Time to retire tardis Mk III?
Jul. 23rd, 2010 06:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poltr1I've been using my "older" laptop this week. Tardis Mk III is a Dell Latitude CPx with a 650 MHz CPU, a 40 Gb hard drive, and 512 Mb of RAM. It's dual-boot Windows XP annd Ubuntu Linux.
Last year, I purchased the RAM form a vendor on eBay. It passed the Memtest86+ test, so I kept it. Two weeks ago, I purchased replacement RAM from computermemoryoutlet.com. It too passed the Memtest86+ test, so I kept it in the machine as well.
Despite the new memory, I boot up, and I get a read/write error early on into the second DIMM during the POST test. At one point -- and it happens at two different locations -- it writes 00EF00EF and reads back 00EF00EE, or something like that. And so the BIOS automagically reduces the available memory to 256 Mb. I can run both OSes on it using only 256 Mb of memory, but it's darned slow.
I tried taking it to a laptop repair place, and they were reluctant to look at it, since it was an older machine. I don't think they'd do a repair beyond replacement memory.
So now I'm thinking I have a memory socket -- or probably a solder -- that's going bad, or gone bad. I can limp along with what I have, or start saving my dollars for a new laptop, or both. I found a nice model on overstock.com that I like. But the purchase will have to wait until I'm gainfully employed again. I hope one will still be available but the time I'm ready to buy.
Once I retire it, what can I do with this laptop and accessories? It's not exactly working well, so I probably can't give it away like I did its predecessor. Maybe someone can use it for spare parts.
Last year, I purchased the RAM form a vendor on eBay. It passed the Memtest86+ test, so I kept it. Two weeks ago, I purchased replacement RAM from computermemoryoutlet.com. It too passed the Memtest86+ test, so I kept it in the machine as well.
Despite the new memory, I boot up, and I get a read/write error early on into the second DIMM during the POST test. At one point -- and it happens at two different locations -- it writes 00EF00EF and reads back 00EF00EE, or something like that. And so the BIOS automagically reduces the available memory to 256 Mb. I can run both OSes on it using only 256 Mb of memory, but it's darned slow.
I tried taking it to a laptop repair place, and they were reluctant to look at it, since it was an older machine. I don't think they'd do a repair beyond replacement memory.
So now I'm thinking I have a memory socket -- or probably a solder -- that's going bad, or gone bad. I can limp along with what I have, or start saving my dollars for a new laptop, or both. I found a nice model on overstock.com that I like. But the purchase will have to wait until I'm gainfully employed again. I hope one will still be available but the time I'm ready to buy.
Once I retire it, what can I do with this laptop and accessories? It's not exactly working well, so I probably can't give it away like I did its predecessor. Maybe someone can use it for spare parts.
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Date: 2010-07-23 01:47 pm (UTC)