Re: OT: POST cards

I sometimes use a cheapo Soyo TechAID POST card.
It certainly does NOT replace common sense, experience or intuition, but
there are certainly times when it can speed up or narrow down the
diagnosis on a client machine I've never seen before. When you have
computers on a network or with a regular client, you sometimes get to
know the machines. But a "cold call" with the only advance information
being "the cpu (sic) keeps going black" over the phone is another story,
and a POST card can really speed things up, in my experience.
        Les...

Kurtis Peterson wrote:
> Bad pun. I've only ever used POST cards at an old job. They bought
> them and I used them. They are interesting only in that they actually
> tell you what the POST is doing every single stage ... even the ones you
> really can't see (like assigning IRQ's through the list even when it
> decides to reserve one or two :) ) Personally I'd say they're a waste
> of money unless you actually find a need for one more than once a week
> or so ... and if that's the case (and you're not a tech) buy a new
> friggin board and be done with it :)
>
> On 7/11/05, *Tim Schneider* <tim@timsworld.net
> <mailto:tim@timsworld.net>> wrote:
>
> On July 9, 2005 03:26 am, VON wrote:
> > Some of you are hardware gurus, soIf you are using, or have used,
> and
> > particular POST (Power On Self Test) PCI card in your hardware
> diagnosing
> > endeavours, and have recommendations, or ones to avoid, I'd
> appreciate you
> > letting me know. Thanks.
>
> never got that far. I use bios post codes from the pc speaker. If
> it does
> not beep like a truck backing up it is probably o.k. if it does
> beep like a
> truck backing up find some one who is about to pour a concrete
> footing and
> offer to help out just a little.
>
> one time this mouse shat on my DIMM, seriously. It was at work. A
> real clean
> place :) It was also a tower PC and uh I left the lid off...
>
> so then monday my pc beeped at me. I used an un-scathed PC to
> investigate the
> beep codes and tracked it down to the memory test had failed. So I
> took a
> look, saw the offensive matter and the corrosion it had
> caused. Cleaned out
> all that crap and voila PC still works today, well not today, last
> time I
> was at work it was still working.
>
> As far as POST cards go I don't think that they are a very valuable
> troubleshooting tool.
>
> my two cents and a buck fifty story.
> Sorry if I offended anyone with my crappy story.
>
>
> --
> "Ein zuviel an Ordnung ruft in uns unweigerlich den Wunsch auf
> Totschlag hervor."
>
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>
>
>
> --
> Kurtis "Kleedrac"
> -In order for me to have everything I want, you're going to have to give
> up some things.
> http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-08-27&res=l
> <http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-08-27&res=l>
Received on Mon Jul 11 09:20:13 2005