With regard to my previous post, I have run enough diagnosis and checks to determine it is primarily the SSD at fault for the malfunctioning of my homelab. It’s recently bought so all of its parts are under warranty, plus the SSD is manufactured by the same brand.
What I am worried about is how the manufacturer is going to diagnose the homelab when it’s running Linux. Since the manufacturer is a local brand, I am doubtful whether they have experience working on anything other than Windows, especially since the homelab came preinstalled with it. There could be a possibility that they could outright reject the product from repair. I’ve checked their warranty policy and does state that warranty will be void under “fault or failure resulting from software or user facilitated minor adjustments and settings”, however I cannot say if switching OS comes under this or not.
I wanted to know your thoughts on how I should proceed with preparing the homelab for a warranty claim like this. Should I submit it with the Linux installation intact or replace it a fresh install of Windows just for this case? I’ve discussed this with one of my friends who is in favour of the latter, though I doubt this approach as well since they could question the fresh install itself.
In case this is needed to be said, getting this repaired under warranty is the only practical option I have. I don’t have any spare SSD with me nor I have spare money to buy one and fix it myself. Also I have not tampered with the device in any other way, so I don’t think they can reject the warranty claim for any other reason.
If it is a hardware failure, I don’t see why it should be an issue. I know re-installing Windows is something PC repair shops do often, and I don’t see how that’s different from any other OS.
fault or failure resulting from software
Unfortunately, that’s quite broad. But it could also just apply for stuff like overclocking or firmware modifications. Or even simpler stuff. I could see someone having DVDs from multiple regions, changing drive region every time until they hit the 5 changes limit, and then trying to claim it for warranty (I’ve had some software on Windows do that automatically…).
Should I submit it with the Linux installation intact or replace it a fresh install of Windows
Or if there’s private data, overwrite it with output of
/dev/urandomor/dev/zero.blkdiscardmight also be your friend since it’s an SSD.I am doubtful whether they have experience working on anything other than Windows
Probably they’ll just test the rest with their own drive or re-install it.
Or maybe try to ask them how to prepare the device for the warranty claim.
Or maybe try to ask them how to prepare the device for the warranty claim.
That’s actually a great idea! It’s better to directly confirm this with them than to pointlessly speculate about it.
I could see someone having DVDs from multiple regions, changing drive region every time until they hit the 5 changes limit
This is something new yet interesting to me. Do you have any resources on this? I don’t really know how to search for this on my own.
Well, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_region_code#Computer_DVD_drives
Basically same as regions on standalone DVD players. Just a scummy thing to only allow you to play DVDs from your own region, perhaps so that you wouldn’t buy them from cheaper countries, or buy them earlier than you’re supposed to in your country.
If everything works correctly, then say you buy DVDs from UK, but something new just released in US, but haven’t even played in cinemas in UK yet. So you buy it from US… and it shouldn’t work.
VLC doesn’t care about this, but still, the drive firmware might.
BluRays also have regions
By the fucking way, BluRays have some DRM with revocable keys
This is part of the AACS protection scheme: editors are able to revoke old software player host keys that have leaked on the Internet and distribute the lists on newer commercial disc releases. This is irreversible and cannot be fixed even after reflashing the drive.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Blu-ray#Revoked_Host_key/certificate
So when do you truly own something? When you pirate it. No regions, no DRM, 4k on any device powerful enough.
Usually companies accept that you remove storage mediums before sending it in, as those might contain private data. And if that is ok, then there is no way for them to know that you installed Linux on those.
Except the problem seems to be the said storage device.
Just request an RMA saying you’ve got errors and it looks defective.
Unfortunately I’m not from the USA so this option isn’t available for me.
Edit: I got confused with the acronym. I’ve never heard of the term itself before but I think that is what I am going to do.
Well if you can’t claim the warranty then buy a new one.
Why don’t you just call and ask them directly?
I can’t imagine you’re the only one in this situation. If I were in your shoes, I’d search for similar stories online and see if I could get a sense of how friendly the company is to swapping OSs. For some companies, changing the OS is a complete deal breaker. Other companies are pretty willing to assume the issue was indeed strictly hardware and had nothing to do with changing the OS, and thus will go ahead and do the repair.
If you find that company is more like the former, install Windows. If not, just start the warranty repair process.
Linux isn’t going to void your warranty
