exxos's Atari, Amiga & retro forum

rubber_jonnie wrote: 06 Mar 2026 11:30 I have to say it's a good job they supplied 2 switch units, but what are the chances of me picking up the bad one and installing it first!!!

Probably well over the 50% simple statistics would predict...a colleague of mine always managed to pick a faulty board out of a new prototype batch, even when that would be the only bad one in a build of 10-20 boards...
:roll:

JezC wrote: 06 Mar 2026 11:39

rubber_jonnie wrote: 06 Mar 2026 11:30 I have to say it's a good job they supplied 2 switch units, but what are the chances of me picking up the bad one and installing it first!!!

Probably well over the 50% simple statistics would predict...a colleague of mine always managed to pick a faulty board out of a new prototype batch, even when that would be the only bad one in a build of 10-20 boards...
:roll:

Yeah, it's just one of those things where you are magnetically attracted to the bad un.

It's funny, over the years I've always done well with cars, never had a terrible time with them (Sorry @mrbombermillzy ) even when all I could afford were bangers, yet I've had friends who have had nothing but trouble with theirs, breakdowns, total engine death, some sort of weird electrical issues etc.

Thankfully these days I'm able to buy new and benefit from warranties and such like but it would still be possible to get a lemon!!!

Isn't that called Murphy's law ?...

HigashiJun wrote: 06 Mar 2026 13:30 Isn't that called Murphy's law ?...

Maybe...

:)

rubber_jonnie wrote: 06 Mar 2026 11:30 I have to say it's a good job they supplied 2 switch units, but what are the chances of me picking up the bad one and installing it first!!!

Sod's law says 100% probability. :-)

stephen_usher wrote: 06 Mar 2026 13:45

rubber_jonnie wrote: 06 Mar 2026 11:30 I have to say it's a good job they supplied 2 switch units, but what are the chances of me picking up the bad one and installing it first!!!

Sod's law says 100% probability. :-)

Indeed, the law of Sod does tend to take over in situations like these.

rubber_jonnie wrote: 06 Mar 2026 11:57 It's funny, over the years I've always done well with cars, never had a terrible time with them (Sorry @mrbombermillzy ) even when all I could afford were bangers, yet I've had friends who have had nothing but trouble with theirs, breakdowns, total engine death, some sort of weird electrical issues etc.

You dont know the half of it Jon.

I once borrowed a pushbike off my mates mum to get to work and the front wheel seized and snapped off its spindle halfway there. :D (Ive placed a smilie, but this is *not* any kind of joke).

I try to keep myself to vehicles I have at least a chance of repairing (i.e. the less sensors the better and simpler built if poss).

mrbombermillzy wrote: 06 Mar 2026 20:02

rubber_jonnie wrote: 06 Mar 2026 11:57 It's funny, over the years I've always done well with cars, never had a terrible time with them (Sorry @mrbombermillzy ) even when all I could afford were bangers, yet I've had friends who have had nothing but trouble with theirs, breakdowns, total engine death, some sort of weird electrical issues etc.

You dont know the half of it Jon.

I once borrowed a pushbike off my mates mum to get to work and the front wheel seized and snapped off its spindle halfway there. :D (Ive placed a smilie, but this is *not* any kind of joke).

I try to keep myself to vehicles I have at least a chance of repairing (i.e. the less sensors the better and simpler built if poss).

Yeah I was thinking earlier that as time progresses the harder its become to do your own fixing when stuff breaks.

I'd say its not so much the fixing, but more like 'diagnostic obfuscation'.

When I was working for a Dell laptop refurbishment company, the guy who used to do the HW repairs explained that even the mainboard ICs now are built with obfuscated lines/pins that either pretend to do something, or dont work as expected.

mrbombermillzy wrote: 06 Mar 2026 22:23 I'd say its not so much the fixing, but more like 'diagnostic obfuscation'.

When I was working for a Dell laptop refurbishment company, the guy who used to do the HW repairs explained that even the mainboard ICs now are built with obfuscated lines/pins that either pretend to do something, or dont work as expected.

Well just look at some of the modern mainboards. Applle, Dell and others, the boards are black with no easily discernible pads and BGA IC's where you can't even see the legas as they're underneath. Also Apple build their laptops more like phones these days with super dense multi-layer boards that only a full diagnostic test rig could have any chance of figuring out what the issue is.

Then they've got you stuck in their ecosystem. Modular parts, even including the mainboard or whole machine replacement.

Saying that, the build quality and reliability of Apple stuff is top notch, so it's a choice. If I hadn't spilled a drink on my Macbook Pro M1 I'd still be using it, but with the screen stains and keyboard sagging a bit in the middle (Once you pull the rivets out it's never the same), it was time to replace. It was nearly 5 years old and running like a champ though. Even the battery was good.

Apple have just released a new Macbook, the Neo and that is actually based on the same CPU as the iPhone. Oddly low specced but great build quality like the other Macbooks and very cheap for what it is IMHO.