Modem, DVD Burner and SATA cable computer upgrades

Part of a birthday gift from.... a Friend. Little bit of a hit-n-miss at first but finally got all the parts needed for newest computer upgrade.

 

These Newegg purchased parts (~$40 including.... 68 CENT shipping charge) are:

 

* Rosewill 36" SATA III UV Blue Flat Cable w/ Locking Latch (RCAB-11040, 1.5 to 6 Gbps, the two pretty blue still rolled cables toward the back)

 

* StarTech 12" LP4 to 2 SATA Internal Power Splitter Cable (PYO2LP4SATA, the multi-colored cable)

 

* ASUS 24X DVD Burner (DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS, called OEM with translation being you have to buy everything else separate)

 

* Rosewill 56Kbps Conexant Hardware Based Modem (RNX-56USB, V.92 Data/Fax/TAM, little black thing on top of DVD burner, SINGLE port)

 

Bought OEM parts in the past but somehow missed I needed to purchase cables and screws if I didn't already have them this time. Screws I had. Went ahead and bought the SATA power splitter cable since it was about the same cost as others. Figure sooner or later I'll end up needed it anyway. All parts would looked at with both backward and forward compatibility in mind, well, besides being among the first items showing in Newegg's low to high price availability feature for each component category. *grin*.

 

The Rosewill dialup modem (small black item in center on top of DVD burner) actually sped things up nearly times two of all things. Was previously having to rebuild the software for my VERY OLD internal Slamr based modem AND then it only connected max at 32800 bps (bits per second). This new external modem maxxes consistently at the 57600 bps rating. Feels like it, too, as websites are loading notably faster.

 

Parts are all running on Knoppix Linux 7.0.2 right now. In fact is first time I've been able to run the Knoppix 7.0.2 LiveDVD full throttle. Maybe only 10th time it's ever been fired up. Things slow down some but a quick memory upgrade as the next goal SHOULD help there. To get the modem up and running, I plugged it into the back then ran "sudo wvdial". Plugged results of /etc/wvdial.conf into kppp's configure settings and blew my mind... when it actually freaking worked! That doesn't happen often on the first go with this computer. :))

 

Life Lesson Learned the Hard Way was it took two purchases because I didn't realize the cables weren't included with the DVD burner. If you go buying cables, KNOW your machine and look for parts that tell you how many pins each end contains.. ALSO the external modem only has one port. Got lucky there as I had previously bought a two-way phone cable splitter.. That's plugged into the main line then phone and modem cables are plugged separately into it.

 

Thank you shoutout to My dot Buddy. for making this possible. :)

Done