tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624287635517979427.post3311127873408726688..comments2023-03-28T17:06:52.248-04:00Comments on A View from Laputa: Computer DeathAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00689711253288535044noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624287635517979427.post-2533089180463075122009-03-13T07:11:00.000-04:002009-03-13T07:11:00.000-04:00Right now, I have my eye on a refurbished Dell, an...Right now, I have my eye on a refurbished Dell, and if I can scratch together the money to get it, I'll have a working computer again. Wish me luck!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00689711253288535044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624287635517979427.post-38490722250591517452009-03-12T13:44:00.000-04:002009-03-12T13:44:00.000-04:00Bill,Yeah, that sounds like a bad situation!Bill,<BR/><BR/>Yeah, that sounds like a bad situation!Thomas L. Knapphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16271473384378782680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624287635517979427.post-87809292887860433702009-03-12T04:18:00.000-04:002009-03-12T04:18:00.000-04:00Sad thing is, this is a new mobo. Just bought it l...Sad thing is, this is a new mobo. Just bought it last summer, and it's already doing this. And, unfortunately, it's one of those where the BIOS gets flashed from a CD.<BR/><BR/>If I could get it to boot from one of the DVD drives, I could use my copy of Ubuntu to at least milk a few more months of life from it. As it is, I'm just kind of holding my breath and hoping it doesn't fry out completely before I can replace it.<BR/><BR/>I suspect the primary problem is that, while the mobo is less than a year old:<BR/><BR/>1) the CPU is 5 (going on 6) years old, and has never run at less than 60C in that entire time, due to defective case design by Compaq, and<BR/><BR/>2) the PSU is 280 watts, and that's the largest PSU that is compatible with the mobo, due to the design of the mobo's cable connections. So, when I replaced the CD-ROM and DVD+R/W with a DVD+R/W and a DVD+-R/W(D/L), while at the same time adding a second HD and upgraded from onboard video to a REAL video card, I'm fairly sure I overloaded the PSU, and when you do that, they tend to do Bad Things (TM) to the rest of the components of the system. At least, that's my guess.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00689711253288535044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624287635517979427.post-66812193506400739952009-03-11T19:50:00.000-04:002009-03-11T19:50:00.000-04:00Another thing: Ask around!I don't have any unused ...Another thing: Ask around!<BR/><BR/>I don't have any unused working boxes lying around at the moment (I tend to use them until they start acting like yours is), but I bet someone you know has one they'd be willing to send you for the cost of shipping.<BR/><BR/>If it's an older box, treat it like a "netbook" -- install a non-demanding OS (like one of those mentioned in my previous comment) that can get you online and into a modern web browser but otherwise doesn't suck a bunch of resources. OpenOffice is great, but why not let Google Docs or Zoho carry the processing/memory weight?Thomas L. Knapphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16271473384378782680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624287635517979427.post-3820403379322162692009-03-11T19:42:00.000-04:002009-03-11T19:42:00.000-04:00Bill,Can you update the BIOS? I think most newer B...Bill,<BR/><BR/>Can you update the BIOS? I think most newer BIOSes can be "upgraded."<BR/><BR/>Beyond that, if you have a working CD/DVD -- or can boot from USB -- then you can at least run Knoppix, Damn Small Linux or Knoppix.<BR/><BR/>I don't know how much computer you need, but I occasionally see some only nominally obsolete models (1GHz+ CPU, 256Mb+ RAM) models in thrift stores, sometimes in the $100 price range.Thomas L. Knapphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16271473384378782680noreply@blogger.com