The "Bad luck with tech" thread

[jmdixon85]

As the title says, all stories welcome.

I will start.

I decided to rebuild my server since one of the system disks was failing. I used two 80GB drives in software RAID 1 (using windows dynamic disks)

I swapped those drives for two WD 250GB RE (enterprise class) drives I had lying around.

I ran the same RAID 1 using dynamic disks setup. Installed all updates etc, then I installed my HDD monitoring software. This revealed that one of the disks was in worse health than one of the 80GB drives it had just replaced.

Thinking it would be ok for a day or two I continued to set up the server since I needed access to my files.

To my horror I woke up to an un-responsive sever!

On-rebooting the server it would freeze during POST. I tracked this down to the un-healthy drive and once I took the drive out I could get to the boot Windows primary plex or secondary plex boot screen. Thinking it would boot ok I choose to boot the secondary plex since it was the first HDD that failed. A few seconds later BSOD! Nomatter what plex I choose to boot!

Long story sort I aint using dynamic disks anymore, I'm now running a Samsung spinpoint 160GB as the servers system drive with windows backup performing a bare metal backup to a old maxtor 80 drive every night.

So lesson learned. And the server is running great Enough bad luck for the week I would think??

But no!

Today I decided to change all my films on my server that are stored as ISO's to a format that would be more space saving. (this was after reading Thiddy's thread here: http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=603184&page=18 )

So I fired up handbrake and started to re-encode my first film on my main rig, 2 mins later BSOD!

Run prime95 and a core failed Seems my Q6600 has been overvolted so much it is dieing on me I used to run 3.8Ghz @ 1.6Vcore, but then I became unstable and had to up that to 1.65Vcore.

Relising my chip was dieing I backed the Vcore down to 1.56v and went for 3.75Ghz. It booted and I ran prime95. The system just frooze Rebooting I would get a BSOD even when reverting to stock speed

I ran the startup repair tool from the HDD and from the Win7 DVD but both times the repair tool said it could not fix the problem.

So Thursday night I rebuilt my server, it failed the next day and I rebuilt again. And about 5 hours ago my PC and had to rebuild. Now I don't know about you but I would call that bad luck!

The only good thing: no data lost But I do backup my RAID5 DATA array every day

So your horror stories....................

oh....my main PC (the Q6600) is now running great at 3.7Ghz @ 1.56Vcore.

 

[madhatter256]

Was it server 2k3 or 2k8?

I had a similar problem with 2k3 server having a bad 'primary' drive with a software raid.

I think there's a command you can run in the command prompt to change the secondary plex to the primary...


Anyway, at least your data is safe.... I would lose my mind if all of my hdds failed all at once.

 

[SteveLord]

My bad luck really only exists with printers. Every piece of hardware at home/work, performs well and I haven't had to RMA anything in years.

At work I have these HP P4015 printers (cost roughly $1500ea with the trays I added) and I can't stand them. It's the drivers/software portion that has driven me insane. Trying to setup the Tray assignments is a chore, as the trays like to magically change those settings themselves or the Trays suddenly go missing. I had them working for a while. But now I am in between a 2k3-2k8r2 server migration and things are all jacked up. I think it started when I upgraded the server to 2k3 R2.

I hate printers in general....usually for mechanical issues. But these perform great, if you can get them to print to the right tray every time.

 

[Randyman...]

Had a rather bad bout on Monday Night, but not in the usual sense. I use a PC for recording and to run the PA System at band practice - so the DAW PC is a crucial part of band practice. The PSU died after a good few hours of recording (literally shot sparks out the back!!!), and brought band practice to a grinding halt. So, the band waits as I take the PC home to swap the PSU. When I return, there are limited parking spots left at the Rehearsal Room, and I had to park in a less-visible spot. I took the PC back to the room, and everything fired up just fine, and practice continued for another 2 hours.

Well, around 1AM, it was time to head home. I forgot where I parked and initially thought my truck got stolen . Then I see it over in the dark corner where I parked it - WHEW! Then when I get to my ride, I find the rear window had been broken out, and my Rockford Fosgate T2001BD amp and Garmin GPS were GONE! Stinking thieves!!!

If only that PSU wouldn't have died, I wouldn't have had to leave and then park in that crappy spot Pooh!!! Like I said - not your general "Bad luck with tech" type scenario

 

[freakdiablo]

I've always had bad luck with general basic upgrades to my own computer. Add another hard drive? Graphics card fries. Add more ram? CPU fan dies. I don't consider myself "harsh" with electronics, and with a lot of the more complicated stuff goes well (complete upgrades/rebuilds, changing cases, etc.)

The upside is this equals good electrical karma with other peoples stuff. The last time I summoned the force of the electronic god was when I fixed my grandfathers' phone by simply removing and replacing the battery cover.

 

[SteveLord]

I find the rear window had been broken out, and my Rockford Fosgate T2001BD amp and Garmin GPS were GONE! Stinking thieves!!!

I hope the GPS wasn't left on the dash for all to see.

 

[G33K454URU5 R3X]

I have a ton of these, usually because I come across stuff while fixing things that people have either screwed up or just one-off weird failures.

A couple of years ago, I was working on a Sony media desktop PC that had an input for recording TV shows or whatever you wanted. The person whose machine I was working on had a 30GB primary, and a 140GB secondary partition for data. Well, the individual had almost zero space available on the primary drive, and had enabled compression on the drive to fit more stuff. After I had worked through all that, the person wanted one large partition for everything. So, I gave the C: 100% of the drive space. I get a call a few days later, they are unable to record anything. Unknown to me at the time, Sony required that a D: exist (space is irrelevant) in order for the recording software/hardware to work properly. So, I had to get the machine back, put a small D: partition on there, and then it worked. What a headache that was...

 

[freeagent]

For me its been s1366 cpus, Ive only had 2, both of them were expensive, and both of them didnt like much more then 4ghz. Not that it matters much, its still very strong at stock speeds, and quiet

For 775 it was ram. I had awsome luck with cpus, but I burned thru so much D9 (insert variant here), closer to 24gb in about 2 years I think.

For 939 it was mobos, I killed every one I had (5) cpus clocked great tho

For socket A it was the same thing. Good cpus, crap boards.

And the same with slot 1 and s370 mobos were my bain

 

[insanemonkey]

My bad luck really only exists with printers. Every piece of hardware at home/work, performs well and I haven't had to RMA anything in years.

At work I have these HP P4015 printers (cost roughly $1500ea with the trays I added) and I can't stand them. It's the drivers/software portion that has driven me insane. Trying to setup the Tray assignments is a chore, as the trays like to magically change those settings themselves or the Trays suddenly go missing. I had them working for a while. But now I am in between a 2k3-2k8r2 server migration and things are all jacked up. I think it started when I upgraded the server to 2k3 R2.

I hate printers in general....usually for mechanical issues. But these perform great, if you can get them to print to the right tray every time.

I am glad someone else shares me hate for printers. They have one job to do, but for some reason they don't want to work right. I have more trouble with HP printers though. Their drivers are horrible. I have some HP and Cannon printers at work. The HP's always have trouble. Never had an issue with the Cannons.

I think a lot of it comes from the companies trying to make printers into these fancy things that can cook an egg while printing your 100 page report. Just make drivers that print and nothing else. That is really all people want a printer to do.

 

[freakdiablo]

I think a lot of it comes from the companies trying to make printers into these fancy things that can cook an egg while printing your 100 page report. Just make drivers that print and nothing else. That is really all people want a printer to do.

+1. Few weeks ago went to BB with my dad (yeah, he keeps refusing to shop around online and they are the only large electronics store around) for a new printer. Wasn't a single thing that was _just_ a printer. They were all printer/scanner/fax/web server things. He settled on an HP one that was on sale (thing was still $150) and it took me close to an hour to set up. I couldn't just download the driver. First I had to connect it to the network, and for some reason it printed a calibration page. Then, I installed the drivers on my laptop - which required another calibration page. Then I showed my dad on his laptop, and of course in the other room I hear it spitting out another calibration page. Seriously HP, what gives.

 

[SteveLord]

I've also found setting up the Wifi on printers to be a bigger pain that it should be. Seriously...every single one I've setup. And let's not even get into the ink/toner rape.

 

[mrgoodkat]

I have phenomenal luck with electronics, but members of my immediate family do not. And since I'm the most knowledgeable in this area, it more than makes up for my good luck.

My mother specifically - it is something that science should investigate. And printers are always a problem. But actually, I think in that case it is just the printers.

I refuse to own one of those things. I will go to the library on the odd occasion I need to print something out.

 

[stunt]

During the XP days, HP drivers were bloatware junk. And you could expect to have trouble every other week. Since win7, I use the windows driver on my 8750 and have had not one problem since. Sure, you loose a bit of function (tools) but the printer just works now.

HP has no problem using drivers that are 260MB but you can't get them to support a few year old $500.00 printer for a new OS. But in my case, that was a good thing.

 

[jmdixon85]

Was it server 2k3 or 2k8?

I had a similar problem with 2k3 server having a bad 'primary' drive with a software raid.

I think there's a command you can run in the command prompt to change the secondary plex to the primary...


Anyway, at least your data is safe.... I would lose my mind if all of my hdds failed all at once.

It was 2k8R2. I'm guessing it installed updates during the night and didn't finish syncing the drives

I've also found setting up the Wifi on printers to be a bigger pain that it should be. Seriously...every single one I've setup. And let's not even get into the ink/toner rape.

Any recent Epson printer with Wi-fi I have set up has been a doddle. And my SX425W has been running great for a while now, just wish it had a paper tray

HP printers suck for their drivers, even Lexmark wins them on that front! And I hate Lexmark.

My Ricoh AP 2610n A3 laser is still going strong Although I'm dreading the toner running out I quick google turns out a $280 price tag!!!

 

[PanteraGSTK]

Run prime95 and a core failed Seems my Q6600 has been overvolted so much it is dieing on me I used to run 3.8Ghz @ 1.6Vcore, but then I became unstable and had to up that to 1.65Vcore.

Holy crap that's a lot of voltage!

I've got too many of these stories so I'll share small snippets.

I had a customer when I used to do house calls in high school that had bsod's for no reason. Chased down every issue that I could think of. Turned out that his cd drive had the jumper (I hate jumpers) in the CS mode. Putting it on master (which it was according to cable position) solved the problem. Imagine how long it took me to try that!

Printers. Don't get me started. I was an admin for a state run organization (don't ever ever ever do that). We used lexmark printers. Worked well enough. Each printer printed around 500 pages a day. They jammed all the time. No big deal except I wasn't allowed to take them apart to take out the paper jam. I had to make a service call to some guy who had a contract to do all of the hardware work in my region. I wasn't allowed to replace a hard drive. I had to tell the users that instead of me taking 5 min to un-jam the printer they had to wait a few days until the guy could come in and do it. I stopped creating tickets and did it myself.

That and the fact that the lexmark software that worked with netware (hate hate hate) would randomly forget all printer assignments so I'd have to call and have the "higher ups" remote into the server to reconfigure it. They couldn't fix it once and my site had no printers for a week. At 500 pages per printer per day that was a problem (20 printers at least, been a few years). I eventually got sick of it an reconfigured everything on the server. An hour's worth of work for me and suddenly everything works. A team that made at LEAST 50% more than me couldn't figure it out, and they were jerks. After this debacle I get a call a few months later from the overpaid team of jerks asking me how I fixed it. I told them to figure it out.

I told you not to get me started on printers...

 

[SteveLord]

I have a Canon MP 620 that took 5min to "prepare to print" after turning it on yesterday. Just to print a freakin coupon.

Angry Video Game Nerd does a bit on printers. Look it up on YouTube if you dont know who he is. Spot on video.

 

[freeagent]

I have a Canon MP 620 that took 5min to "prepare to print" after turning it on yesterday. Just to print a freakin coupon.

Angry Video Game Nerd does a bit on printers. Look it up on YouTube if you dont know who he is. Spot on video.

My Canon printer is like that too

I also dislike dlink routers

 

[G33K454URU5 R3X]

I battled a MFC printer last night that was jamming paper; had to drive a total of two hours to replace the thing...rollers were covered with ink on the paper feed side...I get to try surgery on it today to see if I can bring it back to life.

 

[Niku-Sama]

found some retro hardware recently. looked it over seemed uo be in good shape but i flipped the huge red switch on the side (yea that old) and it went pop.


just a tiny muffled pop, pretty sure its just the power supple but the fine tooth comb is comming out, about to make a new thread on it

 

[G33K454URU5 R3X]

Just for kicks, dealing with a laptop tonight that had a 'liquid' (beer) spilled on it...HDD spins up, mobo dead...laptop repairs are such a pain in the rear, especially if you put it all back together then forget..oh..a screw or two..or worse, the plastic lock for the tiny ribbon cables breaks - then the whole mobo is pretty much shot. I actually received a board once, pulled out the lock for the keyboard and it literally broke in two upon moving it out.