Computer Explosions
Well my computer is ryally furked up. I tried to install the windows cab files onto a small Toshiba hard drive for a notebook PC. The problem being is that I had to make an adaptor so the standard ISA bus ribbon can fit into the smaller hard drive. Its like trying to get a seventeen wheeler into a garage meant for a car. Anyway, I know how to do it, but I must have made a little mistake on the soldering, as when I plugged it into my ISA ribbon as a slave to my master Hard drive, as I powered up my computer a nice spark shot out and the computer died... poof... just like that.
After swearing copiously, I examined the damage. It seems that the small tracks on the adaptor PCB had fused preventing serious current from flowing into my PC. But the PC had still been hit as its power shut off.
I rebuilt my PC to how it worked normally and powered it up.
Alas, no hard drive was found, along with no operating system.
I remained calm. The Hard Drive was still active as it whirred and clicked when powered up, so I deducted the problem must be elsewhere.
I played around with differet cables in case it was a fused cable, but no, still no result. Booting from CD works until it tries to use the Hard Disk... then it complains that no hard disk is found.
Now the CD ISA and the PC ISA's are right next to each other so the damage might not be that extensive as I thought.
To get my hard drive active again I had to plug my Hard Drive into the Secondary ISA port and hey-presto I have my Hard Drive back. But now my CD and DVD drives have no ISA port. Luckily, my most used CD/DVD's are in disk image format so I can use an image drive to use them. It will be new year till I can get a new motherboard, but at least I got my hard disk working.
As a job, I actually make circuit boards and am a trained inspector of PCB (Printed Circuit Board) quality, so upon closer inspection of my Motherboard I deduct that I have blown the ISA controller QFP (an Intergrated Circuitry, Quad Flat-Pack, Microchip or Silicon Chip are other names of it). If I could get hold of another chip I could probably resolder it to the board, but without the right tools I would be better of buying a new motherboard. That way I could just get a upgrade along the way.
This PC is less than 1 year old to!!!
After swearing copiously, I examined the damage. It seems that the small tracks on the adaptor PCB had fused preventing serious current from flowing into my PC. But the PC had still been hit as its power shut off.
I rebuilt my PC to how it worked normally and powered it up.
Alas, no hard drive was found, along with no operating system.
I remained calm. The Hard Drive was still active as it whirred and clicked when powered up, so I deducted the problem must be elsewhere.
I played around with differet cables in case it was a fused cable, but no, still no result. Booting from CD works until it tries to use the Hard Disk... then it complains that no hard disk is found.
Now the CD ISA and the PC ISA's are right next to each other so the damage might not be that extensive as I thought.
To get my hard drive active again I had to plug my Hard Drive into the Secondary ISA port and hey-presto I have my Hard Drive back. But now my CD and DVD drives have no ISA port. Luckily, my most used CD/DVD's are in disk image format so I can use an image drive to use them. It will be new year till I can get a new motherboard, but at least I got my hard disk working.
As a job, I actually make circuit boards and am a trained inspector of PCB (Printed Circuit Board) quality, so upon closer inspection of my Motherboard I deduct that I have blown the ISA controller QFP (an Intergrated Circuitry, Quad Flat-Pack, Microchip or Silicon Chip are other names of it). If I could get hold of another chip I could probably resolder it to the board, but without the right tools I would be better of buying a new motherboard. That way I could just get a upgrade along the way.
This PC is less than 1 year old to!!!