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-   -   Whatever you do, don't open your Dell PC (https://pirate.planetarion.com/showthread.php?t=193447)

G.K Zhukov 3 Jan 2007 01:59

Whatever you do, don't open your Dell PC
 
I'm still back home (been since 18th) so Ive been using a Dell PC, thats not my own (I build my own machines).

Tonight I opened up the cabinet, couse I wanted to connect another harddrive. Firstly, it wasnt that easy to open it. Then there was no "slot" for another harddrive, so I had to put it where an additional floppy/cd-/dvd-player should be. But becouse of the internal design of the machine, it was hard to get the harddrive in place. Thats nothing new, as most OEM pc's with small cabinets are that way. But there is the easy solution, you flip out the plastic in front and put it in that way. But oh no, Dell won't let me do that.

In the end, I backed out and did it the "hard" way, by removing the power cable to the motherboard. I finally got the harddrive in that way, other Im pretty sure it didnt like beeing jammed in that way.

Then putting the power cable back in and starting up the pc again. I enter the bios, put it to search for the harddrive. I expect it to find it rather easily, as I have put the additional harddrive jumpers in the right position.

Oh no.

I try another jumper configuration.

No way.

I notice that the pc cannot find the cd-rom too.
I take out the harddrive. I have no put the pc back to start.

Does it find the cd-rom now?
No way, it's the Dell way!

I've been around computers since I was a kid (7 years old), I've built pc's from scratch, I've helped friends, families and others.

But I can't f******** get the pc to detect the cd-rom.

F*** OFF AND DIE, MICHAEL DELL.
F*** OFF. :mad:

Hicks 3 Jan 2007 02:04

Re: Whatever you do, don't open your Dell PC
 
I put a second HD in my Dell without any problems. You're right about the case being a bitch to open though, it's like a Rubix cube.

Phil^ 3 Jan 2007 02:12

Re: Whatever you do, don't open your Dell PC
 
Loose/unconnected cable somewhere?

Achilles 3 Jan 2007 03:25

Re: Whatever you do, don't open your Dell PC
 
Dell (often) have their own inhouse staff alter the bioses of the motherboards they ship most frequently ie. family and low-end machines. 99.9% of motherboards are able to detect how many and what type of device is connected to each ide Channel. Assuming the cd-rom and harddrives are ide.

The easiest way to determine if it is the bios that's the problem would be to update with the latest one from the actual manufacturer.

Of course it could just be that the cd drive died with unfortunately coincidental timing. Try it in another machine. Try another one in the troubled machine.

Also, in fairness to Dell, while their machines are put together terribly, they are far from the worst out there.

The General8 3 Jan 2007 03:35

Re: Whatever you do, don't open your Dell PC
 
my sister gave me her old del pc, it was amusing taking it apart scavange parts, the first noticable thing was it was fking hard to even open, after much huffing and puffing and jimmying with a screwdriver i got it open and theres a nice metal bar across the box saying do not remove, i manage to get it off and eventully remove the motherboard to put another one in there that was my orginal plan, oh no it does not fit! its ever so slightly to big and its a standard ATX mobo so god knows what the dell one was, ever so slightly smaller than ATX? wired.

and then i tryed to get the harddrive out.....

you get the picture

Tomkat 3 Jan 2007 03:42

Re: Whatever you do, don't open your Dell PC
 
Maybe you should have read the instruction manual instead of trying to be a clever clogs and do it without.

Tactitus 3 Jan 2007 03:55

Re: Whatever you do, don't open your Dell PC
 
Whenever I work on a Dell I always start at the Dell website. Their cases are not intuitive, but they usually have decent instructions on how to open the case and replace parts.

On the Dell systems I've worked on, the drives have used cable select rather than master/slave.

SYMM 3 Jan 2007 09:18

Re: Whatever you do, don't open your Dell PC
 
all dell machines I work with have a little button on the top of the case that you hold down, and the case just opens up like a book. The face-plates for drives have little screws attached to the back of them, meaning you don't have to rely on the often shit ones that come with drives. The PCI slots are similar in design.
Not a fair generalisation.

pablissimo 3 Jan 2007 10:23

Re: Whatever you do, don't open your Dell PC
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by SYMM
all dell machines I work with have a little button on the top of the case that you hold down, and the case just opens up like a book. The face-plates for drives have little screws attached to the back of them, meaning you don't have to rely on the often shit ones that come with drives. The PCI slots are similar in design.
Not a fair generalisation.

We've something similar, the Precision desktops have a latch-esque thing at the back on the top that you slide which pops the whole side of the case off in a rather nifty fashion.

The business-grade machines seem very well put-together; cabling inside mine's tidy, plenty of expansion room etc. Must just be the home-oriented ones that are a heap of crap.

CrashTester 3 Jan 2007 11:05

Re: Whatever you do, don't open your Dell PC
 
it sounds like you are the problem. I support Dells at work - hundreds of them - and no such problems, in fact they are so easy to upgrade my gran could do it!

Dry getting a Dummy guide, it might help you.

G.K Zhukov 3 Jan 2007 15:11

Re: Whatever you do, don't open your Dell PC
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by CrashTester
it sounds like you are the problem. I support Dells at work - hundreds of them - and no such problems, in fact they are so easy to upgrade my gran could do it!

Dry getting a Dummy guide, it might help you.

More like a "dell guide". One should not need to open to manual to install a harddrive in a pc.

Good news is that it managed to detect the cd-rom today. The extra harddrive... well, Ive given up and taking it with me (to where I usually live and where I have my own comp).

qebab 3 Jan 2007 15:43

Re: Whatever you do, don't open your Dell PC
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by G.K Zhukov
More like a "dell guide". One should not need to open to manual to install a harddrive in a pc.

Then do it at your own risk and do not complain when you don't figure out how to do it correctly (I followed the Dell manual with my parents' Desktop PC when I installed an extra hard drive and it was piss easy).

roadrunner_0 4 Jan 2007 14:51

Re: Whatever you do, don't open your Dell PC
 
i must admit im in the dell are evil and their systems are the work of the devil camp here.


one of my friends wanted to put extra RAM into his, it would have cost approx £50 for AM he wanted from (dabs i think he went for)

when the RAM arrived, it wouldnt fit into his dell PC, turns out that you need dell RAM, which was over double the price, which sucked.


(i must admit i laughed at him for not checking first)


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