Keith via plug on 17 Nov 2022 07:52:54 -0800


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Re: [PLUG] More hardware woes 

On 11/17/22 09:39, Walt Mankowski via plug wrote:

On Thu, Nov 17, 2022 at 06:25:33AM -0800, Syeed Ali via plug wrote:

I'm late to this, so maybe I have duplicate opinions..
On Wed, 16 Nov 2022 21:31:09 -0500
Walt Mankowski via plug <plug@lists.phillylinux.org> wrote:


This morning they called me up. They said they couldn't find anything
wrong with it. Their best guess was that dust had gotten into
someplace it shouldn't, and when they blew out the dust it must have
fixed it.

That would have to be some magic soot straight out of Spirited Away
(2001).

To be fair, there was a LOT of dust.


Were I you, the decision would be between bringing it back and arguing
for a discounted second-pass with them using more of their own
known-good parts (even down to the cables) or you tearing the whole box
apart and reassembling and testing piece by piece while rebuilding it.
Personally I'd pick the latter.

The reason I brought the box into Micro Center is that I did NOT want
to have to tear it apart piece by piece. Also I have nothing to test
things with, and I also don't have any replacement parts.


I'm blaming hardware because your system has had issues right on the
BIOS screen.

I'm trying to wrack my brains as to what parts can be flexed to have a
system power off, but only after a moment, and yet not give you magic
smoke.  Have you investigated to see if anything has a scent?

I don't smell anything.


I intuit there's something like a cable or other connection that's
flexing or is poorly-seated (damaged?).  This is one way how things act
differently each time they are worked on.  Imagine things being
influenced when tugged, pushed, and flexed.

As you can imagine, I've already checked everything multiple times.
Again, and I want to stress this, THIS IS WHY I PAID PEOPLE TO
DIAGNOSE IT.


Firstly, I am suspicious of your GPU.  It getting a good yank was right
at the beginning of this misadventure.

What makes you think that?


Do any of your card slots have any unusual discoloration? (especially
little streaks).  Have you examined the contacts of your cards and
devices?

No.


First though, and I know it's a dumb idea, consider resetting the BIOS
by removing the battery and waiting a few minutes.

Then begin by yanking everything nonessential and repeatedly booting,
powering off, prodding, and powering on.

If you can, remove the motherboard and power supply from the case and
test outside of it.  Brent mentioned the "screw under the board"
problem.  I've had that.  Then wait until the last moment to reinstall
into it.

Examine the motherboard.  Maybe a capacitor got loose; you never know.



An overheating CPU will power a system down during boot.  Is its fan
running well?  Is your heatsink attached well?  Lift it and examine the
old paste to see if anything looks strange, then clean the paste,
remove the CPU and examine it and the socket (and the area around it).
Then replace it with new.  While you can skip this step if you don't
have paste (do not do it without new paste!), I think this step is
important enough that it should be kept in mind and done later if all
else fails.

Once again, I paid Micro Center because I didn't have the time,
energy, or, frankly, space to do all this.
I would almost be of a mindset to bring it back to Microcenter and tell them that the same thing happened and oh-by-the-way, "show me the tests you did for my $40".
That said, I think you're not too far from me during the day so if you want to borrow a PS tester I have one but I have another weird suggestion I don't think I heard you try.
Can you to take the computer and plug it somewhere else in your place that is at least not on the same circuit as your current receptacle?  Ideally you want to be on a different circuit and phase but unless you did some major electrical work on your place you might not know which receptacles are on which phase (and you might not be multi-phase anyway).  A good choice would be a receptacle in the washer / dryer area when there are not running. It would be best to use a decent extension cord if you need one (i.e. not one from a convenience store).
My rationale for this comes from a similar issue I have at my place, which is an old Quaker house where the electrical work done here was <sarc> special </sarc>.  I've fixed most things but I have one situation where my printer will not print if it is plugged into the receptacle and circuit everything else is plugged into.  At stand-by it is fine but when it would try to spin up to print, there would be just enough voltage sage to trip the transfer switch for the protected items but not enough to pop the breaker.  That's not the weirdest of occurrences and maybe you're familiar with this type of situation but it is something that can happen.  Typically more possible in older buildings but I've seen happen in more modern structures as well.  This can also be another instance of a one-and-done as I described before where you didn't have an issue until you did but that issue is not going away.  I don't think it was the dust but the difference in environments (your home and their office) could matter. Electrical infrastructure is the only relevant thing that jumps out to me.  This is pretty easy test too.  I can volunteer my 50ft heavy duty extension cord for the job. 



On Sun, 06 Nov 2022 18:14:22 -0500
Walt Mankowski via plug <plug@lists.phillylinux.org> wrote:


It does seem to take longer to shut off if it sits for a while. Maybe
one of the fans has failed? Who knows?

This is why I wonder about CPU overheating.

-

Then try booting from a flash drive.

It doesn't even stay on long enough to change the BIOS settings for it
to boot off a flash drive.


Then add one single part at a time, repeating the process.  Really
examine each part.  Note any cables which have a kink in them or need
to be bent a fair amount when installed.

For each effort, let it sit for 1+ minutes.  Stay in the room for each
attempt and never leave the room when it's powered on.

Thanks, but once again, this is why I decided to bring it into the
shop.

Walt
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Keith C. Perry, MS E.E.
Managing Member, DAO Technologies LLC
(O) +1.215.525.4165 x2033
(M) +1.215.432.5167
www.daotechnologies.com

___________________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group         --        http://www.phillylinux.org
Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce
General Discussion  --   http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug