4 ms·

It's possible, but harder. A modern Ethernet card would probably be doing this step entirely on one chip. A quick search shows the Microchip ENC28J60 as a prett

It's possible, but harder. A modern Ethernet card would probably be doing this step entirely on one chip. A quick search shows the Microchip ENC28J60 as a pretty typical part. The result is that you'd be able to probe the input to the chip and the output, and see the failure at the output, and replace the chip. Effectively the same as what was done here, just with more components built into the chip. Louis Rossmann[1] does macbook component-level logic board repairs, though 99% of the time he doesn't need to break out the oscilloscope to find the problem. It's almost always a power supply or liquid damage problem, or something similar that can be found with nothing more than a multimeter. [1] https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkVbIsAWN2lsHdY7ldAAgtJug50pRNQv0 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkVbIsAWN2lsHdY7ldAAg...

emeraldd 9y ago
"That's not unprofessional... This is unprofessional... " That made my day! Thanks for pointing this out.
katastic 9y ago
I thought you needed a many-GHZ scope/logic probe to capture modern ethernet.
- SAI_Peregrinus 9y ago
  Not really. For example the chip I mentioned (and most others) includes JTAG test capability, and several programmable modes. That makes it possible to test the chip more easily. Also some of the most common errors (overvoltage/overcurrent applied to inputs) will likely result in a short to ground, so they'll show up when checking the chip's power input with a multimeter: it will be shorted to ground! Other errors can cause other symptoms, but needing to actually view the signal is pretty rare.
WalterBright 9y ago
I kept my old computers from the 80's to today. A couple years ago I tried to fire them up. None older than 10 years would come up. Some would crackle and belch smoke, others weird POST errors. Oh well.
sillysaurus3 9y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK9pfbGSE4A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK9pfbGSE4A is incredibly cool. Thanks for this series! It's so neat to watch a pro in a completely different domain. I know some of the basic concepts, but it's mesmerizing to watch him reason through voltage levels and pinpoint a failed resistor. That's magical to me.
- heywire 9y ago
  Agreed. I became aware of Louis' work after looking for information on the infamous Mid-2010 Macbook Pro 15 GPU kernel panic. After watching this video [1], I was able to replace the same capacitor for ~$3 and restore a previously unusable Macbook. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzcgT_fiVTA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzcgT_fiVTA
  - sillysaurus3 9y ago
    https://youtu.be/xRwfJpNvWI0?t=1247 https://youtu.be/xRwfJpNvWI0?t=1247 Bad idea to eat cereal while watching his videos... That was hilarious. I love that he leaves in all the little mistakes. Most videos are polished and presented. Tutorials are nice, but you get so much more raw data from watching this. Plus it feels like having a conversation. Looks like Ken has some videos like this too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adEr2aRwHnI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adEr2aRwHnI
    - heywire 9y ago
      > I love that he leaves in all the little mistakes In fact, in the video I mentioned, someone who was watching his livestream pointed out that he installed a polarized capacitor backwards...

emeraldd 9y ago

"That's not unprofessional... This is unprofessional... " That made my day! Thanks for pointing this out.

katastic 9y ago

I thought you needed a many-GHZ scope/logic probe to capture modern ethernet.

SAI_Peregrinus 9y ago
Not really. For example the chip I mentioned (and most others) includes JTAG test capability, and several programmable modes. That makes it possible to test the chip more easily. Also some of the most common errors (overvoltage/overcurrent applied to inputs) will likely result in a short to ground, so they'll show up when checking the chip's power input with a multimeter: it will be shorted to ground! Other errors can cause other symptoms, but needing to actually view the signal is pretty rare.

WalterBright 9y ago

I kept my old computers from the 80's to today. A couple years ago I tried to fire them up. None older than 10 years would come up. Some would crackle and belch smoke, others weird POST errors. Oh well.

sillysaurus3 9y ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK9pfbGSE4A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK9pfbGSE4A is incredibly cool. Thanks for this series! It's so neat to watch a pro in a completely different domain. I know some of the basic concepts, but it's mesmerizing to watch him reason through voltage levels and pinpoint a failed resistor. That's magical to me.

heywire 9y ago
Agreed. I became aware of Louis' work after looking for information on the infamous Mid-2010 Macbook Pro 15 GPU kernel panic. After watching this video [1], I was able to replace the same capacitor for ~$3 and restore a previously unusable Macbook. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzcgT_fiVTA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzcgT_fiVTA
- sillysaurus3 9y ago
  https://youtu.be/xRwfJpNvWI0?t=1247 https://youtu.be/xRwfJpNvWI0?t=1247 Bad idea to eat cereal while watching his videos... That was hilarious. I love that he leaves in all the little mistakes. Most videos are polished and presented. Tutorials are nice, but you get so much more raw data from watching this. Plus it feels like having a conversation. Looks like Ken has some videos like this too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adEr2aRwHnI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adEr2aRwHnI
  - heywire 9y ago
    > I love that he leaves in all the little mistakes In fact, in the video I mentioned, someone who was watching his livestream pointed out that he installed a polarized capacitor backwards...