My ongoing saga with my new laptop

[DoYouKubuntu]

It's been a little while since I bothered posting anything, but wheels have been turning in the background! You know all those seemingly random lockups I've had since day one? Well, they've continued, more erratically than ever. I can go several weeks without it happening and then, like two days ago, it'll happen twice in two minutes! But there's more.

Do you remember at one point I pondered that perhaps I simply got a lemon? I think there may be something to that.

One morning, I was opening the laptop and heard the unmistakable sound of plastic cracking. The hinge on the left broke. But that's not all. The ENTIRE SCREEN is coming off, starting in the bottom left corner. And there's more!

The laptop gets so hot that it literally burns my legs. I have neuropathy in both legs and really don't FEEL the heat, but two days ago I happened to touch the bottom of the laptop and it was SIZZLING. I moved it and both thighs were burned. I was sure they were going to blister, but they didn't. By the next morning, they were fine.

During all of this, I've been communicating with System76, and we now have a plan to figure this all out. They're kindly sending me a loaner to use while my laptop is gone. I've brought up the lemon theory, and that's definitely a possibility, but we're going to attempt repairing this one--including figuring out why it gets so hot and what causes the lockups--then put it back into use and see if it's still okay when I put my hard drive back in.

This whole process will likely take two or more weeks. I'll be able to take my hard drive out and ship my laptop after receiving the loaner, and send the loaner back when mine's here.

Note that I'm undecided right now as to whether I'll remove my hard drive (which is fine with them, but won't allow testing with it in place), or wipe it prior to sending it in. But we figure that if I remove it, they put the laptop through all the testing/repair they can do, it works fine, then I get it back, put my drive in, and it's bad...they'll send me a new hard drive!

Just in case anyone's wondering, no, this has not negatively impacted my feelings about System76. If anything, their thoughtful response has just served to remind me why I like them so much.

[woodsmoke]

Well. THAT's a bummer!

I hope that things woek out well !

woodsmoke

[DoYouKubuntu]

Thanks, Woody! But I feel good about it. I wish I hadn't waited so long to do something about it, but the upside is that if I had, the hinge/screen wouldn't have broken yet, so it would've involved TWO repair trips.

When I talked to System76 on the phone yesterday, I mentioned that I had copiously documented this saga online; they asked if I'd mind sending them a link "to the thread"--and I said THERE ARE TONS OF THREADS!! Not just one.

[woodsmoke]

LOL I can just see the rep!
woody

[Qqmike]

Wow, DoYouKubuntu, you are relentlessly on top of this challenge. Good for you. And by working with them, both parties may learn something in the process. Sorry you had to go through it all, but once through, you'll be through! ;-) IMNSHO, ya know, nowadays, life's gotten so complex that if it weren't this issue, it would be some other issue in life, probably having to do with some technology or device or service. Philosophical rescue aside, glad you ARE on top of it. Keep us posted. [thumbs up emojis]

[DoYouKubuntu]

Thanks, @Qqmike! Believe it or not--I mean, considering all the bitching I've done about this--I actually take this whole thing in stride. Compared to other issues I've dealt with in life, this is nothing. I mean nothing!

I'm confident that System76 will rectify the problems and all will be good once more! The funny irony of all this is that I didn't NEED to replace my old laptop! I just wanted to because it was six years old, its keyboard needed replacing (which I didn't feel like doing), and I thought, what the hell?!

[Qqmike]

... funny irony of all this is that I didn't NEED to replace my old laptop!

Ha! Yes, I can relate to that. :-) ... and one thing leads to another. It becomes a journey.

Compared to other issues I've dealt with in life, this is nothing. I mean nothing!

I can relate to that, too. I'm thinking of health issues I dealt with, wasn't even sure I'd get through them alive. Yep, and stuff like computer hardware issues almost seem like a game.

[DoYouKubuntu]

Ha! Yes, I can relate to that. :-) ... and one thing leads to another. It becomes a journey.

Isn't that true?! Last year, my helper asked if she could paint the bathroom, and I said yes...and then it turned into a major overhaul of the entire bathroom, requiring a professional. *sigh* But I wanted new fixtures, new lighting, new...blah blah blah, so off it went!

I can relate to that, too. I'm thinking of health issues I dealt with, wasn't even sure I'd get through them alive. Yep, and stuff like computer hardware issues almost seem like a game.

Yes, me too. I don't know how much you know, but I've been plagued by very serious health issues, including a brain tumor and, more recently, sepsis--which put me in the hospital for six months. It caused multi-organ failure (cardiac, renal, respiratory), I was in ICU for a week, my family was told I probably would not survive... Seven surgeries and six months on IV antibiotics later, I was well enough to go home. It's been four years and I'm STILL recovering.

If you're so inclined, please share anything you'd like about your health issues. I'm interested!

[Qqmike]

I can relate to the bathroom remodel, too. Starts out as a face lift, ends up as a remodel/re-do.

Yes, I do now recall your health ordeals, going back in the recent past, soon after your mother died, right? But the sepsis is new to me. I'm hearing of lots of people ending up with sepsis, and its ordeals, even my 35-year old nephew who got it from a kidney-stone infection.

Super-brief summary of mine: Officially, the doctors tell me I am healthy, age 72 -- no pills, all tests are good. But, a stressful history this past 15 years. Eye issues (complication of cataract surgery). Thyroid nodules (many FNA biopsies). Benign but uncomfortable heart PVCs. Benign nodule above a vocal cord that flipped to cancerous, a specialist and multiple surgeries to fix it. Rare pelvic cyst that required 3 surgeries, biopsy sent to Mayo Clinic (benign, finally). And little stuff that bugs you as you age. PITA, appointments, worry, and $$$.

I sent you by PM a slightly expanded version, DoYouKubuntu.

[ruthless]

Just in case anyone's wondering, no, this has not negatively impacted my feelings about System76.

you are very generous. I considered the system 76 but in the end decided their prices were too high. Very happy now with Lenovo Ideapad with a couple of tweaks and work arounds. I have not even had the fan turn on yet after a week of testing. My previous laptop was over 12 years old. Good riddance

[woodsmoke]

As to health issues, I am fortunate to have really good health for a 76 year old.

Except for having cataract surgery, by which I now have perfect vision and can read a book and view at a distance.

I used to drive south of here to my "old home town" and ... literally from, I think, 94 people in my graduating class, I am almost "last man standing". I have stopped going back because it makes me sad.

So, I survived "the $*)T half of the time on a world war II "ash can" and half of a world away and now...

I thank "T G L" every day that I get up to plant my feet on the floor and, during the summer have the wonderful opportunity to scuba with really disabled people who have gone through so much that it makes all we divers, literally cry.

And each and every time that one of them first "breaks water" they all are later, able to say..."I am one of those who dive!" The first person literally was crying in his mask when he came up and I was shouting at myself about "what have I done!? ", but the person said; "there's no pain! "

This thread is humbling to me and, I am sure that it is so for others.

woody

[jglen490]

Those of us, of a certain age, have a litany of experiences. Some are encyclopedic, others more concise like a Hemingway short story.

For me artificial eye lenses - both, a titanium hip, a zipper mid-chest after a 4 CABG procedure. But I am very thankful to have the energy and desire to keep on keepin' on, and so far the mental capacity to still be of use to a team of IT engineers.

I have to give kudos to DoYouKubuntu for having that degree of loyalty to System 76; I would have kicked it to the curb and gotten a used Lenovo or HP long ago.

[DoYouKubuntu]

Hey there, I'm typing this on the loaner! It came a few days ago and I just fired it up about an hour ago. It has Pop!_OS installed, and I'm *not* going to screw with that, though I dearly want to install Kubuntu! But, no, it's just temporary, so I'll make do.

The worst part was figuring out how to make the fonts large enough to read. There is no 'system settings' (that I can find), but I got it to where it's readable, so it's all good.

As for health issues, thanks Qq for our PM conversation.

I'm not one to be jealous or envious, I mean in life, when there was something tangible that someone else had and I admired, instead of being jealous I'd work my ass off to be able to buy my own. I'd strive for it, not be envious about it. But health? I envy those of you who have been blessed with good health. My mom was like that. Solid as a rock her whole life, still going out independently until one year before she died. She shed many tears over my health problems, like 'this is so unfair, why has this happened to you?' I don't know, Mom, I don't know...

I know I'm not the only person on earth to be plagued by serious health issues, but I'm the only *ME*, you know? Every step of the way I've thought, it CAN'T get worse than this... and then it does! Qq now knows some things I haven't shared publicly but will now: I have severe cirrhosis of the liver and severe fatty liver disease. And guess what? I NEVER drank alcohol! And I've been vegan (vegetarian first) since 1988!! I had to have my gall bladder removed because it was 100% infiltrated by cholesterol. Oh, the irony of it all. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

Back to laptops: I used to buy HP computers (desktop and laptop), back when we had to pay the 'micro$oft tax' (which I really resented), and always had great results from them. If I end up unhappy with System76 once this is all said and done, I may go back to HP, or maybe try Lenovo--they're Motorola now, right? All my smartphones have been Motorolas, and I love them. I know many companies now offer Linux pre-installed, and no longer force you to pay for a piece of crap, so-called operating system that you're never even going to see, let alone use! But let's see how this turns out. Right now, I'm very hopeful.

The replacement is very similar to mine, with a nice big 17.3" screen. I plugged my external hard drive and my wireless trackball in, and everything worked like a charm. So I have full access to everything I need, and I'm going to finish cleaning up my laptop today and try to send it on its way tomorrow.

I've decided to leave its hard drive intact, so they can fully test the system the way it really is. I'm going to create a dummy account for their use. Anything else I should do or think about before sending it on its way?

[Qqmike]

As for health issues, thanks Qq for our PM conversation.

Yes, and thank you, DoYouKub. Any time.

[MoonRise]

DYK; hate hearing that. I can say from my perspective of the path I went has had its challenges too. Now granted not quite like yours. At least Sys76 is working with you.