Got a call from Dell today about my laptop.

Apparently they ran the my machine over the entire weekend and couldn’t get the fans to fail.

I told them that the diagnostics indicated a problem with the fans and I had included the diagnostics report.

Skip, the Dell tech, indicated that he had seen the diagnostics report, but the diagnostics tended to lie and there really was nothing wrong with the fans.

I then told him that both Ginny and I heard the fans making odd noises. They seemed to startup and shutdown irregularly.

Skip said that he would replace the fans as a customer satisfaction issue and ship the system back to me.

Now, correct me if I”m wrong … but if the customer says the fans were operating irregularly AND the diagnostics indicated a problem with the fans … wouldn’t you say that there is a problem with the fans?

I do not want the fans replaced as a one time customer satisfaction resolution … I want the fans replaced because they are broken. Labeling it a customer satisfaction resolution makes me sound like I’m a whiner. I’m not a whiner (well, not usually) … but if the fans are broken, I want them fixed.
Continue reading →

I volunteered to help out our QA guy at work by running some of his regression tests on Implementer over the weekend.

I figured, even if I don’t have my own computer available, I can use Ginny’s system.

Unforunately, her monitor isn’t big enough to display the desktop at work.

So, I have to install XP on my scorched earth machine (named Mordor, btw) … but I don’t have any free space on the linux partition and I don’t want to repartition it.

Luckily I have a spare 6gb drive … that should be enough to install a very basic Windows XP. I install the extra drive in mordor and the primary slave.

XP, however, has other ideas … it turns out that Windows doesn’t like getting installed on anything other than the primary drive.

Ok, I can work around that … I temporarily unplug the linux drive, make the 6gb drive the primary, and install XP. Everything is cool, right?

No, of course not … I configure grub with (what I think are) the necessary entries to boot windows off the 2nd drive, but it won’t boot. Can’t find the OS.

I do a bit of research and find this site that describes the process. I gave it a try, and whadda ya know, it works! This blog entry was started on Linux and finished on Windows.

Now I just have to get current on all the Windows patches and install anti-virus software.

There is just something totally wrong with this statement: Microsoft’s IE now most secure browser, says Microsoft published on silicon.com.

I mean, how many times has that statement been proven WRONG in the last few months. Heck, the last security flaw was known & reported for months before Microsoft fixed it! Give me a break!

Well, the laptop is boxed up and ready to start it’s journy to Dell’s repair depot in Tennesee.

It sounds stupid … but I really feel like a part of me is missing … I mean, hell, it’s just a stupid computer. A hunk of metal, plastic, & silicon. I’ve got more of ’em lying around here (using one of them now).

Oh well, maybe it will be good for me. 🙂 <yeah, right>

I don’t want to imagine what it would be like if Ginny’s computer malfunctioned for more than a day or so.
Continue reading →

The fans on my Dell Inspiron 8100 started acting wonky today … so I ran the diagnostics and was informed that the fans were failing.

I called Dell service. Held for 10 minutes and then found out it was the corporate support line, so I called back and waited another 10 minutes.

I described the problem to the tech (pleasant guy named John, who was definitely in America) and he said that the fans probably needed to be replaced. Unfortunately, my service contract is “Rapid Response Depot”… and the turnaround time is about 2 weeks.

Now I don’t know about you … but I certainly can’t be without my computer for 2 weeks.

The online service manual have instructions on how to replace the fans … but there’s no part number, and John couldn’t find one as a “Customer Replicable Part” … so the only option I currently have is to send it in.
Continue reading →

Earlier in the week I had decided that the port replicator for my laptop had died. It would power on, start to boot the laptop, and then power off.

Today I decided to try and make it work again … I had already assumed it was a lost cause, so I figured I couldn’t break it any worse.

Now, however, it’s working.

It didn’t at first … exhibited the same behavior as before.

However, this time I tried to boot the laptop in the APR with the laptop lid open … lo and behold, it boots normally.

So I start plugging devices in … and they are all working. I plug the monitor in and close the lid, and the monitor springs to life.

I’m confused.

I think computers were placed on this world just to screw with my brain.

… for computers!

New drive arrived from Dell today … Airborne was supposed to get an “Adult Signature” before delivering it.

I guess the driver is an adult … as he must have been the one who signed for it. The drive was shoved between the storm and front door.

Oh well, good thing for Airborne I’m an honest person. I could have just as easily pocked the drive and claimed I didn’t receive it.

The drive installed easy enough, and passed diagnostics … but that’s when things got very interesting…
Continue reading →