My weird computer

[bananaman]

I have this old computer with 512 MB of RAM and 20 GB hard-drive that I am mainly using as a project that I don't care if I destroy the thing (I got it for $25 about 5 years ago). The computer worked fine for awhile apart from having a version of XP that I think my friends got from somewhere in china. Last summer the thing went bonkers and kept on crashing. I managed to salvage my data from the hard-drive and decided it would be a fun project to try to get working again.

After spending many nights trying to re-install some operating system on the thing. (I have multiple copies of 95, 98, NT, ME, 2003 server, XP, ...). I reformatted the hard-drive multiple times, but each time the process would stop halfway through setup. So I thought maybe it was a bad CD-drive, so I pulled out a different drive and tried that. I changed the IDE cables, and a bunch of other things. Finally I noticed that a bunch of capacitors were bulging on the top and some were starting to leak. I wanted to pretend it wasn't the problem, but last weekend I finally picked up some spare capacitors and went to work soldering them in.

I took out all the bad capacitors and successfully soldered in 7 new ones. My only problem was that in cleaning out one of the holes, I held the soldering iron on too long and destroyed two thin wires on the motherboard. So I pulled out some wire and located where the wires came to and from and soldered them on. I was feeling kinda down, b/c the thing looks like a total hack job, and I thought there was no way it would possibly work.

Today I put the comp back together and started it up. There is still nothing on the hard-drive so I put in a 98 install CD and the computer couldn't recognize it. I then put in a live KNOPIX cd and it successfully booted up. I'm now feeling kinda happy that I might get something working. So I try a windows xp install cd and it runs setup. It gets to the location to choose which partition to install it on and I decided to delete on of the partitions and make it all one partition. While trying to delete the partition it says error and goes back to the choose a partition screen. Now it can't locate any partitions and when I click enter it says "A problem has been detected adn windows has been shut down to prevent damage ... STOP: 0x0000008E (0xC0000005, 0xF84C6E44, 0xF80C8778, 0x00000000)
setupdd.sys Address F84C6E4C base at F84A2000 DateStamp 367D8507"

Now when I try to run the same install CD it says opening setup and then the screen turns black the speakers laugh at me (well maybe not that) and the CD drive stops whirring.

I don't think I've destroyed the computer b/c it worked after the jury rig, but I can't for the life of me get it to do anything.

Does anyone have any suggestions or similar fun stories?

[alexrudd]

Does the Knoppix CD still work?

[bananaman]

I don't know, I didn't try it again.

I'm off at college right now for my classes, so I won't be able to test it until I get back home late tonight.

[Art_of_camelot]

The current computer I have right now I bought a couple of years ago for 75$ on clearance. Someone had returned it and the description said that the hard drive was bad. I thought no big, Ill just drop in a new hard drive and I'll be good to go. I figured I'd check to see if it would boot just for the hell of it. No dice ... but it doesnt give me any message about the hardrive being corrupted or anything .I disconnected everything and opened it up. Upon opening the pc up I found that the power cable to the Cd ROM drive was not pushed in all the way and one of the ram sticks was not pushed in all the way either. Pushed them both in all the way and it booted right up.

[NETWizz]

banannaman,

That particular STOP Code references "One or more of your RAM modules are faulty"

Taken into context, the motherboard has equal weight as it has the memory controller built into its chipset. My recommendation is to re-inspect the motherboard and ensure no capacitors are bulging. Any other capacitors that are the same type and approximately the same value will need to be replaced too. All replacement capacitors should be Low-ESR.

Obviously, the above is a big pain in the posterior. Just re-inspect and make sure the hacked together capacitor is well connected at the very least.

Run Memtest86+ 1.7... burn the .iso and boot it. If it fails, something is wrong with the memory or the motherboard. I would try it on another computer and wait for it to PASS then move your memory over and wait for a FAIL to confirm bad memory or PASS to confirm your computer's motherboard is causing the problem not the memory.

The hard drive not formatting may be an number of problems. Since you mentioned it is only 20 GB, Windows 98SE and above should have no problem with that size drive even without LBA-48 bit. If the drive fails to format, this typically means the drive is bad, but again it could be the drive controller (built into motherboard).

Basically, if there is any problem with this system, it is most likely the motherboard. Being that the capacitors (DC Filters) were bad, there could be damage to ICs and other integral components of that motherboard though this is rare. Typically the symptom is instability. Even if you got an OS installed, it would probably flake out often due to the hardware. These symptoms are indicitive of motherboard problems:

Symptoms:
Screen that goes blank (no signal) fans running, but nobody home.
System will not finish POST all the time
System hangs half way through startup.. often goes blank
System refuses to power on when power button is pressed

For this reason, the advisable procedure would be to replace the motherboard with a known good one. Assume the processor is good, since it POSTS. Test memory in another computer and assess power supply. If it is too low wattage, lacking modern features, has visual signs of bulging caps or stinking, replace it too.

I would jump right into an OS install if I was confident the motherboard, power supply, CPU, and RAM are good. You optionally (time consuming) can run chkdsk /r to check for bad sectors, you can use the Gibson Research Spin Rite, or other diagnostics on a hard drive. Typical Optical Drive diagnostic is simply, Does it read a known good optical disc? If you can pop in a CD-R and boot something like Knoppix, the optical drive is good.

Optical Drive Repair:
1. If a disc is stuck, use a paperclip to open
2. If the door is jammed, try to unjam it or disassemble and ensure it is on the track.
(Sometimes a Jam is due to a foreign object stuck in the drive)
3. If door won't open it can be because the little rubber band belt is missing.
4. You can open the door and shake out foreign objects
5. Disassemble to get stuck stuff out of the drives that won't shake loose
6. If a drive will not read, all you can do is clean the laser. Easiest way is to open it up removing all the screws and lightly wipe the laser lens with something dry or damp then dry. You can use alcohol and even water (be especially careful to get only the lens)

Again, it is easier to just replace an optical drive than try to fix it. Just trying to save you money.

I would ditch the motherboard unless you have reason to belive it is working properly, and I would definitely run memtest86+