Video Editing Desk Upgrade, Part 5 - Mostly Back Together

Originally recorded April 2, 2020.

Well like the title says, everything is mostly back together. The best news is I was able to find that keyboard and mouse pad I spoke of earlier in the series, I really thought I gave it away, but it turns out I didn't. Really sets it all off nice. Turns out it was necessary, even, because the surface of the desk didn't play nice with the mouse, the cursor didn't track anywhere useful. With the pad, there's plenty of room for the keyboard and the mouse, it all just works. Plus it lights up, just to go with the rest of the light up stuff. I don't condone all this gaming crap, but I do like the lights. I also can't complain about it, the keyboard is decent for what it is, mouse works very well, headset's great, and the pad sets it all off and was needed anyway.

I had an inordinate amount of trouble with the webcam though. When I disconnected the system, as usual I just ripped all of the cables out, not paying any particular attention to where they went. After reconnecting, and swapping some cables around to make everything work, the webcam was detected but the software didn't see it. I tried reinstalling the software but it said the file wasn't compatible with the version of Windows I was running. That's odd, I installed that SAME package when I first hooked it up and it had no problem. (Later, I tried rolling the system's date back 2 years in case they had programmed in an expiration of the software when Windows 7 dropped support, but that made no difference. I also tried launching that same package on another machine with the same OS, and indeed it loaded up without complaint. Oh well, as long as it stays working it's nothing to worry about, only time I'd have to reinstall is if I replace the hard drive or system, and that would have a fresh load of Windows on it.)

Tried a bunch of things to try and coerce this webcam back to life, none of which worked and only borked everything more, so I ran a System Restore and rolled the system back to where it was, and then somehow, magically, the webcam started to work.

The Easier Crap video capture USB device also didn't want to work. Now it's pretty rare I'd need to capture composite or S-Video analog signals, but I like the functionality to be there if I need. After somehow getting the webcam to work again, and reinstalling the software for the capture device, it also started working. It's got a lot of noise in the audio, and I don't think it's the device, I think there's interference from something else either in or attached to the system. I decided to not worry about that issue for now; I can always capture video on another system if need be. The noise is coming from somewhere, and it's also audible in recordings when I do voiceovers with the headset, though it's a lot more quiet. This is one of those things that's not really easily able to be solved, it would require "dumbing down" the system to near nothing, and then testing, reconnecting everything one by one. Or it could be a noisy power supply, even a noisy fan in the system that's transmitting its noise electrically.

There was also another issue I ran into when reconnecting everything. The HDMI cable from the big TV would not plug in to the system with the new video card. I took a closer look and discovered that it's NOT an HDMI port, but instead a DisplayPort. "There must be an adapter", I thought. So I searched, and indeed there is. There are passive adapters and active adapters. Active adapters cost a lot, this passive one was about 9 or 10 bucks, so I ordered it, and it came in. Fortunately, it worked! So now both monitors are hooked up using adapters, the main screen with its DVI to VGA adapter and the big screen with the DisplayPort to HDMI adapter. Kind of kludgy, but at least it's able to be converted.

The new keyboard/mouse mat didn't want to sit flat. I put weight on it overnight in several places and it didn't seem to make any difference. In the time that has passed since this video has been recorded, it has flattened out considerably. I found by curling the mat in the other direction, it seems to help, but you have to do it just enough, otherwise it curls the other way. It's a very fine line, and requires a steady hand.

Last order of business is hooking up that Oh, Brother! piece of crap all-in-one. It's just another printer to have, handy to keep me from walking all over the house to get a print job. So that's going to be the last part.

(The little Game Boy-looking-thing will be a review video for the future, so stay tubed for that!)

In the meantime, here are reviews of the keyboard/mouse mat, gaming keyboard, gaming mouse, and gaming headset:

Darkeagle Illuminated Keyboard Mat & Mouse Pad Review:


VersionTECH Multicolor Backlit Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review:


BENGOO Gaming Headset With Gaming Mouse Review:

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