From: nospam@needed.invalid   
      
   On Mon, 1/12/2026 4:07 PM, David B. wrote:   
   > On 12/01/2026 16:13, Alan K. wrote:   
   >> On 1/12/26 10:54 AM, David B. wrote:   
   >>> On 12/01/2026 15:00, Monsieur wrote:   
   >>>> David B. wrote:   
   >>>>> On 11/01/2026 14:05, Alan K. wrote:   
   >>>>>> Just got an update to the Mint Upgrade app.   
   >>>>>> Under 'edit' you now have the upgrade from 22.2 to 22.3   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> Not that I'm doing it today.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> Thank you for the 'heads up'.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> I'm running Linux Mint on my old 24 inch Apple iMac   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> I have, this evening, updated to Linux Mint 22.3 Cinnamon 64-bit   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> So far I've experience no problems. 🙂   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Just upgraded too, no  problems so far and the System Information is   
   >>>> nice. However I'm not too fond of the new start menu. Guess I'll get   
   >>>> used to it eventually...   
   >>>   
   >>> I confess that I had a 'double-take' at the new start menu too! 😉   
   >>> Not a problem though.   
   >   
   >> It's a lot like the cinnamenu applet in 22.2.   I've been using that for   
   a few weeks.   
   >   
   > Thanks, Alan.   
   >   
   > Today I've installed Linux Mint 22.3 on my aging 27 inch iMac.   
   >   
   > Here's the outcome:-   
   >   
   > 1. Boot and Filesystem – All Correct   
   >   
   > From your output: ...   
      
   The problem with doing this, is your output from an LLM-AI hides   
   your own acumen for all to see. We were hoping you would *at least*   
   include a sentence about your action plan, upon receiving the AI analysis.   
      
   That's the purpose of asking the AI for an opinion. Is it writes a   
   summary, and you're supposed to react to it. Recognizing where you are.   
      
   I have a hard drive right now, smartctl awards the drive a pass, and   
   for all practical purposes, the drive might as well be dead.   
      
   I was coaxing and encouraging the drive to use up its spares, as I was hoping   
   to take pictures and show people what it looks like when a hard drive "augers   
   in".   
      
   To my surprise, the drive *did not* auger in. The manufacturer wanted to cheat,   
   in such a way that I could not make a warranty claim (if this had happened   
   after   
   fewer power hours for example). Of the 5500 or so spare sectors, the drive   
   stopped   
   sparing at exactly half of the spares. It turned off one of the drive   
   functions,   
   as a way of saying "you will not punish this drive any more and make   
   a warranty claim". The drive is useless, you cannot install another OS, yet   
   the drive will not spare out any sectors either. And the drive reports    
   "Healthy".   
   The spindle spins. You can kinda read some things off the drive. The drive   
   may have 140 CRC errors or so. But, it did not die like other drives died,   
   where the drive refuses to spin or refuses to load the heads. It's now a   
   zombie of sorts.   
      
   New computers will become more expensive, as the price of DDR5 and NAND go up.   
   Old computers, as useless as they are, can still be used, especially if   
   you fit a new drive so they can be used. That's what we were hoping you would   
   discuss, your action plan.   
      
   One company claimed today, shortages could exist until 2028.   
      
   Monitor stocks are depleted where I am. At one computer store, virtually all   
   the monitors are "Special Order", which means, upon receipt, you cannot   
   return them. Only an actual functional failure (no light, no power, etc)   
   constitute a reason for return. And even then, you might have to deal with   
   the manufacturer warranty instead of the store warranty. Thus, your aged Mac   
   has useful materials in several categories. And you should take care of it.   
      
   You should ask the LLM-AI, giving the AI your model number, how hard   
   it is to change out the hard drive. And what kind of hard drive would   
   make a good replacement. Hopefully, something without a "mushy TLC problem".   
   I have a Lexar NS100 drive that is mushy, and I've backed it up before   
   something bad happens.   
      
      Paul   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)