Topic: No, I will not fix your computer. (Read 65311 times)

Thad · « **Reply #400 on:** February 24, 2011, 11:51:35 AM »

Rico's probably right.

Beat Bandit · « **Reply #401 on:** February 24, 2011, 12:03:18 PM »

It is almost definitely that.

At the very least, if it isn't, I don't imagine they would suddenly stop wanting your money enough to not let you opt into it later.

Brentai · « **Reply #402 on:** February 24, 2011, 12:45:43 PM »

I've never gotten in trouble for using a router, so either they can't tell a router from a PC from their end or they don't actually give that much of a fuck. Either way I think net neutrality's still holding up well enough that they can't slap a single user from connecting his modem to whatever the hell he wants.

François · « **Reply #403 on:** February 24, 2011, 12:50:44 PM »

Yeah, they probably have this option just for people who don't even want to know what a router is.

teg · « **Reply #404 on:** February 25, 2011, 12:30:39 AM »

Oh, before I forget, one of the tech guys at work showed me a computer that was a little more powerful, has a Blu-Ray drive, and costs $100 less.

So I guess I'll get that one and then buy a cooler-looking case because honestly it looks like a prop from an eighties action movie.

Whee!

Classic · « **Reply #405 on:** February 25, 2011, 03:25:24 AM »

Quote from: ★ on February 25, 2011, 12:30:39 AM

a cooler-looking case ... it looks like a prop from an eighties action movie.

Your... your sense of aesthetics is as baffling as it is wrong. Incidentally, I've decided that wearing ties that go past your hips is due to come back.

Büge · « **Reply #406 on:** April 10, 2011, 07:04:36 AM »

I think there's something wrong with my BIOS. It's not recognizing my second HD, and it keeps giving me an error message when I boot up: "3rd slave hard disk error, press f1 to continue." What do I do?

Thad · « **Reply #407 on:** April 10, 2011, 09:50:33 AM »

Start by checking the cables and ports. Does the drive work if you switch them around?

Past that, updating the BIOS couldn't hurt. But statistically it's far more likely to be a problem with the hard drive than the motherboard.

A good thing to have for situations like this is an external drive enclosure, or at least a cheapy little USB adapter, so you can try mounting the drive externally. That can help you narrow down a problem like this, and of course is also helpful for data recovery if your computer dies.

Büge · « **Reply #408 on:** April 10, 2011, 10:11:20 AM »

Quote from: Thad on April 10, 2011, 09:50:33 AM

Start by checking the cables and ports. Does the drive work if you switch them around?

I don't know. Will that do anything bad?

Quote from: Thad on April 10, 2011, 09:50:33 AM

Past that, updating the BIOS couldn't hurt. But statistically it's far more likely to be a problem with the hard drive than the motherboard.

A good thing to have for situations like this is an external drive enclosure, or at least a cheapy little USB adapter, so you can try mounting the drive externally. That can help you narrow down a problem like this, and of course is also helpful for data recovery if your computer dies.

How do I update the BIOS?

Keep in mind, this is a problem that's sort of on-and-off, no pun intended. Sometimes the computer will work fine once I boot it up, sometimes it takes 45 minutes of resetting to get it to work.

Thad · « **Reply #409 on:** April 10, 2011, 10:59:07 AM »

Quote from: Büge on April 10, 2011, 10:11:20 AM

Will that do anything bad?

Shouldn't.

Quote from: Thad on April 10, 2011, 09:50:33 AM

How do I update the BIOS?

If you bought your computer pre-built, BIOS updates should be on the manufacturer website; if you built it from parts, they should be on the motherboard vendor's website. Typically in this day and age they're simple Windows executables.

Flashing your BIOS may kill your existing settings, so you may want to write them down before you do it.

Büge · « **Reply #410 on:** April 10, 2011, 12:17:38 PM »

My friend Karl is the one who built this machine for me. Also, could it be dust or heat? I give my computer a good air-dusting every week or so, and I did it just now and it seems to be working again.

For the record, here's what the error screen looks like, as far as I could reproduce it:

Code: [Select]

AMIBIOS (c) 2006 American Megatrends Inc.
G31M-S BIOS P1.30
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E7400 @2.80GHZ

Press F2 to run setup
Press F11 for Boot Menu
3264MB OK
Auto-detecting SATAII_1 ... ATAPI CD-ROM
Auto-detecting IDE1 Master  IDE Hard Disk 
Auto-detecting IDE1 Slave . IDE Hard Disk 
SATAII_1     : HL-DT-ST DVD-ROM DH16NS10 0L04
               Ultra DMA Mode-5
IDE1 Master  : Maxtor 2R015H1 EAH41MF0
               Ultra DMA Mode-5, S.M.A.R.T. Capable but Disabled

3rd Slave Hard Disk Error
Press F1 to Continue

Thad · « **Reply #411 on:** April 10, 2011, 01:13:01 PM »

Yeah, could just be dust interfering with the connection.

Rico · « **Reply #412 on:** April 10, 2011, 01:21:36 PM »

Dust also does terrible things for heating and heat causes all sorts of crazy hard-to-diagnose problems.

teg · « **Reply #413 on:** April 11, 2011, 05:53:30 AM »

So my external harddrive was working fine two days ago, but yesterday I started getting this:

No amount of rebooting or unplugging seems to help. It still works with my old computer. Any idea what it could be?

Rico · « **Reply #414 on:** April 11, 2011, 08:27:45 AM »

Have you tried it in a different USB port? First thing that comes to mind if it works on your old computer. USB ports are fairly fragile.

teg · « **Reply #415 on:** April 11, 2011, 12:41:26 PM »

Yup. It doesn't seem to do anything, and other USB devices work just fine in the same ports.

EDIT: It works again! Huzzah!

I hope this doesn't become a regular occurrence.

Mongrel · « **Reply #416 on:** April 11, 2011, 04:40:14 PM »

Back that shit up while you still can.

Joxam · « **Reply #417 on:** April 11, 2011, 05:45:59 PM »

Eh. Sometimes you'll get weird errors if you don't wait for the 'it is now safe to unplug your usb device' notice before you unplug something.

Thad · « **Reply #418 on:** April 11, 2011, 06:44:40 PM »

Enclosures are fragile things too. Cheapy external adapters are worse.

teg · « **Reply #419 on:** April 13, 2011, 08:00:08 AM »

It's doing it again.

>:I

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Author Topic: No, I will not fix your computer. (Read 65311 times)