Your craziest 'workarounds' making old and new devices connect together to get something done?

Hi, this is my first thread so I'd start somewhere safe
I'm not very rich, quite poor to be honest but I have my life needs met so I am happy.

My mobile phone only does voice and text, I do have an broken microphone Samsung GT galaxy S III mini phone which I use as a camera and stream music/internet etc, but I'm mainly online browsing with a cheap small tablet. My only internet connection is wifi I pay half of my neighbour's monthly subscription.

I really had to type some long letters/reports last week, multiple pages I did not want to do on the tiny tablet screen so I remembered an old IBM ThinkPad with word MS97 on it under the stairs so thought crank her up and Ill do it in no time with the luxury of a real keyboard.

Fast forward a few hours typing, plug my printer in, then realised I didn't have the driver software for it! The laptop doesn't do wifi or Bluetooth! It wouldn't recognise the tablet either when plugged usb'd in, I nearly cried. Lol
So thinking quickly, plugged the old Samsung phone into it, copied the files over, bluetoothed it to the tablet, and yes I could print at last.

Maybe a silly minor story but honestly, the thought of 'oh no, stuck in the laptop' was a complete gut wrench at first thinking all that typing! Just so glad I've kept that old phone.

So anyway, have you had to improvise with crappy kit before? Would love to read any similar stories

edit, my other option was a data stick to someone else's computer to email it to myself, only trouble though, commercially sensitive information so I didn't want it to leave my home in digital format, only hard copy.


Sorry for the crappy pic from my crappy tablet camera, but this is the kit I roll with lol...

A few days back I used a 3.5mm to cassette tape adapter, plugged into a Bluetooth to 3.5 adapter to play music in a truck from my phone.

originally posted by: a325nt
A few days back I used a 3.5mm to cassette tape adapter, plugged into a Bluetooth to 3.5 adapter to play music in a truck from my phone.

that's a good one
I haven't seen a cassette tape in years!

Haha, I love that story, reminds me of me.. that intent to not be beaten, when you know, somehow, it can be done.

Good read!

a reply to: Silure

I work for an international technology company. Well, left hand not knowing what the right hand was doing upgraded their work wide phone system. We knew it was happening because it happened in the middle of work day with a half zillion phone resets.

The phone system back end doesn’t work with our phone system! They decided to wait until they upgrade again to get everyone on the same network/system.

There went phone messages! Say good bye to half of the functions like dialing multiple callers (I think it is 3 now w/o a dedicated line). It is all voice over IP and the IP has gone to crap!

But the most important part missing is “Press 1 for Yes, or, 2 for No” options no longer works! You press a button and the wrong code is set! We had our network/telecom guy explain how to fix it and were told that we didn’t know sh# and it have to be worldwide (BS! I googled it myself and found out that it is a system level setting at the trunk you on and not global... our local guy was right!)

Fast forward 6 months and we are forced to do 2-step authentication to access programs on our own computer already connected to the network!! Just dumb! So I tell the setup program to call my desk... “Press 1 if asked for this request...”

GAH!!!

Cell phone stopped accepting texts from them. I had no access to do my job. “Hey call the help desk...” I don’t know their number because it only on the network that i can’t access... “Hey, send them an email...” I can’t access the email system...

A week later, I added a note to my ticket how fix my problem and they didn’t need to call me (world wide support calls 2 am my time!)

I have an app on my cell phone that makes the phone tones out the speaker. I hold that up to the mouthpiece of my desk phone to authenticate to a web app from my desktop on the company network... both of which I am already logged into!!

originally posted by: TEOTWAWKIAIFF
a reply to: Silure

I have an app on my cell phone that makes the phone tones out the speaker. I hold that up to the mouthpiece of my desk phone to authenticate to a web app from my desktop on the company network... both of which I am already logged into!!

Haha that is brilliant!! True techno workaround :

I have a new bath bluetooth exhaust fan speaker. Works great with a phone but the old Pioneer receiver no. I did get it working with a headphone jack conversion but that is not what I want.

I want all the existing speakers to work, along with the bathroom bluetooth one. Nobody has figured this out yet online. I have to go from a spade or bananna plug to the 3.5 blah blah receiver/transmitter plug. I know there is a way to do it but I have a real job. No time to research this crap and visit forums.

Eventually I will figure it out but goD. IT sucks. How do I go from a spade/ bananna to a bluetooth transmitter/receiver and not use the headphone jack.

a reply to: Stupidsecrets

Oh gosh that's all new tech I won't have until everything is knocking around used and at dirt prices!
I wouldn't have a clue how to help you there lol, I actually doubt I'll ever even set stuff up like that in my home now. My simless broken galaxy goes from room to room with me like a tin box radio (it does have FM as well as wifi) but if chilling in my lounge room I plug it into an old JVC 1980s amp, and 1970's speakers
I don't hold crazy parties anymore so it does the job for me

originally posted by: gallop
Haha, I love that story, reminds me of me.. that intent to not be beaten, when you know, somehow, it can be done.

Good read!

Sorry missed this, thanks
Yes, I'll find a way haha, when the mic on my old Samsung broke I needed a phone quick so bought the cheap basic phone, 8 bucks new I think, switched sim card, and that became my everyday carry then. It takes pics but only 2MP and it won't Bluetooth to the tablet no matter what I tried, but Bluetooth it to the broken Samsung, then from that Bluetooth to tablet worked!
Because it worked I'm happy enough with my crappy little phone, the battery lasts ages, and I can drop it onto stone and the thing won't break

a reply to: Silure

Every opportunity I get to "MacGyver" something with the kids (or with them watching), I take. There's a certain pleasure in making do with whatever you have, and teaching the kids the idea that there's always a way is great.

originally posted by: dogstar23
a reply to: Silure

Every opportunity I get to "MacGyver" something with the kids (or with them watching), I take. There's a certain pleasure in making do with whatever you have, and teaching the kids the idea that there's always a way is great.

We share that characteristic
I repair things at every opportunity, got a mindset that anything can be fixed or improvised, partly from growing up poor so my parents taught me to do that. I was rebuilding scrapped bicycles out of thrown away parts, and sewing my own clothes back together when I was 10 years old lol.
I am glad I've passed the same outlook to my children as well, improvisation is one of the best skills for surviving in any society is how I look at it, never say 'I can't', stop, think, and ask 'How can I?'

a reply to: Silure

Being a self-employed precision machinist, finding workarounds and quick fixes are a fact of life. Parts and equipment can be expensive and I can't afford the downtime.
One incident I had was when a very expensive drive motor on one of my machines had a spindle bearing burn up. Naturally the motor was a sealed housing and any attempt to open it would have destroyed it. Luckily, the burned-out bearing wasn't frozen, just wobbling so bad the rotor was hitting the stator and wouldn't turn. I made a faceplate with a new bearing pressed in it, and mounted it on the shaft right where it came out of the housing and bolted it in place to hold it on center. That was five years ago and it's still going strong!

a reply to: underpass61

Love your story thanks
I did nearly 2 years in an apprenticeship similar game, lathes, milling machines, making this so smooth only a precision tool can tell you by how many thousands of an inch, and I absolutely loved creating out of metal, really did. Life sent me on a different path but the memories linger so I may end up buying a 1960's lathe and milling machine or something one day. It was always art in my mind lol, technical yes but art in my mind, thanks for bringing a nice memory to my front page