Viva la Resistor!

I got in touch with the makers of the piece that I was attempting to put into Jess’s PS2 about the part I inadvertently removed, and they told me exactly which bit I should buy. So last night I proceeded to buy 5000 of the things (they sell them in reels) and got them today. Popped the tiny little part in and…

it works!

So that’s me a happy bunny realising I haven’t broken the PlayStation, and Jess happy I haven’t broken her toy. Phew. Ah well, it looks as though in the end everything comes together: the SATA controller, the 2 new PCs, and now the final thing: the PS2.

It never rains — it pours

Most of the week my luck has been wearing very thin indeed… I ordered lots of parts from DABS to build 2 new computers for Jess’s family, as well as add 1TB of disk space to a rebuilt computer of mine, and everything seemed to go wrong all at once! Oh well, at least Jess’s chickenpox is slowly going now!

First of all, I ordered a Serial ATA controller card so that I could use 2 of my 4 new hard drives (the motherboard has 2 SATA ports). I started off by ordering the cheapest thing available (they all use the same chips…), but when I received it it just kept locking up. After several days’ worth of debugging on the Linux Kernel mailing list, we came to the conclusion I actually had a faulty controller card.

Next, I set off to build the 2 computers. Everything looked fine until I came to start installing Windows (I know) on the first one. I quickly realised the floppy drives didn’t work for some reason, and the power supply covered up the heat-sink fan causing overeating. I knew the drives weren’t at fault since I used them on my other computer without any trouble.

Third, I started off fixing Jess’s PS2 after my previous failed attempt involving a blown fuse. I got the replacement fuse, replaced the failed part, and proceeded to install a “subzero fix” which is meant to prevent the laser burning out. In doing this, I managed to take off a tiny resistor (only about 1mm × 2mm × 0.5mm) and after trying to replace it, lost it. So now I need to order a replacement resistor for Jess’s PS2 once I find out exactly what it is.

I organised a return of the faulty controller card and the two badly-designed cases, and ordered a new controller (brand-name this time) and 2 new cases very much like Jess’s old one (now mine). The new controller works a treat. As for the two new cases, everything fits great and the floppy drives work: must have been faulty power supplies in the old cases. Two new computers working like a charm.

Pages updated: About » Arcadia and About » Bigwig.

Long time no see…

Charles will be happy: the first post I have written for over a month! As you might expect I’ve in fact been up to a lot, and hardly ever bored enough to write a post on my blog — sorry readers! So what’s been going on? Well, I’m still in Devon and have been taking advantage of not having to do anything. Jess and I have stayed at her parents’ caravan for a good while, and various chunks of her family have been visiting—all with children—so we are keeping busy! Add to the mix the fact that I’m building 2 new computers (for Jess’s family), rebuilding 2 of my own, and I’ve been chipping Jess’s PlayStation 2 for various purposes, and we get: hardly any time left for blogging!

The caravan seems to provide an almost endless stream of faults that need repairing including 2 broken pumps, a mistreated porta-potti, and various other smaller jobs. It’s great fun staying at the site since it’s right on the coast and mostly quite peaceful. When the occasional sunny day does rear its head it makes for lovely beach going!

I’ve been asked to build 2 new computers for Jess’s family and, as you might expect, am rather looking forward to putting them both together. I’m also taking opportunity of the situation and I’m going to rebuild mine and Jess’s computers, adding 4 × 250GB hard drives making for 500GB of RAIDed storage: nice!

And yes, you’ve read correctly, I’ve been chipping Jess’s PlayStation 2. I must admit the real reason behind this is to be able to play dodgy games, but I might also play around with writing software for the device since it’s really quite neat. I’ve fitted a DMS 4 Lite and was fitting another little gadget when I blew a fuse with my soldering iron, and am waiting for a replacement to arrive.