Hi, I am a tech noob

nrps

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England
Hi, I came here hoping to get some pointers on learning, with the view that I'll have something to then pass on!

Basically, my dad bought me computer in parts when I was 13 (a little over ten years ago) for Christmas, a project you could say. I come from a very mixed family in that my dad and one of my brothers are very tech minded, to the point of being a bit condescending if you don't refer to something in quite the exact words. My sister (unlike her husband who is closer to my brother and dad and always has the newest laptop you saw you the TV ad just last night and iPhone) worked in IT support in Buckingham Palace, but has never cared as much, but is still more aware of things than myself and keeps up to date. My other brother would be between her and me and myself only having cared a little more than my mother who, being a green-fingered agricultural graduate, couldn't give a fig.

The difference is, I do care, I have the savvy to solve problems when I'm using the computer and have helped many people before. A couple years ago, I was bought a RPi for Christmas because I wanted to get back into it, and quickly found myself disenchanted. It's only now that I'm realising I have genuinely no idea how any of it works, or why. Not just the RPi, computers in general in a physical sense. I can get them running and am a fairly skilled user but I want to get to the visceral fat.

I am hoping, that by coming here, I could be pointed in the right direction for understanding what roles the different hardware and circuitry has, what makes them different (I hear my older brother and dad spending most their discussions in acronyms and numbers) and how they work. Like, what is the difference between a motherboard that boots and a mere piece of board with stuff soldered onto it. Am I being clear enough? I want to understand the nitty gritty technical so I can make things, being a very hands-on sort of person, I hope that in time I will be useful enough to be able to pass on what I have garnered, and even come up with something interesting and individual.
 
welcome to the forum
We will gladly help you. Ask away and you shall receive answers.

Thanks, should I ask elsewhere or is asking in this thread OK? I don't really know where to start, but I guess understanding what turns an inanimate sheet of PCB and parts into something useable would be a good place to start, I guess, how do "we" go from a PCB to a bootable motherboard with a GUI?
 
.... wow o.0
That's some question to begin with. going into details will require time and more knowledge than what i have.

(watch the following videos in youtube, as full screen does not seam to work here)
Check out these videos first. They are easy to follow videos about binary, bites and bytes. Understand this will give you a better change at the next video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpuPe81bc2w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dnd28lQHquU

Then check out this video. It tells you how a CPU work. It also contains information about motherboard and RAM.

it's ok if you don't understand everything. it's a little long and detailed. Just watch it to the end, and you will have a basic idea. The more you get familiar with computers, the more of it you will understand. After the following video. Search on youtube for how does harddrive work

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNN_tTXABUA
 
Last edited:
.... wow o.0
That's some question to begin with. going into details will require time and more knowledge than what i have.

(watch the following videos in youtube, as full screen does not seam to work here)
Check out this video first. It's an easy to follow video about binary. Understand this will give you a better change at the next video.
[ link removed ]

Then check out this video. It tells you how a CPU work. It also contains information about motherboard and RAM.

it's ok if you don't understand everything. it's a little long and detailed. Just watch it to the end, and you will have a basic idea. The more you get familiar with computers, the more of it you will understand. After the following video. Search on youtube for how does harddrive work

[ link removed ]

haha, thanks, sorry that's just how vague my lack of knowledge is, I don't know where to start! But thanks, I'll look through these (such as during the slow hours at work tomorrow!)
 
Welcome aboard :D

Being Smart_Guy, I ought to showoff a little... here is a conclusion: you are almost 23 years old, right? And your birthday is sometime, um, soon, right?
 
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