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February 18, 2002
Currently playing: Erasure - Stay
Currently playing: Erasure - Stay With Me
Freakin' MSI K7T-Turbo Rev3 I had bought from a fellow Ars'er is defective. 
All four diagnostic LEDs are red (vs. 4 green which is healthy), which is possible CPU error. The system powers up fine, my video card diagnostic LEDs are all good... but there's no video output.
As the CPU is brand-new and the motherboard is actually a RMA I purchased, I'm suspecting a dead motherboard. I've tried my components, Barry's components... only variables remaining are MB and CPU. I'm going to see if I can try Erik's t-bird 1.2ghz (vs. my Palamino 1.466ghz) tomorrow to rule out a faulty CPU/unsupported CPU (aka I need a BIOS flash for my Palamino), but I suspect I will be at Fry's bright and early in the morning to buy a new motherboard... spend the afternoon rebuilding my box and rebuilding Barry's box in parallel... then the evening installing software and doing homework. ***sigh*** I had hoped to finish my rebuild tonight, then do Barry's rebuild (with my old MB) nice and quick.
At home, this would be a minor annoyance at best. Multiple PCs, lots of workspace, important spare parts, easy access to all of my parts suppliers (even Fry's, bleh!)... if I have to take one box apart, I've got space to do so and leave it apart until I can get the parts needed to put it back together. Here at school with only one PC and my primary suppliers 300+ miles away, a critical defective part like a motherboard is a pain in the butt.
Just when I thought I had an extra day this weekend to relax... relax?
As wishes and dreams turn to mist... 
Posted by brian at February 18, 2002 01:46 AM