Too soon old, too late smart – the ancient mariner gets a sharp rap with the clue bat

That’s my 1999 22 SeaSport up at the top of the page.  Main power is a Volvo-Penta 5.7 GSi.  Marinized Chevy 350 with throttle-body injection.

On our one halibut outing this year we ran out to the ‘but hole, fished an hour or so, then fired up the big engine to move.  Engine started but I could hear the high-pressure fuel pump screeching.   Shut down, restarted… more screech.  Finally it stopped but when throttling up the engine would surge and shut down.

This happened before a few years ago.  Can be caused by a failing pump (there are two: low pressure and high pressure) or by a fuel obstruction that causes pump cavitation.  They screech when they aren’t full of fuel.  Last time I replaced the HP pump and it was fine for 7 years or so.

Normally I’d spend some time troubleshooting and maybe take the one-thing-at-a-time approach but this happened just before leaving for a family reunion that was already going to wipe out  the first two weeks of king season, and there was no time for a leisurely approach to repair – or to try to find a boatyard that could take it on.

Larry and Richard – service manager and parts dude – at a major shop in Seattle were very generous with their time trying to get me going over the phone.  General consensus was that likely it was a failing pump.  Larry also suggested a clogged anti-siphon valve and since I wasn’t sure I could reach it on top of the fuel tank (and I HATE touching fuel components that I can’t monitor easily) he advised to test with an outboard fuel primer bulb and sure enough plenty of fuel flow.

So… many $$$ later I swapped out both pumps.  Did a sea trial that went fine, but on returning home to do an engine flush I got a little pump screech.   Per the book, it could have been vapor in the system after a hot soak (not a problem if so) but the old pumps never did that, so time to check the ant-siphon valve.

By removing the engine cover I was able to access it fairly easily and once it was off it proved to be completely unobstructed… BUT… when I went to remove the fuel hose from the valve barb – usually wrestling match after 23 years in place… it nearly fell off when I touched it.

Ah *bleep* the problem all along was most likely an air leak around the valve barb, not a pump failure or obstruction.  Could have fixed it on the water in seconds with a screwdriver and skipped the mad dash to repair… not to mention the $$$.  Replaced the valve with one that a more serious set of rings on the barb, and cranked down the hose clamp.  So far so good.  No screech and running fine.  (Knock on teak…)

Like I said, too soon  old and too late smart. And it’s never a good idea to rush these things – if only a measured approach had been an option.

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Don’t panic – you can still secure boot Linux on new ThinkPads

There seems to be a whole lot of half-informed “information” floating around about Lenovo and/or MS locking out Linux on new ThinkPads. And as usual,  the torch and pitchfork crowd railing against the conspiracy.


Nope. You can still boot a signed distro, but it takes one more step. The ability to boot something that uses MS 3rd party certs has been split out in the secure boot options. Enter BIOS, switch that toggle, and Bob’s your uncle. Confirmed on my ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7 and multiple other ThinkPads by my mates.  Whew.

 

X1 Yoga Gen 7 BIOS 3rd Party Certs – image updated

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ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7: Truly a New Generation

A preliminary look at the laptop that just took over the place of honor on my bench. Base specifications and the specifics of this top-of-the-line X1 Yoga – and how it compares to the previous tenant, a high-end Gen 6  X1 Yoga – ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 6: Future Perfect?.  There’s also a super-quick look at Linux issues.  By now you know the drill:

From time to time Lenovo sends me a gadget. They’re handy to have around – both for my own use and when trying to help out in the Lenovo forums. I do some testing and writing as well. Beyond the use of the laptop, I’m not otherwise compensated. Professional images are Lenovo’s. Amateur snapshots are mine. Opinions are exclusively mine. I do not work for, represent, or speak for Lenovo.

This one, like the Gen 6, is a pre-customer-ship unit.  I expect it to be representative of what is – or will be – available to the public, but it may vary in some details.  As always, I strive for accuracy, but please double-check anything I say here before using it to make a purchase decision.

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ThinkBook 14s Yoga: not (quite) a ThinkPad, but not too bad…

I’m a hard-core, dyed-in-the-wool, rabid, militant TrackPoint fan. I did not expect to like this ThinkBook as much as I do. It’s a tight piece of engineering, and other than missing that red nubbin, it’s a first-rate machine.  Slim, decent weight, good specs and options, a stylus, and an aluminum case.  And it’s a Yoga.

From time to time Lenovo sends me a gadget. They’re handy to have around – both for my own use and when trying to help out in the Lenovo forums. I do some testing and writing as well. Beyond the use of the laptop, I’m not otherwise compensated. Professional images are Lenovo’s. Amateur snapshots are mine. Opinions are exclusively mine. I do not work for, represent, or speak for Lenovo.

I’ve done my best to gather accurate information, but things are subject to change and correction.  Please double-check anything I say here before using it to make a purchase decision.

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Windows 10/11 ISO: install.wim too large for FAT32 Flash Drive

As I indicated in previous whinge post, the size of the install.wim file in Windows install ISOs can present some problems when creating USB flash install media: Windows 10 USB Install Media … or MS BS  This came up again when I wanted to try a pure clean install of Windows 11 on a ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 4.  The MS download site is offering the Windows 11 ISO to all visitors – not just non-windows hosts as it did with ’10 – and others may trip over this.

Some UEFI machines – ThinkPads for instance – will only boot FAT32 USB install media.  The multi-version ISO has an install.wim file too large for FAT32, so just dropping its contents on a FAT32 flash drive as I usually do won’t work.  The ISO produced by the MS media creation tool (so far) produces an install.esd file that will fit, but may not always be the desired option.

I’ve just come across another way to tackle this that allows creating FAT32 + NTFS media with the multi-version ISO, and may also be handy if using a custom install.wim file. First, this is not my invention.  Full credit and kudos to the sites and people linked below:

USB install media with WIM file larger than 4GB

Create bootable USB installer if install.wim is greater than 4GB

Very useful and bears repeating.  My take in detail … perhaps too much detail…

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