The computer from hell 2

[Alt255]

Has anyone heard of a similar problem? My assignment was simple and should have required no more than a morning. Upgrade a system with a new motherboard, CPU, memory, display adapter, OS and hard drive (basically a new system containing the contents of the older system's hard drives - not my forte, but you do what they tell you to do) and then get the old hardware ready for a different user (the hand-me-down effect).<br>
The first part went without incident; I fastened the new MB, RAM and CPU in a new case, moved the modem from the old MB to the new one, partitioned and formatted the new HD, drive copied the old HD's to 2 partitions on the new one, installed a Win 98 SE upgrade and VOILA! The payroll manager was a happy gal.<br>
Then I turned to the old system.<br>
It had a Cyrix 6x86 166 processor (formerly known as the &quot;Pentium Killer&quot;, a BIOS dated 1996, an ISA VGA card and two small (nearly full HDs).<br>
I returned the HDs to the case and booted to a scrambled Windows display. Hmmm... I reseated the video and booted to a scrambled Windows display. I swapped out the display adapter and had the same problem. I swapped out the monitor and had the same problem. I pulled out the motherboard, replaced the CPU fan, reseated the SIMMS, checked everything on the hardware and in the CMOS and did a power-on to a totally different problem. I received a long, complex series of intermittent beeps.<br>
Uh oh.<br>
I powered down, slipped in a Post-it card (an 8-bit diagnostic card), powered-up and Windows booted to a normal display... no problems.<br>
Okay, I was missing something. No problem. The pay is the same.<br>
I pulled the Post-it card and booted to a scrambled Windows display. Now I was getting mad. I explained the problem to the IT Manager and he laughed.<br>
&quot;Maybe it's power hungry. Maybe it just wants more toys to play with.&quot;<br>
Okay, I was willing to try anything since I had already wasted a good part of the day with the piece of junk. I inserted a cheap ISA WinMODEM and booted to a normal display. No problems but my own.<br>
<br>
I'll get that devilish critter out of my office at the first opportunity but I'll never forget the trauma of its hellish visit.<br>
<br>
Anybody know what I mean? Has anybody seen this sort of problem?

 

[MasterRacker]

They all come from hell. I've seen more problems like that than I can list. We very rarely swap parts anymore. A machine is a machine and it wears out and eventually gets discarded as a unit. At the very least, If I do build a machine from parts, I always clean software build from format on up.<br>
<br>
Depending on how your Accounting dept. works, your time is probably being billed internally at at least 50.00/hr or more. Considering that used P5 class systems are only worth a couple hundred bucks, it's certainly not profitable to spend much time on them. <p> Jeff<br><a href=mailto: masterracker@hotmail.com> masterracker@hotmail.com</a><br><a href= > </a><br>

 

[Alt255]

Nice sentiment, Jeff, but common sense has never been part of the SOP. I'm paid to keep my head down and walk really fast. I can recommend new systems for managers all day long but have no say in which of the power users get the hand-me-down garbage.<br>
We're talking about a company that stores about a pound of 1mb 30-pin SIMMS because &quot;they cost the company a lot of money and they might be useful someday&quot;.<br>
Anyway, thanks for the response. Your practical answer gave me a glimmer of hope for a better future, some day.<br>

 

[MasterRacker]

Yeah, I know where you're coming from. I've been working on issues like these for years. I'm starting to get a handle on how to handle the bean counters. The key is to put everything in business terms. If you can break everything down into little piles of beans, they can then count them. Depreciation and ROI are concepts I hit on regularly. Business types don't unbderstand computers because they are &quot;high-tech&quot; but the key is to leave the technical terms out and get them to view computer equipment like any other piece of equipment like, say, a drill press or a lathe. They wear out and need to be replaced. If they don't want to give decent machines to the power users, show 'em with real numbers how much money they're losing in productivity. It took years, but you can get there. <br>
<br>
Send me you mail address if you like and I can forward a copy of a justification I did this summer for an Exchange server upgrade that was based solely on productivity gains. <p> Jeff<br><a href=mailto: masterracker@hotmail.com> masterracker@hotmail.com</a><br><a href= > </a><br>

 

[DaveGoTech]

We have seen a similar problem before. Turns<br>
out, there are 2 different height motherboard<br>
standoffs around. When switching motherboards<br>
into another cabinet, always check the height<br>
of the motherboard in relation to the add-on<br>
boards. You can usually see if the add-on boards are not fully seated in the sockets.<br>
Hope this helps.

 

[Alt255]

I've seen the same problem. In this instance, the motherboard was in the original case. All I removed were the modem and hard drives. I did pull the motherboard to check for similar problems but found none.<br>
I'm using Jeff's suggestion. Enough is enough.<br>
Thank's for the response.

 

[IanAtCidac]

Alt255<br>
<br>
Over the years I have discovered the following rule of thumb (not quite Moore's Law but it has held for about ten years): If you upgrade across one generation about 10% of the old equipment will fail, if you upgrade across two generations the failure rate goes up to 50%. We don't upgrade across three generations. <br>
<br>
All my technicians have three indispensible pieces of equipment. 1) Anti-static wrist straps. 2) Small hammers (for minor problems) 3) Big hammers (for serious problems)<br>
<br>
I won't bore you with some of the wierd ones I've had but I solve at least three problems a week (no exaggeration) by telling customers to put their PCs in their cars and taking them for a drive. 90% of them phone back to ask why it worked.<br>
<br>
-Ian<br>
<br>
Show no fear - they can sense it.<br>

 

[Alt255]

Fear may be a very good experience for some users. It can't apply to you and me and should be &quot;unavailable&quot; for the good users.<br>
The prospective user was very happy to learn she would receive a modern system with all the modern features.<br>
I was happy to receive yet another junk system where I could test my software.<br>
If it doesn't work on junk, it doesn't work at all. (My philosophy.)<br>

 

[Foxx]

IanAtCidac is not kidding. They DO know you, usually better than you may know yourself. I haven't done the drive thing, but I have moved the main box to other parts of apartments and my house for a scenery change. And yes, the CAN sense your fear. Fortunately for me and the rest of us, they can also sense compassion. I find that if on a regular basis with my own home network of machines I give them regular upgrades as promised as well as breaks (shutdowns) and tweaking they, in return, run certain processes for me rather well. I think my machines are possessed, or maybe its just me. =)

Seriously, though, treat 'em like living, breathing, and thinking, entities when dealing with them, they usually work much better for you.