From: nospam@needed.invalid   
      
   On Fri, 11/14/2025 3:06 PM, Mike Easter wrote:   
   > pinnerite wrote:   
   >> ChatGPT's solution   
   >   
   > Great.   
   >   
   > A chatgpt solution quality is highly dependent on the quality of the query.   
   >   
   > Sometimes they are highly imaginative or hallucinatory if the query is too   
   loose or poorly framed.   
   >   
      
   It is also highly dependent on the release number of the software.   
      
   The newest version seems to be writing summaries of the summaries.   
      
   And it is true, that the output of a query depends on   
   properly framing the question. You need to use clear English   
   (or "language formulation") so that you do not trigger what   
   happened to someone else. Their query triggered a forestry   
   response rather than one about computers.   
      
   One of my rules of thumb, is do not open the AI window and work   
   directly in there. Open Xed or Notepad or gedit and frame up   
   a query first. Stare at it for a bit, distract yourself, come   
   back and read your query again. Is it clear what you want ?   
      
   Why, it is almost like writing a query for USENET :-)   
      
   *******   
      
   The "nofail" option that Alan used, it appears that keeps trying   
   to get the filesystem working, so it isn't a dead loss as the   
   name might imply.   
      
   Disk drive physical wait times are supposed to be handled   
   by the BIOS. The max delay the BIOS will "stare" at a SATA   
   cable is 35 seconds. There have been some Hitachi (IBM/HGST/WD)   
   drives in the past, that take 28 seconds to start and   
   you may hear a self test burst before the drive becomes   
   ready. On such a computer, if the 35 second constant can   
   be modified, you would not change the value if the   
   Hitachi drive was there.   
      
   As a BIOS user, you should be aware that SATA ports can be   
   turned off at BIOS level. When Linux comes up, it defeats   
   the BIOS setting and turns the ports back on. You should   
   go into the BIOS and *verify* you have not butchered the   
   SATA port settings, preventing a more orderly start.   
   Turn all the ports on, for SATA. Allow the BIOS to wait   
   up to 35 seconds (it can reduce the wait time if   
   you tap on Popup Boot key). By enabling the ports   
   at BIOS level (properly), there is a better chance   
   a nofail will not be needed in fstab as a bandaid.   
   You won't be relying on the Linux propensity for   
   turning on ports itself.   
      
   The notion that a partition mounts only after an   
   fsck, that should be investigated, as data drives   
   should not be put away dirty. The OS should be   
   able to sync/dismount one of those in an orderly   
   fashion. The practice of dirty shutdown of slash,   
   you as a user may not be able to fix that one.   
   It's possible a drive will receive an fsck every   
   three months, even if you maintain it in a clean   
   fashion.   
      
   I try to put my partitions away, before a shutdown.   
      
      Paul   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)