The saga of my sad PC continues. Tonight, I replaced my old power supply with one Kleiner-One-Niner gave me (what a guy). I unplugged all the cables on my old one, unscrewed it, and yanked it out. I fastened the new one to the case, plugged all the cable back in, and hit the power button. Crackling sounds and smoke began to pour out of the case. I yanked the plug from the back and inspected the damage.
It turns out, I plugged a cable in the wrong way. It was a small, four-pin power cable that ran to my front-side sound panel. Normally, these plugs have guide wings that force the inattentive user to plug in the cable one way only. Sadly, this card doesn't have any and I was the inattentive user. When I plugged the cable in, I was off by one pin... and that one pin apparently didn't like being left out.
The worst part about all this is the power supply doesn't fix the problem I was having. The computer still randomly reboots and sometimes won't even post when being powered on. More investigation is necessary...
My PC started acting up. I had been playing Oblivion: Elder Scrolls, converting some .movs to .wmvs, and burning DVDs (not all at the same time) just fine. Then, a couple days ago, it just seized. The screen went black and the sucker wouldn't shut even if I held the power button in for 5-10 seconds. I had to reach behind it and flip the power supply switch. I tried a couple things. I used an entire can of blow-off to clear out the mountain flotsam and dust bunnies that had collected. I reset the mobo to use the factory configuration of the memory and I'm about to try some different voltage settings and front-side bus configs to see if one of those is wonky. It could be the power supply too. I bought the "Diablo" power supply because it had a cool blue LED in it, not because it came highly recommended to actually, you know, power my computer and everything. I'll play around with it; ask some friends for advice.
I'm writing this to you on my Mac. My trustworthy Mac. It hasn't died. It doesn't need voltage tweaks or memory flash sequences reset. It just works. And works well. So, when I get around to it, I'll figure out the problem with PC. Or, more likely, I'll bribe a friend or friends with cookies and beer to get it working for me. It used to be that I defined my ability to accomplish things on a computer by how well I could troubleshoot the myriad problems I came across trying to run a Windows PC. I think I've come to terms with my consumerist, hair-gel wearing self. It's so much easier to use a computer that just works instead of one that, well, doesn't.
It's also much more productive. The PC died right in the middle of converting the aforementioned files--a task I am doing for my client in Grand Rapids. If that was my editing computer, I would be rushing to fix it because failing to do so might mean missing a deadline and loosing them as a client. I can't afford the vanity or the time spent trolling through forums and message boards trying to isolate the problem and fix it/replace it. I need this project done. Period.
It could be a bad power supply. Might be a motherboard setting. Meh. In the meantime, I'll be getting my work done on my Mac.
We have a number of people write, call, and IM that we haven't been as prolific with updates these past couple weeks. While true, it isn't totally without reason. I have been crazy-busy these past two weeks. A massive computer crash (no, not the Mac), a deadline pushed up two weeks by my client in GR, and fun visit by Chad and Megan last weekend are all reasons why I haven't been posting, not excuses. I should be posting regardless. I'm trying to keep people amused and informed about our going-ons down here in the great sweeping Ohioan expanse, and I can't do that unless I post.
It's strange doing this blogging thing. Both Mandy and I will go through periods of creativity and interest in it, then just as suddenly loose interest. What I need to do is during my next bout of creativity, write a few posts and just keep them in draft, so when I'm not feeling up to writing, I can just post one of those.
To recap, here's few things we've been up to since the last post: 1. Chad and Megan came down to visit last weekend. It was great to hang out with some them. 2. We had a really successful cooking club last weekend. The theme was fondue, and there was much dipping. A special thanks to Chad's parents for the use of their awesome ceramic fondue pot. 3. We saw Grindhouse last night. Words cannot describe the experience. It's so unlike any other movie-going experience I've had, that I'm reluctant to even call it a movie. It's something has to be seen to be believed, both in a good and bad way. 4. Mandy and I have been thinking of adding another member to the family. Keep looking back for more updates on this...
(One of the many amazing scenes from such a wonderful movie. Too bad YouTube resolution is so crappy.)
