Right to Repair

PC revival?

This was the issue:

@Endof10 Good morning everyone,
I am following for work a project of reuse of hardware dated by the Italian public administration (office PC between 2010 and 2015 as the start of use year).
as a distribution I focused on zorin OS for the ease of migration from windows, general stability of the system, look and feel very nice and pleasant.
my biggest obstacle is the finding of cheap SSD disks also used to put in place of the current mechanical disks, otherwise the machines are too slow, and I fear the boomerang effect.
the machines will be donated to voluntary associations that request it, but I fear that with a mechanical disk that makes the machine too slow for modern use in 2026, the average user perceives linux as a slow operating system, without understanding that the problem is the hardware. I am also a volunteer of one of the main Italian environmental associations, legambiente, so I gladly offer myself for installation parties, individual support to those who request it. I saw this page on your site but I did not understand how I should move, I ask if you can help me and guide me thanks.

https://endof10.org/it/contribute/

@zorinlynx @distrowatch.com @RepairCafeInternational @right2repair @righttorepair @eu_os @efoundation @gnome @restarterstorino

A bill in Colorado is a glimpse into the future of how corporations are working to limit the freedom people have to make their own fixes and upgrades.

Archived version: https://archive.is/20260402211432/https://www.wired.com/story/tech-companies-are-trying-to-neuter-colorados-landmark-right-to-repair-law/

Say goodbye to expensive battery replacement?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/43790601

alternate title I saw on YouTube - “Invent and resolve”: How Cuba's survived six decades of US blockade

Feb. 25, 2026

In US-blockaded Cuba, ingenious mechanics and inventors revive old machines in order to survive during a time of scarcity.

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Cuba was plunged into crisis. Fuel, food and spare parts vanished almost overnight. This character-led documentary shows how common Cubans refused to give up – and instead built a new culture of radical repair. From Havana’s Malecon to small-town back yards, it follows mechanics, street vendors and a teacher-turned-inventor who live by one rule: “invent and resolve”.

A pristine US Plymouth Fury convertible of the 1950s hides a Soviet engine, Japanese gearbox and handmade parts; washing machines become coconut graters, solar dryers and tools for urban farms. Cuban historians and designer Ernesto Oroza reveal the philosophy behind this “technical disobedience”, treating every object as raw material to hack and extend. Far from nostalgia, the film offers a stark snapshot of a future in which resources are scarce and the power to repair may be our most important tool.

#news #politics

Shout-out @iFixit for their wonderful #pixel6a battery replacement kit and instructions.

My wife's phone was one of those that google throttled down because of problematic batteries.

I bought the kit from #ifixit, and, following their step by step instructions, I was able to open the phone, remove the battery, stick in the new battery, and put everything together (the shaped glue tape is fantastic). It took 2-3 hours, not easy, I have to say.

And it works, which I doubted until the end (because of low trust in my abilities, not quality of stuff)

My phone instead is a Fairphone 4... Battery replacement is... 1 minute. I can probably do it with 1 hand, blindfolded 😁

@right2repair #righttorepair

Can anyone confirm or deny whether a washing machine brand other than Beko puts kill switches in their machines? This seems to be relevant to anti-competition law. If they all do it, then it can perhaps be regarded as cartel behavior. If not all do it, then those who do can be regarded as making the competition unfair.

To be clear, I do not mean remote kill switches. I mean algorithmic. E.g. a fault occurs, the machine detects it, quits running, and shows an error code. That much is fair enough (to protect the machine from damage). The abuse comes when the maker refuses to share the reset procedure, ultimately blocking repair.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/62170925

I saw the video where the Dragon Sector hacker team presented their findings whereby a Polish train had a kill switch to block repairs by anyone other than the manufacturer. I believe the victim is not the train maker -- it’s the train owner who is trapped in anti-repair shenanigans. I don’t know anti-competition law, but intuitively the train maker Newag abusively uses kill switches to secure a monopoly on repair of their trains.

My Beko washing machines have the same problem. They are kill-switched to block me from repair. Beko charges €200 to unlock them (more than the machine is worth). So I thought: what about that train hacking case? Surely by now the victims would have sued the train maker for anti-competition offenses, and by now I would have some favorable case law to cite. I’m so disguested with what I’ve found.. I wonder what am I missing? The lawsuit is the other way around. The train maiker is suing the train owner and hacker group for “unlawful competition”.

Can someone please explain why the lawsuit isn’t the other way around? Are Europeans really fucked in this circumstance?

...is not right here, I assume? Because we seem to be aiming more at the political aspect of the topic here. What are your favorite communities/forums/other corners of the internet for getting hands-on, practical advice on repairing stuff (all kinds)? Right now I'm looking for ways to repair a set of earbuds (that isn't actually broken - it's just that the rubber/silicone cover of the buttons is coming off).

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/45142516

cross-posted from: https://lazysoci.al/post/40677034

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/24122615

A team of students from the Eindhoven University of Technology has built a prototype electric car with a built-in toolbox and components that can be easily repaired or replaced without specialist knowledge.

The university's TU/ecomotive group, which focuses on developing concepts for future sustainable vehicles, describes its ARIA concept as "a modular electric city car that you can repair yourself".

ARIA, which stands for Anyone Repairs It Anywhere, is constructed using standardised components including a battery, body panels and internal electronic elements that can be easily removed and replaced if a fault occurs.

With assistance from an instruction manual and a diagnostics app that provides detailed information about the car's status, users should be able to carry out their own maintenance using only the tools in the car's built-in toolbox, the TU/ecomotive team claimed.

A win for the contractors

If anyone bought the previous one, how was it and what do you think about this upgrade?

Excerpts:

The easiest way to start with Zigbee or Thread just got even better, with Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2. This USB adapter plugs into your Home Assistant system and opens up a world of smart device options. Between its precisely tuned antenna and next-generation chip, it’s a big step up for anyone looking to connect Zigbee, Thread, or Matter devices directly to Home Assistant.

For all our Zigbee fans, this might be the best upgrade you’ll make all year. We’ve squeezed every inch out of this technology, giving it the best range, speed, and stability possible. The same can be said for our Thread-heads out there (yeah, I just came up with that cool nickname 😎), making Matter or ESPHome Thread connections rock-solid. Pick whether to dedicate your Connect ZBT-2 to run a Zigbee or Thread network, and it’ll provide the best experience for that protocol (and if all these names just sound like new streaming services to you, check out our explainer below).

If you’re one of those people still rocking three different hubs, what are you waiting for… another giant server outage to take down your smart home? Ditch those cloud hubs and take back your privacy today. As an added bonus, your devices will likely get more controls, range, and resilience.

Available today starting at $49 and €45 (that’s the MSRP, and pricing will vary by retailer). Designed and built by Nabu Casa and the Open Home Foundation, every purchase helps fund the development of Home Assistant. For quick specs, details, and where to buy, visit our beautiful Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2 page.

Open Design

When we say open, we mean it. In the physical sense, it’s easy to open Connect ZBT-2 as there are no clips or glue, just some lovely standard Phillips head screws. The board has a gorgeous silkscreen, which explains all the chips, exposed pins, and pads.

The bootloader is unlocked, and all the firmware we build is open source and available to modify. We’ve also built a new website that makes it easy to flash the stock firmware, and in the future, experiment with new firmware. We’ll also be providing the PCB and outer casing files if you want to tinker with those. Openness makes our products better… literally, since our community helps us find and fix bugs.

Changing the pads on your car’s brakes is a pretty straightforward and inexpensive process on most vehicles. However, many modern vehicles having electronic parking brakes giving manufacturers a new avenue to paywall simple DIY repairs.

• Consumer Rights Wiki | Hyundai Ioniq 5 N brake pad repair restrictions
• Video: Louis Rossmann | Hyundai car requires $2000, app & internet access to fix your brakes - what the actual f

TLDR:

In reality, the Pixel Buds 2a feel like a half-finished product. The buds themselves, like most of the earbud market, are an unrepairable mess, even if there’s some evidence that the team was flirting with a serviceable design early in the process. However, the charging case is the best we’ve seen. Google’s tracking in the right direction for repairable buds, but they might need a generation or two more to nail it.