25 June 2021

Tracking Down A Bizarre Problem Scientifically

Sometimes I wonder what I'll yammer about on the podcast and it's not unusual for daily life to hand me a topic. That happened in early June. Finding the cause of a problem takes time and the first conjecture isn't always right. In the first week of June it seemed that my primary computer was dying, which could be an expensive problem.

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The symptoms were unusual at best, and enigmatic: On a Friday afternoon, near the end of a process that had consumed three hours, the computer shut off. No blue screen. No black screen. Just BOOM! Nothing.

Not me. >>>>

I restarted the computer and within minutes it had shut down again. BOOM! No warning. I tried that a few more times and concluded that repeating the same steps and expecting a different outcome was probably illogical. Leaving the computer off and going to bed seemed to be the most logical option, so that's what I did.

On Saturday morning, before starting the computer, I vacuumed the air inlets. They weren't clogged, but they contained a substantial amount of dust, fuzz, and cat hair. The computer started and ran properly for a few hours and then BOOM! No warning. Hard stop.

What could cause this? Temperature could be a problem, but Crystal Disk Info showed that the disk drives were all within the high-normal range. Likewise, the CPU. And a CPU that's approaching its thermal limit (T-Max) should just throttle its speed, not perform a hard stop.

Next I disconnected the external drives and logged on as Administrator. With the external drives disconnected, I wasn't able to do anything worthwhile. Instead, I ran a variety of tests and malware scans. The test and scans found nothing, but the external drives were disconnected and the computer was running more or less normally. It was time to get the external drives back into the picture.

Even though the external disk drives in an Orico 4-bay tower weren't reporting dangerously high temperatures, cleaning seemed like a good next step. The fan was dirty, so I vacuumed it. The inlet vent needed cleaning, so I vacuumed it. I removed all the drives and vacuumed the case.

When I plugged the disk enclosure back into its USB port and started the computer, everything seemed normal. The computer ran for about three hours and then BOOM! No warning. Hard stop.

I had been watching to activity lights on the disk tower: Normally they're blue. They turn red when the disks are being accessed. All four lights blinked red repeatedly and unexpectedly. About the time I noticed that, BOOM! No warning. Hard stop.

This was becoming somewhat tiring.

I had been thinking that the problem might be related to the external drives. Had the disk enclosure failed? I had two options to investigate this: I could connect the external drives to another computer and see what happened or I could plug the disk enclosure into a different USB port.

Using a different computer would introduce more variables than I wanted to deal with, so I moved the USB cable from a port on the computer to a port on a USB hub. That limited the variables to just one. The external drive bay was the same. The computer was the same. The only difference was the USB connection.

The first thing I noticed was the lights on the USB drive enclosure. They were all blue most of the time. One would turn red when data was being written or read, but they didn't all flash red repeatedly. It seemed that I had found the problem.

But no. After running for a little less than three hours, the computer shut down fast and hard. When I restarted the computer, it again shut down fast and hard after just a few minutes.

So I started examining the Event Viewer, hoping that I might find an error at about the time the computer shut down. Given the way the computer shut down, I knew that there wouldn't be an entry for the crash, but only a follow-up entry from when the computer booted the next time that would be the equivalent of "Well, I wasn't expecting that!"

The Event Viewer had entries for Freemake, a utility that's capable of converting videos from one format to another. It has mixed reviews at best. I had installed it so that I could convert one video, then uninstalled it. If it wasn't there, how could it be causing problems?

While investigating the various other possibilities, I had connected the drive stack to the MacOS computer. The Mac can't write files to NTFS volumes, but it can read them. All of the drives mounted properly and there seemed to be no problems.

Back on the PC, I searched for driver updates and found only two that related to USB devices, but not to USB storage devices. Expecting no change from unrelated USB drives, I installed the updates and there was no change.

Further investigation showed that uninstalling Freemake doesn't uninstall a Freemake service. The service wasn't running but, but the computer was trying to launch the service. The errors coincided remarkably well with the crashes. So I killed the service, shut the computer down while the USB stack was detached, re-attached the drives, and booted the computer shortly before noon on a Sunday.

Freemake has a Better Business Bureau rating of F. Both Avast and Malwarebytes warn that Freemake attempts to install unwanted applications. The consensus seems to be that the application itself is safe, but the business practices are unacceptable. The fact that uninstalling the application didn't uninstall the "Freemake Improver" utility is another negative mark.

But did that resolve the issue? It seemed illogical. After all, I removed the application months ago. If it's the cause of the problem, why didn't the problem start a long time ago?

The hard-stop crashes seemed to occur about three hours after the computer had been started. At 3PM, everything was normal. Likewise 6PM. Normally the computer is off at night, but I allowed it to run overnight. At 5:30 the next morning, all was well. A ran disk image backup on drive C. The backup was running when the computer crashed on Sunday morning, but ran to completion on Monday.

It's impossible to say that the problem has been resolved because it's not possible to prove a negative, but it seemed reasonable to assume success because the computer continued running normally for 24 hours.

Noon Monday

• 24 hours with no hard failure.
• Event Viewer System Log: Free of unexpected errors.
• Therefore no need to replace the Orico disk stack. ($200+ and it wouldn't have solved the problem.)
• Also no need to replace the computer. ($2000 approximately and it might not have solved the problem, depending on what I restored.)

DON'T PANIC! That's the advice given by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and it applies to life in general and computer issues specifically. Decisions made by people in a state of panic are often wrong. I could have spent a lot of money needlessly to replace hardware without solving the problem. As it turned out, the solution cost zero dollars and only a few hours of thought, logic, and analysis.

Short Circuits

Security: What If You Become A Ransomware Victim?

In an earlier segment of this series of reports on security, I noted that ransomware is less of a threat to individuals than it used to be, but "less of a threat" doesn't mean "no threat".

So what happens if your computer is taken over by crooks? If you switch the computer on one day and see a notice that all of your files have been encrypted, what can you do?

You could pay the ransom. The pirates won't be asking for $5 million, but the going rate still is around $1000 and you have to pay using Bitcoin. You'll probably get your files back, but there are no guarantees. Most ransomware leaves the operating system alone and encrypts just the data, but some malware locks the computer.

Backup is the key to recovery, but you may find that the backup has been encrypted if the backup disk is attached to your computer. The better choice is a cloud-based backup system such as CrashPlan from Code 42. Because files are continuously backed up, the encrypted files are probably on the server, but many online services retain previous versions of files. That makes it possible to recover file versions before they were encrypted.

You'll still need to get the malware off the computer, but then you can download files from the day before the malware attack began. You may lose the most recent versions, but because the backups are continuous, it's often possible to recover files with only a few minutes worth of work missing.

File versioning is helpful even if you never encounter a pirate because you may want to have an older copy of a file that you've modified intentionally or accidentally.

Most free protective applications, including Microsoft Security, attempt to block ransomware, but paid versions have additional options to alert users to ransomware attacks. One free product that has been discontinued by the vendor, created directories and files on each disk, updated the files frequently, and then watched for changes. If any process attempted to modify the fake files, the application shut down the process and alerted the user.

A possible replacement for that tool is Kaspersky's free Anti-Ransomware. It watches for activity looks like a ransomware attack, then blocks the suspicious process until the user can review if.

Firefox Is Still The Preferred Browser By About 6% Of Users In The United States

A decade ago, Firefox had a solid 30% market share versus Internet Explorer's 60%. And then Google launched the Chrome browser. Within three years, IE's market penetration had dropped to about 30% and Firefox was trying to stay above 20%. Today Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers have about 90% of the market, but Firefox still has a loyal following.

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Microsoft's new Chromium-based Edge browser exceeded Firefox's market share in the middle of last year and Firefox is down to about 6% in the US, a little more than 7% worldwide. That puts it in fourth place. Chrome has just shy of 70% of the browser market. Safari is second at 10%, then Edge at 8%. Opera has less than 3% and Statcounter says about 1.5% of users still have Internet Explorer.

Despite a certain amount of frustration with Firefox, I always return to it after trying one of the other browsers.

Firefox version 89 was released at the end of May. Some people have reported sluggish operation and crashing. I have not seen this, and that's not to say that it doesn't exist.

Some people say they utterly detest the new look and feel. I don't question that observation, either, but I like the new look and feel. I like it a lot. Firefox had a substantial memory leak for many years, but the developers appear to have resolved that issue. I wanted to see how Firefox compares with Chrome in resource usage.

All browsers have always seemed to be memory hogs and some use a lot of CPU power. Regardless of the browser I use, I start each day with 14 open tabs. Those ebb and flow during the day, but starting with the same 14 tabs open in each browser seemed to be a good comparison.

• Firefox with 14 active tabs.
  0.2% CPU load.
  941MB RAM used.
• Chrome with 14 active tabs.
  14.5% CPU load.
  2034MB RAM used.

So in this basic test, Chrome used 72 times the amount of CPU resources as Firefox and and nearly double the amount of system memory. My primary computer has what is by today's standards a nearly obscene amount of memory, so having an application that uses twice as much RAM as a similar program isn't a deal breaker. Likewise, the computer has a powerful CPU. But still Firefox is using virtually no CPU resources and Chrome is using nearly 15% of the available CPU. A computer with less memory and a slower CPU would see a difference.

Resource use isn't a primary deciding factor for me, but security is. I use a lot of Google resources (Google Drive, Google Photos, a Google Fi phone), so Google probably knows more about me than the FBI, the CIA, MI6, my physician, and my bank combined. There's not much I can hide from Google, but still I prefer a browser that has a more active stance on privacy and security. Firefox does that.

Version 89 goes beyond an updated look and feel by expanding integrated privacy protections. When these privacy protections detect a potential issue, the shield icon in the toolbar glows to indicate that the current site is attempting to use trackers and the browser is blocking them. Clicking on the shield icon displays information about what is being blocked.

Most browser users have multiple tabs open. The average, apparently, is around four tabs. The tabs have a new look and are gently curved. They float above the toolbar and the active tab has a highlight, which makes it easier to locate, especially if you have 14 tabs open instead of just four. Menus have been redesigned to make them easier to use and to reduce the need for multiple clicks to perform a single action. Mozilla has also reduced the number of alerts shown to users.

Even if you prefer another browser, it's a good idea to keep an eye on Mozilla's blog, which frequently addresses security concerns. For example, a recent post about deceptive design patterns used on some websites: "Deceptive design patterns show up as tricky color schemes, frustrating mazes, sneaky designs, and confusing language. Websites use these techniques to influence your behavior into a direction that benefits them more than it benefits you."

If you've ever ordered something online and found an extra item or two in your cart when you tried to check out, you've experienced deceptive design. The article lists several other despicable techniques, including messages from websites that may appear to come from the browser or from the operating system. Version 89 addresses that problem. The user interface has been updated so that there is no mistaking when Firefox is talking to you and when you're receiving a message from website. According to the blog, "notifications and messages make it clear that you have a choice to engage with them, and that using features should be a considered decision you make, not something we slip past you."

It's a good article that will almost certainly be worth your time: Deceptive Design Patterns.

Spare Parts

Dealing With A Global Chip Shortage

Some vehicle production lines have had to be shut down. Workers have been sent home. The problem: A shortage of computer chips. Cars and trucks contain a lot of computers. Car and Driver says about 40% of the cost of a new car is the electronic components. An article in 2020 said "The microprocessors and chips that power modern vehicles are now so prevalent that they're practically a commodity in the same vein as steel and aluminum. Computers are used in everything from the mundane (such as basic trip computers) to the near magical (think road-scanning active suspensions). They've made cars quicker, safer, cleaner, more efficient, and more reliable — better in every way. And while individual chips may be cheap these days, the computer's significance is evident in just how many there are in a single car."

It's not just the automotive industry. Computer chips are essential in the manufacture of (seemingly) just about everything. Poor planning is cited as one reason for the current shortage. Auto manufacturers shut down for quite a while in 2020, but they also canceled a lot of orders for microprocessors. Some of those suppliers found other markets that needed their chips, and auto manufacturers are now at the back of the line. Trade sanctions on China exacerbated the problem, and many of the chips used in small devices are older technology, so there's little appetite for building new factories to manufacture legacy goods.

Don't expect this situation to improve soon. Best estimates now are that supply and demand won't be back in balance until sometime in 2022.

Remember The 1980s?

IBM introduced its personal computer in 1981. Some people already had home computers from Apple, Atari, Commodore, or one of several other early manufacturers. But IBM used Microsoft DOS and that opened the door to IBM compatible computers.

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In 1982 or maybe 1983 I got a Zenith Z-150 and paid extra to boost the RAM to 184KB. It had two floppies and ran DOS 2.1. The monitor had a 12-inch diagonal measurement , was amber, and had a cloth-like anti-glare covering. The Z-150 had no motherboard; instead, there was a backplane that everything plugged into. The Z150 was also available in pieces with the Heathkit brand name on it.

By 1988 I also had a portable computer. By then, fast portable computers had 2 HIGH-CAPACITY floppy disk drives! Every program had to be loaded individually and that case in the lower right corner holds floppy disks for all the applications I needed.

I don't recall what that NEC Multispeed computer cost, but I do know that the average digital watch today has more computing power and more storage.

Twenty Years Ago: A Smaller PC Expo With A New Name

I thought PC Expo, which had been renamed TECHXNY, was smaller than in years past, but that was understandable. I wrote "The Internet bubble blew up and the dot-coms that were everywhere in 2000 were nowhere in 2001. The show, which had expanded to fill virtually every corner of Javits Convention Center this year occupied just the main exhibit floor and didn't quite fill that. Strategically located curtains blocked off the back 100 feet or so of the hall and food vendors took up some booth spaces that would otherwise have been empty."

Corel was absent. Adobe's presence was reduced. So was Symantec, which occupied a shared space with another vendor. Sprint PCS was there in force. So were other wireless providers and one of the primary manufacturers — Motorola. We saw the first big push into video for everyone. And if I thought the 2001 show was small, the 9/11 attacks were another factor that made the 2002 show the smallest, and the last of what had been an excellent tech show.