Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: JueV6 on 11 September 2008, 18:32:43
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we need some advive help please.
Swmbo bought a Acer 3002LMI for feabay with a broken screen
new screen fitted and works
Trying to load xp and it keeps failing on loading various files on install where xp copies the list of files.
enter to retry
esc to skip
F3 to exit
has anyone got any ideas as to whether it's a memory fault of HDD
TIA
Julian / swmbo w/a
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Most likely (in order)
CD is shite
CD drive is shite
Storage driver is shite
HDD shite (if you only did quick format)
memory ropey
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Did you Delete the partition or format the hard during the install, or just go for the install?
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Google throws up lots of hits for hard disc errors.
Does anyone know if this laptop has a SATA hard disc and - if so - does this need a specific driver loading?
If not, nothing to add to TB's list.
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the HDD is not SATA
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Agree with TBs assessment above, except i would check the memory after clearing CD & CD drive. Easy to check memory (Use freebie Memtest ;))
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Most likely (in order)
CD is shite
CD drive is shite
Storage driver is shite
HDD shite (if you only did quick format)
memory ropey
Agreed..
I would try another XP CD :-/
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The installations of XP files come up with 'cannot copy file press enter to retry etc etc' as Jue says and there's the occasional blue screen of death, sometimes when u are trying to install the windows files u have copied (saying there's not enuf files', which is hardly surprising.., sometimes its the traditional bsod.., that '.., IRQ ..,greater than ' screen that I usually associate with RAM probs.
We have swapped out the two RAM sticks one by one with one that works, no difference. We also put in another smaller Lappy HD.., made no difference (in fact it failed to install even quicker than normal lol).
We have many times hard formatted the HD.., once trying Vista's method to see if that made a difference but have now tried to install XP pro about 20 times, using different versions that we have built up over time. Not a single one has resulted in anything like a working version of XP installed.
The files it won't copy.., well there are some that are favourites (like the sweetie 'shell32.dll' that appears a lot, and a few others. There are lots that only appear once tho. Most will copy on retry (well they don't appear again in the same install.., I think) but there are always two or three that won't at all so I have to press escape and skip copying the file.
There do seem to be more 'file won't copy' incidents the nearer u get to the end of the HD. I did partition the drive from 80Gb to 60Gb but it didn't stop that at all.
I just don't know if its the DVD drive or the HD.., probably not the RAM.., or maybe its something else completely (like the BIOS is out of date) .., or a combination of several things.
lol.., I guess I'll be selling the more solid parts on Ebay and trying to get some money back lol. Unfortunately I suspect the lappy is a money pit with no guarantee of ever getting it working.
Frustration Rules lol - 3 days and I've still no clear idea lol.
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Did do a memtest.., not sure what the results meant tho.., I tend to rely on bsod's indicating there's a problem rather than stats. Fact that we swopped out the two memory sticks one by one with a known working one and same thing happened tends to indicate its not down to memory tho.
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ok..
Question: does it start giving errors at the same file and similiar order
or seems random.. ?
if random memory error..
else
HD or CD have some bad parts..
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Just tried another ver of xp, a few invailid *.dll files , the the BSOD
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bsod irq greater or equal is either kernel mode driver or failing hardware
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Strange question but does the fan work ?
I had my Acer laptop in to repair a broken firewire socket and unknown to me they had forgotten to reconnect the fan, the laptop was working fine till i tried to do a reinstall and the laptop would just stop midway without any reason. Tried so many times without sucess.
Only later when I'd reconnected the fan would it reinstall properly..
Just my 2 pence worth...
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bsod irq greater or equal is either kernel mode driver or failing hardware
yep..board or memory
1. From bios try loading failsafe or default parameters
2. Check from bios the cpu and board temperatures.
3.Check from bios all IRQs are auto and Plug and Play OS=yes,true etc
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If you have tried another CD, then its prob Faulty RAM!
If it has 2 sticks in, try removing one, and if that fails, swap them around.
Depending on what type of ram it uses, I may have some you can use to test it with at the York meet if you want to bring it? Who says we have to stick to fixing cars! ;D
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Strange question but does the fan work ?
I had my Acer laptop in to repair a broken firewire socket and unknown to me they had forgotten to reconnect the fan, the laptop was working fine till i tried to do a reinstall and the laptop would just stop midway without any reason. Tried so many times without sucess.
Only later when I'd reconnected the fan would it reinstall properly..
Just my 2 pence worth...
Have an acer laptop in at work at the min, fan has died, and the bottom plastics have actually melted :o The machine is now dead :(
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Have swopped Ram sticks individually with known working one, same things occurred.
The 'files won't copy' problem is sort of random, but with a pattern. It doesn't seem to like four or five files like the one mentioned above so they appear nine times out of ten installs (yeah I've done that many .., a day lol.., but random one's appear too. The pattern is that they appear more and more frequently the further on the install goes. It does suggest to me that the HD is failing but yes, I will check the fan lol. It could simply be overheating.
Thank u so very much for all your suggestions, I shall certainly follow up on many of the checks. Problem is I am crap with DOS and there's no floppy drive (what so and so decided floppies weren't nec. any more lol).
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mmh, fan is stopping and starting.., it doesn't just run constantly
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Have swopped Ram sticks individually with known working one, same things occurred.
The 'files won't copy' problem is sort of random, but with a pattern. It doesn't seem to like four or five files like the one mentioned above so they appear nine times out of ten installs (yeah I've done that many .., a day lol.., but random one's appear too. The pattern is that they appear more and more frequently the further on the install goes. It does suggest to me that the HD is failing but yes, I will check the fan lol. It could simply be overheating.
Thank u so very much for all your suggestions, I shall certainly follow up on many of the checks. Problem is I am crap with DOS and there's no floppy drive (what so and so decided floppies weren't nec. any more lol).
you can take out The HD and connect to a desktop to have detailed tests..This will lead you to one point..if the result of test is OK even if some sectors are bad during format of HD these must be marked and not used ..so still I'm suspicious about board ( controller error very rare)
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Have swopped Ram sticks individually with known working one, same things occurred.
The 'files won't copy' problem is sort of random, but with a pattern. It doesn't seem to like four or five files like the one mentioned above so they appear nine times out of ten installs (yeah I've done that many .., a day lol.., but random one's appear too. The pattern is that they appear more and more frequently the further on the install goes. It does suggest to me that the HD is failing but yes, I will check the fan lol. It could simply be overheating.
Thank u so very much for all your suggestions, I shall certainly follow up on many of the checks. Problem is I am crap with DOS and there's no floppy drive (what so and so decided floppies weren't nec. any more lol).
your problem reminded me a problem years ago I experiemented..
Was an amd board with a faulty cache (on board)..
Still my money is on the board but to be sure you need to test the HD..
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Have swopped Ram sticks individually with known working one, same things occurred.
The 'files won't copy' problem is sort of random, but with a pattern. It doesn't seem to like four or five files like the one mentioned above so they appear nine times out of ten installs (yeah I've done that many .., a day lol.., but random one's appear too. The pattern is that they appear more and more frequently the further on the install goes. It does suggest to me that the HD is failing but yes, I will check the fan lol. It could simply be overheating.
Thank u so very much for all your suggestions, I shall certainly follow up on many of the checks. Problem is I am crap with DOS and there's no floppy drive (what so and so decided floppies weren't nec. any more lol).
your problem reminded me a problem years ago I experiemented..
Was an amd board with a faulty cache (on board)..
Still my money is on the board but to be sure you need to test the HD..
My money is still on the RAM... See it every other week at work!
If it aint that, then it could be a dead motherboard (hope it aint for your sake!)
Does the HDD sound normal? It doesn't start clunking before it errors?
Again...bring it to the meet... I will bring some test HDD's and Ram down if you want! :)
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Oops I've just thought.., we did swap out the HD.., but only for a small 6Gb one.., and it still did the same thing.
Please I don't want it to be the mobo lol.
The person i bought it off says it ran linux fine right up until last week. Can't understand that, if she's telling the truth of course. She was quite annoyed cause i left her negative feedback tho lol (very rare for me to do but I suspects I'm gonna be out of luck with this one)
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Oops I've just thought.., we did swap out the HD.., but only for a small 6Gb one.., and it still did the same thing.
Please I don't want it to be the mobo lol.
The person i bought it off says it ran linux fine right up until last week. Can't understand that, if she's telling the truth of course. She was quite annoyed cause i left her negative feedback tho lol (very rare for me to do but I suspects I'm gonna be out of luck with this one)
linux :-? will not behave different under a faulty hw setup..
thats another crap to hide the problem and mislead you..
ps: did you check the ram timings are ok..you can do this mostly by loading default or slow bios parameters..
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ok, as a last resort, if what the previous owner said about it being ok on Linux is right.., I could try linux.., but it would have to be a very GUI linux cause I ain't got a clue with commands and so on.
Can anyone recommend a version of Linux that a person who is only used to Vista/XP could use reasonably easily? And give me a link as to how on earth u install it lol.
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loaded default ram timings
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I fixed one this week with almost the same problem. It loaded Knoppix, but would consistantly fall over when trying to load XP, with damaged file or something. Eventually discovered the processor was duff, not helped by inadequate (none!) heatsink compund. That was a Dell Insp 1300, with celery M, 1.6G/1M/400.
Ken
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ok, as a last resort, if what the previous owner said about it being ok on Linux is right.., I could try linux.., but it would have to be a very GUI linux cause I ain't got a clue with commands and so on.
Can anyone recommend a version of Linux that a person who is only used to Vista/XP could use reasonably easily? And give me a link as to how on earth u install it lol.
Pretty much any of the current crop. Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian and so on all have the same window managers.
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ok, as a last resort, if what the previous owner said about it being ok on Linux is right.., I could try linux.., but it would have to be a very GUI linux cause I ain't got a clue with commands and so on.
Can anyone recommend a version of Linux that a person who is only used to Vista/XP could use reasonably easily? And give me a link as to how on earth u install it lol.
trust me nothing will change..additionally linux kernel is more sensible..
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ok, as a last resort, if what the previous owner said about it being ok on Linux is right.., I could try linux.., but it would have to be a very GUI linux cause I ain't got a clue with commands and so on.
Can anyone recommend a version of Linux that a person who is only used to Vista/XP could use reasonably easily? And give me a link as to how on earth u install it lol.
trust me nothing will change..additionally linux kernel is more sensible..
If it has a hardware problem, choice of OS may make it manifest itself differently, but you will still be left with a problem. :-/
Kevin
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I fixed one this week with almost the same problem. It loaded Knoppix, but would consistantly fall over when trying to load XP, with damaged file or something. Eventually discovered the processor was duff, not helped by inadequate (none!) heatsink compund. That was a Dell Insp 1300, with celery M, 1.6G/1M/400.
Ken
this is worth trying if you can reach the cpu
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you can get to most acer heatsinks via the flap on the bottom, although some need the whole bottom of the case removing. Easy, just remove all screws on the bottom and shake. ;D ;D ;D
Ken
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Oh dear, now this could be good or bad (bad = expensive or undoable).
Jue just put the lappy's HD into his ancient lappy (this one was supposed to replace it) and XP installed like a dream. No errors at all. So looks like its not the HD but it is a component on the lappy I was dumb enuf to buy lol. If its the DVD drive, that's good, if its something I can't replace (like the mobo) thats vera vera bad. lol.
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Nonsense, it uses a sempron which are cheap enough if thats the fault. As I said, firstly check for good heatsink compound on the processor, not dried up, you can buy small tubes from most computer shops, Maplins do them. Then if it still does it, borrow a sempron from somewhere and try a swap.
Ken
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And people ask me why shouldn't they buy laptops off ebay...
sorry, swmbowa, that doesn't help you.
As a last resort, reseat CPU, and every other plug, but suspect system board is fubar.
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lol, its ok TB.., I've gone waaay past the 'how on earth could I have been so stupid' point lol. Now I'm kindof accustomed to the idea that I might as well play a bit and find out what it is I can't afford to replace before I throw it from a great height lol.
Of course, it might still be something simple and not necessitate my laptop to learning how to grow wings lol.
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And people ask me why shouldn't they buy laptops off ebay...
sorry, swmbowa, that doesn't help you.
As a last resort, reseat CPU, and every other plug, but suspect system board is fubar.
People ask me that too... i say 'if its too good to be true, then it prob is'
So what do i do... come home and buy a few more from ebay!!! :-[
Wish i listened to myself sometimes ;D
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I was gonna buy a new lappy outa argos after the holiday but i`ve put that on the back burner now....I was tempted to go an look at that miggy in tonight express and star in cannock p reg 3.0 elite.....HMMM decisions decisions....dollars for the usa next week or a miggy...... :P :P
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I was gonna buy a new lappy outa argos after the holiday but i`ve put that on the back burner now....I was tempted to go an look at that miggy in tonight express and star in cannock p reg 3.0 elite.....HMMM decisions decisions....dollars for the usa next week or a miggy...... :P :P
Miggy.. No buts! :y
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Bit odd too it not having a O/S already installed they usually do off ebay as they often offer it with genuine windows Xp key or what ever it is ! so if it was all formatted and nothing on it suspect a fault ! sadly :(
Guilty though of buying one off ebay but to be fair its been fine Dell Latitude hqad it about a year ..
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In all fairness, it was sold as having a fault.., but just a broken screen - which I've replaced. I bought it cause the spec was pretty decent for a laptop, assuming i'd just have to replace the screen.
Like I say, according to the previous owner it was working perfectly with Linux.
Jue has just put two different versions of XP on the HD but put the HD in his ancient lappy and both installs went like a dream. So its not the HD.., its a component within the lappy itself.
Oh well, tomorrow is another day.., time to look at the CPU I guess and maybe replace the DVD drive when I can. The killer is gonna be if its the mobo. I'm not sure if I wouldn't be better just selling off the hardware I know works and saving up for a brand new one. I don't have to buy many more replacement parts to have paid out the same anyway.
take care all, I'm off to bed x x x
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buying second hand lappies or desktops from a known pc-shop or a friend is much better idea..
e-bay risky :-/