Due to unfortunate circumstances (me dropping the laptop) I have now ended up with a half broken laptop that has a broken screen and a dying battery. I could repair it, however, I don’t wanna bother as I’m very likely gonna be getting a new one soon.
The laptop itself still works fine, however the broken screen and dying battery make it pretty much useless as a laptop and I already have a home lab NAS thing, so I’m kinda out of ideas on what to do with it. Any ideas?
Install a Linux Distro. Connect to external monitor, plug power into wall.
Use it for a dedicated torrenting machine or use it as a test machine for whatever you like. If you kill it, whatever.
Otherwise I would just take that SSD out and recycle the machine.
It’s can be a useful server with a built-in UPS if there’s any services you’d like to isolate from the rest that you’re running. One example is backups as you want a backup system to be fairly well isolated but anything sensitive would qualify.
You could also make use of it for purposes where the hardware can speed things up, I think that GPU could help with encoding etc.
You could try to convert it to a “headless” laptop.
Some cash savvy people have been buying M1 macbooks with broken screens and converting them into headless laptops. For the price of a broken MacBook and some tinkering, you can get what is essentially a Mac mini with a touchpad and keyboard.
That is one of the things I’ve thought of doing with it, like a dedicated game streaming machine. It’s got gigabit LAN and a dedicated, even if not latest gen GPU, so yn
What your situation for data backup? You mentioned a homelab and a NAS, are you running regular backups to an off-box store? You could mate it with a few TB of inexpensive USB disk, maybe some software RAID, and use it for off-box backups. Doesn’t have to be fast, just reliable.
Specs like that, you have some options. Virtual assistant, IPCam NVR like MotionEye or Frigate, media server for your car (takes DC voltage, right?), weather base station, ADS-B feeder, smart mirrors.
Or (if you’re in the US) you could repair it and then, if you donate it to a suitable charity, you could take the the cost of the repair as a deduction on your taxes. Probably doesn’t help you that much, but it could maybe really help someone else who needs it.
My situation with data backup is… well I have none, nor can i really afford to invest into more hardware at the moment. I am running RAIDz1, on my NAS so that gives me a small amount of protection in case a drive in it does go bad ig.
Do you have a media center and/or server already? It’s a bit overkill for the former but would be well suited as the latter with its dedicated GPU that your NAS might not have/you may not want to have in your NAS.
That is a neat idea, however I don’t really have a “media center” or a TV for that matter, as I always just watch stuff on my PC… That and I am not the type of person who’s gonna go buying movies on disc… I just pirate that sh!t
Take it to an electronics recycling center. Seriously.
If you already have a homelab, you plan to replace it, you don’t want to repair it, and you don’t have an obvious use case for another machine (it’s just another computer; you either have the need for another computer or you don’t), then holding onto it is just hoarding.
Email server and password vault
This is something that should be a physical object in your own home.
And it should be only that (ok, maybe include a notes and calendar app but keep it simple, stupid)
I’d also glue it to the back of my TV and install Kodi or Batocera on it. Next option is give it away if you don’t need it. Either to someone who is still in need of a homelab or to recycling.
I would pull out its guts and then come up with a solid cooling solution for the CPU. Be extremely careful of the battery and make sure you dispose of it properly.
It would bug me a ton if I were to recycle it, as it still technically works, it’s just not worth repairing, as the total cost pretty much equals getting the same one, but working, 2nd hand…
I get that and I’ve been there, but it sounds like you have an existing homelab that can do most of what someone else might do with a broken laptop.
What ideas did you have?
And recycle it could mean wipe the drive and donate it to someplace that will recondition it and give it to someone who needs a computer for school/work but can’t afford one.
Thing is, it’s gonna need a lot more than a “recondition” to get it back to a “usable as a laptop” status. New screen, new battery, new bottom panel (yeah, that). And I do have some ideas of how to get extra use out of it, occasionally, as my homelab isn’t particularly powerful, I just wanted to get a 2nd opinion about it.
I usually just harvest usable parts like the hard drive and camera and call it a day.
Alternatively, if you’re able to plug an external monitor in and get it to work for setup, you could install some sort of Linux distro on it and run it headless for lots of different purposes.
Yeah it’s relatively easy to reuse most webcam cameras, you just have to get them connected to a USB cable, then most computers will immediately recognize them as cameras.
You are not logged in. However you can subscribe from another Fediverse account, for example Lemmy or Mastodon. To do this, paste the following into the search field of your instance: !selfhosted@lemmy.world
A place to share alternatives to popular online services that can be self-hosted without giving up privacy or locking you into a service you don’t control.
Rules:
Be civil: we’re here to support and learn from one another. Insults won’t be tolerated. Flame wars are frowned upon.
No spam posting.
Posts have to be centered around self-hosting. There are other communities for discussing hardware or home computing. If it’s not obvious why your post topic revolves around selfhosting, please include details to make it clear.
Don’t duplicate the full text of your blog or github here. Just post the link for folks to click.
Submission headline should match the article title (don’t cherry-pick information from the title to fit your agenda).
No trolling.
Resources:
selfh.st Newsletter and index of selfhosted software and apps
Install a Linux Distro. Connect to external monitor, plug power into wall.
Use it for a dedicated torrenting machine or use it as a test machine for whatever you like. If you kill it, whatever.
Otherwise I would just take that SSD out and recycle the machine.
It’s can be a useful server with a built-in UPS if there’s any services you’d like to isolate from the rest that you’re running. One example is backups as you want a backup system to be fairly well isolated but anything sensitive would qualify.
You could also make use of it for purposes where the hardware can speed things up, I think that GPU could help with encoding etc.
@Presi300@lemmy.world @selfhosted@lemmy.world #selfhosted #repurposedhardware
I wouldn’t suggest a dying laptop battery as a UPS, especially if it’s old. You’re just asking for a spicy pillow in a never observed, enclosed area.
You could try to convert it to a “headless” laptop.
Some cash savvy people have been buying M1 macbooks with broken screens and converting them into headless laptops. For the price of a broken MacBook and some tinkering, you can get what is essentially a Mac mini with a touchpad and keyboard.
https://youtu.be/uOigVjqW7hc
That is one of the things I’ve thought of doing with it, like a dedicated game streaming machine. It’s got gigabit LAN and a dedicated, even if not latest gen GPU, so yn
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/uOigVjqW7hc
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
deleted by creator
What your situation for data backup? You mentioned a homelab and a NAS, are you running regular backups to an off-box store? You could mate it with a few TB of inexpensive USB disk, maybe some software RAID, and use it for off-box backups. Doesn’t have to be fast, just reliable.
Specs like that, you have some options. Virtual assistant, IPCam NVR like MotionEye or Frigate, media server for your car (takes DC voltage, right?), weather base station, ADS-B feeder, smart mirrors.
Or (if you’re in the US) you could repair it and then, if you donate it to a suitable charity, you could take the the cost of the repair as a deduction on your taxes. Probably doesn’t help you that much, but it could maybe really help someone else who needs it.
Or, just wipe it and send it to e-waste.
My situation with data backup is… well I have none, nor can i really afford to invest into more hardware at the moment. I am running RAIDz1, on my NAS so that gives me a small amount of protection in case a drive in it does go bad ig.
Do you have a media center and/or server already? It’s a bit overkill for the former but would be well suited as the latter with its dedicated GPU that your NAS might not have/you may not want to have in your NAS.
That is a neat idea, however I don’t really have a “media center” or a TV for that matter, as I always just watch stuff on my PC… That and I am not the type of person who’s gonna go buying movies on disc…
I just pirate that sh!tTake it to an electronics recycling center. Seriously.
If you already have a homelab, you plan to replace it, you don’t want to repair it, and you don’t have an obvious use case for another machine (it’s just another computer; you either have the need for another computer or you don’t), then holding onto it is just hoarding.
I mean, ultimately, if I can’t find anything else to do with it, I might do that.
Email server and password vault This is something that should be a physical object in your own home. And it should be only that (ok, maybe include a notes and calendar app but keep it simple, stupid)
deleted by creator
Retroarch box for your TV?
I’d also glue it to the back of my TV and install Kodi or Batocera on it. Next option is give it away if you don’t need it. Either to someone who is still in need of a homelab or to recycling.
What is the motherboard?
I would pull out its guts and then come up with a solid cooling solution for the CPU. Be extremely careful of the battery and make sure you dispose of it properly.
Yeah, that’s another thing I was gonna ask about… How does one properly dispose of a battery?
Find a recycling center
Sell or donate for parts. If you don’t have a use for it, someone likely does and it’s better than landfill.
Services: DNS (Pi-Hole for example), DHCP, or NTP, off the top of my head.
Already got all of that from a VM off my homelab
Web server for a Smart Mirror?
https://magicmirror.builders/
I run my mirror locally, but you can also pull it from a separate server.
Install Proxmox on it and it could be a second node for anything that you want.
Sounds like you’re looking for a solution you already know the answer to; recycle the laptop if you’re not going to repair it.
It would bug me a ton if I were to recycle it, as it still technically works, it’s just not worth repairing, as the total cost pretty much equals getting the same one, but working, 2nd hand…
I get that and I’ve been there, but it sounds like you have an existing homelab that can do most of what someone else might do with a broken laptop.
What ideas did you have?
And recycle it could mean wipe the drive and donate it to someplace that will recondition it and give it to someone who needs a computer for school/work but can’t afford one.
Thing is, it’s gonna need a lot more than a “recondition” to get it back to a “usable as a laptop” status. New screen, new battery, new bottom panel (yeah, that). And I do have some ideas of how to get extra use out of it, occasionally, as my homelab isn’t particularly powerful, I just wanted to get a 2nd opinion about it.
Got it.
Then do what you’re thinking about doing with it :)
I usually just harvest usable parts like the hard drive and camera and call it a day.
Alternatively, if you’re able to plug an external monitor in and get it to work for setup, you could install some sort of Linux distro on it and run it headless for lots of different purposes.
Camera?
Like a Webcam camera? What’s the use case? Can you map the pins to a SPC like a raspi or ardrino?
Yeah it’s relatively easy to reuse most webcam cameras, you just have to get them connected to a USB cable, then most computers will immediately recognize them as cameras.
Looks like you have a brand new dedicated porn viewing machine
Nah, that’s what my phone is for :)