strange linux problem srst failed

August 26, 2009 at 1:03 am (Linux, pc repair)

Encountered a good one tonight. I attempted to add an IDE hard drive into my pc. This machine is running Ultimate Edition 2.3. There was no problem using this with my Sata hard drive and a DVD RW (IDE). However , the pc did not like it when I had a second CD RW (IDE) plugged in. I really did not need that second drive so I had removed it. So tonight I add an old IDE Hard Drive into the mix. The first thing that I notice is that the boot time in the Bios is taking longer. Then I get 2 error messages that contain the text “ata3 SRST failed errno16″ . So I google this error and WOWEE ZOWEE are there massive amounts of people having these issues. So crazy. I read through a couple forums with many people having this problem but no one offering solutions. It is really not that important to add this data drive it was more of a “nice add on” than something I really need at the moment. You would not think it would be this much of a problem to simply add an extra hard drive to a computer. I love linux and have been using it as my main os but issues like this are not good. So now I will take the pc apart again and remove the extra drive – not worth the hassle of combating this problem.

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Blue Screen Virus

July 22, 2008 at 3:48 am (pc repair)
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Wow, these are getting funny. There is some virus we have been encountering recently that generates what looks like blue screen of death messages, but they are funny and use words like “panic” , if you hit the escape key you go back into windows. That’s how you know you have an infection because normally the escape key does not get you out of a blue screen of death.

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Virus Problems

July 22, 2008 at 3:27 am (internet, pc repair)
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Where is everyone getting XP Antivirus? So many people are getting infected with this thing right now – you can call it a virus or malware or extortion who knows? Some people think Microsoft is trying to get them to buy it because it has the letters XP in it. Windows XP Service Pack 3 still seems to be causing problems right now. I am only installing this on new builds that are not AMD. Linux is finally easing it’s way into the mainstream – I don’t know if this is a good or bad thing. With the Asus mini laptops really catching on , now several other companies are going to release similar products with Linux. At this moment I bounce between Vista, XP, and 3 versions of Linux : Freespire, Ubuntu, and Puppy – they all work great for me but I tend to be in XP overall more than the others with Puppy being the next. I like Puppy because I can play with it – in a technical nature – and the boot time is extraordinary. There are multiple version of xp antivirus and vista antivirus 2008 , tons of something called Vundo, wow! These are crazy and they are popping up all over – tons of infections. One guy said it came right through an email message he was reading.

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Live One Care 0X04601C01

July 22, 2008 at 2:55 am (internet, pc repair)
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Today I experienced the 0X04601C01 error while trying to run a live one care safety scan. It would not start and generated that error. The suggestion at that point was to check the forums for a solution. So I tried that, ha ha. A lot of people seemed to be searching for a solution but I saw no solution, one post read see post 101 for the answer , I quickly tried finding post 101 but that seemed to also be impossible. So next I searched google – nothing there either. I had to solve it myself. This was a Windows XP Pro SP2 pc with the problem – and it was the free scanner not the paid version. I then tried a repair install of Windows XP Pro on the problematic pc then ran all my windows updates. And, what do you know , that solved the problem for me. Now I can happily run the free safety scan again with no dreaded 0X04601C01 errors. Hope this helps if anyone else has this problem.

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HP XH535 Notebook

July 6, 2008 at 7:11 pm (pc repair)
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This post is due to the fact that I was searching all over the internet to find out where the hard drive is on this notebook. I never did find any help on the net. But, I did locate the hard drive myself so I thought I would post in case others are looking for it. The hard drive is actually located underneath the keyboard on this notebook. There is a plastic piece that contains the power button and other buttons above the keyboard. This plastic piece also has two hinge covers attached to it they are screwed on in the back. Take those two screws out then pop off the plastic piece. It has a bunch of plastic tabs that pop out. Then you can get to the keyboard is is held in with 4 screws at the top and some tabs at the bottom that just slide out. Now you can see your hard drive. The hard drive is in a metal bracket – you now have to loosen all the screws in this bracket to get it out and then unscrew the hard drive from the bracket once you remove it. Hope this helps anyone else that is having trouble finding the hard drive in an HP XH 535 Notebook.

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VMware Player

June 20, 2008 at 5:53 am (Linux, pc repair)
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The VMware Player is a very handy free bit of software. I installed this tonight on top of a Windows Vista installation – then downloaded a virtual OS Appliance of ubuntu804 desktop Linux. Works very good on top of Vista. I am using it right now while typing this and in the background I have the add/remove programs installer running and installing software while I type this. There is no lag at this point. My machine has MSI board with AMD Athlon 64X2 4000+ with 2 GB DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Ram. I also have multiple OS installed on this PC including the same Ubuntu but itś pretty convenient to just launch it within Windows then if I need to use my Vista OS for anything I can just minimize my VMware Player.

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