Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

I killed it, didn't I?

ONLY NICE THINGS

07:57 / 18.01.05

Oh dear. Yesterday, I kind of dropped my laptop. It was in a protective bag, but it did drop quite a way - about four feet. Amazingly, I took it out of the bag, turned it on and it worked fine all day. That evening, I tried it again and got a couple of false starts, and then later a fuzzy-screen effect I previously only got while the (dodgy) 3D card was running, but it still worked, and I breathed the traditional sigh of relief.

Le sigh

Today, nada. The fan activates, the chassis heats up, but no actual boot at all - not even to BIOS. The screen stays blank. It did get to the WinXP preloading screen once, but then the colours went kaflooey and it froze.

I've killed it, haven't I? Fortunately, I did take the opportunity to shift my documents over to portable storage yesterday evening, so it's not quite the rending of garments it could be, but I have killed it, no? Does anyone have ideas for miracle cures/last rites/replacements?

Unencumbered

08:22 / 18.01.05

Is there hard drive activity? If so, it may be that your screen or the connection to it is damaged. In that case, you may be able to connect to an external monitor and check that everything else is OK, but you're either going to have to pay a small fortune to get your machine repaired or replace it.

ONLY NICE THINGS

08:25 / 18.01.05

No luck on the screen... I connected it to a handy TFT, and no joy. I thought I heard the HD spin up, but I could be wrong...

tom-karika nukes it from orbit

08:28 / 18.01.05

I'd agree about the screen connection. They are very fragile, as I have found out before.

If it's not that then it could be absolutely anything. The BIOS won't show if processor or RAM are damaged physically. It could also be physical damage to the graphics card.

The BIOS should still show if the hard-drive is knackered.

Grey Area

08:33 / 18.01.05

It could be that the power connection to the motherboard's gone wonky. That might explain the different behaviours after being moved. Unfortunately that's something you could only check by opening the laptop up.

ONLY NICE THINGS

09:36 / 18.01.05

I think it may be a mixture - the wobbly screen suggests damage to the graphics card (which hasd always struggled with 3D imaign, and is of course not swappable). It has booted to XP a couple of times now, but then after a period the display freezes - might well just be a loose hard drive connection - I'll take it apart as soon as I can get my hands on a long-necked screwdriver. Part of me is already gently sexing up at the thought of having to replace it, part the second is utterly furious at myself...

We're The Great Old Ones Now

12:07 / 20.01.05

It seems you may want one of these.

Now, what we all really want to know is: did you put your penis in its ear?

12:23 / 20.01.05

You're rushing to catch a plane. With your notebook in hand, you accidentally trip. What good is it if you make the flight and your meeting, but your primary business tool doesn't?

They seem to think I'm rather dynamic. TOUGHBOOK is all very well, but when will they bring out FEYBOOK? For those of us who have never done anything so rough and beastly as run for a plane (or attend a business meeting), and ruin our computer equipment by squashing it against a chez longue under a pile of eiderdowns, or spilling absinthe on it?

ONLY NICE THINGS

12:50 / 20.01.05

did you put your penis in its ear?

Only after I knew it was dead.

The FEYBook is definitely the way forward. The Toughbook is... well, it's rugged, certainy, but I would find a way to break it. At the moment I am torn between getting a widescreen Toshiba quasi-portable - la - or a tiny shiny iBook, which would massively complicate my life but is _so cute_... if I can type on the keyboard and read documents on the screen, the portability and battery life are v. tempting - part of me wants a laptop I can play Half Life 2 on, another part feels this would be an astonishingly bad idea.

On the other hand, my employer is apparently setting up an HCI - so possibly I should try to muddle through until it is set up. Then again, it will be with *Dell*. Shudder.

We're The Great Old Ones Now

17:14 / 21.01.05

Oh, my. I want a LOUCHEbook. Something in suede and mother-of-pearl, I think, with a small amount of padding suggesting the back of a pair of well-filled jeans. Keyboard in bone or reclaimed ebony or mahogany with silver chasing. And one of those disk drives which gasps slightly when you use it.

Mmmmmm...

Less searchable M0rd4nt

20:50 / 21.01.05

I have nothing to add of a technical nature but I really want to talk about fantasy laptops now so I'm going to start a thread in the Creation.

(I'm what? Ca--Who's callous? Oh. Oh yeah. Uh... Sorry 'bout the lappy, Haus.)

Add Your Reply