Last Friday, Hugh Donovan and I put together the computer parts that he had researched and ordered. Below is a rough reproduction of the email he sent out about it. We took plenty of pictures, and kept a log as we worked. From the time I got there to the time I left, it was about eleven hours!
Computer build number two, again educational, and entertaining.
Specs:
Intel Q6600 Core 2 Quad 2.4GHz Kiensfield
Gigabyte EP45-UD3R Motherboard w/ onboard sound
4 GB Crucial Memory
640 GB Western Digital SATA HDD
Sapphire ATI 4850 Graphics
LG 19" Flatron Monitor
The log of events:
4:58:18pm Figured out we were trying to mount PSU upside-down. Thinking of case modifications. LOL!!!
4:59:50pm Mounted PSU.
5:05:53pm Busted out rear I/O panel.
5:10:00pm Synchronized watches.
5:20:36pm Pictures of GPU.
5:22:56pm Removed motherboard from antistatic bag.
5:31:55pm Cut out ethernet port from Gigabyte I/O panel.
5:34:30pm Installed Gigabyte I/O panel.
5:37:30pm Marked paper with motherboard ground holes.
5:58:50pm Decided the discrepancies in standoff type didn't matter.
6:07:09pm Installed motherboard.
6:16:55pm Mounted motherboard screws.
6:21:53pm Figured out how to remove front plate.
6:25:10pm Removed drive bay cover.
6:28:25pm Mounted optical bay and went to eat biscuits.
6:48:23pm Hard drive mounted.
6:49:25pm CPU removed from box.
7:00:00pm CPU clamped into place, despite useless Intel manual.
7:00:15pm Heat sink removed from case; Hugh went to get a plastic bag.
7:07:00pm Applied Arctic Silver thermal compound to heat sink.
7:09:08pm Applied Arctic Silver thermal compound to CPU.
7:18:06pm CPU fan connector installed.
7:19:21pm CPU heat sink mounted.
7:24:09pm First memory module installed.
7:24:29pm Second memory module installed.
7:25:55pm Discovered CPU and heat sink mounting instructions in motherboard manual. (Nice going, Intel.)
7:28:59pm 24-pin motherboard power connector installed.
7:41:14pm Front panel indicators completed.
7:45:20pm Front panel communications completed.
7:57:18pm Video card installed and connected to power supply unit.
8:11:02pm Serial ATA cables installed.
8:14:38pm The zip-tie attack begins.
8:38:00pm Called Gavrik for final check.
8:43:29pm CPU power connector installed... (might be a good idea)
9:02:53pm POST!!!!!!
9:14:27pm Booted Ubuntu, discussed hard drive status.
9:18:03pm Terminated call with Gavrik.
9:34:54pm Hugh attempts to boot hard drive diagnostics.
9:46:55pm Left to get fresh air after starting extended hard drive test.
11:04:09pm Transferring drivers to USB disks for installation.
[Played Wolfenstein for one hour.]
12:05:58am Drivers installed.
12:53:06am Basic applications installed.
12:55:54am Rearranged component wires.
1:30:34am Desk setup initiated.
1:49:43am Desk setup completed.
1:56:24am Network connection established.
1:59:46am Test page printed.
2:03:27am Sound successfully tested.
2:04:35am Computer clock set.
2:16:52am The Witcher installed!!!
I got my Sansa fixed up on Sunday. What was happening is that only the ring would light up when I turned the thing on and I had to "reset" (really a forced power off, it seems) to get it off. I was advised to drain the battery, charge it, and then see what happened. I did, and same result. Some more talk online informed me that the daughter card may have come loose. Over the span of two days I got it all the way open (part of this took over two hours on IRC and a video from someone on there… how nice of them), disconnected the daughter card for sure, and reconnected it. I plugged my Sansa in on USB and the wheel came on but it seems the player turned off. I put the battery back in and tried again, this time presented with a blessed SanDisk logo. Whoooo-hooo!
I had intended to start hacking my Sansa after the warranty had expired, but I figured that I might as well start then since I had been poking around on the insides of the thing. I downloaded the alternative mp3 player firmware Rockbox and installed it on my Sansa (it keeps the original firmware on, too). And, wow, Rockbox blows the original firmware away in most areas. Very very customizable and supports plugins, which you can use even while you're playing music. These plugins fall under the categories of Applications, Demos, and Games. And yes, you can even play Doom.
In the tradition of Grand Stream Dreams, I bring you our very first Linkfest.
Boston.com - World Series game could be delayed for Obama pitch - You might have heard that Barack Oboma had purchased an half hour time slot on at least some networks to promote his cause. Clever of him. But possibly delay the World Series? It's only by a few minutes, I know, and I'm not a big baseball fan… but still, let's hope people get mad at him for this…
Fox News - Obama Ads Invade Video Games - Obama billboards show up in Burnout Paradise on Xbox Live… hmmm… ok… I didn't know their were ads, but hey, I suppose if they pay for them… but a little weird anyway.
Newsweek - Who Are the 10% Who Think U.S. on Right Track? - A viewpoint on who actually thinks things are good. Meh. Not extrememly persuasive.
Schlissel's blog - Some of My Best Friends Are Sarah Palin - A good post about Sarah standing on what she believes and representing us as Christians… and being us.
LA Times - Greenspace blog - Bottled water not so pure - Really? I would have never guessed…
PC World - Microsoft Sues DHL After Train Dumps 21,600 Xboxes - Ummm… ouch? Not good, DHL.
Ars Technia - Revenues rise as Google says hard times will drive business - Woot for Google! They seem to be doing pretty good as the world economy melts down… that's my kind of company. Kinda like our local banks: they are still going strong since they've invested wisely (read: with discretion… *cough* Citibank et all *cough*).
MercuryNews.com - Q&A with John Lilly, CEO of Mozilla - Pretty good interview. Nothing ugly. Lilly thinks Chrome isn't exactly competition… it's just Google helping Mozilla out with their mission: making the web a better place. I like that Firefox slogan, by the way: "Take back the Web." Pretty sick. Anyway, also some stuff on Firefox Mobile, of which alpha versions are coming soon.
Sioux City Journal.com - Senator's lawsuit against God is tossed out - This feels like it should be on the Drudge Report, but, LOL, what were you thinking?
redemption in a blog - Optimize Firefox’s memory usage by tweaking session preferences - If you're a heavy heavy tab user in Firefox, you might take a look at this if things have been slowing down.
Matasano Chargen - Detecting Anonymizing Proxies - An interesting blog post on detecting the use of a proxy server. Technical and hopefully helpful illustrations. A good read. Edit, October 24, 2008: The link is still 404, but I looked up the Google cache. No pictures, I'm afraid, but it's better than nothing.