[dba-Tech] R.I.P. Guinevere

[Gary Kjos]

The most cost effective solution would be to let it go and replace it
if you need that extra system.

Figuring out exactly what the problem is would seem to be the first question.

Does it BEEP after you turn it on?  I think a single beep means it
made it through the POST (Power On Self Test).

Does it have a video card?  Or onboard Video?   Perhaps the monitor is gone bad?

 Are there any led lights on the back?

You could start pulling stuff out.... disconnect the hard drive
cables, pull out the RAM then see if you at least can get to the BIOS
screen.

No matter what is broke it's going to cost money to replace it though
and used/refurbed computers are pretty cheap.

Good luck with it.

GK

On Fri, Oct 28, 2016 at 10:59 AM, Arthur Fuller <fuller.artful at gmail.com> wrote:
> My ancient HP Millennium computer appears finally to have bitten the dust.
> She has performed superbly for -- I can't even remember, now, something
> like 20 years. Since I bought her, I've done a couple of upgrades (replaced
> the motherboard, added a hard disk, and of course the usual OS upgrades.)
> Now she powers on and I can hear the fan running, and the hard-disk light
> blinking, but nothing else happens.
>
> I'm going to try a couple of things over the weekend. First is to see if I
> can boot from an Ubuntu disk, and if that works, then I'm totally prepared
> to make her a Linux woman, Since I no longer write code for a living, but
> just as a hobby, most of the Linux stuff I do is just simple email and
> browsing.
>
> The ethical dilemma I'm facing is that to repair her might cost more than a
> refurbished desktop from my favourite store. I just recently purchased a
> refurbished Lenovo for my best friend Audra's birthday, and her boyfriend
> kicked in 50%, so net, net, net it cost us each about $60.
>
> I'm torn between emotion and economics. It might ultimately be cheaper to
> replace Guinevere, but that sounds more like a Trumpism than I'm
> comfortable with. Until recently, she has performed admirably. Even despite
> her mere 4 GB of RAM and about 500 GB of disk storage, she has performed
> very well and I don't want to pull the plug.
>
> The computer I work on every day is called Avalon. And I also have a tablet
> called Lancelot. You may be able to guess from whence these names derive.
>
> What should I do about Guinevere? Emotions or economics?
>
> --
> Arthur
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-- 
Gary Kjos
garykjos at gmail.com