Adventures in Computing.
Apr. 16th, 2006 10:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
swestrupSometimes it seems that working with computers is just one long, drawn-out WTF experience.
Case in point: upon returning from breakfast and determining that nothing new of earth-shaking consequence was happening on LJ, I decided to get started on a pile of scanning that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
taxlady has given me to do.
I pop up my graphics program, launch twain and... nothing. There's an error that says the scanner is not responding. A lightbulb goes off. Yesterday, after I flashed my BIOS, I had to reconfigure it. While doing so I noticed that the printer port was set to EPP rather than EPP+ECP. Since my printer prefers this latter setting, I wondered why I hadn't set things that way. Now I knew. The scanner doesn't like it.
Okay, reboot the machine drop into the BIOS configurator and ... dead computer.
Reboot into windows, and everything is fine. Reboot and enter the BIOS configurator and ... dead computer.
Okay, time to pull out a CMOS backup/restore utility I have. Back up the current CMOS (to floppy), tell it to wipe the current settings, and reboot.
REALLY dead computer.
*Sigh* *grumble* Muttering something about fratzing snarbling technology, I turn off the power for the machine, unplug everything and take the cover off.
I realize that this is actually the first time I've looked inside the machine since it came back from the shop with the new motherboard. It gives me a chance to figure out what the extra thingy is at the bottom back of the case that looks like a spare joystick connector. It turns out not to be connected to anything, so I remove it. That way I won't spend further hours in the future wondering what it is. I also remove the LAN card because there's one on the motherboard and this system has no need of a second one.
Finally I locate and remove the battery. While waiting for the CMOS to discharge I give the insides a quick cleaning. I put the battery back in, attach a bunch of cables to the back -- discovering while doing so that the scanner is connected to the computer via a 4' extension cable attached to its regular cable. The scanner sits less than 1 foot from the computer, so I now have a spare cable -- turn the system on, and enter the BIOS configurator.
THIS TIME it doesn't die! I configure things, and boot into windows. A quick test shows that I can scan stuff again.
So, I decided to write this down, with the computer still open and half its guts exposed. After posting this, I shall put the cover back on, and put everything back where it should be. If I don't post again for a bunch of hours, it will undoubtedly be because I've had another yet another WTF experience.
Case in point: upon returning from breakfast and determining that nothing new of earth-shaking consequence was happening on LJ, I decided to get started on a pile of scanning that
taxlady has given me to do.I pop up my graphics program, launch twain and... nothing. There's an error that says the scanner is not responding. A lightbulb goes off. Yesterday, after I flashed my BIOS, I had to reconfigure it. While doing so I noticed that the printer port was set to EPP rather than EPP+ECP. Since my printer prefers this latter setting, I wondered why I hadn't set things that way. Now I knew. The scanner doesn't like it.
Okay, reboot the machine drop into the BIOS configurator and ... dead computer.
Reboot into windows, and everything is fine. Reboot and enter the BIOS configurator and ... dead computer.
Okay, time to pull out a CMOS backup/restore utility I have. Back up the current CMOS (to floppy), tell it to wipe the current settings, and reboot.
REALLY dead computer.
*Sigh* *grumble* Muttering something about fratzing snarbling technology, I turn off the power for the machine, unplug everything and take the cover off.
I realize that this is actually the first time I've looked inside the machine since it came back from the shop with the new motherboard. It gives me a chance to figure out what the extra thingy is at the bottom back of the case that looks like a spare joystick connector. It turns out not to be connected to anything, so I remove it. That way I won't spend further hours in the future wondering what it is. I also remove the LAN card because there's one on the motherboard and this system has no need of a second one.
Finally I locate and remove the battery. While waiting for the CMOS to discharge I give the insides a quick cleaning. I put the battery back in, attach a bunch of cables to the back -- discovering while doing so that the scanner is connected to the computer via a 4' extension cable attached to its regular cable. The scanner sits less than 1 foot from the computer, so I now have a spare cable -- turn the system on, and enter the BIOS configurator.
THIS TIME it doesn't die! I configure things, and boot into windows. A quick test shows that I can scan stuff again.
So, I decided to write this down, with the computer still open and half its guts exposed. After posting this, I shall put the cover back on, and put everything back where it should be. If I don't post again for a bunch of hours, it will undoubtedly be because I've had another yet another WTF experience.
