Hardware problems that have sent you round the bend..........

semi-pro waster said:
Some of you folks seem really unlucky. I just tend to have problems with wireless networks, partly because I don't normally bother matching routers with receivers/adapters and partly because I simply expect them to work like a wired system will, it isn't like the standard(s) haven't been around for a while after all. However even when I do get connected my connections tend to be flaky, I've also tried at a mates house when they have added my MAC address to the router and I can see the router initially but as soon as I try to connect it disappears and it doesn't matter where I try it from.
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Ohh i haven't even started on my wireless network/router problems. :p
I'm unlucky with everything.

I recently had a problem with my brand new netgear dg834N, where it was dropping out and you couldn't even connect to it with the wired pcs.

I got so sick of wireless problems i bought a 30m network cable and every time my wireless stuff breaks i use that. Its my networkless wire. :p
 
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1) not being able to output 1920x1080 (1080p) to my sony kdl-40w200. nvidia drivers werent working, the powersrtip authors basically told us 8800 owners to bugger offf........

but, i did it :) 8800gtx, 1080p, 40" sony lcd....its nice :cool:

2) my extremely hot running e6600. 70c load at 3.3ghz with a tuniq. still havent solved that one:(

3) my linksys router not playing ball with uPnP. thats another one thats severely testing my patience.
 
sound kept going in my head phones so I assumed a problem with the sound card because the speakers were doing the same. I spent ages downloading different drivers and trying it in different OS's

turns out the little adapter I had them plugged them into had come out of the back of the PC a lil bit
 
I'm having a nightmare rig at the moment :( First build in two years... that's my excuse anyway


First problem (stupid me)
Plugged in the DS4 mobo, got it all set up and ready to go, but the fans went and nothing else. So I presumed I had a dead mobo.
The next day, after borrowing ram, psu and cpu off someone, I realised there's three power connectors on the DS4 mobo not two - I plugged the third one in and it worked :o One of them is a PCI-E boost, apparently, and I had the 24 pin and the PCI-E boost plugged in, but not the other 4 pin >.<


Second problem (stupid me, again)
Well seeings there's a PCI-E boost going into the mobo, I figured that PCI-E didn't need power going to the actual card. So when I booted up I had this ugly corrupt display, I thought I had a bad GFX card. But then I went and bought a molex->6 pin converter and the card worked fine after plugging that in.


Third problem (wtf)
At the WinXP install, when I go to format the hard drive, it would tell me my disk is damaged. Although every diagnostic tool I tried, including the manufacturers, said it's fine. But after loading the DS4's drivers off a floppy disk during install, it worked okay. I didn't seem to have this problem formatting with the P5B, which I bought later on.


Fourth problem (not stupid me, just crapiness)
CPU was idling at 55'c using the ACF7 Pro! And under load it would get too close to 70 for my liking. So I had to lap the CPU to get the load temps down to 40. But even so, a lapped CPU should idle better than 40... so after reseating many times and making sure that my lap is certainly perfectly flat, I figure not only did I have bad CPU, I also have a bad Freezer 7 as a few others have had them.


Fith problem (just getting silly now)
OK ready to install games, X1950XT all plumbed up, but the three games I pretty much bought the PC for don't work. Company of Heroes, Call od Duty 2 and Counter-Strike: Source. Tried different drivers and still the same problem. I even bought a new mobo, P5B Deluxe, and that didn't solve it. I measured voltages on my PSU and it was all fine (I even watched the voltages during loading, etc) and that wasn't the problem. Using a cracked version of CoD2 worked in the end, turning off error catching in the ATI drivers allowed CoH to load (albeit very slowly), but CS:S still didn't work. I tried an nVidia 6800 in my PC and everything worked fine, then I tried my X1950XT in another PC and for some reason everything worked fine there, too. The PC even had the same PSU as mine. Driver updates, windows updates, etc... didn't solve the problem :( Not good enough says me, so off goes the ATI card and DS4 motherboard - although the DS4 didn't seem to be the problem but I had a P5B now. So now I have £290 saved up for a better card later on.


Sixth problem (during setting up the P5B mobo)
Why do I have to be the one who gets a dodgy ASUS driver CD. Not so much a problem, but hell it's an annoyance and a half. Eventually I managed to make a copy of the files on the borked CD and install off the copy, but usually the CD would just confuse the computer I put it in. I could've downloaded off the 'net, but for some reason I obsessively wanted a working CD with the auto-run and InstALL thing.


Seventh problem
Since I sold my graphics card I haven't been able to try and fix this yet, but I'm pretty sure a driver update will do the trick - but the P5B's sound is disorted above 80% in volume control, which is lame. We'll have to see how that one goes when I get my graphics card in 6 weeks or so.


So yeah. This has definately been my worst experience of PC building. Ever. I thought after 2 years I'd be happy to get back into building PC's, but I was wrooong!

Also as a note, I RMA'd the memory although it did pass memtest, but didn't solve any problems.
 
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Whilst repairing a computer we came accross an Abit Motherboard that would refuse to work when placed in a case. Any case. We could power it up on a desk with no problems. It just refused to work in any sort of enclosure despite checking there was nothing shorting... :confused:

We also had a lovely hard drive that drove us nuts. 60Gb Seagate. Fresh install of Windows. No problem. Multiple Reboots during setup. No problem. Enter usernames. No problem. Worked like a dream until you rebooted the thing, then it refused to load Windows. We slipstreamed the motherboard drivers into windows thinking it was those. No change. Would let you install windows, set up users, reboot and bye bye windows. We did test after test after test before the reboot and no problem was found - it was a great drive - as long as you left the machine on for ever. Tried a different machine and it did the same thing. Ended up taking a hammer and nail to it.

Then we had a machine that would just shutdown for no apparent reason and at random times. It didn't bluescreen, it actually shutdown. Swapped the motherboard and the same thing happend. The original motherboard was fine. Took a lot of scratching of heads until we discovered the actual power switch on the case was faulty! We could get the machine to shutdown by tapping the case in a certain place. Neat affect, but useless.
 
bought a TV tuner with a USB remote dongle... the computer wouldnt start up so I tried everything still wouldnt boot up forgot that I put in the dongle... two days later I pulled the thing out after my brother asked what that was and it worked fine... grrr!

Stelly
 
furnace said:
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Seriously had me laughing this one, sorry but that is worse then the luck i have. I have spend 4 hours on friday witha new build not booting atall, tried flippin everything, started to get enraged and literally feel ill because of it. About to RMA the lot back and spots a socked next to the cpu for the other power plug for the MB, plugs it in and sorted. All fine and running vista, tries a bios flash thru windows and its killed the board, fansastic.

Also about 3 or 4 years ago tried modding the old XP1600 chips as you has to join the bridges with pencil and cut another bridge, managed to wreck 3 of them doing this, i actually did cry over that one. I just usually have hurendous issues with motherboards, EVERY TIME!!!
 
melbourne720 said:
Swap it for a nexus 120mm and I guarantee the temp and noise will drop.
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I doubt it, the nexus is not high airflow.
His problem is most likely a concave ihs, which seems to be a common problem.
 
Joe42 said:
I doubt it, the nexus is not high airflow.
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For a silent fan it is, but in the grand scheme of fans, no, you have a point.


Joe42 said:
His problem is most likely a concave ihs, which seems to be a common problem.
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How annoying! It's a shame you can't swap it with one in an office pc that is a stock and probably as flat as a pancake!

Failing that, lapping?
 
melbourne720 said:
For a silent fan it is, but in the grand scheme of fans, no, you have a point.
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Ohh its certainly one of the best in terms of airflow/noise ratio, but im just saying don't get that confused with high airflow, most 120mm fans have a higher airflow than the nexus. ;)

How annoying! It's a shame you can't swap it with one in an office pc that is a stock and probably as flat as a pancake!

Failing that, lapping?
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Yeah there are probably hundreds running in office machines that will never be overclocked, and have nice flat ihs's and run cool. Statistically, the best clocking core 2s are likely to be sitting in office machines running at stock. :(

He could lap it, best bet is to put a flat object on it first and see if it really is the ihs, i only mentioned it because a lot of people seem to have had a problem with them. If it was me i'd probably lap it, although it is a risky process and it will void the warranty.
 
Heres something I actually posted here about.

I spent a grand on the system below, I fitted all the hardware and everything took the best part of a day as I had a difficult case.

Booted fine the first time, then everytime after that it wouldnt boot, I tried everything, I found the only way to make it boot was to clear the CMOS on the motherboard but I had to do that EVERY time I wanted to boot the pc.
I was on OCUK in a flurry of anger over the course of about 12 hours

Turns out when installing the mobo I cleared the CMOS with the jumper, but I forgot to put it back to the origional position, so when I remembered about it I switched it back, but thinking I hadnt done it I put it back to the wrong position thinking I was clearing the CMOS. Basically that little teeny jumper caused me about 12 hours of pain anguish and frustration.
 
I've just had another one of these moments. I just reinstalled ME on a PC I had lying around. I put in a new hard drive and plugged the power cord back in. The fan spins, the hard drive revs up and then the PC shuts down.
I take out the hard drive, it happens again
I take out the memory, it happens again
I remove everything except the CPU, Fan and of course mobo but it was still shutting down straight after I turn it on

The power button was stuck down :rolleyes:
 
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