The parts I ordered to build the new computer arrived Monday so as soon I returned home, I set my attention to assembling the machine. Most of the hardware assembly was smooth sailing. The only part of the assembly that gave me some trouble was after I had installed the DVD and floppy drives. To install those drives, I had to remove the front of the case in order to remove the face plates that line the outside of the drive bays. The drives installed without a hitch, but getting the front of the case back on proved difficult. Basically, there were two pairs of plastic tabs just behind the hole on the case front that prevented the DVD drive from fitting through it. I ended up having to file both sets of tabs down just a little bit to get the front of the case to fit around the drive.
I started the assembly at around 7pm and by 10:30pm, the moment of truth when I powered on the machine was a relief when I saw the monitor flicker as the board ran its POST. All systems were go and a few minutes later, I was checking to make sure that all of the drives were recognized and adjusting the boot drive sequence in the BIOS. I'm never happier to see the words "BOOT DISK FAILURE! PLEASE INSERT A BOOTABLE DISK.", than after a successful hardware installation.
I had wanted to be done with the hardware installation on Monday night, but I didn't quite make it because I hadn't routed any of the cables in any discernable order to make things look clean. The inside of the case was just a jumble of power cables, data cables, and electronics. So last night, I spent a couple of hours rerouting the cables to make the area around the motherboard as easy to work on as possible. There's still a couple of audio cables from the front panel that I wish could be routed differently, but unfortunately they are not long enough to reach all the way to the back of the case without cutting straight across the RAM just under the CPU. It's not pretty, but it has to be that way.
After that was done, I started in on my least favorite part of the process, installing the operating system. The installation process itself is never that difficult, but the tedious process of reestablishing internet connectivity and getting all of the necessary hardware drivers installed can sometimes be a real pain. I had some initial trouble getting my internet connectivity back because the drivers that control the built-in ethernet port on the motherboard weren't installed initially. I inserted the driver CD that came with the motherboard and proceeded to load any drivers and software that had something to do with networking on an nForce chipset motherboard. That turned out to be a mistake. I'll get to that a little later.
My plan for Tuesday night was to 1) Install the OS, 2) Install the latest chipset drivers, 3) Flash the BIOS to the latest version, and 4) Install the latest video drivers. Once I had an internet connection, I almost immedeatly began getting popup windows that were reporting some scary things like, "Windows has detected 55 critical registry errors!" and "Every computer that isn't running ME is going to self-destruct in 30 seconds!" Since this was a clean install, those messages seemed fishy. So I ignored the warnings, plowed ahead with my installation of Service Pack 2, and as I suspected, those messages went away. I later discovered that it was a flaw in Service Pack 1a that caused Windows Messenger to send reports like that erroneously. How... helpful.
Once I had Service Pack 2 installed, it was time to grab the latest nForce4 drivers. Remember that I had just installed a bunch of drivers for the motherboard as well as some software. It wasn't necessarily a mistake to install the drivers, but I also installed the nVidia Firewall and the nVidia Network Administration Management (NAM) tools. Nothing seemed awry until I went to nVidia's support website to download the latest version of the nForce chipset drivers. I started the download, which seemed abnormally slow, and once they were successfully downloaded I began the installation process. However, I was only seconds into the installation when Windows quickly reported that the file that I had downloaded was corrupt. So, I tried downloading it again with the same results. I tried downloading the file from all three mirror sites also with the same results. I tried downloading beta drivers from third party sites still with identical results: FILE IS CORRUPT!
At this point, I knew something was weird so I Googled "corrupt nForce4 drivers" and found a wealth of information that all pointed to the nVidia Firewall and the NAM tools as a source of many corrupt downloads and heaps of frustration. So, I uninstalled those tools and rebooted. On reboot, the OS failed to start. I restarted the machine again and began to consider a format and another fresh install. While I was searching for my printed instructions about how to do that, I had neglected to watch the screen and when I looked up, it was asking me if I wanted to boot into Safe Mode or try for normal operation. But I had missed the countdown. Windows began to boot up normally and I crossed my fingers. Lo and behold, it worked! Finally, I had some success.
With the Firewall and NAM culprits out of the system, the nForce download and install went smoothly. Once I had the new chipset drivers installed, I went to my motherboard's support site, downloaded the latest BIOS and flashed it to the chip. All was still well with the world. Lastly, around 1am, I put the finishing touches on the basics of my new system by installing the video drivers. Earlier, Amy had come up with the idea of naming all of the computers on the eventual network after crooners. So my new machine, Sinatra, is up and running and will be ready for its debut on Thursday, with Evan and Serious Sam 2. I can't wait.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Holy Christmas Garbage Computer, Batman!
Last weekend started and ended wonderfully. Amy had the day off and she picked me up from work at 2pm instead of my usual 5pm. Then we went on a short shopping spree in search of a new artificial Christmas tree. We weren't really finding anything that we liked for quite a while, probably due to the fact that the stores were only beginning to push their Christmas stock onto the sales floor. But, we stopped at Menards just to check and found that all of their display trees, while not yet decorated, at least were assembled and ready for our perusal.
At Menards, we found a nice 7.5' tree that weighed in at around 2200 tips. It really is a very robust fake pine. Our only mistake was that we neglected to think of the diameter of the bottom of the tree as the measurement of a circle. To us, it was merely a linear measurement and we liked the idea of wide tree to fill the display window in our living room. However, when Amy finally set it up, the base of the tree must have been almost three feet from the wall with no room to move closer. She realized our error and called me from my World of Warcraft session with Ian to determine our course of action. In the end, we decided to keep the tree and put it in the corner by the half wall next to the door. We decided to leave off a few branches on the bottom tier so that we can inch the base a little closer to the wall. No one will ever be the wiser and that way we can keep the most excellent tree.
Saturday was then upon us and after my second appointment at the dentist to have some cavities filled, our near future was bright with promise. I took my shoes off and walked into the kitchen where the dishwasher was running. I stepped up to the sink to wash my hands, but quickly retracted my left foot when it came into unexpected contact with a puddle of water. I reached for a paper towel to mop up the water but as I did so I noticed that the puddle stretched from the left cabinet under the sink all the way over to the doorway by the dining room. Suspecting the worst, I opened the door that hides the garbage disposal and could immediately see that water had been leaking through the bottom of the disposal through its electrical system and into the cabinet.
After emptying the cabinet, with Amy's help I began to take apart some of the waterways that connect the disposal to the foul hells buried deep in the bowels of the earth into which water waste is cast. Only a few slices of unground melon rind remeained lodged in the trap from the previous evening, not nearly enough to cause a leak of such magnitude. We knew then that there was a problem with the disposal itself and realized from the documentation we received when we moved into the house that our In-Sink-Erator, model Badger V, was installed over 18 years prior and was probably calling to us in a desperate plea for retirement. So, only a couple hours had passed before Amy found a Consumer Reports approved disposal as well as a local company that would install the unit. The new garbage disposal is now installed and working at a sound intensity level that is at least 15dB more quiet than that beast of a Badger V. We can actually hear each other speak while the new unit is running without having to scream.
That evening, after the festivities, we went to Jeff and Jen's apartment to watch Batman Begins, which was definitely a movie we should have seen in the theater if we had wanted the full impact of the experience. Nevertheless, we had a good time and after leaving Jeff and Jen's we returned home in time to catch some sleep in expectation of Sunday. The first half of Sunday was typical, but after church both Amy and I went on a bike ride through the trees that were probably around the peak colors for the fall season. It was a beautiful ride and we were happy to get some time to spend in the brisk October air.
In other news, I've been kicking around the idea of building another computer for a number of months now, having built at least three new systems on paper but never committing to the actual purchase and assembly process. That changed today, though. I ordered almost all the necessary parts from my favorite online retailer and hopefully the new machine will be ready to roll by the end of next week. The only item I neglected to order was a floppy disk drive, which for some reason still clings to the strings of necessity as a member of a the new computer hardware suite. I decided to go with an SLI-capable motherboard for future expansion. I also chose an nVidia 6800GT video card, the top of the line from the previous generation, which saved me almost $100 from the middle-of-the-road 7800GT. Eventually, as prices drop, I'll add another identical video card to utilize the motherboard's SLI capabilites and boost its graphical performance even further. I'll avoid posting any further specific specs here so as not to spur all of my nerd friends into a spastic frenzy while they point out every minute error in my product choices. I'll save that for face to face conversations. In the end, I'm looking forward to enjoying PC gaming again.
At Menards, we found a nice 7.5' tree that weighed in at around 2200 tips. It really is a very robust fake pine. Our only mistake was that we neglected to think of the diameter of the bottom of the tree as the measurement of a circle. To us, it was merely a linear measurement and we liked the idea of wide tree to fill the display window in our living room. However, when Amy finally set it up, the base of the tree must have been almost three feet from the wall with no room to move closer. She realized our error and called me from my World of Warcraft session with Ian to determine our course of action. In the end, we decided to keep the tree and put it in the corner by the half wall next to the door. We decided to leave off a few branches on the bottom tier so that we can inch the base a little closer to the wall. No one will ever be the wiser and that way we can keep the most excellent tree.
Saturday was then upon us and after my second appointment at the dentist to have some cavities filled, our near future was bright with promise. I took my shoes off and walked into the kitchen where the dishwasher was running. I stepped up to the sink to wash my hands, but quickly retracted my left foot when it came into unexpected contact with a puddle of water. I reached for a paper towel to mop up the water but as I did so I noticed that the puddle stretched from the left cabinet under the sink all the way over to the doorway by the dining room. Suspecting the worst, I opened the door that hides the garbage disposal and could immediately see that water had been leaking through the bottom of the disposal through its electrical system and into the cabinet.
After emptying the cabinet, with Amy's help I began to take apart some of the waterways that connect the disposal to the foul hells buried deep in the bowels of the earth into which water waste is cast. Only a few slices of unground melon rind remeained lodged in the trap from the previous evening, not nearly enough to cause a leak of such magnitude. We knew then that there was a problem with the disposal itself and realized from the documentation we received when we moved into the house that our In-Sink-Erator, model Badger V, was installed over 18 years prior and was probably calling to us in a desperate plea for retirement. So, only a couple hours had passed before Amy found a Consumer Reports approved disposal as well as a local company that would install the unit. The new garbage disposal is now installed and working at a sound intensity level that is at least 15dB more quiet than that beast of a Badger V. We can actually hear each other speak while the new unit is running without having to scream.
That evening, after the festivities, we went to Jeff and Jen's apartment to watch Batman Begins, which was definitely a movie we should have seen in the theater if we had wanted the full impact of the experience. Nevertheless, we had a good time and after leaving Jeff and Jen's we returned home in time to catch some sleep in expectation of Sunday. The first half of Sunday was typical, but after church both Amy and I went on a bike ride through the trees that were probably around the peak colors for the fall season. It was a beautiful ride and we were happy to get some time to spend in the brisk October air.
In other news, I've been kicking around the idea of building another computer for a number of months now, having built at least three new systems on paper but never committing to the actual purchase and assembly process. That changed today, though. I ordered almost all the necessary parts from my favorite online retailer and hopefully the new machine will be ready to roll by the end of next week. The only item I neglected to order was a floppy disk drive, which for some reason still clings to the strings of necessity as a member of a the new computer hardware suite. I decided to go with an SLI-capable motherboard for future expansion. I also chose an nVidia 6800GT video card, the top of the line from the previous generation, which saved me almost $100 from the middle-of-the-road 7800GT. Eventually, as prices drop, I'll add another identical video card to utilize the motherboard's SLI capabilites and boost its graphical performance even further. I'll avoid posting any further specific specs here so as not to spur all of my nerd friends into a spastic frenzy while they point out every minute error in my product choices. I'll save that for face to face conversations. In the end, I'm looking forward to enjoying PC gaming again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)