I've finally got rid of my old desktop computer, which I bought from Mesh Computers back in 2001: an 1GHz AMD Athlon processor with 30Gb hard drive running Windows Millenium Edition (possibly the worst operating system ever). In time I added more memory, a bigger hard drive, upgraded to Windows XP, and switched from dial-up internet to cable broadband (first wired in 2004, then wireless in 2005). While the software placed more and more demands on the old girl and she appeared to get slower, she still proved her worth in 2009 when I installed Ubuntu Linux dual-booting alongside Windows. And over the machine's 10+ year lifetime, the only serious problem I've ever had was a noisy fan. Truly, an epic machine.
Finally however I decided that I had to upgrade, and bought myself a new Intel 4-core machine with a 500 Gb HD and a nice flat panel display from Scan Computers. I couldn't think of a realistic use for the old computer, but doing a google search turned up Recycle-IT! , a not-for-profit business that recycles old computing equipment for various good causes. It requires a bit of effort on an individual donor's part to actually get the equipment to them (I'm paying the cost of shipping it there, but via Parcel2Go this turns out to be reasonably cheap and easy).
So, I wiped the hard drives using DBAN (I think Recycle-IT! might do that for you too though) and packaged up everything - computer, CRT monitor, keyboard, mouse and all the rest - ready for the courier collection:
And today, finally it all went. If I'm being honest I have to admit to feeling a little sentimental to see her go. But sad as it is I love the idea that my fantastic old computer won't be in landfill but lives on to be used by someone else. Goodbye old girl - I wish you great adventures!
It's been nearly a week since my Dad fixed my laptop for me. I like my laptop a lot - it's a nice-looking black shiny DV6000 series machine from Hewlett-Packard - but this line does seem to be a little prone to problems. It's been back to HP for repair twice since I bought it, both times for a fault with the built-in wireless. The second repair was free even though the laptop was out of warranty by then, so kudos to HP for that, but this latest problem is the third hardware issue in less than 2 and a half years. Hmm.
This time the built-in speakers suddenly stopped working after a short train journey (not so great on a machine marketed as a "media centre laptop"). After digging around on the web it seemed that this has also been encountered by many other DV6000 owners, including someone who posted an interesting little video on YouTube:
which is pretty much what I saw (except that my power light still worked).
It turns out that there's an issue with the ribbon cable connecting the speaker assembly and the power button. In my case, when my Dad opened up the machine we could see the ribbon was almost "folded" at one point, and as a result the connections were damaged causing power to be lost to the speakers. I guess if we'd left it then eventually the power button would have failed too and it would no longer have been possible to turn the laptop on. There's more info about the problem and the fix on one of the HP forums.
Luckily for me however, my Dad's a bit of a whizz with this kind of stuff. Once I'd given him permission to open it up (all the while I was having kittens watching him prise the keyboard and speaker assembly apart) he was able to cut off the damaged part of the ribbon, expose some new contacts and reconnect the cable. Hey presto, speakers (and power button) working, good as new! Thanks Dad.
In the longer term I guess the ribbon cable needs to be replaced. I found someone selling some for £7.99 each on eBay, which seems pretty cheap compared to getting a new laptop so that's good. It was also interesting to take a look inside the laptop and see how it fits together. And I think that my Dad was pleased to have been able to fix the problem, and I'm sure that he'll be very happy to know that it's still working - almost as happy as I am!
