Hardware problems, help please

[Xanthul]

Well, i installed BG1 today, i was planning to play it again. When the installing finished, the computer hung, i couldnt close the installation screen, and i had to turn off the computer. When i tried to turn it on again, i got an error message right after doing it, saying "primary master hard disk fail". Scary...

Well i turned it off again and restarted, this time it went ok. I installed TotSC, ok. I turned off the computer, and when i turned it on again and inserted the TotSC cd, the computer hung again, exactly like when i installed BG, i could move the mouse but not touch anything, neither do the ctrl+alt+del thing.

Now its like that with ANY cd, whenever i insert a cd the computer hungs . Ive tried desinstalling the cd and reinstalling it in the system screen, searched for virus, tried to access the CD in DOS mode... nothing works.

Any ideas out there of what might have happened ? it was working and a minute later it wasnt, im pretty confused (and mad too :mad

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"Sigh" -Ertai, Captive of the Blinding Angel

[MILAMBER]

Primary master disk fail is very scary. Very scary. If it's not bad already it could be a sign that your hd's on the way out. That should never happen. Just to be safe I'd back up anything important to you.

It could be a problem with your cdrom as well. In win95/98/ME if your cdrom goes bad and is having a hard time accessing data, it can completely hang the computer up. It could cause you to have to restart. The only thing is, is that it wouldn't hang the computer on boot.

Does your computer make any funny noises now? Does your hard drive click kinda? Maybe a thunk? (highly scientific terms I know) Does your cdrom spin up, then down then up again as if it's trying to read something but not able to? What kind of computer do you have? Is it store bought or custom built? What OS are you running?

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"The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his."
-General George Patton (1885-1945)

Member of CLAN HADB

[Xanthul]

Thanks Milamber, i already was wondering if people could actually see this post .

I´ll answer to your questions now, but first i want to tell you that my computer has been acting since a month ago or so (nothing to do with the cd-rom incident though, at least thats what i think). Sometimes it cant be started, or it freezes in the first 5-10 minutes since i started it, and i have to restart as i cant even move the mouse. If i manage to start it and it doesnt freeze in the first 5-10 minutes, then it wont freeze anymore, but when i turn it off and start it again next time, i have to try several times again till i manage to start it ok (sometimes it takes me 30 minutes or more to start it properly). Also, since this happens the computer makes those funny noises you talk about (in the first seconds right after i turn it on), like small clicks, it does 4-5 clicks then it doesnt make anything special anymore.

now, answers:
1.- the cdrom doesnt even spin, when i insert a CD the cd little light turns on, and then i can do nothing but move the mouse (if i click in the start button of windows for example, it lowers coz it has been clicked but nothing happens, and it remains "clicked" till i restart manually pressing the reset button)
2.- my computer is a pIII 550 mhz, with 128 mb. its what we call a "clone", not a "official" pc like a HP or a IBM, but neither have i built it custom, i bought in a store.
3.- W98

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"Sigh" -Ertai, Captive of the Blinding Angel

[This message has been edited by Ertai_OHF (edited 09-01-2001).]

[MILAMBER]

Your hard drive is dying. Get whatever you need off your computer and backed up as soon as you can. Usually they don't last long after they start making noises. Luckily they are cheap. You can get a new 40 gig ATA100 for about a $100.

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"The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his."
-General George Patton (1885-1945)

Member of CLAN HADB

[Xanthul]

Thanks Milamber

Another friend told me that it might be a) the mother board b) the ide cable

Anyway, today i inserted a CD and the computer didnt hang, but it couldnt read the cd neither, when clicking on E: i got the same message as if there wasnt any cd in the drive.

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"Sigh" -Ertai, Captive of the Blinding Angel

[Kaz]

Originally posted by Ertai_OHF: Thanks Milamber Another friend told me that it might be a) the mother board b) the ide cable Anyway, today i inserted a CD and the computer didnt hang, but it couldnt read the cd neither, when clicking on E: i got the same message as if there wasnt any cd in the drive.

I have a problem like that (don't know if it's the same or just similiar): the computer acts as if there weren't any cd in the drive. I wait a bit - sometimes the drive manages to read the CD after a while - and then take the CD out, put it back in again, and try again. It generally works on about the 5th try, which is VERY fun when you're playing BGI and have to permanently switch CDs (I know the "No CD in Drive" message by heart now)



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I am the great Kazara

[nick1979]

Originally posted by Ertai_OHF: Thanks Milamber Another friend told me that it might be a) the mother board b) the ide cable Anyway, today i inserted a CD and the computer didnt hang, but it couldnt read the cd neither, when clicking on E: i got the same message as if there wasnt any cd in the drive.

Boot up to a cd rom boot disk and see if you can read the cd drive in dos.



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TD..TD...

[Xanthul]

I cant

Today i inserted the bg1 disk (the first one) and SURPRISE !! the computer didnt hang . Anyway, when i pressed "install", it seemed to be about to hang so i quickly took the cd out. i think the problem was that it couldnt read it, but at least the cd did spin.

i think im gonna take the computer and bring it to the shop so that they fix both the cd and the power source problems.

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"Sigh" -Ertai, Captive of the Blinding Angel