Repair Diaries #1 HOW TO KNOW A LAPTOP IS BEYOND REPAIR: Qosimo x775 (REAL COMPUTER SECRETS PLUS A SECRET FEATURE ON STEEMIT YOU CAN TRY NOW)
Almost every broken laptop can be repaired. A couple days ago I ran across the first one ever, that I couldn't fix.
Feel free to skip to end, to learn something truly special about the Steemit platform!
Hey guys! A few weeks ago I posted the full repair process for one of my jobs. I go on to explain that most people are not tech savvy enough to identify a working machine, and spend hundred of dollars to get repair assessments by repair specialists. I am turning that business in Honolulu on it's side, by offering repairs far cheaper than anyone else. I do them for hobby, and to have a little more experience for when I finally graduate with my Computer Information Systems degree.
This is a Toshiba Qosimo x775 (2011) manufatured by Mitsubishi as a high-end performance gaming laptop, and came pre-installed with Windows 7. This is the same OS I use as it is regarded as the best, and most software compatible to date (security update support for Win7 until 2020).
This laptop reminds me of how far and quickly new technologies get adopted/spread and how everything trends towards smaller and more efficient. Because it came out from far before Win 8 was conceived, I already knew that upgrading was not an option. This time back in 2015, I was in school learning about VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented) technologies, and their applications. Last year I went to a well-known gaming Expo called PAX West and got to try out VR games first hand, and one of the arcades I used to work for recently added a VR location for these games. The trick kids is to always do your research, and do it hard because the technologies being developed now will only get public, and even niche attention years later.
The Symptom
This is what happens when I turned it on (first Dtube upload, this is a great service I made one because of this post! It's also an extra way to use your voice!)
https://dtube.video/v/shello/d6gi8il5
I press power and the screen flashes an unreadable error, but doesn't power off afterwards. That was my first red flag. What is supposed to happen when it's "broken" is that I will get an error AFTER the BIOS prompt appears and leaves the screen. If it is a blue screen of death, it will turn off after (to protect your computer). Neither one of these things happened so it must be a hardware issue.
Client Side
Before going any further, I texted my client to see what he thought the issue may be. I didn't want to waste time testing irrelevant methods. He was almost certain that his hard drive had "gotten a virus" as he only uses his laptop to play games... like Skyrim! He hadn't made any changes (hardware/software), and one day his laptop stopped working. "Okay I thought." I took out the battery in preparation to remove the drive. (You don't want to shock yourself!)
I would now like to take a moment to appreciate how well and quickly technology advances :3
It revealed a 500 GB hard drive and (two) 4 GB RAM sticks. Now I don't know about you, but this impressive for 2011, his machine was stacked. ($1,195 at the time!) I removed the hard drive to prep for my enclosure case.
Enclosures are OP!
I recommend anyone with a locked hard drive, or anyone that can't get to their files to buy a hard drive enclosure. They are $30-$40 and will save you $$$ on an assessment. A secret about this is that EVEN IF you forgot your password and locked out, when it plugs into your computer, it will read it as a usb stick and will grant access to all the files on it. Your files are not lost. The reason I believe this is, is because a normal consumer would have no reason to remove parts and modify a computer. This feature was built in for technicians.
So I was in for a surprise when the hard drive loaded on my computer perfectly fine, and scanned to reveal no malware. Second red flag, the problem is elsewhere. I go back to try something. I put the battery back, and turn the computer on and am greeted by this screen that remains displayed.
That does make since because the hard drive IS where the OS is going to boot from. I searched for the BIOS key, which on this machine is holding the Esc key while turning on. It gave me nothing when I did this, presenting another red flag. I wasn't worried at first because the BIOS key can be any F key or escape, I was sure I'd find it. However, no matter what I did, the BIOS was inaccessible. This is bad. Even if the hard drive is bad, or I don't have an Operating System available, the BIOS should still load as it is the Firmware that gives a machine consciousness and runs before anything else.
The Trusted RAM Removal Test
Before you dismantle any further you have to do this test first. It will save you hours of headaches. What you do it carefully remove the RAM (Random Access Memory) sticks, then put everything else back and turn it on. On a working machine, doing this will trigger what is called a beep code. The computer starts beeping, and counting the number of beeps and then referencing them to a chart (google them) for your model will tell you what component is faulty. Every computer has one for RAM sticks being missing, because they are one of the most important things on a computer, the short term malleable storage allows you to do an action on a computer (short term memory).
The computer didn't beep at all. The only result for this error with this test is a faulty motherboard.
The Only Option
The CPU is the brain right? Then the mother board is your nervous system. Without it, you are a vegetable- Everything is there but it cannot do anything. The only thing you can do at this point is to replace it, which is the most expensive part of the computer- the full circuit board. For a computer from a specific line in 2011, you might find one with tremendous effort but it's price makes buying a new computer the only financially sound option. I contacted him with the bad news and prepared to return it.
A few good things came from it, and maybe everyone actually won. A special service that I offer is that if I cannot repair your issue, the assessment is free of charge. It builds my reputation and I get more experience. He was however, kind enough to offer to pay me an assessment fee anyways, that I will receive in a week. A thank you for saving him from scam charges and time to take it in. I hope this post inspires you to save a little money, and have fun exploring your own machines. Serious money to save and be made c:
Steemit Secret Feature
Now on to the really cool feature that I KNOW you don't know about. I found this by accident, from a funny circumstance earlier tonight. Tonight I was supposed to actually write Motivation Nightly #5 and I almost finished the first draft. I left to my boyfriend's house instead for a sleepover. I opened a second tab by accident and thought my blogs draft was gone, but when I clicked "Submit a Story", THERE IT WAS where I left off. The built in save draft feature is more than you know.
Periodically when you are writing a post for Steemit, it will occasionally display the "draft saved" prompt. What it REALLY MEANS is that if you go to check out anything else on Steemit, going back to your Submit area will fully restore it. Now check this out. It works even if you closed the tab, and ALSO still works if you completely close your browser! WHAT.
I'm sure that the developers really cared and thought about us writers, as one of the most frustrating things is to lose your work and have to start over. Now, the reason why this is a not a Motivation Nightly post, is because this feature is either tied directly to your IP or machine. I thought I could come over here and finish it out lol (that's okay I have the window opened at home!!). What is my saving grace is that I really dedicated myself, so I have many of my future blog posts in the planning phase right now. I wasn't going to post this for the next few days, but seeing as my original post is at home- I can go ahead and write this one first.
Moral of the story is to always plan ahead, I am stoked that I am fully capable and able to keep up with posting everyday.
Want to see what else I wrote this week? You can check them out here!
Motivation Nightly #4 Your Steemit Voice and Its Secret: How to Get More Followers
Aloha Story #1 GEN: Best Korean BBQ All You Can Eat in Honolulu! 🍴💯
Motivation Nightly #3: Doubt the Silent Killer
Motivation Nightly #2: Body Before Productivity & Voluntary Suffering
Motivation Nightly #1: The Fear of Initial Failure
I'm excited for what I have to share tomorrow~ c:
I think this one is nice, key take out is the enclosure.
But, for a 2011 laptop that send for repairing, it shows this is just not a tech guy and very likely no back up past 6 yrs or so. The laptop is just barely usable as steemit machine to write something. Not sure how the owner play games....
I believe you can further test the laptop with a linux live CD, if it loads, then it is the OS get issue, if it won't load, it is the hardware
Hello @ryoplasmic. I normally check for os issues using the linux distro slax, that I can boot up via usb. Unfortunately this computer gave multiple indications of bad mobo. They have a newer computer they use and this one was dedicated to only play games. I wonder if they spilt something on it?
@shello
There are so many things you can do but not really need to go this far. Just for ref, the memtest86 boot usb/disc to test memory, the ubuntu install usb/disc to see if it loads (if error, almost sure overheat). A gparted cd to just wipe everything and start over windows install (after you backed up the data). If all failed to load, 90% overheat issue.
Sometimes hdd sector failure will also make things not bootable but will look like a mainboard error.
for mainboard type error, if replacing thermal paste help run longer but still hang randomly, test ram. if ram test pass, the cpu have problem and need to replace.
if video on bootup is "broken", it should be the south bridge overheat (that shdn't be the case in modern pc) or the board itself have serious issue such as rust (not likely for this laptop).
One more silly thing about these random reboot is the dust will short-circuit the board, so you need dust off/duster to blow the board.
Dust can be all kinds of ridiculous when part of the board loses signal. I didn't see a need to wipe the drive as everything on it, was running properly and readable. The part that got me was the no BIOS. You cannot boot anything if it isn't there, which I why I had to RAM test in the first place. No other OS would load in this case as I would have to change the inaccessible boot settings to even load a live CD :c
I still have yet to learn how to replace the thermal paste, but in this case the repairs would have gone far over what I would have quoted along with work time to run all diagnostics required. Newer machines I would not mind looking at the mobo, but in this case- the machine was too old for it to be worth it to me. I could be wrong, but that is what I have learnt through doing a lot of repairs this past year.
Thank you for the great feedback, I'll make sure to use my live USB/live CD on the next one I find in this state :3
not worth to do all of these i mentioned, just for ref for yr next job
and...not worth it unless it is about.....btc or steemit private key that can only be accessible on successful win boot (not usually but sometimes could, like the MS windows post-it note)
and, when u unplugged the hdd, the next bootable is cd then usb then network
you are welcome
The client I had for this job did claim to have another computer in a different state that's down but has a bitcoin wallet he used to use. He had gotten into it way early on. Should I investigate this? Or is it BS?
He only need 12 words backup phrase to restore his wallet on another device if the wallet is 100% on-device type, see https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@ryoplasmic/the-misinformed-btc-wallet-issue-plus-wallet-compatibility-on-ios
Those online wallet he just don't need these recovery at all - just the login pass will do.
There are complicate ways to rebuilt his windows if he pays, but I think you can simply get his 12 words phrase and recover the wallet on his phone will do.
He doesn't have an online wallet unfortunately. It is one of those cases where his coins are on the drive and nowhere else.
I don't think they spilt something in. You are right about hardware, it looks like overheat. I think a cpu thermal paste redo will help, but it just don't worth the hassle if they are paying you anyway. Just want to point out the linux way, u know it and then it is fine :)
Thanks for sharing this aspect of yourself. I never knew you are this techy.
I like surprises, and I'm glad that I caught you off guard with this one. That's also what I enjoy about posting. Over time, more things about me will shone through c: thank you for the support, it's much appreciated!
waiting for more from you shello! keep motivating!
Ayy it's ma boi @steemitking777! Thanks for stopping in to check up on me :3
Always!
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Awesome posts :)
Thank you c:
You are going well in steemit
Keep going, and you will too.
Thanks