i cannot figure out why i cannot get this computer built

i'm offering $75 and some beers to somebody that can come over and get it done sometime this week

its a shuttle minipc and its barebones and i cant even get the hard drives loaded with windows

sometimes the bios recognizes them, sometimes it doesnt

it let me go through the 2 hr setup of windows but then decided that would be the end of it

id be happy to answer any other questions but i really dont feel like wasting any more hours of my life on it, in fact id sell it back to someone for cost, i can prove that everything just came out of the box

9/30/2008 8:02:27 PM

What's cost?

What are the specs?

Are you sure you put spacers on the mobo so it's not shorted to the case?

9/30/2008 8:07:23 PM

everything starts up fine, i can feel the hard drive spinning, i can go through the bios fine, it boots from a cd/dvd fine

lemme pull up my newegg order real quick

9/30/2008 8:10:04 PM

1

Open Box: Shuttle SN68SG2 AMD Socket AM2 AMD Athlon 64 / Athlon 64 X2 / Sempron NVIDIA GeForce 7025 Barebone
Item #: N82E16856101038R

Open Box Item Return Policy

$139.99

Shipped from NJ - Tracking #: 1Z039AF20324934863
2

Western Digital Caviar GP WD7500AACS 750GB 5400 to 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822136150

Limited 30-Day Return Policy
This item is serviced by the Western Digital. Please call 800 832 4778 for service.

$199.98
($99.99 ea)

1

AMD Athlon 64 LE-1600 2.2GHz Socket AM2 45W Single-Core Processor Model ADH1600DHBOX - Retail
Item #: N82E16819103199

Processors (CPUs) Return Policy
For Retail AMD processor, please call 408 749-3060 for service after first 30 days. For OEM AMD processor, we will service for 30 days only. Please verify the Processor matches your order Prior To installation. IMPORTANT: Always pack your CPU well for return. We will refuse your RMA if we received it as DAMAGED!

$34.99

1

Kingston ValueRAM 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model KVR533D2N4K2/2G - Retail
Item #: N82E16820144157

Memory (Modules, USB) Return Policy
Kingston Support: 1 (800) 835-6575

$36.99

Subtotal $411.95
Tax $0.00
UPS 3 DAYS $22.85
Order Total $434.80

9/30/2008 8:11:56 PM

This is why dell exists.

9/30/2008 8:25:15 PM

i wasnt aware dell sold something like that for the price

9/30/2008 8:38:58 PM

^ http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/desktop-studio-hybrid?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&ref=dthp

This is pretty close if you don't need the drive bays.

It's small, not ugly, and has decent IO, and would probably make a decent HTPC with the right SW.

9/30/2008 8:43:50 PM

except mine was roughly $50 cheaper with roughly a terabyte more of storage

the hard drives is where the money went

9/30/2008 8:56:49 PM

+$75 = overspent

9/30/2008 9:20:09 PM

my peace of mind is worth it

[Edited on September 30, 2008 at 9:35 PM. Reason : wow]

9/30/2008 9:35:07 PM

ok...

so noone either wants it or wants the money?

9/30/2008 9:49:14 PM

buy a mac

9/30/2008 10:07:16 PM

that was the least helpful answer possible, im actually shocked

oh you were joking, right? ok nm then

9/30/2008 10:24:25 PM

Try it with only one stick of ram in it...could have a bad piece.

9/30/2008 10:32:52 PM

Quote :

"that was the least helpful answer possible, im actually shocked oh you were joking, right? ok nm then"

Your too stupid to build, operate, and troubleshoot a PC.

You obviously need a mac.

9/30/2008 10:46:44 PM

Quote :

" Your too stupid"

:carlface:

10/1/2008 12:15:50 AM

Are you trying to RAID the drives?

Otherwise just install one drive, install windows, then add the other drive.

10/1/2008 1:10:05 AM

I bet he hasnt checked the jumpers on the drives.

Maybe both set to slave, etc

10/1/2008 1:48:46 AM

I love when people don't think time is valuable.

10/1/2008 3:00:17 AM

I love it when people dont think that someone elses time is more valuable than their own.

10/1/2008 12:36:03 PM

attn users with less than other users who have < 1000 posts

ill take your bet, especially since i only had one hard drive in and when it does decide to show up under the bios its the master drive

whatever, i got it working with an older 160gb drive running the windows partition

10/1/2008 12:43:22 PM

^^^^ They're sata drives. Reading comprehension FTL.

My question: Are you using a legit copy of windows or at least installing from media that you know for a fact works?

10/1/2008 1:10:14 PM

good question.

no i am not using a legit copy. it's a customized slipstreamed version of xp with all the programs i wanted and none of the crap i don't need

BUT it worked on an older desktop and it worked on the 160gb drive that is currently in the machine (i just reformatted today)

10/1/2008 1:36:51 PM

Quote :

"ThatGoodLock All American 828 Posts user info edit post attn users with less than other users who have < 1000 posts ill take your bet, especially since i only had one hard drive in and when it does decide to show up under the bios its the master drive whatever, i got it working with an older 160gb drive running the windows partition"

Are we talking about this forum alone? Hell I have about 30K posts from the other forums I am on.


Again:

Quote :

"Your too stupid to build, operate, and troubleshoot a PC. You obviously need a mac."

10/1/2008 1:43:53 PM

seeing as this is the 3rd machine ive built (first using mini-atx or whatever it is though)....

let's meet up and hang out. ive always wanted to meet someone who never had a problem they couldn't figure out, i got some other things we can go over.

10/1/2008 1:53:44 PM

WHOOOOOO your THIRD machine? OH MY!!!

/sarcasm

Id rather buy a machine that works because my time is more valuable than tinkering around with some dinky parts ordered off the internet and a illegally downloaded copy of windows that amount to nothing more than a shuttle pc.

However, no, its not that hard to troubleshoot down to a component level to determine what could be wrong.

Take this as a learning experience and move along now...


[Edited on October 1, 2008 at 2:06 PM. Reason : .]

10/1/2008 2:05:21 PM

oh you worked for apple

it all makes sense now

next time i have a problem at the workplace youll probably tell me im too dumb to do that and i should enlist like you did

the CHEAPEST mac costs $600

thats $175 more with enough space to barely fit my music and movies as of yesterday

this computer sits in my living room, not even connected with a keyboard/mouse or monitor, and pulls my torrents remotely and streams them to my ps3 when i am home...that's all it does. nothing else.

if the biggest problem im having now is i need to get my extra HDD in there. i'll buy an esata case. problem solved. not how i would have liked it but oh well. it certainly doesn't warrant overspending for a trendier machine.

10/1/2008 2:12:35 PM

Quote :

"some dinky parts ordered off the internet and a illegally downloaded copy of windows"

yeah Newegg is known for their dinkyness and for that i do apologize

also where did i say it was illegally downloaded

i believe i said it was a slipstreamed version of my old copy of xp, hardly legit seeing as how its been activated on like 8 machines by now but it still gets the job done and i dont have to waste time installing my programs

10/1/2008 2:17:03 PM

Quote :

"oh you worked for apple it all makes sense now next time i have a problem at the workplace youll probably tell me im too dumb to do that and i should enlist like you did the CHEAPEST mac costs $600 450, you forgot to look at refurbished mac minis. "

I also worked for the Dept of Defense for 6 years as a systems admin, and as an assistant admin for 3 years at my university. So if you're trying to infer that I don't know what I'm doing cause I chose to work at the local apple store once upon a time, or decided to buy a machine that gives me no troubles, your in for a disappointing time. A computer is a computer no matter what OS is running on it. Your troubleshooting approach doesn't change dramatically from one platform to another.

10/1/2008 2:39:07 PM

or i was trying to point out that you're clearly biased if your first offer of advice is always to buy a mac, which youve shown in another thread

if macs were the cheapest and most dependable way to have a htpc then it might have been helpful, but its so clearly the wrong choice when you look at what ive bought AND WHICH WORKS NOW albeit in a different configuration than i would have liked

clearly ive figured out a way to make a workaround so i must not be as stupid as you thought

the funny part is that i could totally afford a mac, a mac pro with all the bells and whistles...but that would be the most retarded purchase for reasons ive already listed

10/1/2008 2:59:04 PM

wut, stop trolling and go post elsewhere.

ThatGoodLock, stop feeding the troll.

The strange thing to me seems to center around that fact the the BIOS doesn't consistently recognize the drive. See if you can verify that the drive are good by formatting and installing an OS on another set of hardware. e.g. swap the new HDD with one from an old computer and see if you have any trouble installing Linux or something. Also, make you you don't have a bad cable or a loose/bad sata port.

Also, see if the machine will boot and run a Linux live CD. That may help rule out some more common motherboard problems.


When you said, "it let me go through the 2 hr setup of windows but then decided that would be the end of it" what did you mean? Did the system hang and become non-responsive or what?

10/1/2008 3:32:26 PM

it either
A)gave me an error that windows could not load because of a hardware configuration problem and it just said check with manufacturer
B)said "media failure, check cable", where subsequent checks of the bios would show no HDD present at all even after not touching the machine at all

now this was with just the one 750gb SATA HDD and a cd drive hooked up

i was having this problem both before and after installing windows, either i couldnt install bc windows setup couldnt find any hard drives or it couldnt complete the installation bc they would dissapear after a reboot

im really not gonna bother anymore i dont think, it runs. thats all i care about now.

10/1/2008 3:41:21 PM

It's very possible you got a board with a bad SATA header on it, or the power supply has been overvolted/surged and gets cranky when you plug in too many devices.

Also possible that the board doesnt like mixing SATA 1.5 and 3gbps devices on the same channel pair. There are a lot of possibilities, and it would take isolating each component and stress testing to find the culprit.

BTW you could have gotten a hella lot more powerful dell, and swapped in the same HDD for the same price, with a warranty and no headaches, in a slim config. Just saying, from one former tinkerer to another.

And wut is a fucking retard, show me a Mac I can buy new for under 650 bucks out the door.

10/1/2008 4:16:10 PM

the mac mini's start at $599

10/1/2008 4:28:13 PM

+tax +2gigs of memory to make it actually usable.

1gig on OSX is painful as hell. After plopping 4gigs in my Mac Mini, it was like having a brand new (and much better) computer.

10/1/2008 4:46:18 PM

^^ refurb at 450

Quote :

"or i was trying to point out that you're clearly biased if your first offer of advice is always to buy a mac, which youve shown in another thread"

not biased, its a simple solution for someone who cant troubleshoot a computer

10/1/2008 7:47:13 PM

^Dont know where you are looking, but I dont know that I've ever seen refurb Mac Mini's on the Apple Store. There certainly aren't any available now, making your point even more wasted.

10/1/2008 8:04:09 PM

they come and go pretty regularly.. he's correct on the price though.

10/1/2008 8:07:41 PM

^^ OH god YOU dont know if you have EVER seen them!!???!?!?


Weeeeeellll by goly they just dont exist then do they?

10/1/2008 9:19:40 PM

^ buy a PC

10/2/2008 1:20:39 PM

I post comments and Im a PC.

10/2/2008 1:59:15 PM

jesus this i came to this topic to maybe shed some light on a problem, but by the time i get to the bottom of the page, i felt like a flaming PC or Mac topic.

i was gonna offer to come by and check it out, but seems you came to a compromise. troubleshooting pcs is a definitely guess and check and broken keyboards.

10/2/2008 2:18:53 PM

Quote :

"troubleshooting pcs is a definitely guess and check and broken keyboards."

Are you sure about that?

Where do you go to school? I need to send your Dean an email.

kthx



[Edited on October 2, 2008 at 2:55 PM. Reason : .]

10/2/2008 2:55:11 PM

FLAME ON!

10/2/2008 4:02:31 PM

lol ok ok Ill stop.

its getting old anyways

10/2/2008 7:42:50 PM

>.<



[Edited on October 2, 2008 at 8:21 PM. Reason : ]

10/2/2008 8:20:51 PM

those dells are interesting

might have to get either that or a mac mini for the gf

10/2/2008 11:01:33 PM