On 28 May 2003 at 21:44, James Miller wrote: >I've recently inherited a not-so-old thin client computer (200Mhz Cyrix > processor, 64MB RAM chip). I'd like to make it join my small home > network, but probably the reason I inherited it may not permit this: > it boots up only very intermittently. Seems like with sufficient > "rest" (2 or 3 months?) it will boot and run for a time - anywhere > from a few minutes to an hour - from the CD distribution it was made > to run. In other words, it loads its OS from the CD drive, and opens > application from there as well, as needed: it has no HD. I suspect > the BIOS is the problem: when it won't boot, the CD drive just sits > there with its light on, not even spinning up. When it will boot up, > the CD spins normally and the OS loads. The toughest computer > troubleshooting situations I've encountered are of this sort - i.e., > where the computer makes almost no response (beyond lights lighting > up and processor fan spinning). At this point, I can only guess > wildly, and the fact that it doesn't even get to the boot screen says > to me that perhaps the BIOS chip has some problem. Yet I realize > this is really just a guess - like when a car's engine won't turn > over and you guess that it needs a new battery (could be a loose wire > somewhere, bad alternator or short somewhere). Based on listmembers' > experience in troubleshooting PC's, what do you think the chances are > that the BIOS chip is bad and needs to be replaced? I did read some > information on the web about a "PnP halt error" that at least some > BIOSes by this manufacturer suffered from and which they needed to > issue a patch for. I have no idea what a "PnP halt error" is though, > and thus whether the BIOS I have may be suffering from it. Any ideas > on troubleshooting this problem, or further insight into the "PnP > halt error" and what it means? > >Thanks, James
Dear James, A "PnP halt error" sounds like it would be some sort of error which occurs during the boot-up ennumeration of the PnP devices ( part of the normal boot process, when the CPU is running the boot code in the BIOS ) which would cause the machine to hang. This could be the problem for your system. If there is sufficient evidence of the problem, based on what other people report for that BIOS, and from the manufacturer's reports, then I'd say it was a likely culprit and try to apply any fix that's available. Otherwise, it could be one of a number of problems. I'd suggest replacing the CMOS battery - that's something I've seen solve this sort of problem. Otherwise, it could be a flakey power supply, bad CPU, or shorts on the motherboard, or one of a whole bunch of hardware problems. The only thin client I know of that fits this description is the ThinkNIC, and if it is one, you might try looking for some info, or putting a post about it, on this WWW site: http://www.linux-hacker.net/ Look for the "I-Appliance Forum" link, on the left. Hope this helps, Anthony J. Albert =========================================================== Anthony J. Albert [EMAIL PROTECTED] Systems and Software Support Specialist Postmaster Computer Services - University of Maine, Presque Isle "This is only temporary, unless it works." --- Red Green To unsubscribe from SURVPC send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe SURVPC in the body of the message. Also, trim this footer from any quoted replies. More info can be found at; http://www.softcon.com/archives/SURVPC.html
