The continuing saga....(somebody shoot me).

[Dputiger]

I'm really just posting this because it's so sick its funny.

Ok, so I've got my Duron+ABIT KT-7. Technically this computer isn't even for me--I'm building it for my best friend of a decade for free. Well, parts aren't free--labor is.

So, I assemble the case and decide to flash the BIOS first off--I want to put the latest version on. So I download it and put it on floppy.

Now, I got the floppy drive as a free gift but have no idea if it works. I put the disk in the drive...

And the floppy won't read it.

"No problem," I think. Could be a bad disk.

So, I grab for disk number two...

And the floppy won't read it.

"Huh!" I think. "Well, these ARE old floppies. Let's try again.

So, I grab for disk three...

And the floppy won't read it.

At this point I spend two hours doing everything imaginable to try to get the floppy drive working. Since the drive was built roughly around the time of Christ I play with its jumper settings, etc, all in the name of getting it to work. Finally, disgusted, I go to bed.

Today I borrow a drive from a friend and hook it up. I test the same three disks I got before--and the floppy won't read them!

Amazed, I grab a fourth disk--which works perfectly. I then quickly assemble the other floppy, slap it in....and it works too!

Yes, my dear friends--I grabbed THREE BAD DISKS in a row! Then I mistook the bad disk errors as indicative that the 'old-as-Christ- floppy was bad!

Of course, I still can't get the Duron running. And the fan fell off my Voodoo 3.....BUT THE FLOPPY WORKS!

Oh yeah. The machine actually already had the latest BIOS. I didn't even need to flash it.

[Target]

Oh man Dputiger....sounds like you have a classic case of karma inversion. Its either that, or a voodoo curse.

Either way, we feel your pain brother. Break out the rabbits feet, make sure to circle yourself and the components in salt, and avoid direct sunlight for the next 96 hours.

PS: Take a break from it and get some rest. Sometimes its easier to see the path to your goal if you stand back from it for a while......may the force be with you on your next attempt.

[krusty the klown]

Hehehehe.... I'm sure we've all had those moments http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif At times like this, leaving it alone and pouring a large whisky is the best thing to do IMO.

Ah you're not alone with the floppy disk comedy... I remember getting a brand new disk out of the box, copying some files then taking the disk into work and not being able to read the disk... scandisk reporting that the disk was totalled........ and to think people used floppies for backup (scary)

[Dputiger]

Well, I'm doing better now. http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif At the time (last night) the only kicking back I felt like doing was kicking the machine back out the window.

Oh yeah--did I mention that my Duron cracked when I mounted my AMD APPROVED heatsink?

[krusty the klown]

I'd take up knitting for a while m8! j/k


EDIT: but mind those needles! (ROFL)

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[This message has been edited by krusty the klown (edited 09-28-2000).]

[gyoung]

Dputiger,

What are you problems now? I just built my KT7 Raid with a Duron 600 last week. I had some initial problems. But I worked through them all. I've had it clocked up to 950, but I am down to 800 and I'm going to run it at that speed for awhile and watch the temperature.

Have you found the site: http://go.to/kt7faq

This site has been a savior for me. Great for troubleshooting. It is all things KT7.

I first had a problem booting with my hard drive. The FAQ solved it. Then I would freeze whenever I played a game with sound. Apparently a problem with the Vortex 2 chip in my MX300 sound card. I uninstalled my modem (I use an ethernet card), sound card, and the associated drivers then reinstalled the sound card and reference drivers. Now everything works. It wasn't powering down correctly either. But when I fixed the sound card, it mysteriously was fixed. It seems to be running stable now.

This weekend I am going to run 3DMark2000 through a couple of hours of loops to make sure that it runs stable through all of that.

[Dputiger]

The problem is my Duron. It arrived from the business unlocked via a pencil (this was prearranged, though I thought I was getting a true unlocked Duron).

I put it in the board and it wouldn't overclock. So, I reattempted the mod myself twice.

No luck.

[gyoung]

Will they accept a return?

[This message has been edited by gyoung (edited 09-28-2000).]

[thekingofpain]

Which AMD approved h/s busted your chip???

[Dputiger]

Yes, they are going to replace the processor--it was the Alpha PAL6035 WITHOUT feet.

[gyoung]

So you had a processor without feet and a heatsink without feet. That sounds like a bad combination. I thought only the early Durons didn't have feet (meaning the Durons that were already unlocked).

Good to hear they are going to take care of you. When did you order your Duron? Did they take the feet off? I ordered mine around August 30th and received it around September 13th.

I gave them good reviews at resellerratings because they were upfront with me about the delay before I bought. I called and asked them about how they unlock the processor and chatted for a few. They were really pleasant and helpful. Plus everything worked!!

[This message has been edited by gyoung (edited 09-28-2000).]

[Dputiger]

No, I've confused you. http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

Processor=Feet

Heatsink=No feet

[Szech]

I remember I once put all the components of the computer together, plugged everything into the surge protector, plugged the surge protector in, hit the power supply, then the software switch... and nothing. None of the lights on the front were on, so I figured I got a bad power supply, or the connection to the motherboard was bad. I checked every connection out, then double checked them. I got really discouraged, and let up for a while. At some point, it started to get dark, so I hit the light switch, and the monitor turned on, and gave me a "Please Check Signal" message. It turns out I plugged the surge protector into the light outlet. I sure felt stupid.

[tcul72]

when i got my first atx case, it took me 45 minutes to figure out nothing worked cause there was a switch on the back of the power supply....i felt REALLY stupid.

[Win_98]

I have bad disk that was unreadable but amazingly scandisk fix them up so it can read them again. Scandisk not only fix harddrive it also fixes floppy disk so don't forget. those disk maybe just a little bad and most likely the file allocation table can be rebuilt by scandisk which make it readable again. but some disk are corrupted beyond repair so who knows.

[This message has been edited by Win_98 (edited 09-28-2000).]

[Dputiger]

The company agreed to RMA me a new processor overnight. I'm now holding for it--we'll see what happens.

I DID manage to partially unlock this Duron and she clocked up to 1071.