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Adam? ... is there a reason your laptop is in the fridge? (2006)

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Re: Adam? ... is there a reason your laptop is in the fridge? (2006)

#41

Post by PeterStuer »

I have done this. Many years ago I was forced to work with a terrible laptop. It was one of those Dell 5cm thick things that were basically cramming a desktop cpu and gpu into someting that looked like someone had bolted a second box undeneeth a standard laptop. Fans ofc screeming loudly all day. So I had the brilliant idea to just run everyting of an external drive so that when I could work from home, I could seamlessly switch to a better computer.

Now the powerbrick for the laptop from hell was also huge and heavy (I remember the total package was over 4.5 kg, and the battery lasted 80 minutes when new, so you always needed wallpower), but it had the exact with and lenght of the exteral drive cage. So fancy me had the great idea that when I tidied up my desk putting the drive on top of the powerbrick, ofc neatly allingned with the desk edges, looked perfect.

Perfect until the drive crashed hard due to being right on top of the very hot powerbrick. All code was checked into subversion, but the 127 pages of a product manual I had been writing the last week were gone without backup.

Having come across the freezer method, I decided to give it a try. Nicely sealed in a ziplock freezer bag, I left the drive in overnight. Tried booting it up the next morning without success. Put it back in the freezer on a whim, but had to start writing the manual anew and forgot a out the drive.

I came across the drive again while fetching some peas from the freezer a few weeks later. Gave it another try, and lo and behold, it worked!

Learned my lesson about excess heat on drives and no nightly backups though, so never needed this procedure again.

Re: Adam? ... is there a reason your laptop is in the fridge? (2006)

#42

Post by perakojotgenije »

get-logname wrote: post #32
cl3misch wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have also tried the Laptop baking many years ago with an ancient Dell Laptop which was known for its buggy internal Nvidia GPU. However, I have learned in the meantime that lead-free solder requires temperatures much higher than achieved by baking PCBs in a literal kitchen oven. Is there an explanation why this method is nevertheless so popular (maybe even successfull)?

I can confirm that this method resurected my GTX 970, but only worked for a couple of months more.

I was luckier, this method also resurrected my GTX 970 and it worked for two more years. It was still working when I sold it.

Re: Adam? ... is there a reason your laptop is in the fridge? (2006)

#44

Post by engineer_22 »

PeterStuer wrote: post #41

I have done this. Many years ago I was forced to work with a terrible laptop. It was one of those Dell 5cm thick things that were basically cramming a desktop cpu and gpu into someting that looked like someone had bolted a second box undeneeth a standard laptop. Fans ofc screeming loudly all day. So I had the brilliant idea to just run everyting of an external drive so that when I could work from home, I could seamle…

This kind of experience is hard to replicate therefore hard to learn without the suggestion, thanks for sharing

Re: Adam? ... is there a reason your laptop is in the fridge? (2006)

#45

Post by Uptrenda »

I think this is genius tbh. If you're faced with the prospect of losing important data and feeling silly for trying something so unorthodox I know which one I'd prefer. I've also seen videos on YouTube where repair technicians are able to temporarily fix broken (clicking) hard drives by giving them a good flick with their finger. It seems like magic to me. I've had a hard drive fail recently and I wish I knew about these methods. I wonder if there's any other hacks that might work for saving failing drives?

Re: Adam? ... is there a reason your laptop is in the fridge? (2006)

#46

Post by [deleted] »

get-logname wrote: post #32
cl3misch wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have also tried the Laptop baking many years ago with an ancient Dell Laptop which was known for its buggy internal Nvidia GPU. However, I have learned in the meantime that lead-free solder requires temperatures much higher than achieved by baking PCBs in a literal kitchen oven. Is there an explanation why this method is nevertheless so popular (maybe even successfull)?

I can confirm that this method resurected my GTX 970, but only worked for a couple of months more.

[deleted]

Re: Adam? ... is there a reason your laptop is in the fridge? (2006)

#48

Post by speedgoose »

perakojotgenije wrote: post #42
get-logname wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can confirm that this method resurected my GTX 970, but only worked for a couple of months more.

I was luckier, this method also resurrected my GTX 970 and it worked for two more years. It was still working when I sold it.

And this is why I don’t like to buy used hardware.

Re: Adam? ... is there a reason your laptop is in the fridge? (2006)

#50

Post by tforcram »

This reminds me of a time I tried to install Ubuntu on an old thick Dell laptop many years ago.

Each time I would try the system would overheat and then crash. The existing (windows) system still appeared to work fine with light loads so I was pretty sure I just needed to get past the install and decided to try one more time.

It was winter at the time, I can't remember if it had snowed recently, but I think it was probably close to 40 degrees F outside. So I hooked up a wired keyboard and mouse, and then plopped the laptop outside on the deck and closed the door with only the keyboard and mouse inside. There was a window which I could see the screen through and start the install.

Sure enough with the natural winter cooling the install completed and I was able to use the laptop for a few more years.

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