Emergency, need help ... !

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mel
  • Start date Start date
M

Mel

my brother's pc;

Tyan Tomcat 230t (s2507)
2 x 1ghz p3
1.5gb ram (3 x 512mb)
Ati rage 2+ video/ agp (it's mostly a server)
Adaptec 3940uw scsi
3com 905 ethernet
Smc (some kind) ethenet
CL soundblaster live (ct4760)
Win nt4.0 server


A couple of weeks ago, he took out one of the dimms and
the sb live to use in a workstation he was planning. But
he cancelled that project for budget reasons, and today
he tried to put them back in.

I guess it gave him lots of bizarre trouble and many reboots
this morning. He's not a good technician. He should know how,
but he just doesn't have the patience or the temperment to do
very well.

I went by later to check on it (he wanted me to) and it was
sitting on the NT "disk administrator" screen, with the whole
system frozen solid, no response to anything. And the reset
button didn't work either. So I powered it down, and turned
it back on after it had had a chance to cool off.

When I turned it on again, all I got was a message about
"award bootblock bios" and "please insert floppy with rom image"

My brother is furious, he blames me for all his problems and
calls me a liar.

Ok, so there's something I'm supposed to put on a floppy disk
and it probably has something to do with a bios image. What do
I put on it? and in what format?

I might only get one chance to solve this, before he goes off
the deep end.

Thanks,
the jinxed one
--
 
remove the sound card remove the ram. Reset the bios (short the jumper) power plug out. Reboot - load system bios defaults.
 
remove the sound card remove the ram.
Reset the bios (short the jumper) power plug out.
Reboot - load system bios defaults.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jad. It's good to know, except now it isn't an
emergency anymore. Or maybe it still is, I don't know. My
brother came by and threw the motherboard at me (literally)
The smc ethernet card too. I'll try to revive the board when
I can, maybe that will help things. I just don't have any p3
chips handy tonight.

thanks,
Jinxed Meli


--
 
Mel said this...
Thanks Jad. It's good to know, except now it isn't an
emergency anymore. Or maybe it still is, I don't know. My
brother came by and threw the motherboard at me (literally)
Click to expand...

Your brother has a serious attitude problem. Unless for some personal
reasons you owe him bigtime I would suggest you throw the kit straight back
at him with a suggestion about how he might best approach you to get help.
 
Let's see, the brother takes out the DIMM. The brother takes
out the Sound Card. The brother takes out the ethernet card.
The brother even takes out the motherboard.

Sure seems like this brother thinks of himself as quite an
expert. I mean, I can't see anyone going as far as taking out
a motherboard when they acknowledge that they don't know anything
about PC's.

I wonder if the brother even knows enough to turn off all
the power before removing hardware from within the system?
Or if the brother has even ever heard of ESD.

I would be willing to bet that either the brother burned
out something trying to pull it out while still powered, or
had an ESD "hit" against something like the DIMM.

However, when the brother breaks something, he puts all the
blame on poor Mel. :(
 
Walt said this...
I would be willing to bet that either the brother burned
out something trying to pull it out while still powered, or
had an ESD "hit" against something like the DIMM.

However, when the brother breaks something, he puts all the
blame on poor Mel. :(
Click to expand...

Seems a likely scenario to me too. And I simply don't work for people that
can't show some basic control and respect. It's a self-respect sort of
thing.
 
Thanks Jad. It's good to know, except now it isn't an
emergency anymore. Or maybe it still is, I don't know. My
brother came by and threw the motherboard at me (literally)
The smc ethernet card too. I'll try to revive the board when
I can, maybe that will help things. I just don't have any p3
chips handy tonight.
Click to expand...

What does your brother HAVE on you, anyway?

I'd tell him to go have a Coke and a smile...you know the rest. :-)

This is why I no longer do freebies for relatives and acquaintaces--they
have to pay me just like everyone else. The aggravation just isn't worth
it.
 
Mel said this...

Your brother has a serious attitude problem. Unless for some personal
reasons you owe him bigtime I would suggest you throw the kit straight back
at him with a suggestion about how he might best approach you to get help.
Click to expand...

Thanks. That was good advice. I left the motherboard with him while
he wasn't home, along with a note containing Jad's advice. I don't owe
him anything. I'm just one of those people who is too nice for her own
good :-) :-( He never gets another bit of free tech service from me for
as long as he lives. (I had to duck when he threw the ethercard, it was
aimed straight at me ...)

thanks,
the computer jinx
--
 
Thanks Jad. It's good to know, except now it isn't an

Unless the mobo's made by Nerf, it's not a good idea to throw it around.
Did you catch it? If he treats his stuff like that, it's no wonder his
PC's not working.
 
Mel said this...
Thanks. That was good advice. I left the motherboard with him while
he wasn't home, along with a note containing Jad's advice. I don't owe
him anything. I'm just one of those people who is too nice for her own
good :-) :-( He never gets another bit of free tech service from me for
as long as he lives. (I had to duck when he threw the ethercard, it was
aimed straight at me ...)
Click to expand...

Good for you. He may learn something from this too. I'd recommend that you
charge at least a nominal amount for work in future. Many people don't
respect what they get for free.
In the case of someone who throws cards at you I'd definitely charge my
full hourly rate!!!
:)
 
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