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My gaming rig -- the only one I have capable of handling CoX (or STO, or... anything, really) just died tonight. It's looking like either a fried mobo or
a wonky PSU. Either costs more than I have to replace right now, it being a Dell.

So... I'll be away for a while. :/ Still around on the forums, but I'm estimating at least a month before I'll be able to afford spare parts.
Nyaarrgh.

Nyaaargh, I say.

--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs
bo~ooo (bad psu/mobo, bad!)

You'll be missed, however temporarily.
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy
Mainly because we didn't slot enough +ACC enhances. Curse your Super Reflexes power set! j/k
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll
was that a 270 or a 280?
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies
It was the 280, Wire.

And Google identifies the -exact- problem I'm having:

http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19253544.aspx

Nyaargh.

--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs
*ahem*

THERE. ARE. FOUR. LIGHTS!!!1!!

what do they say?

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/s ... #wp1114558

Edit: fuck yuku, seriously. copy/paste the damn url, 'cause, seriously, fuck yuku
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies
Sorry, I should have stated, I already did basic troubleshooting. Big Grin
However, I ran through it again tonight.  Here are the results:
Test 1: same config as last night.  Boots, no errors reported, diagnostic lights green across the board.  Keyboard/mouse don't work, even when swapped out for known-good ones.  Windows appears to have hung.  Network link light lit, activity light not even flickering (though it should be, because I'm trying to ping it from the router via the laptop I'm on now and the remote admin console on the router).  Forced to go for hard shutdown via power switch.
Test 2: system hangs during POST, diag lights state "Other failure has occurred", no message on the screen.  Shutdown via power switch.
Test 3: system hangs during POST, beep code 1-3-2, memory error.  Shutdown via power switch.
Test 4: system hangs during POST, CPU fan (normally all-but-silent) cycles up to JET ENGINE AFTERBURNER levels, vibrating entire case.  Power light solid orange, diagnostic lights aren't lit.  Power switch nonresponsive, have to kill it by yanking the cord.
Test 5: system boots to Dell tech support advertisement screen, though diag lights report no error.  Tech sup screen says previous boot failed at checkpoint [WAKE] and to contact Dell support.  Shutdown via power switch.
Test 6: system boots to Windows, mouse moves for a quarter second before system hangs.  Shut down via power switch.
All of this (except the JET TURBINE) could be attributed to memory error -- and that beep code is suggestive, I'll admit -- but removing either stick makes no difference.  Tests 7 - 10 display the same results, ie, the system saying "DURR I AM BROKED" in a variety of ways.  I have 2 1GB sticks, swapping sticks and slots for those tests, with no obvious pattern emerging..
Searching for the symptoms I'm getting via Google suggests a bad capacitor (or several) on the motherboard, and sure enough, when I kill all ambient noise and stick my head in the case, I can hear the tell-tale high-pitched whine of a leaky cap.  It's not blown, yet, but it's fluttering.  It could be the PSU, causing random over/undervolts on the power lines, or it could be the mobo, since the bad cap issue is a known problem with Dell GX280 systems.
If you have any suggestions, let me know.  I'd much rather just fix the bitch than replace it and go to the hassle of reinstalling and so on and so forth.  I've been trying to identify if the PSU is bog-standard ATX or if it's some proprietary Dell crap and not having much luck.  If it's the former, I can test the "bad PSU" theory easily enough.

--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs
or you could just resolder the bad cap.
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies
... yes, if I could -find- it. I've been looking.

There are 20-plus caps on the motherboard and none of them show any signs of leakage. I haven't cracked the PSU yet. Unfortunately, caps can and do go
bad with no outward physical signs. I've played many a merry game of hunt-the-cap in TVs, VCRs, microwaves...

Anyway. If it were obvious which one it is, I'd be looking for a replacement part right now.

--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs
Your computer clearly has evolved self-awareness and is doing this to spite you.

Ye gods...yeah, I think at this point you've done way more to troubleshoot the problem on your own than most folks would be capable of. Sounds like
worst-case scenario levels here.
-- Acyl
Naw, worst-case scenario is a blown trace. it's a good chance that spoodles there has a _6_ layer motherboard, have fun re-soldering that! @_@
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies