Computer/shipping/work woes...

[Dave]

Got a windows virus that altered my EFI and actually edited the CPU's microcode. Left me with an i7-6700K and Skylake motherboard I can't trust. Been out of action for a while now, with just a smartphone to see the world. Got my retired macbook pro up and running, so I am good for now, and ordered a limited edition 6 core 5 GHz i9 and new 370 chipset motherboard. That's all coming together but not smoothly. Having to create a complete new image and not restore from back-ups.

Lost several weeks of work.

Also, had an order returned to me by the UK Post Office with no stated reason - just... returned. I refunded the customer right away. Might be related to the new tariffs? They're now requiring phone numbers for Trump's trade war countries, so maybe it just got caught in the changeover? What a fuss :/ How do they expect people to ship things?

Final icky thing: Ordered 4M PCBs through Seeed instead of my usual supplier and they sent me someone else's PCBs. TWICE.

I do not recommend Seeed.

[RWAP]

I thought Microsoft had issued the fix to protect the microcode months ago! Sorry to hear your woes though.

As for the UK post office - they probably misread the package - I have sent items only for them to be returned to me by the post office the next day (delivered of course, just to the return address which was printed on a label on the back across the flap). After that I learnt to put my return address at 90 degrees to the stamp and recipient's address.

[Dave]

USPS 6x4" labels with the CN22 built in, the FROM: address is tiny, the TO: address is prominent. They did just start allowing recipient phone numbers, and to tariffed countries require it. The label was printed the day before the tariffs came into effect.

As for the CPU/motherboard: from packet sniffing the CPU/mobo/on board ethernet mines cryptocurrency even without an OS. No way to fix it as I can't manually update the microcode on the CPU. I could fix the motherboard's EFI code, but for 10% higher cost I can get a 60% faster new CPU/mobo combo.

[pjw]

What an interesting life you lead
As a matter of interest, how did you discover the virus problem? Was it obvious, or just a subtle decrease in performance? Or perhaps your anti virus software detected it? I ax because of the issues Im having with my laptop (See topic) After cleaning it out the fan doesnt kick in as quickly as before, but the machine is obviously under more strain when using QPC2 than I remember from a year ago. It may be, as Marcel suggested, a change it Windows, or it may be something similar to what you had...

[Dave]

My CPU fan started running more, and my kill-a-watt (power consumption monitor that you put between a device and the wall socket) showed power consumption jumped from averaging 115W at idle to 195-200W at "idle". The task utility showed a very low load and low temps, but the EFI/BIOS hardware monitor showed high temps. This would happen even with no drive installed. I noticed the LAN socket was blinking so I got a packet sniffer and it was fetching and delivering work packets to a crypto pool.

I bought a nice limited edition "Core i7-8086K" 40th anniversary limited edition replacement CPU that's nice. 6-core, 12 thread, 4.0 GHz, with 5.0 GHz boost and only draws 95W flat out. Was cheaper than the plain 4-core 8700K too. A nice 370-chipset motherboard and all new OS install should take care of it.

Just going very carefully through my back-ups to make sure I don't import the infection to the new hardware.

[pjw]

My CPU fan started running more, and my kill-a-watt (power consumption monitor that you put between a device and the wall socket) showed power consumption jumped from averaging 115W at idle to 195-200W at "idle". The task utility showed a very low load and low temps, but the EFI/BIOS hardware monitor showed high temps. This would happen even with no drive installed. I noticed the LAN socket was blinking so I got a packet sniffer and it was fetching and delivering work packets to a crypto pool.

Thanks for your input!
Since I have a laptop (MacBook Pro, running Windows 7), it wont be easy to monitor the consumption, even if I had the gear. Besides, I dont have the Before data. No hardware monitor either as, I guess, there are no accessible sensors built in. So its down to packet sniffing. Ive downloaded Windows'es own kit for this but most of this is mambo-jumbo to me. Any tips as to what I should be looking for? (Anyone?) However, if these guys can fiddle the micro code, I suppose theres not much to be done, even if I should find a culprit; the machine would be virtually bricked.

I bought a nice limited edition "Core i7-8086K" 40th anniversary limited edition replacement CPU that's nice. 6-core, 12 thread, 4.0 GHz, with 5.0 GHz boost and only draws 95W flat out. Was cheaper than the plain 4-core 8700K too. A nice 370-chipset motherboard and all new OS install should take care of it.

<sigh> Not an option for me, but enjoy!

Just going very carefully through my back-ups to make sure I don't import the infection to the new hardware.

[Dave]

Tomorrow's the big day to work on getting back up and running!

*fingers crossed*

PJW: The MBP isn't susceptible to this type of infection due to Apple's very specific UEFI. If it was that and you had this type of malicious code on your system the OS wouldn't launch.

MBPs with i7s have always been thermally constrained. Even with clean heatsinks, the fans can become marginal quite easily. I have replaced one of the fans from my MBP to maintain it, and expect to replace the other within a few months. And that's just a rarely used back-up machine now.

Hope this helps.

[pjw]

I shant hog your thread with any more of my issues. Thanks for your help! And good luck with getting back in business

[Dave]

I've been enjoying the Texas summer, been out on the river. A bit like a siesta, in Texas, no work really happens from about July 1st to about September 15th... Had a 122F day and mostly over 100F days. Mid 40C's....

On Saturday I am heading off for 3 weeks to work on a Guinness World Record attempt - longest distance travelled in a jon boat. We're aiming for 2,200 miles, starting in North Carolina and working across to then down the Mississippi.

The repvised 4M cards came in but I am not working on them until I get back.

Catch you all when I get back.

[NormanDunbar]

Have fun Dave.

Cheers,
Norm.