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You may or may not (likely not) have noticed that the server was down for a while on Sunday. I was going through the somewhat painful process of installing an additional harddrive on the server. This was made painful due to the fact that the server is designed for the new SATA drives, and I wanted to stick in an ATA drive. I had to stick it on the same cable as the CD drive. Of course, you had to find the right combination of jumpers and cable positions and the right mechanism in the bios to get the system to recognize both drives. And of course, the only acceptable position was one which made it extremely difficult to make the cable reach both drives. :roll: At least it's fixed now.
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Actually - from a hardware guy - it's deceptively simple.
1. make sure that the IDE device is enabled in the BIOS.
2. install the hardware.
Now, by default, on the cable the end device operates as master and the other device acts as slave as long as both devices are set to 'cable-select'.
Your other option is to set the devices using the jumpers - generally the HD as master and the CD/DVD as slave (unless you ever want to boot from a CD). If you ever need to boot from a CD the CD Rom drive needs to be master device. It's not a problem for a HD to be slave to a CD drive - it's just not common. This way - using the jumpers - you're not as constrained to cable positioning.
See? simple! :mrgreen:
You said that you 'had to stick it on the same cable as the CD-drive' is that because you didn't have a second cable? or do you only have one IDE channel?
-- Kent
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Yeah, I've installed harddrives into systems before where it WAS that simple. Unfortunately not in this case. Here's the process I eventually discovered through trial and error and some internet searching:
1. Install the hard drive (more on this later)
2. Turn on Caps-Lock, Scroll-Lock, and Num-Lock, then hit Alt-E, Alt-F, Alt-G (might be wrong on the last one). This completely reinitializes the BIOS.
3. Reboot the machine. This will force the BIOS to redetect the hard drives.
The installation was interesting. The server is a system that is primarily SATA based. For those types of harddrives, you actually have an individual cable for each drive. That's nice and simple. Unfortunately, I was trying to install an ATA drive. This meant that I had to share the cable with the CD-ROM.
I attempted to use explicit master/slave settings on the CD-ROM and harddrive, but neither combination worked. I set the jumpers back to cable select, and the only positioning option of the two that worked was to have the harddrive at the end of the cable.
In order to make the cable reach both drives when the harddrive was plugged into the end of the cable instead of the other option was to not slide the harddrive all the way into the mounting racks (actually, I could have instead chosen to mount the CD-ROM upside-down, but I decided it would be too much of a pain...).
So, in the end, it turned out to not be as simple as desired. Obviously Dell didn't intend for me to install ATA drives in that system. I'd have had no problems with installing an SATA drive (well, at least not after I figured out how to get the BIOS to properly detect the drive). Ah well, at least it's working now.
Oh, and yes, only one ATA cable, one floppy cable, and I think three slots for SATAs.
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Huh! That DOES sound like a pretty unique setup.
I think that a rounded IDE cable would have made your life a bit easier.
There's a little shop by one of Tina and mine favorite restaurants where the guy does PC repair and has TONS of spare parts like cables, screws and teh like. I'd have definately considered a second $3 IDE cable... unless of course you only have one IDE channel.
Well, it works now, right. :roll:
-- Kent
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Only one IDE channel. It's a server designed to use SATA drives, so it's not surprising that they just provided one channel for your choice of one or two CD-ROMs.
So yes, it's working now, so all's well.
err... mostly...
Turns out that the video card that the power supply in my new system (that I bought so my wife and I can play City of Heroes together) isn't enough to run the video card I've got.
Time to take another trip to CompUSA... I'll be glad when life is back to normal...
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I know you like buying local, but a powersupply? I can't see myself buying that sort of thing at CompUSA. Too much markup. Have you looked online?
That's really cool that you and Angela play together. Tina shares very few of my fun=time interests. Reading, movies and a board game or two are about all I can get her to play...
-- Kent
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Yeah, you can get it cheaper online (though less so when you count shipping). Of course, the problem is that if the new power supply doesn't solve the video card issues (though I suspect it will), I can't exactly return it to an online place.
Plus there's the issue of wanting to have things working NOW, not a half-week (or more) from now.
Actually, I take it back. The real problem is that I'm a little nervous about buying computer parts for cheap. I've experienced the quote: "You get what you pay for" often enough in the computer industry that I'm more comfortable with a local place where I can do a return if there is problems.
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The saga continues...
I guess I will be purchasing online, but only from Dell. It turns out that Dells have proprietary power supplies, and you have to buy their option otherwise the plug doesn't fit in the socket. :roll:
Good grief... now I get to wait on hold on the phone for a while until I can actually get to someone who can tell me how to order the power supply, since it's not apparent from their website how to do this...
grrr...
And I need to go return this new power supply I bought from CompUSA.
sigh...
Guess it's a good thing I purchased locally.
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Whee!!! :roll:
So, it turns out that Dell says the 305W power supply is the only option for my system (I need a minimum of 350W). Whatever.
So, with the help of a friend, I determine that the system requires a BTX power supply, not the more standard ATX power supply, and apparently, this particular system (and newer ones) don't neccessarily require the proprietary power supply.
So, while returning the ATX power supply, I picked up another ($20 more expensive) that supports BTX. It appears to have all the right cables and such, so that looks promising.
On the downside, the power supply is an inch or so longer than the old one... So, now I get to take it home and find out if it'll actually fit in my box. (fingers crossed)
*grumble*
Oh how I loathe messing with hardware.
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Hmm...sorry I haven't been watching here lately.
Also, would be nice if Haakon was around more, he could clear up most all of your hardware questions in a snap...
I could've at least weighed in on the evilness of Dell and proprietary systems everywhere.
But as Haakon tells me, BTX is the next standard...course I still have operating AT machines
I never quite understood yer loathing of hardware...most of it's pretty simple, except when it isn't, then it's really a pain...like hardrives where the jumpers are mis-labled and you only know cuz you got lucky and found someone who told you, or you did a google search and got 5000 hits about it (read older western digital drives where they swapped the jumper settings for slave and master).
Anyhow, sounds like you'll get things squared away, eventually!
BTW, by knowing Haakon, you can now say you know the guy that builds Alienware boxes, MPC just got the contract, kinda neat!
"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools." -Douglas Adams
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Wow, Alienware, huh? THat's pretty cool.
BTX powersupply eh? that's interesting. Who's the maker on the power supply that came in it original?
-- Kent
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With regards to loathing hardware...
I agree with you that "most of it's pretty simple, except when it isn't". However... I honestly think that when it comes to hardware or system configuration type things, I seem to be jinxed. Ask Mark Schmelzenbach, and he'll back you up on it. Time and time again I'll have to do something which should be straightforward and it will just go horribly wrong. :? I always used to tell Mark that, and he's finally started believing me.
With regards to getting squared away...
Well, I barely managed to fit the new power supply in, and got everything plugging in appropriately (I think). Then I turned on Half Life 2 and started playing. After about a half hour I started getting video corruption again. A temperature check revealed that things seemed to be normal. ](*,)
Mark says that NVidia just released an updated driver, so tonight I'm going to install that and give things another shot. [-o< If that fails, I'll probably return the video card, get the one that's $30 more expensive (but an ATI instead of NVidia) and see how things go with that.
With regards to Alienware...
I actually priced out an Alienware system, since I've heard some pretty nice things about them. I think the difference in pricing between it and the Dell system came down to the fact that Dell was giving a really sweet deal on a real nice 19" LCD (which my wife is now using)... In retrospect... I probably should have gone with the Alienware system, and next time I purchase I'll probably give them a very serious look..
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Ok, am I allowed to swear at someone? Anyone will do, though I'd prefer a Dell representative...
From additional research it appears that the issue may potentially be a bad motherboard. I think at this point, I may just call up Dell and tell them to take the system back (with them paying shipping and the %15 fee), or they can discuss the issue on the phone with me for hours and finally end up replacing the motherboard... whichever they think will be cheaper.
:minigun: :gib: :chain: [shot]
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Good Grief, Andrew! Maybe you should let your wife handle the computer whenever the case is open...
It's rather unbelievable the difficulty that you're having... What kind of video card is it?
How about this?
http://www.slickdeals.net/#p6288
-- Kent
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Interestingly enough, that's exactly the card I've got.
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That's it. I'm returning the system to Dell. I have nothing good to say about them.
Guess I'll be placing an order for an Alienware.
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I'm stunned. Our office is literally full of Dells. Of course, we don't go putting strange power supplies in and such, but I've had a VERY good track record with them. updates all available. Any hardware problems resolved with a replacement fairly quickly...
I feel for ya.
-- Kent
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Well, I'm convinced that Dell is a pretty good solution (price/performance-wise) for an office setting. But, when it comes to a home solution where you want to consider after-market upgrades (or any kind of decent sound or video card at all), they really don't do very well.
Do some research on the quality of sound and video cards that they ship with their systems... Not good. But for an office system where those things don't matter? Then you can get away with it, and you end up with a decent system for the price.
Ah well. I just priced out an Alienware system, and it looks real good.
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I think you summed it up nicely. I still purchase all of our systems from a local place white boxes, they don't charge me to build them, so I have them build them for me too now. We pay a bit more than you could get a basic tower from Dell, but then knowing them all by name, having great customer service, and onsite pickup/dropoff/support (never needed this) is worth the extra cost. And it's supporting a local business owner.
Good luck w/ the next system!
I can have Haakon give you a call, maybe he can swing you a deal
"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools." -Douglas Adams
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Gaaaa Sorry it took me so long to weigh in on this.
Proprietary hardware bites the big one, and no mistake.
Feel free to contact me via email if anyone has ANY questions. I'm a hobbyist turned professional when it comes to PC hardware. I may not be quite as sharp as Aldernon's glowing praise suggests but I know my way around PCBs.
The new BTX format is all about thermals. ATX is still a fine solution though, and for chip heads like us using mishmash and legacy components there is no reason to make the jump unless you are dying to have the latest greatest. I have also noticed a trend towards more compact with BTX format stuff. You will see cross compatability for hardware to some extent, so don't fret too much over it. BTX cooling though is next level. Some of the components might just as well be proprietary as the format starts to take off, ATX has been around a LONG time.
Oh Aldy Aldy Aldy. You live like right next door to a world class custom computer shop and you still buy from Bubba's House O'Widgets. We need to get you a plant tour!
I have to brag up my new box here. 3.6 P4 with a gig of ram. Wow. I went with big 120mm fans over H2O, I can't get used to the idea of running liquid into my PC since that thing with the glass of milk a few years ago... sniff sniff. Anyway it is a quiet happy machine. Still deciding on a video card though.
Daytime Weekdays......
or
Anytime......
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Well, I placed the order yesterday. Fortunately I've got a friend here (Mark Schmelzenbach) who is pretty sharp when it comes to hardware stuff, so I went over my order in detail with him before I placed it. Always nice to have someone like that around.
I sure wish that Alienware offered a slimmed down office package, since literally the only one I use (and I definitely do use it) is Excel. I've got Adobe Acrobat for a Word Processor, and I don't really use the others.
But, other than that, I'm pretty pleased with the proposed system.
I did order an LCD from newegg.com instead of from Alienware. That's because the LCD is for my wife, and she's not a serious gamer, so she doesn't need an Alienware monitor. Those are some sweet LCD's though. If I was ready to ditch my CRT and go with an LCD, I'm sure that's the route I'd take.
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Believe it or not, the saga continues...
Dell was supposed to send me some kind of RMA number to send back with the system. It still hadn't arrived by today, so I'm on the phone with Dell right now. Turns out that it's a good thing I called. I've only 3 days or so until the return deadline expires, and apparently the person who handled things before was new and didn't enter stuff correctly...
So, now they're "theoretically" taking care of things right now while I wait on the phone. Not sure what takes so long, but... yeesh...
On the plus side, my monitor has arrived, and the new computer should show up monday or tuesday. Woo!
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He he he... it's you man. It's just you.
-- Kent
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Pfffah Dell makes a great computer providing you never need to open it up, if you do half the time you need a hacksaw. Their service....eeeeee goes both ways. They have serious buying power in the market place, so they can tell Intel the way they want it. This is good. On the other hand I hear all the call centers they use are brand new and smell like wet paint and I personally think the fumes are getting to thier call in techs because the few times I have had to deal with them they have been way off mark. I had a former CEO that came out of the Dell executive machine...yikes talk about promoted above his level of competency.
I am itchin ta see yur new box from AW! You gotta post pictures! Its better than bringing home a new baby, at least if this one starts actin stupid you can open it, flush the offending programming and teach it the right way to behave. And it will smell better after a week or to in the closet than your average baby.
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I'll post pictures for you. It should arrive today...
Oh, follow up on my last post. Apparently to try and make me feel better, Dell went ahead and picked up the tab on shipping. The FedEx guy dropped by on monday, and that machine is now out of my hands. Yay!
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There should be a meter on the profile for the currect stress level of the user because I think I tangibly felt yours drop.
'twould be entertaining. :roll:
-- Kent
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Yeah, I was definitely happy to have that system out of the house.
I'm even happier to admit that I'm posting this from my new Alienware machine. I'll post some pictures later.
To test out the graphics card, I went ahead and finished playing Half-Life 2. ...interesting ending. Boy, this new system and card sure makes that game look sweet!