasn’t on the slides.
    They were controlled with a roughly iPad sized device that allowed it to decide which cameras to show, and which computer screens. The screen also decided how the professor’s computer was displayed in the larger rooms. (Ex: one big screen, or emulate having two smaller projectors side by side each with a copy of the screen)
    The ones we had could record multiple video streams at once, and in the playback you had options of how to display them and which one you wanted to see the largest. (Whiteboard, computer screen, etc)

  • @sp0ck1p
    @sp0ck1p Před 2 měsíci +13

    This is practically becoming a regular Monday thing, and it's so good to have around on a Monday. I don't expect it, but I keep receiving it. I'll take as much as you've got.

  • @endymallorn
    @endymallorn Před 2 měsíci +5

    The Soba visit was perfect.

  • @ADJLfanatic52
    @ADJLfanatic52 Před 2 měsíci +14

    "It took three computers to fix one"
    Reminds me of Techmoan's CED saga where he had to buy three CED's to try to fix them (and because the players were cheap apparently).

    • @dodecahedron1
      @dodecahedron1 Před 2 měsíci +1

      2 of them were used to fix the second one and technically all but the first one are fully functional, they just have to share the stylus, the first one was entirely broken because it was stored in the same pond as the discs, the second was brand new but was never fully assembled because the plug had been incorrectly wired and the third was only needed to get a stylus and a clean lid for the second one

  • @MikeStavola
    @MikeStavola Před 2 měsíci +5

    Oh... That goober ITX system's case... I tried helping someone who had a pallet of them. She got them new for $10 each, and they were apparently sold for $19 in Shenzhen, and we're supposed to sell for $40 in the US market. She ended up sending all of them to a scrapper because absolutely nobody would buy them at $10 plus shipping.

  • @screamingturnip
    @screamingturnip Před 2 měsíci +4

    15:43 I just loved that heat sink, I wanted to believe in it because it was aesthetically appealing

  • @Nabeelco
    @Nabeelco Před 2 měsíci +4

    46:00 What you're describing is called "Iso recording" or isolated/isolation recording. It's very common and done in video production all the time. Wirecast can do iso recordings of all your inputs if set up correctly. I used to do this for work many moons ago.

  • @MrJeroendemuzikant
    @MrJeroendemuzikant Před 2 měsíci +16

    Sonic Foundry sounded very familiar to me. Years ago I used audio editing software called Sound Forge. And indeed, that was from Sonic Foundry as well.

  • @NobodyYouKnow01
    @NobodyYouKnow01 Před 2 měsíci +1

    *drops computer, camera shakes and I can feel it through my screen*
    CRD: "…Yeah maybe that didn’t do it for ya."
    Man's sarcasm is on point today LOL! Keep up the good work.

  • @saberpeep
    @saberpeep Před 2 měsíci +4

    The fact that it has an option to make the intel noise at startup really shows you that they really wanted to be an iMac

    • @eDoc2020
      @eDoc2020 Před 2 měsíci

      IIRC my full ATX desktop board from them has the same option.

  • @chrisblammo123
    @chrisblammo123 Před 2 měsíci +1

    missed opportunity to make the title incredibly confusing with Little Guys 3: Part 5 (Three), really good video as usual :)

  • @raulburriel
    @raulburriel Před 2 měsíci +1

    OK! Lecture capture appliances. You're in my world now!

  • @not_just_burnt
    @not_just_burnt Před 2 měsíci +5

    that Tunic sticker... the meaning of it just clicked last episode. im now deep into the lore of the game and itll be always sweet seeing it again ^^
    everyone go play that game aaaaaaaa

  • @kellingc
    @kellingc Před 2 měsíci +1

    I've been loving your "Little Guy" series. It was a joy listening to you get excited about your finds.

  • @langam7017
    @langam7017 Před 2 měsíci +5

    Thin ITX is still a thing.
    Most modern AIO PCs use custom boards though. Because of course they do. Imagine your PC being thicker than 2cm? I don't have that much room!

  • @DaraelDraconis
    @DaraelDraconis Před 2 měsíci

    Thanks for including the Soba segment in the video. Excellent cuteness.

  • @mattelder1971
    @mattelder1971 Před 2 měsíci +5

    That NCR would actually make a cool little home theater PC, since it has HDMI output. My current one runs on a similar 3rd Gen i5. Add some external USB drives for your media and a wireless keyboard, then you'd be all set.

    • @cdigames
      @cdigames Před 2 měsíci +3

      A fully passively cooled home theater PC? I dunno.. seems far fetched.

    • @mattelder1971
      @mattelder1971 Před 2 měsíci

      @@cdigames As CRD pointed out, the passive cooling in that is likely MASSIVELY overbuilt. And with a coat of paint, it would blend right in with many amplifiers.

    • @cdigames
      @cdigames Před 2 měsíci +7

      @@mattelder1971 It was more of a jab at the fact that concurrent with this series, CRD has been showcasing the works of Niveus, whose whole thing was passively cooled home theater PCs

  • @Ryu_Himora
    @Ryu_Himora Před 2 měsíci +8

    That Atom motherboard came with the heatsink. There was no option to go without it because Atom is an embedded SoC, so conventional ITX thermal solutions don't mount properly. I remember seeing that exact one in Fry's circa 2009-2010 (Rip)

  • @lfla0179
    @lfla0179 Před 2 měsíci +1

    I loved every second of the jank. I miss my Philips DVD recorder with integrated hard drive, because I BET that thing was a little guy disguised as an AV equipment.

  • @OpenKeith
    @OpenKeith Před 2 měsíci +1

    love how the "highlight" marker in sponsorblock is set to the moment Soba walks in

  • @Jacobhopkins117
    @Jacobhopkins117 Před 2 měsíci +3

    41:13 I relate so hard to being 13 abstraction layers deep in troubleshooting only to find that kind of solution.

  • @hackbyteDanielMitzlaff
    @hackbyteDanielMitzlaff Před 2 měsíci +7

    Five out of Five Stars for the Molex to Wago Hack.
    Been there, done that. ;)
    Shoot .. that mini diagram is to cute ;)
    More cat inspections necessary!!

  • @Cmdad
    @Cmdad Před 2 měsíci

    Thanks for doing this video, I could listen to you chatting about this stuff all day.
    The green machine is really great looking, nice to see a properly bit of kit.

  • @professorbadvibes695
    @professorbadvibes695 Před 2 měsíci +1

    Great video, loved the surprise fix and Soba appearance

  • @Nukle0n
    @Nukle0n Před 2 měsíci +9

    It's interesting that they've chosen to tie earth-ground and negative together on the NCR model. It would mean that in the case of a broken power supply with the polarity reversed, the entire chassis would become live, quite the electrocution risk.

    • @CathodeRayDude
      @CathodeRayDude  Před 2 měsíci +5

      Well in that case you'd also have 110v hitting the DC ground so the PSU wouldn't survive long enough to get plugged in I think. But yeah, it seems odd.

    • @Nukle0n
      @Nukle0n Před 2 měsíci +3

      @@CathodeRayDude Well a reversed polarity normally shouldn't mean anything, but if the laptop power supply was plugged in to an incorrectly wired outlet and suddenly experienced some failure due to shoddy manufacturing (unrelated to the outlet), you'd hear a pop and wonder why the computer wasn't working, grab it and... maybe get a bit of a shock.
      Probably unlikely but having things earth grounded tend to be for pretty rare and freak occurences.

    • @baaelectronics
      @baaelectronics Před 2 měsíci +1

      Well, it's the earth ground, not the AC neutral, that's tied to (-)DC, so inherently it being a switching PSU at all would isolate the DC from AC lines regardless of the AC hot side.

    • @nickwallette6201
      @nickwallette6201 Před 2 měsíci

      @@baaelectronics "Well actually" ... ANY power supply has to be galvanically isolated, not just switching. There's still going to be a transformer between mains and output, so the output will be floating with respect to mains (ergo polarity is irrelevant), and unless double-insulated, the chassis ground is almost certainly going to be tied to mains earth.

    • @nickwallette6201
      @nickwallette6201 Před 2 měsíci +1

      To clarify on my previous comment (because I just got to the NCR part of the video), the supply brick has a 3-prong plug. If it didn't tie DC negative to earth, there would be literally no point in having a 3-prong plug at all. So, in this case, _of course_ it passes through earth ground.
      The 2-prong plug bricks are double-insulated, meaning there is no way (barring truly catastrophic failure that should not occur due to fusing, etc.) for mains to reach the DC output side. THOSE will not have earth on the DC negative. Everything on the secondary side is floating WRT mains. Although, if you plug that brick into a device that interfaces with anything else (a monitor, an audio amplifier, etc.), it will probably end up grounded through that interconnect anyway.
      And that ^ is the reason for the Zero-ohm resistor. If you want a safety earth, but have an issue with ground loops (due mostly to bad electrical wiring or connections to other poorly-designed devices), you can replace that 0R with something else -- like a capacitor, to shunt RF noise to ground but isolate DC, or a higher-value R to provide a weak (DC) path to ground, etc. It's always cheaper to change a production line to use a different component than to redesign and replace the whole PCB, so it's a safety net that lets you alter the grounding technique as needed in the future.

  • @slipperynickels
    @slipperynickels Před 2 měsíci

    making garlic toast and my jaw dropped at those capture cards. additionally, they’re ADORABLE.

  • @ChiefArug
    @ChiefArug Před 2 měsíci

    Another entertaining geeking out session with CRD! Thoroughly enjoyed watching, thank you!

  • @Skukkix23
    @Skukkix23 Před 2 měsíci

    Hey Gravis, I hope you doing great. Content is absolutely on point and I literally watch through them. Wish you a great week.

  • @webmasale
    @webmasale Před 2 měsíci +1

    Gotta love that you went through that much trouble just to demo the machine for one minute

    • @CathodeRayDude
      @CathodeRayDude  Před 2 měsíci +7

      The moral of this entire series is that the journey is the destination

    • @webmasale
      @webmasale Před 2 měsíci

      @@CathodeRayDude And what a ride!

  • @nadiayorc
    @nadiayorc Před 2 měsíci

    I for one can't wait for the long awaited sequal to this series: Big Guys

  • @LetsPlayKeldeo
    @LetsPlayKeldeo Před 2 měsíci

    I have to say that little guys is one of my favorite series, like just seing you find them neat is like the coolest part of the videos :3 It makes me happy seeing you happy

  • @dustinhipskind7665
    @dustinhipskind7665 Před 2 měsíci +1

    That NCR system looks like it would make a really good firewall device.

  • @plushifoxed
    @plushifoxed Před 2 měsíci +1

    i picked up my very own Little Guy thanks to you: a Dell OptiPlex 7040 Micro. it was cartoonishly cheap on eBay for the specs, and I'm currently undertaking an ill-advised attempt to Hackintosh it. Fun times.

  • @franklincerpico7702
    @franklincerpico7702 Před 2 měsíci

    Man you are really knocking it out with this series. Nothing like it on CZcams that I know of.

  • @ianatkin542
    @ianatkin542 Před 2 měsíci +1

    Sonic Foundry were the creators of Sound Forge (audio editor) and Vegas Pro (video editor, now owned by Sony). They pivoted into the distance learning space after selling off their wares. I lived and worked in Madison WI for a number of years. It's a small enough town that you eventually know everyone and anyone working in technology and doing software development. I probably wouldn't have heard about them otherwise.

  • @thejo6331
    @thejo6331 Před 2 měsíci +1

    that PCIe Mini capture card is the true little guy

  • @ssokolow
    @ssokolow Před 2 měsíci

    As soon as you said "It's made by Sonic Foundry", my mind went back to one of the pack-in CDs from the USB CD-RW drive we had in the late 90s and I said "The 'ACID Music' people?"

  • @RachelMant
    @RachelMant Před 2 měsíci +1

    The header on that control board at ~43:50 is the easy part if the board design makes a jot of sense - 6 pins, PIC18F part number on the micro, means it's the programming interface for the micro, set out so as to accept a PICKit2 or 3 to allow program and debug. The 4-pin header just between the USB connection and the micro is probably a tap point on the USB lines.

  • @ThickpropheT
    @ThickpropheT Před 2 měsíci

    "I've seen it work before, I dunno why it's not working now." Yeah, sounds like a capture card to me.
    Also, you should for sure rock the 3770 in there. That's what I'm running right now! It's a pretty good lil guy.

  • @c0l0nelp0pc0rn
    @c0l0nelp0pc0rn Před 2 měsíci +1

    LOL, I used to work at the repair depot that fixed up these N3000 units. Not a bad little computer!

  • @DigitalDiabloUK
    @DigitalDiabloUK Před 2 měsíci

    Definitely going to add one of those NCRs to the shopping list. That heatsink would be awesome for an in vehicle solution.

  • @mikeselectricstuff
    @mikeselectricstuff Před 2 měsíci +1

    43:52 I think those unpopulated round pads are for through-hole LEDs ( CR reference, flat on circle), which would make sense. Looks like it has pads for SMD RGB LEDs

    • @CathodeRayDude
      @CathodeRayDude  Před 2 měsíci

      Yeah, that seems clear enough, and it was my first guess when I looked at the board, but the designation threw me off. I've never seen "CR" on a PCB before in my life, and I can't find any examples of it denoting an LED, just people who sound as confused as I am finding it next to normal diodes. There's some suggestion that it's the archaic term, "crystal rectifier." I can imagine that showing up on a board decades ago, but it seems wild that it showed up on something made in the 2010s.

  • @Xe4ro
    @Xe4ro Před 2 měsíci

    Ha, I was just revisiting the other Little Guys yesterday. Nice timing :D

  • @guc3wa
    @guc3wa Před 2 měsíci

    i love it when you call us "nerds", its softening up my ego for sure

  • @DJ29Joesph
    @DJ29Joesph Před 2 měsíci +1

    It's a digital streaming codec. We used those in big auditoriums so people on Facebook could watch the town hall. We also used them for an auto auction to make it an online auto auction with live bidding. They were quite simple. Avaya did this and a few other VTC bridging companies did as well. I belive the touch panel was called the AMX Modero.

  • @ivy_47
    @ivy_47 Před 2 měsíci

    Nothing like a new Little Guy to relax to after a good day of learning (:

  • @SiD3WiNDR
    @SiD3WiNDR Před měsícem

    That purrrrrrrrrrr.... Well done, Soba!

  • @ondrejsedlak4935
    @ondrejsedlak4935 Před 2 měsíci

    That funky looking copper heatsink/fan on the Mediasite is actually a pretty expensive and heavy duty cooler for 1U server systems.
    I use it myself in several servers that require very low profile coolers as I need the space for a 10GB network card hovering close to the cooler.
    The damn thing sounds like a jet engine when at full speed.

  • @jongmassey
    @jongmassey Před 2 měsíci +2

    These were used extensively at my Alma mater (University of Bristol) for recording lectures and making them available online (via Blackboard IIRC)

  • @Jdvc-yd5tx
    @Jdvc-yd5tx Před měsícem

    The green heatsink alone is worth £50. The worst part is if you take that stuff from the local recycling center in my town (here in Great Britain) you'll be handcuffed and jailed. A total dystopia - and I'm lovin' every second of it. lolol..... 😂 🍾 🥂

  • @PXAbstraction
    @PXAbstraction Před 2 měsíci +1

    10:29 Depending on when this particular box was built, I wonder if they were using new old stock Sigma Designs chips. That company liquidiated back in 2018 and hadn't been doing much for a couple years before then. Would certainly have helped them lower costs.

  • @WobblycogsUk
    @WobblycogsUk Před 2 měsíci

    I'm really enjoying the series. Can't wait for the next one. Just one suggestion which I don't think should be too much work. If you stick the model numbers (and maybe a few other notes) of the things you work on in the description it'll likely help people in the future. I've spent many an hour squinting at a fuzzy video figuring out what someone on the other side of the world did to fix something.

  • @slowtrigger
    @slowtrigger Před 2 měsíci

    I get so happy when i see one of these pop up!

  • @kopspijker3515
    @kopspijker3515 Před 2 měsíci

    This brings some vague livestream memories up from the depths of the memory archives.

  • @richardestes6499
    @richardestes6499 Před 2 měsíci

    Having grown up in Dayton, Ohio, I got hit with so much nostalgia when I saw NCR in the title of this video.

  • @LucidEnemy
    @LucidEnemy Před 2 měsíci

    would love to see a little guys episode on the most commonly nerdy home user for these things. OPNSense or a PFSense firewall QOTom makes some great ones AND you get a excuse to upgrade your network in the process! 10G and 2.5G network I remember you doing one with Direct Attached Copper youd be able to use the same NICs and DAC cables but youd get more ports and then can run 2.5 on your devices that have the capability too

  • @dieKatze88
    @dieKatze88 Před 2 měsíci +1

    Oh those little capture cards are sick. I remember trying to find some of those back in the day and unable to find anything less than like 500 dollars a whack.

  • @TbM
    @TbM Před 2 měsíci

    Good old german WAGO-Klemmen... you can find them in nearly every german household, hidden inside the walls behind light-switches or inside distribution boxes. They make really great products...

  • @bobingabout
    @bobingabout Před 2 měsíci +1

    15:05 I have a case similar to that... not that exact version, but... in mine, it actually takes some mini-ITX power supply that fills the void you have at the top in that orientation.
    This case looks (to me) like they've just taken the standard case, and just not cut the holes for the power supply.

  • @HazardCrossbones
    @HazardCrossbones Před 2 měsíci

    Love the little guys series!

  • @cromulence
    @cromulence Před 2 měsíci

    These thin mini itx boards are cool. I had a couple and yes, did install an i7 4770 into one. With the huge HP laptop brick (140W?) it worked a treat.
    Had a second one with an i5 4590T that I ran as a daily hackintosh for a few years. It worked amazingly well, everything worked. Dual screen HDMI output too. Aaaand, I got a thin mini ITX case from aliexpress which was tiny - literally the size of the motherboard with special thin mini ITX backplate which is half atx as you mentioned. The HDD even had a bracket to sit over the top of the motherboard. Super cool.

  • @anumeon
    @anumeon Před 2 měsíci

    Come for the mini PCs. Stay for the cat..

  • @DouglasWalrath
    @DouglasWalrath Před 2 měsíci +1

    DC plugs not having a screw on connector in consumer hardware is a feature, not a bug
    the idea is if you trip over the cord it'll just unplug instead of dragging whatever hardware it's connected to crashing down onto the floor