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Tizer
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 Posted -
22/03/2010
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11:53
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I wrote some time ago that I was intending to make my first attempt at building a computer and promised that I would relate the story here on OGFB. I bit the bullet about 10 days ago, ordered the components on-line from Dabs, received them last week and dived into action.
I ran into a problem due to being sent a faulty motherboard which Dabs replaced, so the following posts describe a lot of work sorting out what was wrong before we realised it was the motherboard. Read these posts if you want all the details. If you want just the description of how the PC was built without details of the glitch I've now written it up later in this thread. See it on page 8.
Edited by - Tizer on 06/05/2010 10:35:18
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panbiker
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Posted - 02/04/2010 : 15:03
Tiz, good news on your monitor and motherboard. with regard to fitting the components, you are correct in assuming that the best way is with the board out of the case. A lot of boards come with some kind of plastic foam or styrene packaging which could be used to provide a cushioned but firm surface to put the board on for mounting the components. Failing packaging like that you could use a sheet of small size bubble wrap if you have some available. In both cases, sit the board on top of the anti-stat bag it came in with the cushioning layer below. You may well have to apply a bit more heat sink compound if you have had the heatsink on and off the processor a number of times. Clean the remnants of the old stuff off first before applying the new. The compound is dual purpose, flattening compound to provide a proper surface to surface bond with good thermal transfer properties. Good turnaround from Dabs as well Tiz, suppliers can sometimes wriggle a bit where replacements are concerned. Good luck with the MkII build anyway, keep us posted.
Ian  |
Tizer
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Posted - 02/04/2010 : 16:29
Thanks for the advice Ian, the last board came in a box with only the antistatic bag and a piece of corrugated cardboard, but I probably have some polystyrene foam sheet in the house (never throw anything away!). I was a bit puzzled at first when you wrote "sit the board on top of the anti-stat bag it came in with the cushioning layer below" because you said earlier it was dangerous to stand the board on the bag - but then remembered we were talking about with power on, so I suppose that's the distinction (i.e. OK with no power, but danger of shorting with power on).
I recall you mento
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 03/04/2010 : 07:30
Get Janet to do it......
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Tizer
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Posted - 03/04/2010 : 10:03
Janet's been quite happy to learn to use her computer with Linux instead of Windows and to learn how to use lots of software but she won't mind me saying that she's got zero interest in the innards of a computer. Now, if computers had little gear wheels spinning and pistons moving and steam coming out of them I wouldn't get a look in!
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panbiker
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Posted - 03/04/2010 : 10:13
Ye your right Tiz, OK to use the bag without power but not worth the risk with.
Ian |
Tizer
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Posted - 08/04/2010 : 12:43
The latest news is good! The replacement motherboard arrived at 8.15am on Easter Monday and it's now in the case with the same CPU/heatsink (but fresh thermal paste), graphics card and memory installed and...it's working!! Rebuild was delayed until I got to a town to buy the thermal paste - Dabs had run out of the stuff I wanted.
I carefully cleaned the old paste from the processor and heatsink and applied a rice grain sized bit of the new. The PC fired up first time and the BIOS is showing the correct 4GB of memory. The fans are spinning happily while I write. Next I'll install the hard drive and DVD drive, then I'll be on my way to installing the Ubuntu Linux operating system.
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panbiker
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Posted - 08/04/2010 : 16:34
Nice one Peter, light at the end of the tunnel. Good luck with your OS install.
Ian |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 08/04/2010 : 16:52
Herindoors said you would be getting going today. She also said that you are going to build one for her......
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Tizer
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Posted - 08/04/2010 : 19:53
Thanks Ian. I've downloaded the OS image and burned the files onto a CD on my old PC, then I ran it as a `live' CD on the new PC and checked the disk's integrity on it too. Tomorow I hope to install the OS from the disk.
Stanley, yes, she placed her order as soon as I said I was going to give it a try. She'll need a bigger hard disk anyway, with all the photos she takes!
A slight temporary hitch resulted when I realised that the power unit has only one SATA power cable. The case/unit combo was listed on Dabs as "24 pin and SATA" but nowhere did it say how many SATA power cables. I guess I'll have to buy something to split the cable to two or more connectors or split/adapt molex cables to SATA connectors. It meant that I could connect a SATA hard drive but not the DVD drive which is also SATA only, and I need that drive to be able to install my OS from the CD.
I found a workaround by temporarily using an old CD-ROM, connecting it to a molex power cable and using a PATA (IDE) data cable to the motherboard. It's messy but it seems to work OK for now as shown by the evidence above with the CD. It's wonderful to see something on that monitor screen after all that trouble earlier!
Edited by - Tizer on 08/04/2010 19:59:04
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Tizer
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Posted - 09/04/2010 : 10:45
This morning I put the Ubuntu CD in the drive and started the install of the operating system. All was fine until it reached disk partitioning and it couldn't find a hard drive to partition. I expect this is because I'm using both SATA and PATA signal cables as described in last night's post. That combination at least allows me to see that the Live CD version of the OS works OK on the new PC but I'll have to get the extra SATA cables before I can do a full install. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible!
Later...I've now ordered a molex-to-SATA (1 to 2) power cable extension and extra SATA data cables from Amazon which has a good selection and low prices with free delivery. I won't get them until next week but I probably won't get to any shops by then either (the price I pay for living a rural life!).
Edited by - Tizer on 09/04/2010 12:00:17
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Big Kev
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Posted - 09/04/2010 : 13:24
It's no good rushing these things, though...
Big Kev
It doesn't matter who you vote for, you always end up with the government. |
pluggy
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Posted - 09/04/2010 : 15:50
Not wanting to worry you, but my present PC is working fine with Ubuntu, a PATA DVD and a SATA hard disk. When I last updated it I didn't want to cough up for a new optical drive as well. Just as an interim measure, have you tried the SATA DVD and no hard drive with the Ubuntu Live ? It could be a SATA driver issue, if it is, theres usually a BIOS setting where you can turn a compatibility mode on.
Need computer work ?
"http://www.stsr.co.uk" 
Pluggy's Household Monitor |
pluggy
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Posted - 09/04/2010 : 15:52
Something you run into all the time putting XP on new laptops....
Need computer work ?
"http://www.stsr.co.uk"
Pluggy's Household Monitor |
catgate
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Posted - 09/04/2010 : 16:19
quote:
Tizer wrote:
This morning I put the Ubuntu CD in the drive and started the install of the operating system. All was fine until it reached disk partitioning and it couldn't find a hard drive to partition. I expect this is because I'm using both SATA and PATA signal cables as described in last night's post. That combination at least allows me to see that the Live CD version of the OS works OK on the new PC but I'll have to get the extra SATA cables before I can do a full install. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible!
Later...I've now ordered a molex-to-SATA (1 to 2) power cable extension and extra SATA data cables from Amazon which has a good selection and low prices with free delivery. I won't get them until next week but I probably won't get to any shops by then either (the price I pay for living a rural life!).
Edited by - Tizer on 09/04/2010 12:00:17
I put one together for a friend a couple of years ago and encountered a similar problem. I do not remember what the mother board was...it might have been a Foxconn. I put Ubuntu 8.04 on that.
I think i finally found that the BIOS has a setting somewhere that facilitated running SATA and PATA drives on the same machine, although it was, as most of theses things are, hidden in "Geek Speak".
Every silver lining has a cloud.
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 09/04/2010 : 16:47
He was relaxed enough to go out into the garden for lunch Kev. Next satellite pass is tomorrow at about ten in the morning.....
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Building my own computer
