BitWrangler wrote on 2023-11-05, 16:50:

Best to look on the backside of the large plastic piece to see what plastic it is. The usual type is ABS... if it's ABS, then parts that will be hidden when assembled can be glued with plumbers ABS cement, but that's usually dyed yellow so you won't want that anywhere it can be seen. Acetone though is a solvent for it, and painting the edges with acetone until they go sticky then forcing them together and leaving to dry for a day should mean you've chemically welded it back together. Other types of plastic might require different approaches.

Yeah good point, I'll look closer and tend to all that once I'm sure the DVD drive doesn't need to be replaced. For instance, I know that in the video LTT did about the Disney Dream Desk, Linus pointed out the DVD drive in his unit had been replaced as early as 2010.

Gonzoville wrote on 2023-11-05, 17:16:

BitWrangler wrote on 2023-11-05, 16:50:

Best to look on the backside of the large plastic piece to see what plastic it is. The usual type is ABS... if it's ABS, then parts that will be hidden when assembled can be glued with plumbers ABS cement, but that's usually dyed yellow so you won't want that anywhere it can be seen. Acetone though is a solvent for it, and painting the edges with acetone until they go sticky then forcing them together and leaving to dry for a day should mean you've chemically welded it back together. Other types of plastic might require different approaches.

Yeah good point, I'll look closer and tend to all that once I'm sure the DVD drive doesn't need to be replaced. For instance, I know that in the video LTT did about the Disney Dream Desk, Linus pointed out the DVD drive in his unit had been replaced as early as 2010.

I'd trust what Linus (LTT) says about as far as I could throw the guy. Actually he's a fairly skinny little weed, so that might be pretty far, that's maybe not a good comparison.

Anyway, he really doesn't know what he's talking about most of the time.

megatron-uk wrote on 2023-11-05, 18:31:

Gonzoville wrote on 2023-11-05, 17:16:

BitWrangler wrote on 2023-11-05, 16:50:

Best to look on the backside of the large plastic piece to see what plastic it is. The usual type is ABS... if it's ABS, then parts that will be hidden when assembled can be glued with plumbers ABS cement, but that's usually dyed yellow so you won't want that anywhere it can be seen. Acetone though is a solvent for it, and painting the edges with acetone until they go sticky then forcing them together and leaving to dry for a day should mean you've chemically welded it back together. Other types of plastic might require different approaches.

Yeah good point, I'll look closer and tend to all that once I'm sure the DVD drive doesn't need to be replaced. For instance, I know that in the video LTT did about the Disney Dream Desk, Linus pointed out the DVD drive in his unit had been replaced as early as 2010.

I'd trust what Linus (LTT) says about as far as I could throw the guy. Actually he's a fairly skinny little weed, so that might be pretty far, that's maybe not a good comparison.

Anyway, he really doesn't know what he's talking about most of the time.

Haha I feel you on that, only shallow water ripples and so on. I feel like it may have just been him reading the sticker on the drive itself and regurgitating whatever numbers he saw.

I personally don't expect the DVD drive to be broken, this PC probably only underwent a few years of internet browsing and word processing before conking out. Not so sure how the drive belts in there are doing after 19 years, but we'll find out soon enough.

I don't know how many times I upgraded the cdroms/dvd roms over the years in some computers but a 2010 drive in a 2004 computer is nothing to be surprised about 😁

Horun wrote on 2023-11-05, 19:21:

I don't know how many times I upgraded the cdroms/dvd roms over the years in some computers but a 2010 drive in a 2004 computer is nothing to be surprised about 😁

Yes, the ease of replacing a disc drive is comforting, too, but it's the least of my worries right now.

I did recently thrift a bunch of those "Art Explosion" CDs that I'd like to keep looking through, though. It's a different topic entirely, but I know a few of those ISOs have been uploaded to the Internet Archive; they're fun to browse if you ever come across any, especially the discs with actual photos and not clip art, so far I've been using a virtual Windows 98 machine (PCem) do to that.

An update to this. I'm no longer so sure a bad power supply is the issue...

The spare PSU I was going to test with had a 24-pin power cable, so I waited for an adapter to show up in the mail in order to use the PSU with the 20-pin motherboard connection. It arrived today and I got everything set up.

When pressing the power button, I saw the same thing that happened when I tested the case for the first time. The green LED on the front of the case illuminates for a brief moment and fades away. This time though, the PSU also had a green LED, which also turned off.

I got a video of it. Note the PSU LED on the right and the case LED on the left: https://youtu.be/Iq417ByJL8I?si=OGSqtRjqbv9IqPA5

Seeing this, I performed a paperclip test on both PSUs. Each of their fans turned on and stayed on, if that means they're both functional.

What could this mean? Something's surely wrong with the motherboard, isn't there? How would I go about diagnosing that if I don't even get a POST to interpret? Do I need to test with another PSU to be absolutely sure?

My last resort is I remove the internals of this injured creature and replace them with something that works, maybe even something modern. Still, it wouldn't be the same, and as others have pointed out in this topic, there might be custom firmware in them thar hills. I'm hoping we can uncover it soon, but there's obviously more to be done.

PSU is being overloaded.
Those beautiful motherboard capacitors might be bad or mobo has blown cpu power rail shorting as soon as its being turned on. If you can solder and have a multimeter we can diagnose, if not replacing with modern internals is the easier way out except for the weird shape of the PSU that will necessitate some hacks.

rasz_pl wrote on 2023-11-08, 06:06:

PSU is being overloaded.
Those beautiful motherboard capacitors might be bad or mobo has blown cpu power rail shorting as soon as its being turned on. If you can solder and have a multimeter we can diagnose, if not replacing with modern internals is the easier way out except for the weird shape of the PSU that will necessitate some hacks.

Okay, this is getting serious now huh?

I'm rusty on my soldering, but I'm going to register for a refresher course at my local library. That happens in about a week, so I'm hoping this topic still has eyes on it at that time. Just in case it doesn't though, do you have a link on hand to any sort of guide I can reference for pulling the motherboard, testing each component with the multimeter and replacing some caps if need be?

Soldering course at the library sounds cool. Who is organizing it? Local Hackerspaces are also a good place to look for hands on help.

rasz_pl wrote on 2023-11-08, 21:39:

Soldering course at the library sounds cool. Who is organizing it? Local Hackerspaces are also a good place to look for hands on help.

This is offered through the Orange County Library System in Central Florida, they've got a fab lab that's run by The Dorothy Lumley Melrose Center. The lab looks relatively new and has Maker stuff such as laser cutters, 3D printers and so on, but they also do a $10 soldering class every month, very glad I clutched a spot.

For now I've got a couple of things to order online I think, but my job has an IT department with soldering equipment that I've been told I can use when the time comes for it. If I can't find a good or affordable fume hood for my place, I figure I'll be using said IT department as my Disney Dream Desk Frankenstein's lab.

But yes, I'll certainly air out my issue and network with anyone who can teach me something, I'm really looking forward to it.

Check all this out though! There's enough software here to recreate a lot if not most of whatever was going on in this PC if I have to replace the internals. I could even install a crescent fresh copy of Windows, ooh la la.

I've got a scanner and a working DVD drive. For right now I might go through these and see what's not already available in the Archive.
But the map-folded printer instructions, those I'm just gonna frame.

WOW ! Nice bunch of software. I think you should image all of it and put on archive org but with a Disney name they may reject it (copyright stuuf, even though none of it was made by disney just labeled as such)

Horun wrote on 2023-11-09, 03:30:

WOW ! Nice bunch of software. I think you should image all of it and put on archive org but with a Disney name they may reject it (copyright stuuf, even though none of it was made by disney just labeled as such)

It'd be the least I could do. I don't think it's absolutely everything, looks like I'm at least missing something called Disney MIX. Not sure if that's just software or if it came with a physical music player, such as how PIX comes with a point-and-shoot and FLIX comes with a video camera. Really I'm just worried about how long it's gonna take to scan the manuals etc. but someone's got to do it.

Gonzoville wrote on 2023-11-09, 12:54:

It'd be the least I could do. I don't think it's absolutely everything, looks like I'm at least missing something called Disney MIX. Not sure if that's just software or if it came with a physical music player, such as how PIX comes with a point-and-shoot and FLIX comes with a video camera. Really I'm just worried about how long it's gonna take to scan the manuals etc. but someone's got to do it.

THAT is a lot of software and documentation.
My PC came with just 1 DVD in the drive 😁

A question.
Was all of this a package? Dream Desk PC with FLIX and PIX in one set to buy like this?

Over here the FLIX camcorder was sold as a retail product with its own packaging too.
I have a FLIX in its original retail Packaging and it even still works.

If you have 2, you can make yourself look really stupid 😁
Does it count as 3D video? 🤔

DerBaum wrote on 2023-11-09, 13:51:

A question.
Was all of this a package? Dream Desk PC with FLIX and PIX in one set to buy like this?

I've read a couple news releases that talk about how the computer was only shipped with the optical pen and perhaps Disney PIX, as far as which peripherals+software you get. I also have some of one of the cameras' packaging that the previous owner of my set kept, so I'm assuming the software came with the accessories off the shelf. There was also an option to buy the PC with the Lexmark printer in a $950 bundle (over $1,500 in 2023, whew). That picture is great though 🤣

But then there's this, the "Hip-e Node." Forgive me if it's is already a well-known thing, but one of those old tech news sites pairs it with the Dream Desk under "Kid Computing." In my opinion, it's wackier by a long shot.

1. Hip-e Node (from $1,700)
It may sound off the wall, but this PC for teens was designed by teens. Almost every visual element can be customized. There's an optional MP3 player and a prepaid cell phone too

Source: https://content.time.com/time/specials/packag … 1940348,00.html

So, this one has an MP3 player and a cell phone that appear to charge/connect with docks on the keyboard. Looks like an all-in-one, too. Bizarre.

Anyway, hopefully I can hook you up with most of the Dream Desk software that you're missing.

Gonzoville wrote on 2023-11-09, 14:51:

Anyway, hopefully I can hook you up with most of the Dream Desk software that you're missing.

I will probably not need it. But thanks. That thing is so rare that i gave up on finding another one.
I think most of them broke. Cheap plastics and children dont work that well together.
And it was a pretty slow and expensive system back in the days. I cant imagine it sold well...

DerBaum wrote on 2023-11-09, 15:05:

And it was a pretty slow and expensive system back in the days. I cant imagine it sold well...

Very true....

The following line in one of those articles I was reading made me laugh, I think it works here:

Sure, you can get a faster machine for the same price, but it won't have Mickey ears.

Source: https://www.pcmag.com/archive/disney-dream-de … y-medion-138054

I'll try to keep this thread updated if I make any progress with the motherboard. It's likely just going to end up being an ordinary XP machine if I get it fixed, but I do want it to live again so badly, man. Even the HDD says "Disney" on it in places, I gotta see what's in there.

rasz_pl wrote on 2023-11-08, 06:06:

If you can solder and have a multimeter we can diagnose

Alright, I'm happy to say I can solder pretty good and also own a multimeter, which leaves me with a very important question that I've been dying to ask:

What do?

1 take the motherboard out, remove ram/cpu, unplug everything
1a first sanity check, plug CPU/ram/power supply ack in, try powering it up
2 look up ATX pinout for both 20 pin and 4 pin sockets, measure resistance between ground and 3.3V, 5V, 12V on both sockets.
3 see 9 of those black rectangle 3 pin elements between printer port and CPU socket? those are mosfets, test them like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpYbJdDPzkY
4 test 3 more mosfets between DIMM slots and battery
5 read the markings on black rectangle 5 pin regulator between AGP and PCI slots. we will need to find datasheet to check it
6 if above is fine we will move to plugging CPU back in and checking if it not shorted
6a second sanity check, plug CPU/ram/power supply ack in, try powering it up
7 looks like you will need to either shotgun replace ~20 electrolytic capacitors or buy ~$10 ESR meter and test those first

rasz_pl wrote on 2023-11-18, 07:06:

1 take the motherboard out, remove ram/cpu, unplug everything 1a first sanity check, plug CPU/ram/power supply ack in, try power […]
Show full quote

1 take the motherboard out, remove ram/cpu, unplug everything
1a first sanity check, plug CPU/ram/power supply ack in, try powering it up
2 look up ATX pinout for both 20 pin and 4 pin sockets, measure resistance between ground and 3.3V, 5V, 12V on both sockets.
3 see 9 of those black rectangle 3 pin elements between printer port and CPU socket? those are mosfets, test them like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpYbJdDPzkY
4 test 3 more mosfets between DIMM slots and battery
5 read the markings on black rectangle 5 pin regulator between AGP and PCI slots. we will need to find datasheet to check it
6 if above is fine we will move to plugging CPU back in and checking if it not shorted
6a second sanity check, plug CPU/ram/power supply ack in, try powering it up
7 looks like you will need to either shotgun replace ~20 electrolytic capacitors or buy ~$10 ESR meter and test those first

You're a gentleman and a scholar. I will report back.