LilBeaver

EASY and SHORT answer: The Acronis software will take care of creating the partition table and formatting the drive for you so don't worry about it and when Windows prompts you to format the drive, just say no and go through the process with the Acronis software. Easy as can be.

If you decide you would like to solve this problem AND use your CB, all you need to do is take the tank off and re-route your CB cable away from the ignition coils. You showed that the source of your ticking is from the CB cable Amazing how much of a difference it makes to NOT have that annoying ticking in the headsets, eh? I know I sure enjoyed mine a LOT more once I routed my cables properly and got rid of the annoying tick. At least then I had the OPTION to listing to something annoying from the back seat or not :duck:

+1 to this. Formatting your drive will erase everything. *poof* gone. I would go ahead and try something simple like plug the external drive into a different set of USB ports on the HP desktop and see if you get the same error message. If so, try a different USB cable. If the error persists, plug your drive into a machine that it actually works with and run the 'check disk' tool [right click on the drive in my computer --> Properties --> Tools --> "Error checking/Check now" (or something like that). It would also not be a bad idea to download "crystal disk info" or something to read the S.M.A.R.T. information off the disk to see if maybe you have an unusually high bad sector count or something else that may be suggesting failure is near.

If all you care about is the data, backups are pretty easy -- Just get yourself a reliable drive and put the stuff you want to save on it. Done. Having stuff saved in multiple places reduces the risk of a total loss You do NOT need fancy backup software (sometimes it helps but often time it just slows down your system while it 'indexes' or whatever) -- all you need is a reliable drive, safe place to store it and to remember to actually DO the backups

You will get PLENTY of opinions on this matter (think Oil, magic spark plugs, fuel additives, air filters, etc etc) but in my opinion and experience, this is absolutely the way to go (a quality drive and your own enclosure). The 'Red' series NAS drives are 'rated' for 'network attached storage'. As you noted, they carry the 5 year warranty and specs that are nominally equivalent to the server class drives. IN fact, I have been hard pressed to find differences between the Red NAS and Black RE/Enterprise series drives. One MAJOR problem I have with almost any of the pre-packaged external drives on the market is that the companies (WD included) end up using cheap drives in their enclosures. For example, WD was using their "Green" drives for a while, which have a unreasonably high failure rate. Anyway, I was reading your thread and about to suggest you put together your own external drive package. The Acronis software is nearly fool proof, so long as you READ and FOLLOW the instructions. As Tx2sturgis indicated, doing a clone over USB will take awhile. Depending on how saavy you are, you can always just plug the drive in internally, do the clone and then put it back in the enclosure for later access. Or just set it up to run over night or whatever. It has been a long time since I have had to do a complete image over USB 2 (I usually use esata, the internal method or USB 3) but if you are prepped for it taking a while then no worries -- just plug it in, set it up and let it do its thing. Depending on what you are looking for with this back up and what your current internal drive is, I would most likely do what Tx2sturgis suggested with respect to clone your current drive and use your fancy new drive as your primary drive (which I can nearly guarantee will be way faster than whatever you have in there now) and pop your old 600GB one in your enclosure to use for backups. 5-10 years ago I would have agreed with you about western digital drives but they seem to have come a long way. All drives fail eventually, it is just how it goes. I know it is somewhat anecdotal, but in the last couple of server upgrades I have gone with WD (Granted they are the Black enterprise series drives - i.e. server class, which I am sure you know) and of the 56 drives (on 24x7 for almost 5 years now -- hardware has been updated and some of these drives have been moved to other machines; desktops and servers) I have had only 2 issues with these WD drives. One was dead out of the box, which based on what the shipping container looked like I am quite certain it was due to the shipper (the box looked like someone was using it for kickball -- the shipper bought us a new drive, no questions asked). The second one turned out to be a bad cable -- my RAID card kicked it out of the array, so I put it in a desktop to test it... and that was 3.5 years ago and it is still chugging along just fine. Seagates on the other hand, ha. Until about 4 years ago, those were pretty good too. In the last 4 years the only thing reliable about the seagates that come through my department is that they fail within the first 6 months or about half way through the warranty period -- whether they are run 24x7 or only used as backup drives.

I don't know Rick... It seems like someone *cough cough* Nina *cough cough* may be buttering you up for something big :witch_brew:

It may be worth hopping in the BIOS and checking for the 'PS/2 compatibility mode' setting for your peripherals and the 'serial port' setting [just disable that sucker for now as if it is requesting an IRQ for something that is not there, it may be conflicting with your USB devices]. that is really strange that this is happening on the live disk -- which tells me that SuSe may have changed some settings [which I have personally witnessed happen on my machine(s) numerous times even though it should not be able to]... Just a few shots in the dark here. PS I will be away from a computer for the next ~30 hours but when I have access again, I will let you know if I think of anything else. ugh, Ubuntu... **Written from my FUNCTIONING keyboard within SL 6.4 **

Gotcha. I would have been awfully surprised if your box suddenly puked all of your peripherals at the same time... Too bad to hear that SuSe turned out to be this way for you. It would be far too easy if there was an OS that just worked (quiet you Mac people ).

cannot do anything? What does that mean... Can you not even open up a virtual console? Boot to rescue mode? Mix your drinks? Boot to single user mode? Do you have the keyboard during and immediately after POST? One of my major complaints about anything beyond SuSe 11 is the fact that just about any kernel update (or some of the non-major updates, for that matter, seem to 'break' the system [as you found]. Sometimes it is a simple reload of some drivers or adjusting the proper services to start when the machine starts and a few times it has been as serious as SuSe 'misplacing' my RAID array or randomly reorganizing various partitions, randomly assigning labels to the various network cards, etc etc. Anyway, sorry to hear about your troubles. Probing the logs a bit may produce some useful information to fixing your problem... or just bust out the ole hammer and let-r-rip...

Hmmm, this does seem a little fishy. I believe that when a package does not require a signature delivery it is up to the driver as to whether something can be left at the doorstep or not. I actually had a short conversation with a UPS man about this a week or two ago -- I was pulling up to my house as he was loading my package back on his truck. He said that he was not comfortable leaving my box outside my house (Server case, which I greatly apprecaited since the box clearly said what was inside and it was big enough that anyone could see what it was from the street). We had a brief chat about what he leaves and what he doesn't -- he said that his choice is to leave small packages that are no obvious as to the contents and that can be reasonably well hidden [such as between the screen door and front door or on a back patio/porch] but will not leave anything that looks valuable or is large enough to draw attention to it, if left in front of a domicile. Occasionally I do have to sign the form on the door for them to leave a package or just go to the regional center and pick it up there. As pointed out, from the tracking information (or just call UPS) you should be able to read the driver's comments as to if someone received the package or if it was left somewhere (along with the specifics as to WHEN and WHERE it was left -- if the driver did his job). IF the shipper claims [and can prove] the package was delivered to the address, then they are not liable for the missing package. So +1 to the check with UPS and verify the police report and if those are all consistent with the guy's story, hope that he will be fair with YOU about resolving the situation . I would also make absolutely certain that ALL of the communication is done via fleabay so that if he opens a case against you, or whatever, it is officially recorded and you will at least have that on your behalf. Once you dropped it off at the shipping location, you have done all you are capable of [besides requiring signature verification] to ensure that the buyer received the items presuming you can prove you actually shipped the items (receipt with dimensions and weight should suffice, a picture would be even better) and hence you are no longer liable for anything as you held up your end of the deal. Unfortunately, fleabay IS unhealthily biased to buyers and makes it very easy for scammers to do their thing. Sorry to hear about this happening; I hope it works out okay

Email sent for tips. Congrats on the weight loss! [those jeans would be a bit big for me]

Glad I was not the only one that had a little difficulty getting these things out... The only places I tried were the main chain stores. My final stop was at O'Reilly [it helped that they had a big poster that pictured the tools that were available for rental -- so I was able to point to it and argue with the employee, and eventually the manager]. My first stop was at AutoZone -- as it turns out, they DID have one, they just did not know it [i went back for something a few weeks later and it came up in conversation with one of the employees]. +1 to sticking the new bearings in the freezer! Woohoo for thermal contraction!

I read a lot of claims of people using dremels, old bearings, etc etc. What worked for me was going to to three different auto parts stores until ONE had the correct tool in stock. I had to ask for it by name, then I had to point at it in a picture AND THEN the manager had to come over and be talked into going into the back and looking for it... Sure enough, they had one in stock for me to rent [for free]. The tool you want is called a "Blind hole bearing puller" and the slide hammer to go with it. [Pictured here] http://www.otctools.com/newcatalog/products/4581_1684.jpg To seat the new bearings, I used a socket to tap it into place, making sure to provide even pressure all around (block of wood over the back end of the socket and tap it in with a rubber mallet). I will have to go look in the garage to see what size socket I needed -- I bought one special for this task and sized it up perfectly so that the socket would ONLY be in contact with the outer race. Now that I have done the job once, next time will be much less frustrating. There is a ridge on the inside of the part where the bearings are seated, that will not allow the bearings to go on any further, which I did not know about until I had the old ones out -- hence NOT being able to knock the bearings out from the opposite side... Also, it is helpful to have the proper tools to get the rotors off (an appropriately sized torx or hex socket attachment [depending on what year your bike is] is a good place to start).

You said this is a brand new to you bike. While the symptoms you describe to sound like the clutch slipping, a easy and much cheaper thing to do before replacing the clutch components is change or at the bare minimum, bleed the fluid.

Gotcha. Yeah, virtual box can be a bit fussy -- but for free, you won't catch me complaining TOO much. I hope they get USB 3.0 supported soon...

Your statement is somewhat ambiguous as to what you ordered, what you think you ordered and what you were expecting to receive [or maybe I am just not understanding properly]. From what I can tell, you seem to think that the 'MOSFET' R/R would come with a different harness end or something; is that what you were thinking? What sets the MOSFET [Metal-Oxide semiconducting field effect transistor] apart from a 'traditional' Rectifier/regulator [which on the 2nd gens, I have not opened one up to see if it is, in fact, MOSFET, thyristor or whatever else they may be since it is new enough I would be a little surprised if it was not built with MOSFEt components anyway] has to do with the network physical electronic devices that actually provides the switching capabilities required for the R/R unit to actually function the way it is supposed to. I will spare the details, but, in this application a MOSFET component can operate more efficiently than a thyristor -- specifically function with producing less heat. One of the leading causes of failure in semiconducting devices (or electronics, for that matter) relates to heat. So regardless of the internal components, the exterior of your regulator/rectifier unit will probably look nearly identical as it still needs to fit in the stock location, it still needs to plug into your stock electrical system and it still needs to have plenty of airflow to keep cool enough to not kill itself. I would be awfully surprised if you were able to order a bolt-on regulator/rectifier unit that did NOT have the stock connector on it. I would say go with a good quality replacement -- from your original statement it is a bit unclear as to whether you ordered a R/R from bike bandit OR from Rick's Motorsports. Either OEM or the MOSFET that The previous on you had that fried it self -- was that a replacement? Where did that come from? Was it ACTUALLY for the correct bike? Personally, I would be on the horn with that company (so long as it was properly spec'ed for the RSV) as there no reason it should have caught fire under normal operations. Short of having a lot of corrosion on the pins which would cause excess heat from the increased resistivity in the connectors, if the original R/R didn't go up in smoke [but still failed] it is hard for me to believe that a quality replacement would start fire before frying some internal component. -- Again, this is all assuming that it was the PROPER replacement for the RSV. If it was spec'ed for a different bike, with a lower power rating, then I would not be surprised at all if it shot flames at some point... Anyway, I hope this answered your question -- I have been told, in the past, that I ramble a lot but I do hope that my rambling is informative and helpful.

And here I thought you had sold that new Victory of yours... Congrats on the sale AND the profit! Did you SOUPerstars sign the inside of it or something to increase the value even more?

Your statement is slightly unclear -- if you needed to be running windows to connect to your external hard drive, I presume that means your drive is formatted in NTFS. Which, if that is the case, you can install the appropriate NTFS drivers for your SuSe distro and then Linux sees it like any other drive. I think the command in suse for mounting an NTFS drive is ntfs-3g or something like that. But a little searching will get you all squared away.

Absolutely correct Dingy, I cannot believe I made that mistake . Rather embarrassing at that... especially since I certainly know better. I have adjusted the original post to hopefully help clarify. I guess I need to make sure I am at least a little awake before writing a post or at least proof read it a little more carefully. I had meant to suggest looking for the alternating variations in the power supplied to the bike which can be done either by checking for AC current, as described in your post OR by using a standard voltmeter and checking for any sign of fluctuation in what should be a DC voltage measurement. One can check either by using the AC mode on a voltmeter and look to see how/if the reading changes as a function of time when probing either the wires on the battery terminals, the AUX plug under the seat, or wherever else one would choose to actually make that measurement.

Checking for the appropriate voltage (no greater than 14.4 -- good range at high RPM is 13.8 to 14.4 V) will test half of the functionality of the regulator/rectifier unit. The other thing to check for is to ensure that there is no sign of an AC signal in your system [after the rectifier/regulator -- since that is the job of the rectifier part of the R/R's job). Checking across the battery terminals is as good of place as any to check. That is all there is too it! Good luck with the rewire

As mentioned by others, different rears fit different seats very differently. For YOU the stock seat might not be comfortable. I personally find the stock pillow top to be quite comfortable. I am NOT a big guy though. before I had my seat redone by Rick Butler, I was able to do about 800-1000 miles in a day before starting to feel the tailbone burn. When I got on for a second or third day, the distance decreased by about 200 miles before feeling the burn again. Rick Butler cut in the tailbone relief and replaced the old and worn out padding on my seat and I subsequently rode ~4k in 6 days with no pain or discomfort from the pillow top. I now have a Corbin (that I cannot wait to get rid of) that is on my bike while my pillow top is being recovered (the fabric tore and I found a used Corbin here for a good price). For me, the Corbin simply does not work. My rear does not have enough padding and is simply not shaped properly to match the Corbin's shape. The Corbin is firm and shaped for someone that is a bit bigger framed than I am. --- So to the O.P. If you are finding short trips uncomfortable on your pillow top, then yes, there is no way a long day would be comfortable on your pillow top. My experience is limited to the Corbin, Stock pillow top and a modified pillow top.

Which can be remedied by forwarding the audio as well I do this when I am out of the country and trying to do things on the interwebs that require a U.S. Based IP address... and sound... yeah. I promise it is all legitimate business related shenanigans... (I have this ocean front property here in Lubbock to sell you too...)

I am pretty sure the standard winderz games are available as free downloads from their application 'store'. But, your solution certainly works too __ OH YEAH -- since you are the 'computer dude' you may want to look into how to enable safe mode and stuff like that. I have not verified this for myself yet, but a fairly computer savvy friend of mine told me that you have to enable the ability to enter safe mode from the normally functioning mode. In addition, as like windows 7 the 'built in' administrator account is usually disabled but can easily be enabled with the standard trickery from the 'net user' command. Just figured I would throw that out there for you as if it were true, that would be a rather lame and nasty surprise come trouble time...

Depending on your actual needs for remote desktop connectivity, VNC (tigervnc, tightvnc and whatever other ways it is known by) works pretty well and cross-platform it works just fine. I routinely connect between winderz and linux boxes via VNC with no issues. That is from windows TO linux as well as from Linux to Windows. NX/NoMachine is also a nice way to go. This one functions over the SSH protocol, has decent compression and gives you access to a machine. VNC will give you control over the computer as when you 'logon' via VNC, VNC routes control of the keyboard and mouse as well as the display to the remote user while the local user can still watch. NX will allow you to log on to the remote machine and use the remote machine as a user and the host never knows unless they are watching the server processes. Nice thing about VNC is that it is usually included in the repoitories which makes installation a breeze (if it is not already installed with the distribution). It is also super easy to configure. My disclaimer here are that since NX and VNC satisfy my needs, I have not looked into any other remote desktop software -- the standard winderz one doesn't count.... --- Good luck with CentOS! There is nothing that I have been able to find that will work in Mint/Ubuntu but not CentOS/Scientific Linux but as a warning, it may take a little more patience and work to figure it out... Have fun and

It IS a great video. Probably one of my favorite demos to do because it always surprises everyone! I have some other demos that go boom that wake everyone up -- those are a close second to angular momentum and torque demonstrations.