MrWiggles's continuing absence

[MrWigglesGiggles]

Dear 1up,

I am sorry for my prolonged absence in clan activities. Unfortunately, the circumstances of my life have been preventing me from being very involved in clan life. I had hoped that when I left Texas I would only be a few weeks before I would have found a new apartment and gotten settled there. However, I find myself still living in the same temporary arrangement nearly 3 months later. However, I am pleased to report that I am scheduled to be closing on my new house on May 15, and hopefully will have decent Internet within a week or two after that. Please be patient and know that I have not abandoned the clan. Hopefully I'll be back in a month or so.

Much love.

PS- Welcome back, Falco! I missed your vote, but I would definitely have given you an F1.

[falco[1up]]

Thanks man. Hope to see you back soon.

[MrWigglesGiggles]

As of last night, my laptop is toast. Not sure when I'll replace it: I do not anticipate being able to repair it.

[Pyrite[1up]]

I highly doubt it is "toast"

[MrWigglesGiggles]

I highly doubt it is "toast"

I have no bios menu on startup. I hit the power button, the fan comes on, and the keyboard lights blink. End of transaction.

But I hope you're right all the same. That laptop has been a part of my soul since I started college.

[Cope57[1up]]

Hey MrWiggles,

Do you get a POST signal? If not, try checking these before calling the PC dead.
Check CPU Fan and that is attached to the power outlet for CPU fan and that it spins when power is turned on (Some motherboards cannot POST if CPU fan fails to report active).
Clear the motherboard CMOS, by looking in the motherboard manual for how to do (Usually removing the battery for 15 minutes will solve the issue)
If using jumpers to overclock your machine (Voltage and Multipliers) then put the machine back to default setting or jumperless
If nothing fixed, then make sure the PC Speaker is attached properly and listen if any beep-codes and if so consult your motherboard manual for the meaning
Clear the cabinet from dust, as it might cause short circuit.
Take out and reinsert all devices like PCI, AGP and memory modules in case of a bad connection.
If still no beep codes, then one have cut down the problem area
Pull out all unnecessary PCI cards, leaving only the Display Adapter
Pull out all but one memory module (Make sure that the one is working)
Pull the power from all HDD, CD-ROMs, DVDs.
Reboot and see if problem is fixed, and if so plug each pulled out device back in one by one.
If nothing fixed, pull out the Display Adapter and the memory module.
Reboot and see if it gives beep codes, if so consult your manual for their meaning (It might be caused by faulty memory slot or incompatible memory module)
If no beep codes when only having the CPU attached, then pull out the CPU.
Reboot and see if it gives beep codes, if so then something might be wrong with the CPU or the CPU temperature
If no beep codes with a clean motherboard, then try another power supply (Which is known to work)
If no beep codes then try to remove the motherboard from the case and check that no metal objects like a screw or bare wire is short circuiting.
If still no beep codes then there is the following possibilities

        Ram
        Video card
        PC Speaker
        Power Supply
        A bad or corrupt BIOS flash
        Motherboard is dead

After that, I do not know what could be causing the issue with your PC.
Good luck.

[MrWigglesGiggles]

I am happy and ashamed to announce that my machine works again just as marginally as ever. I had written a detailed account of how and why and then erased it when I realized that it's exactly the kind of long, rambling story that no one cares about. So the TL;DR version is I got a piece of lint in the RAM slot when I was cleaning the fans out a few nights ago and didn't notice until I was taking it apart for salvage tonight. Go team don't-pay-attention-and almost-trash-a-perfectly-****ty-laptop!

[MrWigglesGiggles]

I have internet at the house!

Now to finish unpacking and get a computer that isn't a lumbering behemoth of fail.

[Fusion[1upZ]]

derp, US and their internet investments

[Pyrite[1up]]

I officially hate you

[MrWigglesGiggles]

I officially hate you

I love you too!

[EnJoy[1up]]

[MrWigglesGiggles]

_=-*Top Secret mission-- code name: Operation Build A Sweet New Gaming Rig*^-=_

• phase one: complete
• phase two: commence

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Credit to Reaper for helping me source parts on Newegg.

[crazy_chloe[1up]]

I got me one of them cool Newegg boxes too now (see attachment).... all nice and pretty, sitting on the floor, a bit further along, unusable in its current state... but all I can do is dread the never ending setups, installs and copies I am going to need to do once it's ready.

[HAYL1311[1upZ]]

Ok so, I was looking at your tests and decided to show you what a bad internet service looks like and here it is...

http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4408720709