Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by tritonite

LF active WoW Retail player

tritonite — Thu, 03 Sep 2020 19:01:58 +0800

I know Malaysian WoW players are few and far between these days, but is there anyone in the Klang Valley who is particularly good at solo content like Proving Ground and Darkmoon Faire races?

Occasin

tritonite — Mon, 20 Jul 2020 12:43:48 +0800

I noticed they have very competitive prices on Lazada/Shopee.

I'm planning to have a new system built soon.

At first, I was going to one of the more established ones like Etech or Rextech, but am now considering Occasin since they do have many of the components I want available.

Has anyone built a system with them? How is their professionalism, patience and friendliness? Good cable management, etc?

Any help is appreciated.

Structured cabling for condo

tritonite — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 20:46:14 +0800

Anyone know of a contractor who is able to do or arrange for both the physical drilling and concealing work, as well as laying Cat 6 cables in a condo in the Damansara area?

I know there are people who can do one or the other, but not both... especially in a residence, rather than a business premises.

Expertise needed -

a) Laying the ducting/conduits (PVC pipes?) for the cables, including drilling through structural walls and concealing thereafter.
b) Advice and planning of the topology for optimal performance.
c) Provision of all the necessary hardware - switches, cabling, faceplates, etc.
d) Putting the entire infrastructure in place.

Any help is appreciated.

(WTB) 2 used n-grade wifi routers

tritonite — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 17:29:52 +0800

Item(s): 2 (TWO) used routers

Package includes: Must have n-grade (802.11n) wifi, preferably already setup as access point.

Price: under RM80 each. The cheaper the better, I just need them as wireless access points.

Warranty: 1 week personal will be fine

Dealing method: COD

Location: PJ/Damansara area

Contact method/details: PM

[WTR] Mid-range gaming laptop

tritonite — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 21:58:46 +0800

I am looking to rent someone's unused or under-utilised, maybe spare, gaming laptop for a period of 5-6 weeks starting early December 2017 until January 2018.

Item(s): Mid-range gaming laptop

Package should include:
quad-core processor around i5 level of performance
15.6" screen
at least 4GB of RAM
at least 500GB 7200rpm hard disk
discrete graphics chip (i.e. not on-board) around the GTX950 level of performance

Price: depends on spec. Give me a quote for the 5-6 week duration

Dealing method: COD

Location: PJ/Damansara/Bangsar area

Contact method/details: PM at LYN forums

WTS Tecware Phantom TKL Mechanical Keyboard

tritonite — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 11:07:40 +0800

Item(s): Tecware Phantom TKL Mechanical Keyboard (red LED, brown switch)

Package includes: Everything in the box

Price: ~~RM120~~ ITEM SOLD!

Warranty: One year until Aug 2018, comes with receipt for warranty purposes

Dealing method: COD

Location: PJ/Damansara area

Contact method/details: PM
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Item(s) conditions: Virtually brand-new (3 days old, as of this post)

Picture:

Reason for sale: Owner prefers a full-sized 108-key with a numpad.

Need some Excel cell formula help

tritonite — Fri, 18 Nov 2016 16:40:36 +0800

Hi all,

I need some Excel cell formula help to extract the grandparent folder name of a file in a worksheet WITHOUT resorting to VBA. Long story short being I need the file saved in .xlsx format, rather than .xlsm.

I know the following will return the complete path

=CELL("filename")

and the following will return the parent folder name

=TRIM(RIGHT(SUBSTITUTE(LEFT(CELL("filename"),FIND("[",CELL("filename"),1)-2),"\",REPT(" ",100)),100))

However, I can't work out a cell formula to return the grandparent folder name - i.e. the parent folder of the parent folder.

If anyone can help, it will be most appreciated.

Since some of the files in the server can be nested 5-6 folders deep, I would ideally like a generic cell formula which can extract the folder names recursive given a numeric value - i.e. '1' for the parent folder, '2' for the grandparent folder, and so on.

Failing that, a standalone cell formula will be fine.

Thanks.

Need help with a Word mass-find-and-replace macro

tritonite — Sun, 11 Sep 2016 23:30:31 +0800

Hi,

I don't know if this qualifies as a coding question, since it just involves a VBA macro for use in a Word document.

I would like to be able to have a macro that searches the current open Word document and replaces certain strings of words within the document with other strings. Rather than hardcoding the strings to search for and replace with into the macro, which would make it unwieldy, I would like the macro to search within two columns of an Excel spreadsheet, which can be updated and edited independent of the macro.

For instance, if I had an Excel file in a specified location with the following columns

Turn right and right again .... Make a u-turn
Take the first exit .... Take the first ramp off the highway
Stop at the intersection .... Stop at the junction
Come to a stop .... Do not go any further

I would like the macro to replace every instance of what is in the first column, with what is in the second column.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Aftermarket coolers when not overclocking

tritonite — Thu, 25 Aug 2016 00:40:37 +0800

I am planning to build a mATX system based around an i5-6402P in the next few weeks, and I don't plan to overclock it at all.

After reading around, there seems to be conflicting opinions as to whether it's necessary to use an aftermarket cooler, or whether the stock one provided with the processor will suffice. A lot of them seem to originate from foreign countries where the ambient temperature is probably lower than what we get here in our tropical climate.

The PC will probably be sitting on a desk in a non-air-conditioned room, but with the ceiling fan on when in use.

So, just wanting to know from locals whether I should spend the extra for the Hyper-212X.

Any help and opinions are appreciated.

Horde-side - Fight, Kill, Salute

tritonite — Sat, 20 Aug 2016 20:58:47 +0800

I know it's REALLY late in the expansion, but I just realised that I never got around to finishing off Fight, Kill, Salute! on my Horde DK alt for the toy.

With queue times these days being abysmal, I was wondering whether there was a handful of Horde-side people on Oceanic servers, preferably from the same server and guild, willing to help me move the queue along and get the remaining 40 more kills that I need for the achievement and toy before Legion launches. One of you can even have the coliseum win if you don't already have it.

With only 20 people needed to start a Highmaul Coliseum instance, I was thinking that just 12-15 people will be adequate to group queue and dominate, even in PvE gear.

Any interest?

Combination Time Fibre Broadband and Getflix query

tritonite — Mon, 13 Jun 2016 19:22:51 +0800

Apologies for starting a separate thread from the main Time Fibre Broadband thread, but since it also involves a query about Getflix, I thought I'd do so for more visibility with the thread title.

My wife's teenage cousin is visiting from Australia and is staying with my parents-in-law. They have been subscribed to the 100Mbps Time Fibre Broadband package for the past 4 months and it's been fine for their personal use, which I will put down to the fact they have low requirements and expectations, more than anything else .

Said cousin is wondering why she is unable to stream stuff from YouTube and Twitch at high quality (never mind Source quality) without constant buffering, despite the connection apparently being a 100Mbps one. Dad-in-law asked me if I could help because I'm their usual tech support minion. I didn't really have an answer or solution because, admittedly, I'm already 'over-the-hill' and don't watch much on YouTube and almost none of Twitch, at least nothing that I demand HD output of.

Said cousin can borrow a Netflix subscription from her friend back home, and was wondering if the Full VPN service from it would help.

Which leads me to a few questions...

a) Is it down to an inferior international link and/or sub-optimal routing that can't be helped? I've not been in a position yet to determine if Time's routing is any better in general than TM Unifi's sometimes woeful one.

b) Is there some optimisation I can do on the DIR-850L to make it better?

c) If anyone has current experience in using it, will setting up the Getflix Full VPN help?

Disclaimer - Her experience is via a LAN cable plugged directly into the router, so no vagaries of wifi are involved.

Any help or opinions are appreciated.

Informal Get Together - London

tritonite — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 17:26:04 +0800

Hey all UK residents,

I am presently in the UK working in Guildford, Surrey, and will be here until near the end of May when I return to Malaysia.

I will be having an informal get together with some Malaysian students in Bayswater, just to talk and spend some time with fellow Malaysians. So, if you are working or studying in London or somewhere in the Home Counties and would like to join us, you will be most welcome.

It's going to be on Sunday next weekend since it's May Bank Holiday and everybody has an extra day off. We will be trying to make it a positive experience so leave your negative socio-political views and opinions about Malaysia and the world in general at the door. A lot of the students there are on a tight budget and will not be able to afford to go back to Malaysia in the summer, so we will be there offering support.

We will most likely be having Indian. Exact restaurant to be decided later depending on which one can seat 10-15 people comfortably. Travel to and fro will be by Tube, so if you were expecting chauffeur-driven transport, you're out of luck You are free to come just for the food, and disperse and leave right after lunch, but some of us may go catch a West End show later in the afternoon.

If you are in need of accommodation for the night, I do have a sofa bed for one in the living room of my flat in Hendon, although I do have to kick you out quite early the next morning as I will be meeting some people at London Zoo.
Sorry, sofa bed is now taken.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Location and time will be provided closer to the time.

Have a great day, and bundle up for the Arctic winds if you are going out

Home LAN question

tritonite — Mon, 28 Mar 2016 00:03:27 +0800

So, I'm almost completing renovation on a condo unit in time for my sister and her family to move into in a few months' time.

Took the opportunity to put in structured network cabling in the living room and in each of the 3 bedrooms. Looking back, I should have put in at least 2 LAN points into each bedrooms, but it's a bit late now.

My intention is to have a switch in each of the rooms for wired devices - PC, media player, etc. - as well as wifi connectivity for phones and tablets. Just wondering whether there is a cheap way to get this done.

I know routers can be bought for under RM200 each, but the quality of those seem a bit suspect, and it seems to waste to have full routers, but only use them in reconfigured bridge/access point mode, leaving the WAN port and function, DHCP, etc. unused.

Is there such a thing as a gigabit network switch with WIFI available?

As an aside, if I have no choice but to use reconfigured routers, as it will be my first time, is there a clear, idiot-proof guide (Youtube or website) somewhere showing me how to turn an ASUS or TP-Link router into a wired switch/wireless access point?

And yes, before anyone asks, I do want the wired LAN capability as I prefer having devices plugged in whenever possible as opposed to having to deal with the vagaries of WIFI quality.

Any help is appreciated.

WTB mid-range gaming desktop

tritonite — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 16:41:02 +0800

Item(s):
Mid-range gaming system

Package requirements:

Motherboard : at least B150 or equivalent

Processor : at least Intel® Core™ i5-6500 or equivalent

RAM : at least 8GB (4GBx2) of performance-quality

PSU : 550W or less

Cooling : adequate for the specs in a SFF case, as long as it is mostly quiet and low-maintenance.

Storage :
- SSD of at least 128GB
- HDD of at least 750GB

Graphic card : GTX 960 or equivalent

Casing : SFF mITX or mATX - the smaller, the better

Price:
up to a maximum of RM3500, depending on spec, age and condition

Warranty:
2 weeks from you, if no longer under warranty

Dealing method:
COD in PJ area, preferably

Location of seller:
PJ

Contact method/details:
PM

Age of item:
less then 2 years

Condition of item:
In good condition and well-maintained - i.e. pre-loved.

WTS ASUS K40AB

tritonite — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 20:01:04 +0800

Item(s): ASUS K40AB laptop

Package includes:

- AMD Athlon X2 QL-64
- ASUS M5A78L-M LX V2
- 3GB DDR2
- ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 512MB
- 300GB Hitachi HTS543232L9A300
- DVDRW ODD
- 14" HD (1366x768) screen

Price: RM480, negotiable

Warranty: 5 days

Dealing method: COD in PJ/Damansara/Subang Jaya preferred.

Location of seller: Damansara

Contact method/details: PM

Age of item: Have had it for 5 years.

---

Item(s) conditions:

System is working fine.

Battery assumed to be unreliable, and probably needs replacing if laptop is going to be portable and not plugged in. Owner has used it plugged in like a 2nd desktop for past few years.

Reason for sale: Owner not using it anymore, and is need of some extra money.

WTS AMD Phenom II X3 710-based system

tritonite — Wed, 07 Oct 2015 19:06:14 +0800

Item(s): AMD Phenom II X3 710-based full system

Package includes:

- AMD Phenom II X3 710
- ASUS M5A78L-M LX V2
- 6GB DDR3
- ATI Radeon HD 4850 Series 512MB
- 500GB Seagate ST3500418AS
- 500GB Seagate ST500DM002
- LG DVD-RW ODD
- USB 3 expansion card
- Cooler Master Elite ATX casing with 500W PSU
- Original Windows 7 32-bit key included. Currently have fresh Win 7 64-bit installed.

Price: SOLD

Warranty: 5 days

Dealing method: COD in PJ/Damansara/Subang Jaya preferred.

Location of seller: Damansara

Contact method/details: PM

Age of item: Lost track, but around 3.5 years. Motherboard and 1 stick of RAM are a bit newer. USB 3 expansion card is a month old.

---

Item(s) conditions:

System is working fine. Casing fans are a bit noisy, and may need changing due to wear and tear.
Casing has minor dents on top.

Reason for sale: Owner not using it anymore, and in need of some extra money.

Network knowledge sought

tritonite — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 23:12:20 +0800

I am looking for some networking knowledge regarding how information flows in a typical network.

I know the usual setup for a broadband connection is usually...

[Modem or ONU] -------> [router] -----several ports---> [other devices on LAN]

... where there is a direct, undisturbed connection from the modem/ONU where it is routed and distributed across the LAN. This isn't usually a problem where the modem/ONU and router are in the same room - usually within 5 feet of one another - and connected by a short LAN cable.

My problem is that I have to move the router into a separate location from the modem, with the modem in a service cabinet near where the cable comes into the living room, and the router in my study further down the corridor from the living room.

The thing is I plan to use a network of homeplugs to transfer the information flowing to and from the modem/ONU and the router. I am also planning to use the network of homeplugs to transmit the routed traffic from the router to the rest of the network.

What I want to know if this is possible with all the information from the modem/ONU, router and devices correctly flowing to and from the right equipment. Or does there need to be a dedicated connection between the modem/ONU and the router. In other words, are the data packets moving about the network 'marked correctly' for the switching/routing to be done correctly?

With two port homeplugs, I do, of course, plan to have dedicated cables for both the information to and from the modem/ONU (using the router WAN port), and the information to and from the router (using the router LAN ports).

I hope I've explained it clearly enough. Would be happy to clarify anything.

Any help would be appreciated.

WTB Used NUC or mini PC

tritonite — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 18:37:51 +0800

Item(s): at least Pentium or i3-grade processor NUC or mini PC

Package must include: at least 4GB of RAM, at least 500GB HDD and gigabit LAN.

Expected state on delivery: In good, functioning condition, preferably with freshly reinstalled 64-bit Windows 7.

Price: max around RM1000, depending on model, age and quality

Warranty: Preferable

Dealing method: COD in the PJ/Damansara/Bangsar area

Contact method/details: PM or reply in thread

Age of item: less than 2 years old

Slow transfer rates via USB 2.0

tritonite — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 00:13:30 +0800

Sorry I'm not the most technically minded person, but I hope someone can explain to me why I'm getting slow file transfer rates.

As I understand it, the USB 2.0 port on the motherboard of my PC has a theoretical transfer rate of 480 Mbit/s, or about 60 MB/s. Even taking into consideration overheads and the like, I thought I'd at least be able to get 50MB/s. The thing is I've been getting only around 10-12MB/s - i.e. not even 1/4 of the speed - when transferring from my internal HDD to an external HDD.

I believe the flow for this is... internal HDD on SATA II ---> motherboard ----> USB 2.0 port ----> external HDD.

I've also tried the same transfer from the internal HDD to the external HDD via a USB 3.0 on a PCI-E expansion card. I understand USB 3.0 has a theoretical transfer rate of 5 Gbit/s, or about 625 MB/s. I'm only getting about 55-60MB/s, i.e. nowhere near the transfer rate I thought I would.

I believe the flow for this is... internal HDD on SATA II ---> motherboard ----> PCI-E port ---->PCI-E card ----> USB 3.0 port ----> external HDD.

Can anyone possibly explain to me why this is and/or help me identify where I might have a bottle neck in my system.

If you need for system info to help diagnose the probblem, I'll try to provide them.

Any help would be appreciated.

Why are you still awake?

tritonite — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 01:37:26 +0800

So, Raya is over, and most of you have to work in the morning.

Why are you still awake?

If you are still stuck in a jam in a car, where are you now and what is your destination?