-----Original Message-----
From: Cuauhtemoc Ramirez [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Saturday, July 17, 1999 2:21 AM
To: Jerry Rasmussen
Subject: What happened to your dead PC


    Hi. I'm a subscriber to the PCBuild list, and I read about your dead
PC. I think it would be very interesting to all the suscribers if you
told us how you resolved your problem.

    See ya!

    Cuauhtemoc Ramirez
================================

Well,
Simply put I replaced the under-warranty Asus P5A motherboard.  It was the
culprit.  Asus makes high-quality reliable motherboards, so this was
surprising to have one go bad within six months.  The replacement board
booted up the first time.  As a FYI to everyone, I normally create an Excel
spreadsheet in which I note all of the BIOS settings.  I set up a separate
table for each BIOS screen with the current settings for each parameter.
When I change something in BIOS, I update the spreadsheet and pring out a
new copy.  This way I always know how things are configured w/o having to
reboot and go into BIOS setup.  In this case, I had not done that.  Had to
second guess some things.

An interesting note was that the settings at Western Digital's website for
the 10.1GB drive were different than those that the BIOS insisted on.  I
accepted the BIOS recommendation and have had no problems.  Do not remember
this being an issue the first time around with the original board.

Another issue arose, the Linksys EtherFast 10/100 card went bad in this
machine, apparently at the same time that the MB failed.  I had to replace
the card.  The old one will not work in other PCs either and the sensor on
the hub that lights when a NIC is connected first goes on, then immediately
goes off.  I am still wrangling with the manufacturer to send a replacement.
This card is under warranty.

On another note.  I have an HP Laserjet IIp that had quit running all
together.  I took it to a local repair shop where the motor and one circuit
board were replaced.  I got the printer back and found that while it now
printed, there were voids in the characters.  The voids existed in the
printout from the self-test (printer not connected to any other device) and
in output from various Windows programs.  The voids in any particular
character were different in the self test vs. the application print jobs.
The repair shop had neglected to TEST the printer before sending it home
with me.  That's a big no-no.  None of us would ever do that, would we?
Well, they had the printer for two months, replaced everything replaceable
in it and still could not VOID the voids.  He gave up and put the parts back
in that he had removed during his testing.  I took it home without paying
any additional charges.  I then decided, what-th-heck, it can't be fixed so,
why not run 250 or so pages of print through it.  I did this, and at first
the printout was as before.  But, somewhere around page 250-270, I cancelled
the job and purged the print queue.   The last three pages printed were
nonsense alphabetical characters (like the words were encrypted).  But, the
display was flawless.  It has been printing just fine ever since.  This
printer had not been used in over a year before the work was done on it.  I
guess it just needed some exercise to "get the old juices flowing" again.

Sorry this was so long, but I needed a break from the JavaScript and your
eyes were only too convenient.

Jerry Rasmussen
Rasmussen & Bucklin Associates
Coral Springs FL
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