Worst PC Build Screw Ups - Page 15

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Probably my most memorable experience was while working on a pentium pro system some years back (ok alot of years back) when I plugged in the power cable to a FDD upside down. Must've been a cheapo PSU but when I powered the system on the insulation melted right off the power cables and the short that happened when they contacted caused one of the large PFC electrolytics within the PSU to burst.... I tell ya theres nothing that scares you out of your chair better than a large electrolytic cap blowing up.

for my first pc build(i am using right now) i had not put the brass breakers between my motherboard and steel mobo tray and so it would tuurn on for like 10 seconds then shut off. then i put the psu to 215Volts and tried again, nothing worked. figured out problem and no harm down thank god. looks like i got real lucky

I've done the same thing.. But not quite as bad damage there
My FDD just started spinning REALLY fast, the disc that was in it melted from the wear

Lol floppy drives...they are funny.

I was working in one of my classrooms which had twelve Silicon Graphics (Silly Gs) of the Indi II extreme types... A couple of Onyx's too /drool

All the students were pretty pegged to their screens (the job required it) and they were focusing very very hard. The intensity was broken by the sound of a Cap exploding. It sounded like a shot...

All students jumped like you would not believe. I think that I would have jumped more too had I been on console.

Upon inspection the MOBO which had the cap blow... had a six inch swath in a conical shape starting at about 1/4 inch and ending about 3 inches where the board was completely stripped of any on board components even the smallest of SMDs were gone and they were replaced with a black charred dust.

The case rattled from the loose components... By the way this was a INDI II with the four processor board and all four procs were on board.

SGI had the board to us overnight and in my hands the very next day at 10:00 am. They told me I would have it at 10:00am... Go figure a company that holds true to their word and provides great service.

30 Pages, thats pretty impressive, makes me want to "accidentaly" break a few things

On a side note, I learned to never leave a harddrive on the floor, out of its case, and have it running at the same time.
I was using the HD as a backup for one of my comps and I hooked it up via a usb to ide connection and a seperate powerbrick. It was going to take a while to back it all up, so I decided to leave and go to the living room to watch tv. Well in the meantime, my friend walks by the computer and steps on HD. Keep in mind that it's not in a case, just has the usb/ide connection in the back and thats it. Next thing that I hear is this really loud short grinding noise and a few crack. Needless to say, the drive is past it's prime and waiting to be replaced.

Well thats my story of the week.

Hopefully at the end of this thread everyone who has read it will learn something and have a good laugh

For my second PC I bought an EPOX 8K7A+ that has an on board raid chip and 6 pci slots. I thought someday I would buy a couple HDs but never happend, and I never use none of the PCI slots. :x

Although I've practiced Judo for 14 years (have won 2 state titles, when I was 12 and 15 y.o.), today I believe that firearms are "a bit" more effective.

Today I practice IPSC (see http://www.ipsc.org and click on "What Is IPSC?" ). Gives you a much better understanding that being really good with a pistol is much better than being excellent at any martial art.

I have won several titles in IPSC (national and state), and sometimes I CCW.

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Back on topic:
Have you ever tried fixing a mobo by re-soldering loose or fallen components? I have!!!! Did that last week to an IBM Pentium 4 1.8 GHz (NetVista). The CMOS battery holder fell off, and I de-soldered one off a broken mobo and soldered it to the ibm mobo. Of course it didn't work, but that was a nice experience.

At work we have about 30 broken mobos, mostly IBMs (NetVista).

IBM PC's really SUCK! One day after the warranty period is expired they start having problems. Never again.

Well now it's my turn.

I've made a couple of blunders.

1. I live in Europe resulting in 230 V 50 Hz power from the wall sockets. Smart ass me had to check what a little contact with "230" written on it did. turns out it switched between 230 volt and 110 volt mode and i hadn't unplugged the power cord.
The damn thing almost blew up in my face ( lots of black smoke ) and my parents had to buy a new PSU for their computer.

2. I decided i needed better graphics than my rather aging Voodoo 2 could deliver and bought a GF 2 MX. Unfortunately I didn't check if a K6-2 mobo could handle the power requirements for a GF 2.
I't ran fine for 2 weeks, my computer had a funny high pitched tone, but other than that everything was fine.
Suddenly my mobo died, killed by the GF 2 according to a tech person. I had to pay for a new mobo and CPU. The GF card still runs fine in my parents computer

3. This one is a little od. I decided to clean the internal of my computer and disassembled the hole thing removed at lot of dust etc. assembled the hole thing again and suddently my mobo could not recognize more than one CD drive and onboard sound was gone :?: luckily the shop replaced the mobo

The best way not to lose is to avoid unnecessary fighting.
Now before anybody calls me a coward, let's just say I don't see what there is to gain in a bar fight - apart from a Darwin Award, a time in the drunk tank, and probably a no-expenses-paid trip to the dentist's.

There are three ways to get past most mountains: climb it, tunnel it, or walk around it...

Ryan,

I am against violence myself.

About 2 weeks ago there was a drive-by right in front of my house. Even 'though I am used to guns, it was quite an unpleasant situation.

I learned to shoot for sports. I do CCW eventually, but when I have to drive overnight, for example, or when I know I'll be coming home late. That's it.

I'd rather avoid the confrontation myself, but if it comes to a kill-die situation, I'd rather live.

Like it's said in the 80's movie "Karate Kid", "you learn how to fight so you don't have to".

Si vis pacem, para bellum

Again, I am opposed to violence, but I am not the one making it. I just want to have means to get rid of it if reaches my doorstep.

I would hate having to kill someone. That would f*ck up karma big time.

I'm glad it helps. It kinda became both that and a serious extension of a joke thread.

Well, I guess each one has their own sense of what their lives must mean, based on their cultural, social, religious and even academical beliefs.

About "last night's game": actually I think it matters, but then these are my religious beliefs - don't wanna go into that! Let's just leave it like that. I don't wanna start a religious discussion here. We are already way offtopic

I see your POV, and respect it, but I just happen to think differently.

Take care!

To make a quick clearification, I'm actually in hell right now. I'm making pancakes for the devil. And the bastard loves pancakes....

Devilled pancakes... now I'm hungry...

ROTFLMAO!!!!

I'm at work and I don't have a working copy of Diablo 2 any more (still have the patches though) and even if I did and I was home I still couldn't play cause I have a wireless connection. I'll be the teleporter...can you say it with me...LAAAAAAAAAAG. Can you immagine that, a teleporting barbarian

I have Oblivion, but I still prefer my other "Square" style RPG's to it.

Yeah, you know after a bit the game has no real direction...sometimes I LIKE linear games. You feel like you're progressing...and then you get to the end... Even though you didn't really feel like playing it all that much anyway because it became a chore, you suddenly miss it.

I'm sorry, what were we talking about again?

Buying the PS3 version of Oblivion could be considered as a screw up.

Eh. I sold a PS3 on eBay for $1450. Talk about profit. About blue ray... I don't think that it'll come down that much.

It cost almost as much as a x6800. Yup. Thats a screw up if you buy one right now.

O.o

Miestro would hit me with a stick of sugar cane if when I telegraphed my actions.

what? how?

Replace face panels are a bitch to get right. I usually end up just spray painting the face plate with matte black.

Thats why I stick to the two basic colors. Black and stainless steel.