Repurpose old hardware for projects (using linux) - dial up modems

I'm feeling embarrassed bc every time by not knowing the structure of forums, or not searching it properly, I don't post in the right section. I was looking for "hardware related stuff" thank you for the transfer and excuse me.
The way I search forums is to enter in the search bar the topic and forum I want to search such as Linux hardware Linux.org and voila may not always be 100% but good enough for me.
 
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Keep on exploring, Pedro, or if you can't find something, ask at Forum Assistance.

@bob466 - Bob, on dialup, just to give you an example. We have a lady Member who lives in the woods in Virginia, USA, close to one of the country's most important radio telescopes. As a consequence, they are not even allowed ADSL. She has to travel to a different valley to her girlfriend's house to use ADSL.

We are not doing so bad.

Cheers

Wizard

I think I remember something about that...yes you're right we're not that badly off but we certainly pay for the privilege.
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Two problems with dial-up...
1 It doesn't exist anymore.
2 If it did...where do I plug in my fibre optic cable.
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Some old hardware comes in very handy...if you have a wobbly table use a floppy disk. PATA HDDs make wonderful paper weights.
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Talking about these brings some memories back. I remember back in the day my dad purchased a pentium PC (WIN-7 + 98 dual boot) . Before that most of my classmates typed their home work such as lab reports, surveys , projects ... and I got access to dial up and Yahoo! a little bit too late.
Here is the only time in my life that actually I used floppies.
I also used the floppy for quite few times for school, university projects or having them printed, I was too noob for not using the early SDs since they were available for cameras.
I remember that floppy disks break or deteriorate too often just sitting in a desk or closet. In the "floppy disk barn find scenario" u may see that 4/5 of them don't work. and I liked the tricky read-only swtich. flash drives don't have that :D
 
Yeah installing Linux on a Chrome Book can sometimes be a real chore aka PITA.

I helped a friend of mine install Linux on a Chrome Book awhile back and when finished we had a few shots of Whiskey so yup I can relate.

They do have some good online tutorials about installing Linux on Chrome Books.
Although I highly look down upon chromebooks, I do not know what hardware capabilities it has. I don't remember Ubports website has this device listed.
Agreed however even though I can afford a new computer I still prefer the older discarded computers that others toss after a few years.

Reason I prefer the older computers is Linux supports most of the older computer hardware OOTB without hassles.
Where I come from people don't toss things around, but they fool you that their outdated broken shit is good and they lie about it.
I just saw some comments in an online shop, that the CPU cooler model ... is very good.
and then... he had it on a Core-2-quad CPU, LG775.( what an idiot !)
The price of (used) 8-core top 1155 CPUs or AM3 CPUs, can reach to 100$ which is 60% of the price of the CPU of your dreams.
I don't want you to make bad decisions.
Here's my story:
(the prices mentioned below 20 EU eql = equivalent of 20 euros of USD and are not very accurate but it gives the whole picture. )
6 years ago, 2017 that I was naive, I had a new low-mid range android phone and I didn't want to abuse it (i was wrong) I purchased a used up / half broken android phone for some project. I needed a time lapse camera with endless options. It must be cheap and easy on batteries. it was a Sony Xperia L. A petite very young lady (high school girl) was the seller and for the feel of the scene, she was a petite, pale, unsexy, high school girl and not the hipster, modern girl with communication skills. I gave her money equivalent of 60 Euros and her mom in black hijab cloth over her opened the door and look down the stairs without saying hello just to check. I felt pity for her and didn't argue for lowering the price and just left.
That night I was feeling accomplished since the phone worked.
everything seemed ok except that the phone felt a bit bent and the volume button didn't work right, as I had no idea how important they are.
I called the girl to thank her. but she didn't answer. Then I messaged her in Telegram. She blocked me.
The android 4.x is NOT easy on battery. However I purchased a new battery probably for 20 (EU eql) and found out the new battery is weak as well. After the project was done, I decided to root it for study purposes. but the -/+ button on phone PCB is broken and the cellphone repair guy said there is no fix for this. I tried to cell it for parts (15 EU eql) was offered for the whole with the battery and I decided to rip it open and see what's inside.

Lessons learned:
PCs are a different animal. They have high standards and the owner has lots of control over them.
Your money is the best thing to hold, but if u don't mess around things u wouldn't learn anything either.
Since I opened this thread about dial-up modem, I found that some people in rural areas use it. Some YT video was saying: 30% of people in the US and 1% in Canada still use dial-up modems:

I also found that there's a USB fax modem:
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the above is new and it can be found in online shops. e.g. Amazon.com around 35 ~ 40 USD.
the old school common module:
I'm surprised that they actually sell and still available. I was about to mention some of the components on the boards are worth desoldering and saving. but didn't know that there's still demand for them, although it's difficult to find someone who wants them. I conclude that it mentions "fax" and fax is still being used by many businesses.


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That's a real bummer of a story and a damn hard way to learn but I bet it doesn't happen to you again.

I get most if not all of my Linux computers from Windows users who buy new Windows computers.

I also buy computers from a garage sales or from thrift stores although I won't pay very much for them because I'm cheap.
 
I sugest to the moderators to merge this thread with the 'Revive that old PC' and rename it to something like 'Revive and/or repurpose old electronics to help reducing eWaste'.
 

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