Buying a New PC

[DGuller]

I've had my own troubles with the MB 24-pin power supply.  My power supply arrived with a broken connector, the 4 pins on the side were broken off from the 20 other pins.  When I would stick it in the motherboard, the 20 pins would hang on tight, but the other 4 pins would come lose at first opportunity.  Eventually I realized that it wasn't broken after all, but rather the connector was designed so that the 4-pin part would go in first, and then the 20 pin part would go next and keep the 4 pin part in place by a tiny overhang.

[Ideologue]

They separate for convenience, I think, in case the MB has a 20-pin connector.  Maybe they're not fully attached to each other, I'll check the next time I have it off.  I was disappointed the case didn't have a door like it appeared in one photo, but it is still a lot easier to take apart than my old computer.

[Barrister]

They separate for convenience, I think, in case the MB has a 20-pin connector.  Maybe they're not fully attached to each other, I'll check the next time I have it off.  I was disappointed the case didn't have a door like it appeared in one photo, but it is still a lot easier to take apart than my old computer.

My computer has a door that comes right off, and no screws to take it off or remove it.  It's the most glorious case I've ever seen.

[grumbler]

They were there, but damn, it makes a sound like a chair breaking whenever anything is added (correctly) or removed to the board.

Other than the MB 24-pin that comes loose if you pick up the case whatsoever (should I get the hammer for it too? : / ), it's working great.  Right now, I have HoI3 running plus a dozen Firefox tabs--a feat already well beyond the capabilities of my old machine--but with memory only 50% occupied and CPU usage not getting much higher than 5%.

The 24-pin connector should have a catch that snaps shut when the connector is seated in the socket - at least, imine always have.

[Ideologue]

If you mean the clip thing, it has one, but it doesn't work very well.  As long as I don't physically lift the machine, it's okay.

I thought the comp had flat out died yesterday.  Turns out it was the power outlet blowing.  Freaked me out, though.

[Scipio]

I have first hand learned the devilry of USB fuckups.  My old trusty Microsoft Internet Keyboard Pro began malfunctioning (I think its USB connector was fubared) and it was fucking up my PDA, my Sanza Clip, and my mouse.  Eventually, it shut down all of my USB ports (some sort of bus overload).  Once I removed it, everything worked right, including my Sanza Clip, which had never properly worked before.  And my PDA is working better, too.

[Ideologue]

I do not fucking BELIEVE this.

I left the machine on all night for the first time, mostly as a test to see if it would pass.  It did not.  When I got up, it was still apparently functional, but I noticed that it would not run any programs, or, really, do anything other than come out of screensaver mode.

I sighed, said, "Fine, Vista sucks" and restarted (which I had to do manually), it POSTed, but then I got an error message no disk detected.

I made sure the boot priority hadn't gotten fucked up.  Then when that didn't work, I intentionally changed it to boot from DVD, but while it seems to recognize that the Windows disk is in there, and at first actually did fire up the OS, on later attempts it gives me an eternal black screen.

When it did load the OS, a ckhdsk scan didn't indicate anything wrong.  Also, if the HDD is completely fucked, should the BIOS even be able to register it at all?  It seems to know it is there in the BIOS control screen, and even in the initial POST message (SATA1: Western Digital etc.), and then gives me the error message.

Is the solution fire?

[DGuller]

Oh, wow.  Don't know what to say.

[Ideologue]

I guess tomorrow I'll buy a new HDD and see if it works... I would use my Dell's drives, but don't have storage for the data on them.  Further, the strange (lack of) behavior when attempting to boot from the OS DVD makes me wonder if the problem isn't in either the HDD or the optical drive...

Hilariously, if it is the HDD, I can't RMA it, because it's physically imprisoned by that broken screw inside the broken HDD cage.   I was anticipating that it would be the last thing I'd need to replace.  I wonder if I could have possibly fucked up the drive with that screw?  I mean, if I did, I don't think it would have worked for a week.

Fuck it, I'm just taking it to some repair place.  I am dead fucking tired of doing surgery on this thing myself.

[DGuller]

If you can't boot from the Windows CD, then it's not really the problem with hard drive, I would think.  They also typically don't just drop dead without a warning.  Something else is fucked up, and let us know when you find out what it is.

[Caliga]

You need to always use no-hardware cases, like the ones I have.  Everything is secured with sliding clips.  No tools needed, other than a screwdriver to secure the motherboard and the PS in.

[DGuller]

You need to always use no-hardware cases, like the ones I have.  Everything is secured with sliding clips.  No tools needed, other than a screwdriver to secure the motherboard and the PS in.

This too.  I'm surprised that there are still cases sold without tool-less installation setup.

[Ideologue]

Well, I didn't expect that to work--I switched the SATA cables (the HDD and the optical drive) to another pair of ports, and now it boots fine.

I'm tempted to believe I just didn't have something plugged all the way in again, but I did a rather thorough check to make sure the cables were firmly connected (and on both sides).  I also don't know how they could've slipped out, although it's plausible that my cats might have decided the tower would be a fun thing to play on.  Man, I'd hate that I came here with another problem, just to figure out (at length) that I still don't know how to jam things into other things. :p

The alternative seems more likely, however.  I think that, barring poor physical connection, the failure signifies that the SATA 1 port is nearly completely nonfunctional, and perhaps that both SATA 1 and SATA 2 (which are paired) are both broken.  I guess what I might do is transfer everything from the old Dell, which is what I'd been planning to do today until I was rudely interrupted by the computer's fuck-up, and then attempt to connect the old HDDs, which was my original intent anyway, to SATAs 1 and 2.  If they don't work then, then I think I'll have pinned down the issue.