[ale] hardware question

[Jacob Langseth]

On Wednesday, July 08, 1998 6:29 PM, Joe Bayes [SMTP:jbayes at cs.oberlin.edu] 
wrote:
>
> I recently had my computer shipped from one end of the country to the
> other, and it seems it got a bit banged up in the process.
>
> When I power up and hit DEL to get to the bios, it gives me a
> little hourglass like it used to, and then 2 seconds later the
> creen goes blank and stays that way. Is there any chance I don't
> need a new motherboard?

Take the cover off and look real close at everything,
see if maybe some ram was jostled loose (would cause this) or
perhaps a chip is partially out of socket...  make sure all your
cards are snug and seated well, and that there isn't any visible
physical damage to the motherboard (like a bit of cracked
silicon breaking a connection).  After inspecting everything and
making sure everything is snug, try it again and cross your fingers...
Chances are something just got knocked loose.  If it doesn't
come up, though, try reseating the ram and the cards and give
it another try.  Make sure you're grounded the entire time you're
mucking with it (holding the chassis while the power plug is in,
but power supply OFF, is an acceptable way if you don't have
an anti-static mat... spraying down the area w/ anti-static is
advisable too).  If it still doesn't come up, you'll unfortunately
need to take it to a place for diagnostics, and/or replace it...

Hope you find a heart beat,

Jacob

--
Jacob Langseth <jlangseth at esisys.com>
Enhanced Systems, Inc.