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Thread ID: 107650 2010-02-24 21:17:00 very messed up computer robsonde (120) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
861398 2010-02-24 21:17:00 had a job yesterday that I felt had to be shared .

the request went like this,


me: whats wrong with the computer?

her: its buggered, I opened the hard drive and unpluged some wires and dont know where they go . . . you able to help??

me: sure, it sounds kind of bad, it maybe a lost cause . I will know better once i have a look .


I got to her place, I opened it up, a quick glance inside and things looked normal .

but it would not power up at all, dead .

I asked which wires she had unpluged .
turns out she had unplugged all the pannel connectors and then put them back at random .

re-cabled the front pannel and powered on .

all manner of BIOS beeps started .

so I decided to "field strip" the whole computer .

under the IDE cables I found the problem . . .
a DIMM of RAM somehow got itself weged into two slots, one end of the DIMM in slot 1 and the other end in slot 2 .

computer is now running good as new, whole job only took 45 minutes .


the question is how big a WTF have you found inside a case?

why do people think pulling a computer apart is going to end well?



.
robsonde (120)
861399 2010-02-24 21:24:00 a DIMM of RAM somehow got itself weged into two slots, one end of the DIMM in slot 1 and the other end in slot 2.
I don't even want to know how that's possible.

Anybody got a spare motherboard and stick of RAM to try it out? :p
qazwsxokmijn (102)
861400 2010-02-24 21:32:00 why'd she rip the wires out at random is beyond me:confused::confused: GameJunkie (72)
861401 2010-02-24 21:32:00 had a job yesterday that I felt had to be shared .

the request went like this,


I got to her place, I opened it up, a quick glance inside and things looked normal .

but it would not power up at all, dead .

I asked which wires she had unpluged .
turns out she had unplugged all the pannel connectors and then put them back at random .

re-cabled the front pannel and powered on .

all manner of BIOS beeps started .

so I decided to "field strip" the whole computer .

under the IDE cables I found the problem . . .
a DIMM of RAM somehow got itself weged into two slots, one end of the DIMM in slot 1 and the other end in slot 2 .

computer is now running good as new, whole job only took 45 minutes .


the question is how big a WTF have you found inside a case?

why do people think pulling a computer apart is going to end well?



.

You have to admire her for having a go, next time she is armed with more knowledge .
I have fixed a few computers with varying success rates for people who would be terrified to remove the case screws
prefect (6291)
861402 2010-02-24 21:37:00 The ol kiwi DIY strikes again eh Gobe1 (6290)
861403 2010-02-24 21:39:00 I've put a stick of DDR RAM into a socket the wrong way around once.
It's not supposed to be possible but this one time it went in easy as so I thought it must be correct.
Turned PC on and then after a few seconds the smoke leaked out :) so I quickly turned it off again but it was too late.
Fried the memory chip on a couple of the connectors and also all the ram sockets on the board in the same location :(

I think I have told this story before but anway, a few years ago I sold a PCI sound card to a guy who was adamant he would be able to install it.
A few hours later he came back with his PC under his arm, slammed it down on the front counter and started ranted and complaining that I had sold him a faulty card.
So I took the machine into the workshop and opened it up to have a look.
I couldn't stop laughing!
It was an old Acer and the mainboard had PCI and one or two ISA slots but there was a gap between the last PCI and the first ISA slot where another slot would normally have been.
He had mounted the sound card to the back of the case with a screw as you normally would but it was in that gap floating above the mainboard.
How he thought it would work like that I'll never know.
CYaBro (73)
861404 2010-02-24 22:17:00 How he thought it would work like that I'll never know.


LOL
Are you sure that thought is the right word here? ;)
R2x1 (4628)
861405 2010-02-24 22:22:00 I've put a stick of DDR RAM into a socket the wrong way around once.
It's not supposed to be possible but this one time it went in easy as so I thought it must be correct.
Turned PC on and then after a few seconds the smoke leaked out :) so I quickly turned it off again but it was too late.
Fried the memory chip on a couple of the connectors and also all the ram sockets on the board in the same location :(

I think I have told this story before but anway, a few years ago I sold a PCI sound card to a guy who was adamant he would be able to install it.
A few hours later he came back with his PC under his arm, slammed it down on the front counter and started ranted and complaining that I had sold him a faulty card.
So I took the machine into the workshop and opened it up to have a look.
I couldn't stop laughing!
It was an old Acer and the mainboard had PCI and one or two ISA slots but there was a gap between the last PCI and the first ISA slot where another slot would normally have been.
He had mounted the sound card to the back of the case with a screw as you normally would but it was in that gap floating above the mainboard.
How he thought it would work like that I'll never know.

You know things arent happy happy joy joy lol when smoke comes out of electronic and electrical units.
I call it the smoke test after a big auto electrical rewiring or modification switch everything on and see what works and what wires start smoking.
You can rest assured about one thing though that the fuse wont blow and will still be in pristine condition after the rest of the system has been chernoybled.
I made a horrendous **** up on an old bus not long ago rewired the alternator didnt notice it was an old one wich has an external regulator I wired it up direct 1 wire to battery other to warning light.
Found regulator later its still there hidden up under the dash
Flashed it up and smoke poured outta the alternator rooted it completely.
prefect (6291)
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