Posts by alc6379 - Page 13

I'd wait on a new CPU. CPUs don't always kill motherboards. At least once you get the new chip in, you could return both at once, if they don't work...

Pull all optical drives, hard drives, MiniPCI cards, and RAM from the system. Try it, then.

If it still does the same thing, you're probably looking at a bad motherboard.

You might have knocked something off of your board, or even knocked something like the RAM or a PCI card loose. Make sure all the cards are seated properly in the system. If all else fails, try to contact eMachines, because those POST beeps mean something, and they have the documentation to determine what they mean.

You simply need to reinstall an OS on the system. All the partitions aren't being recognized by the system, if there even are any. Try to boot from a CD, and install some kind of operating system on there. Heck, even download a KNOPPIX CD, and try to boot to that CD. Who knows? You might take that, decide you like Linux, and install that, thus solving your Missing Operating System problem... ;)

Are we all sure this is the same problem? So far, we've got several different components that "could" cause the issue. It might be a better idea to split this thread up.

To the original poster-- if your fan, being unplugged, allows the unit to POST, then you're probably right. If you're in warranty, you might need your heatsink/fan combo replaced by Dell. If you're outside of warranty, I guess you're buying one on your own...

Offhand, it sounds like you hit the nail on the head.

The only real way to test it is to remove all devices like optical drives, hard drives, memory, batteries, and MiniPCI cards from the unit, and then attempt to power it up. This ensures none of those devices are causing the issue.

Chances are, this won't do anything, though. Your best bet is probably just to replace the whole motherboard, as you could run up and down tons of circuits with a circuit tester, and never find the right thing to replace on the board.

It WON'T "fry" your motherboard. That's one term I HATE when techs use. It will make the board unusable until the EEPROM is reprogrammed. If it's not replaceable/reprogrammable, then yes, the board is unusable. I reserve the word "fry" for when I cover chicken/pork/beef with flour, and then place said meat in boiling oil. It's a useless term for anything computer-related.

Most of the time, there's not much you can do about it. My suggestion-- just become a more careful typist, and save your work often.

Additionally, you might be able to check in Control Panel for a touchpad option somewhere. There might be something there, if there is a way to adjust it.

Have you called Toshiba Tech support? That sounds like the LEDs might be giving you some kind of error code. Without knowing their LED coding scheme, nobody here could tell you anything...

First of all, I'd be looking at some kind of warranty exchange thing going on. I presume you have a warranty, right?

it could be the motherboard. Without voidng the warranty, I'd remove as much from the system as you could, like the optical drive, the hard drive, RAM, wireless cards, etc. Be sure to remove any peripherals, too. Boot the machine up, and see if it gets you any further. If it does, put parts back in until it fails-- the last one you installed was probably the culprit. If it does the same thing with all those parts removed, then the tech was right-- it's probably a bad motherboard.

I'm not even a real programmer, but I'd have to agree with Narue-- there HAS to be some way to use recursion, or someting to break that up. With what little I know, that just doesn't look very "elegant", or reusable, for that matter.

Maybe this will help?

http://www.noah.org/python/https/

Looks to be a Python module that will help you download from HTTPS sites. I assume regular HTTP GET commands, etc, won't work through an encrypted connection.

I'm going to be brief:

Nope. It won't work. Two different OSes, two different drivers are needed.

Microsoft doesn't have ME anymore. You might be able to get it from eBay, or something, but I wouldn't recommend installing a 6 year old OS that hasn't had updates for it in over 2 years on a PC these days... you're just screaming, "GIVE ME A VIRUS!"

If at all possible, I'd get the machine upgraded to run Windows XP. It has its fair share of trouble, yes, but not the stupid stuff ME had.

You probably need to update the BIOS on the machine that is getting the processor upgrade. That machine probably needs to know what bus speeds, etc, that it's going to use for the new chip.

As for the other one-- if it ain't broke, don't fix it! Unless you can specifically cite a reason for updating your BIOS (like a CPU speed increase), I don't recommend flashing your BIOS willy-nilly.

Sometimes hal.dll can be recreated. But, chances are, you're looking at a deeper issue, as those described in the great link gemini4 provided. Or, you could even be looking at hardware failure-- the drive itself could be bad, or the filesystem could be damaged.

Best thing to do is acquire a Windows XP disc for your system, and try to run something like CHKDSK from recovery console, or get some hardware diagnostic programs for your system. At the very worst, you're going to need an XP disc, still, because you'll soon be faced with an OS reinstall in light of few other options.

Ok... I'm going to have to step in on this thread before things go too far out.

Firstly, don't install a version of Windows that you aren't completely positive you have legitimate licensure for. That includes OEM software, and of MAPS- type sources where you might not have the license for. (Not entirely sure what MAPS, is, either-- I've only heard of things like TechNet and MSDN for IT professionals)

Second, just go buy a "real" copy of Windows. Don't futz with the OEM stuff, or anything else-- save yourselff the trouble, and don't wake up one morning to a machine needing "activation" because someone else just booted up a PC with the same Product Key as yours.

By all means, call Microsoft about the copy you bought. They need to know who's pirating their software, or improperly selling versions of Windows XP, thus violating their OEM seller agreements. They're not going to bust your chops-- in fact, they might even offer you a discounted legit version of XP for turning the folks in.

Or try system restore in recovery console.

http://toughadmin.com/article.php?article=System

-T

This might work, but I'd advise against it. It's more trouble than it's worth, really.

Having been in a position to see System Restores do nothing for you on a nearly daily basis, I'm of the same mind as Christian (kc0arf). If it's that jacked up, just reinstall. Your system's not really ever going to be the same way again. Also, System Restore not launching probably has nothing to do with the botched update-- it in itself can indicate an entirely different problem.

Try booting into Safe Mode, and actually logging in as the Administrator account-- that may yield better results. If not, you've probably got some spyware that has messed around with your setup.

If that seems to have occurred, cut to the chase-- back up your data, and reinstall the OS.

which part does it freeze on, exactly? "During installation" can be at any number of points, and each could indicate something different.

Does it happen on both battery power and on the AC adapter?

Here's a BIG note, too:

Sometimes, those discs only work in the model they've shipped with, or the brand they're meant for. Additionally, you're not legally supposed to install it on more than one system, because you only have one license to install with. That, of course, is taken by the PC that the OS shipped on.

Can you open the disc in Windows XP, and see what's on it, if you see things like TOOLS, I386, and ADDONs, it's probably a "real" Windows XP disc. Anything else, it's a "restore" CD, and will likely not work, or end up deleting everything on the target system.

Can you create a new user account, and see if it works there?

It might be possible you've got something going on with your Ctrl key, even. I don't suspect a virus, not just yet. Also, does it work in Notepad?

What kind of PC do you have? That's kind of important.

You might have to completely clear off the partitions on your drive. You might have to use a DOS utility like Clean1k to delete your partition table, and start fresh.

Good news-- VMWare ESX is going to become free. Don't know when, don't know much detail, but it's going to become a more attractive option in the future. Check out their website to see if/when it's going to happen.

It all depends.

First off, Wifi on these things are WAY overblown. You're not going to get any really productive web work done on them. The question to ask is, "Does it have Bluetooth"?

I don't have a phone/PDA, but I use Bluetooth CONSTANTLY to transfer files back and forth, and to sync my PDA. I only use the wireless to sync with AvantGo, a mobile content provider.

If I were you, I'd get a hands-on test of each. It's going to really boil down to which do you prefer-- PocketPC OS, or Palm OS? I personally cannot effectively use PalmOS (just lack of training and usage), and LOVE Windows Mobile on the PocketPC. YMMV.

Best thing to do is to take each individual part, and price it out using a site like www.newegg.com. Total that up, and then figure you're only going to get about 60%-70% of what it's worth brand new, if that. Then, you can post it on a place like eBay.

Or, if that fails, I'll give you $20 for the whole lot. I'll even come and pick it up. :)

(joking, unless you really want to sell them to me for $20!)

Too true. You might have a bad heatsink or something.

Or, you could be looking at having to upgrade your BIOS revision. All the same, Dell tech support can help you out with that if you're still within warranty.

Be VERY careful, though-- sometimes you can pull too much amperage through the fan, and ruin your motherboard because you sent too many amps through it.

If you've got a 4-pin fan, just buy a fan controller, and control the speed manually. They're not all that expensive, and you can usually control more than one fan with them. I've got one in a 5.25" bay that controls 4 fans from one spot.

Did you think to simply call Dell, and see if they had that part available? They usually do, especially for things like that, because many of those machines may still be under some type of a hardware contract.

Please provide more information.

What exactly happens when you try to connect to the Internet?
Who is the ISP?
What steps did you follow to configure the router?
What kind of cable/DSL modem are you using?
Are you running a software firewall, like Norton or McAfee? If so, which one?

If you can provide those pieces of information, I'm certain someone here can help you out.

You'll probably want to hard-reset the router to factory defaults, and try things again. Usually, this is done by holding in the RESET button for 10 or more seconds.

Also, are we positive that it's the router doing it? Have you hooked straight up to the internet connection to confirm there's a speed difference recently?

I'd like to weigh in on this, if I could.

Point blank-- a forum is by no means the place to lay out step-by-step how to set up a network. Even your setup is not "basic" if you're looking to do things like connect the machines to the Internet-- there are things to consider like NAT/IP forwarding, what types of hardware to use, and what the host OSes are. No one can provide a thorough how-to document on what you're asking, because only you are going to know exactly how you need your network set up.

If your Net+ book isn't good enough, pick up another one. I mean this in all helpfulness, because it's just not feasible to walk someone "A-Z" through a network design over a forum.

Don't take offense at the title, but the first book I pick up when I need to familiarize myself with a topic are the "For Dummies" books. In your case, these would be awesome resources:

Home Networking For Dummies
Networking for Dummies

It's quite possible that the Net+ book isn't giving you the information that you need in a relevant fashion. I use the CompTIA books all the time for study, and I've always appreciated the amount of information in them. Basically, you have to know what's in that book in order to prove to CompTIA you're proficient in networking systems. If you use the For Dummies books to start you off …

Why not just go through once, and enable some power saving options on them?

That way, they'd just go into hibernate or Stand By mode, rather than you having to run around like a crazy person at the end of the day. They'll save nearly as much power in those states as they would if shut down, and you wouldn't have to shut them down daily, because they would already be configured to set themselves in a lower power state.

Have you performed a reset of the router, and restored it back to factory defaults?

Which is happening? Is the router not getting an IP address from the DSL, or are the clients connected to the router not getting IP addresses? Each problem could have a different solution.

I've never been one to come down on someone for having poor English skills, but I'm not sure anyone can understand what you're asking, exactly. No offense, mind you.

"Computers on a Network", if I understand that's what you want, is such a broad term. Please narrow down your request to a specific topic, and we might be able to provide more help on your query.

a WAN port is fine. So long as it's the RJ-45 port that Ethernet needs, you'll be OK. Router manufacturers name the port lots of different things, but so long as the routers aren't in the same subnet (looks like you got that part under control), then you should be able to hook them straight together.

The short answer is no.

The long answer is that it is possible, but you have to be running some kind of VPN to get authenticated, or to log into the domain via dialup. Both methods of connection are outside the scope of what I could provide to you in a mere forum post.

But, if the Exchange server isn't behind some kind of firewall, then you should be able to configure your emal clients not within the domain to connect to it without a problem. You just have to know the server's address, and what your credentials (username and password) are.

What exactly did you do in /etc/hosts and netconfig? We kind of need to know that in order to help you out.

There could be any number of things wrong. Please tell us:

• When did this start?
• What type of firewalls are you using?
• Does it work wired?

Those are just three things, for starters. See what happens there, and get back with us. Others may have more suggestions if I don't get back to you soon enough.

Port blocking isn't going to do it-- that will cut it off entirely, and alienate your fellow users. That's why I suggested a QoS monitoring solution to either give your packets a higher priority, or give the other people's packets a lower priority.

But again, that's not going to solve anything. All you're going to do is irritate folks. I still contend the best solution is to get your own internet connection that cannot or will not be shared by the others.

Are you running a DHCP server in the mix, here?

What you have to do is add the addresses, along with the systems' MAC addresses, into the reserved address pool in the DHCP configuration. Then, if you have a specific hostname that you want to give those machines, you'd do that in the DNS server configuration. They're two different areas, and each have to be looked at. You were right, though-- it is done via the DHCP snap-in.

What kind of motherboard do you have?

The best thing to try is performing a Google search using the name of your motherboard's SATA chipset, and checking if it's compatible. I know that my Via 8237 isn't compatible with most BSD flavors, which is kind of disappointing, as I LOVE Free and NetBSD.

In Linux terminology, what would that partition be called? (something like /dev/hda#, where # is a number) if you find that, mount it in your Linux install, and see if you can access any files from it.

I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but this is why you back stuff up before installing any OS. I had some drive specifications change on me when changing from Knoppix to Gentoo, and I ended up formatting an entire 80GB drive! :O Luckily, I had DVD backups that were recent, but things could have been worse.

The Suse package claims the minimum RAM is 256 and that seems a bit odd, as XP I thought was the power hungry monster! haha

That's not odd at all. Either KDE or Gnome recommend that much-- the GUIs available in SuSE can be as hardware intensive as Windows. But, they can also go in the opposite direction-- you could install Fluxbox on your SuSE install, and get by with a measly 64 MB of RAM, if you wanted.

What is the error code when you check the device's properties in Device Manager? That may give you some further clue on how to proceed.

Give this page a shot:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=MIGR-40213

First rule of looking for PC drivers is check the manufacturer's support site. :)

really, the best thing to do would probably be to contact an IBM consultant on this. I'm pretty certain I couldn't help with something like this. Good luck finding someone with this type of experience to advise you on a forum, too-- I'd imagine if I had experience with that type of migration, I'd be too busy to do anything but that...

Sort of.

Cygwin is a collection of GNU utils that have been ported to windows. It has the BASH shell, and it also has other shells. You still have to compile programs to work in Windows-- you just can't copy a util from a Linux installation to a thumbdrive, and expect it to work in Windows.

It's a neat set of programs, but it's no substitute for a "real" Linux/Unix environment. I use it all the time, though, to initiate remote X sessions with Linux/Unix boxes. This is a little known feature, but it's the best free X client available for Windows, IMO.

Here are some tips:

The faster you lose AOL, the better you will be. A standard dialup ISP is cheaper, and you can do all of the things in it that you can do with AOL.

Firewalls are built into Linux. Sort of. They do what firewalls are supposed to do-- block ports. Since your standard Linux installation is usually pretty secure, and in a desktop install, many ports are already closed, the defaults are fine. Even remote access things like SSH have root login disabled, so that's one less hole to worry about.

If you switch over to a high speed connection, you might want to invest in a router, and use it as a hardware firewall. Just plug it in, and you've got all of the box's ports hidden.

If your hardware is pretty standard stuff, you should be in good shape. Since you purchased a boxed set, you get the excellent manuals SuSE provides. That's going to go a long way in getting you up and going.

Can Linux be as easy and as intuitive as Windows (which I have to say, I doubt! haha)?

I'll answer that with a question of my own-- When you first used Windows, were you an expert at it?

...That's about all you'll need to concern yourself with just yet. My advice, when starting up, is to knock your problems down one at a time. Don't start with a laundry list. Get your email working, …