Computers and hairdryers.
Jan. 22nd, 2006 03:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
riontelПосле того, как вчера все разошлись, Ленка вернулась с Мэтом и мы чинили мой комп (мы пахали, я и трактор).
My chipset heatsink had died a while ago after an extended agony. For a while comp was making horrible noises and I was getting really worried about my HD but then the problem was narrowed down to a dying fan. I was still worried until the noises stopped and I started to panic. Yesterday Matt finally came to tend to the problem. You might be wondering why I didn't change the fan myself, especially since I did buy a new one few weeks back. Well, after the new fan arrived, I opened up the comp, unscrewed the screws on top of the heatsink and discovered the screws were there purely for aesthetical effect. The heatsink was actually held in place by pins that could only be removed from the back of the motherboard (basically, you have to take the whole comp apart to do that). On even closer inspection it appeared that the heatsink was also glued to the motherboard. I, naturally, didn't believe my eyes, screwed the aesthetically pleasing cover back onto the heatsink, in case I missed something and it was serving some mysterious purpose, then went on-line to investigate. Information I found left me flabbergasted. Experience tells me never to underestimate human stupidity but a computer engineering degree just would not let me believe such a thing was possible. So, I waited for Matt, who has a lot more experience in the area of computer maintenance.
That's how it came to be that yesterday Matt and Lena were rebuilding my comp while I looked on. Lena did try to make me do some work, but even my boss sometimes fails at this, so I stuck to my usual supervisory role. Turned out my eyes did not deceive me. The process of extracting the heatsink from the motherboard was rather more involved than anybody would have anticipated: disconnect everything from the motherboard, remove the board, pry out the pins holding down the heatsink, and then discover that no matter how hard you tug on it, the heatsink just would not budge, because smart people in ASUS glued it to the board with a substance that would only come off if you heated it up. I am guessing a flat screw driver and a hammer would probably serve too, but we chose to heat it up, somehow managing not to fry the motherboard and the CPU in the process. That was the first, and, hopefully, the last time I employed a hairdryer for the task of fixing a computer.
My chipset heatsink had died a while ago after an extended agony. For a while comp was making horrible noises and I was getting really worried about my HD but then the problem was narrowed down to a dying fan. I was still worried until the noises stopped and I started to panic. Yesterday Matt finally came to tend to the problem. You might be wondering why I didn't change the fan myself, especially since I did buy a new one few weeks back. Well, after the new fan arrived, I opened up the comp, unscrewed the screws on top of the heatsink and discovered the screws were there purely for aesthetical effect. The heatsink was actually held in place by pins that could only be removed from the back of the motherboard (basically, you have to take the whole comp apart to do that). On even closer inspection it appeared that the heatsink was also glued to the motherboard. I, naturally, didn't believe my eyes, screwed the aesthetically pleasing cover back onto the heatsink, in case I missed something and it was serving some mysterious purpose, then went on-line to investigate. Information I found left me flabbergasted. Experience tells me never to underestimate human stupidity but a computer engineering degree just would not let me believe such a thing was possible. So, I waited for Matt, who has a lot more experience in the area of computer maintenance.
That's how it came to be that yesterday Matt and Lena were rebuilding my comp while I looked on. Lena did try to make me do some work, but even my boss sometimes fails at this, so I stuck to my usual supervisory role. Turned out my eyes did not deceive me. The process of extracting the heatsink from the motherboard was rather more involved than anybody would have anticipated: disconnect everything from the motherboard, remove the board, pry out the pins holding down the heatsink, and then discover that no matter how hard you tug on it, the heatsink just would not budge, because smart people in ASUS glued it to the board with a substance that would only come off if you heated it up. I am guessing a flat screw driver and a hammer would probably serve too, but we chose to heat it up, somehow managing not to fry the motherboard and the CPU in the process. That was the first, and, hopefully, the last time I employed a hairdryer for the task of fixing a computer.
