xjas wrote:

I rescued this lovely Asus A7V8X from the recycle pile yesterday. Unfortunately it doesn't work, no idea why... I can't see anything obviously wrong. Anyone have any ideas?

CameraZOOM-20191007012742480.jpg

😜

no idea my dude, mind blown. 🤣

xjas wrote:

I rescued this lovely Asus A7V8X from the recycle pile yesterday. Unfortunately it doesn't work, no idea why... I can't see anyt […]
Show full quote

I rescued this lovely Asus A7V8X from the recycle pile yesterday. Unfortunately it doesn't work, no idea why... I can't see anything obviously wrong. Anyone have any ideas?

CameraZOOM-20191007012742480.jpg

😜
<snip>

Hard to tell, could be anything. Carefully follow all traces on the PCB and look for damage. It might be quite subtle!

Cyrix200+ wrote:

xjas wrote:

I rescued this lovely Asus A7V8X from the recycle pile yesterday. Unfortunately it doesn't work, no idea why... I can't see anyt […]
Show full quote

I rescued this lovely Asus A7V8X from the recycle pile yesterday. Unfortunately it doesn't work, no idea why... I can't see anything obviously wrong. Anyone have any ideas?

CameraZOOM-20191007012742480.jpg

😜
<snip>

Hard to tell, could be anything. Carefully follow all traces on the PCB and look for damage. It might be quite subtle!

I hope you're joking. There is a huge chunk of the board missing that somebody cut out.

cyclone3d wrote:

Cyrix200+ wrote:

xjas wrote:

I rescued this lovely Asus A7V8X from the recycle pile yesterday. Unfortunately it doesn't work, no idea why... I can't see anyt […]
Show full quote

I rescued this lovely Asus A7V8X from the recycle pile yesterday. Unfortunately it doesn't work, no idea why... I can't see anything obviously wrong. Anyone have any ideas?

The attachment CameraZOOM-20191007012742480.jpg is no longer available

😜
<snip>

Hard to tell, could be anything. Carefully follow all traces on the PCB and look for damage. It might be quite subtle!

I hope you're joking. There is a huge chunk of the board missing that somebody cut out.

Also, I think I see one dodgy cap 🤣 🤣 🤣

And here I was thinking it was just a broken trace....

xjas wrote:

I rescued this lovely Asus A7V8X from the recycle pile yesterday. Unfortunately it doesn't work, no idea why... I can't see anything obviously wrong. Anyone have any ideas?

I know people who knowingly destroy everything before dumping so others can't use it or sell it for profit.
They crush every panel, scratch every CD (even driver CDs), dent every case so it is useless to others. Kind of petty if you ask me. One of my acquaintances breaks and dumps everything he can't sell because "if they don't want to pay for it they won't be getting it for free".

Miphee wrote:

[...]
I know people who knowingly destroy everything before dumping so others can't use it or sell it for profit.
They crush every panel, scratch every CD (even driver CDs), dent every case so it is useless to others. Kind of petty if you ask me. One of my acquaintances breaks and dumps everything he can't sell because "if they don't want to pay for it they won't be getting it for free".

This looks too careful for that, I'd guess somebody needed a few IDE headers...

cyclone3d wrote:

I hope you're joking. There is a huge chunk of the board missing that somebody cut out.

best. post. ever. 🤣

dionb wrote:

This looks too careful for that, I'd guess somebody needed a few IDE headers...

more like 80% of an IDE header, cut right through ^^ ... leaves the 20pin ATX header I guess.

cyclone3d wrote:

Cyrix200+ wrote:

xjas wrote:

I rescued this lovely Asus A7V8X from the recycle pile yesterday. Unfortunately it doesn't work, no idea why... I can't see anyt […]
Show full quote

I rescued this lovely Asus A7V8X from the recycle pile yesterday. Unfortunately it doesn't work, no idea why... I can't see anything obviously wrong. Anyone have any ideas?

CameraZOOM-20191007012742480.jpg

😜
<snip>

Hard to tell, could be anything. Carefully follow all traces on the PCB and look for damage. It might be quite subtle!

I hope you're joking. There is a huge chunk of the board missing that somebody cut out.

Well, with the lowres picture it kinda looked like it was one of those weirdly shaped OEM boards, so I'm also guilty as charged. 🤣

Miphee wrote:

xjas wrote:

I rescued this lovely Asus A7V8X from the recycle pile yesterday. Unfortunately it doesn't work, no idea why... I can't see anything obviously wrong. Anyone have any ideas?

I know people who knowingly destroy everything before dumping so others can't use it or sell it for profit.
They crush every panel, scratch every CD (even driver CDs), dent every case so it is useless to others. Kind of petty if you ask me. One of my acquaintances breaks and dumps everything he can't sell because "if they don't want to pay for it they won't be getting it for free".

I've done that. It's was the only way of getting stuff in the rubbish bin before the collector turned up.

Miphee wrote:

One of my acquaintances breaks and dumps everything he can't sell because "if they don't want to pay for it they won't be getting it for free".

To be honest, I can understand that. Many people want everything for free and go crazy if they don't get their will. I also often tried selling parts for cheap and no one wanted them. But guess what happened when I told that they are only available until [some date] and get trashed after that. Then of course everybody wants the stuff for free and you get offended if you refuse. Because of this, I normally rip stuff apart that doesn't sell and keep components that may be of use later and trash what's left. Even did that with rare parts, like an FM Towns Car Marty Home Kit that I tried selling for years. People who were interested did not even want to pay for shipping.

Heh, I don't think there was any malice here. This board came from a machine shop who are constantly dumping old stuff. I bet it was used to test a shiny new bandsaw or maybe test a new intern out on an old one. I doubt the world will be significantly worsened by the loss of a low-rent socket A board. (And like I said, I got a BIOS chip and a CR2032 battery holder out of it, so it got parted out for a better cause.)

Somebody at that shop REALLY likes de-soldering BGA northbridges for some reason. That specific surgery didn't get done to this one, but I've seen quite a few others from them where it had been. Good practice, I guess. 😜

derSammler wrote:

Miphee wrote:

One of my acquaintances breaks and dumps everything he can't sell because "if they don't want to pay for it they won't be getting it for free".

To be honest, I can understand that. Many people want everything for free and go crazy if they don't get their will. I also often tried selling parts for cheap and no one wanted them. But guess what happened when I told that they are only available until [some date] and get trashed after that. Then of course everybody wants the stuff for free and you get offended if you refuse. Because of this, I normally rip stuff apart that doesn't sell and keep components that may be of use later and trash what's left. Even did that with rare parts, like an FM Towns Car Marty Home Kit that I tried selling for years. People who were interested did not even want to pay for shipping.

I try not to be mean, but I'm astounded by the number of people in my local area who will reply to freshly posted "for sale" ad and beg if they can have whatever it is for free. When did this become not incredibly rude? (Oh wait, it didn't.)

If the thing doesn't sell and I have to get rid of it anyway, I don't destroy it, but I do try to make sure it doesn't go to those people. I don't mind giving stuff away, but I'm not enabling that kind of behavior by making it pay off.

I never bothered to ask if I can have parts for free (or buy them for cheap) from my nearby E waste facility because I think it's the same routine for all of them in California - parts get dropped off, but they never leave (except in the designated trucks). The one time I asked at one, the guy tried to explain it was because of "Information security". But offering to leave the hard drive of a computer and take the rest made no difference.
But the one near me seems to be short on space, and stuff spills out into the yard facing the street. So I wait until after they close, then have a look at the pile outside. Today there was a very overweight woman talking with the guy at the business next door as I stopped and had a look at the pile, and it turned out that she works there. "Nothing here is for taking, it's all for recycling" she said to me. What does she (or do they) think people do with this stuff when they take it from a pile on the street? If using it to build a computer to have fun with isn't recycling, then you have a dumb definition of recycling. At any rate, I just nodded and smiled politely. I will continue to "steal" things out of that pile if I find something that I might have a use for, and I won't even feel the slightest bit of guilt.

Caluser2000 wrote:

I've done that. It's was the only way of getting stuff in the rubbish bin before the collector turned up.

derSammler wrote:

But guess what happened when I told that they are only available until [some date] and get trashed after that.

xjas wrote:

If the thing doesn't sell and I have to get rid of it anyway, I don't destroy it, but I do try to make sure it doesn't go to those people. I don't mind giving stuff away, but I'm not enabling that kind of behavior by making it pay off.

I get all of you and you certainly have the right to do whatever you want with you stuff.
On xjas's note I posted an ad on a local tech forum that I'm looking for a monochrome monitor for a reasonable price. A guy responded that he has one in the attic that has been sitting there for 20 years. I asked for the price and he said I can take it as is, no charge. He even cleaned it, boxed it and took the time to have it shipped to me (I paid shipping of course). He even included a 5.25 drive because he saw I was looking for one. I was just so moved by all that. There are tons of people who do the same, they give away valuable stuff they could have sold instead. The same tech forum has a topic where a user can offer electronics for free. It can be anything electronics related as long as it's free. First comes first served basis. It also got me to give away stuff I don't need but others can use. Kindness generates kindness. Yes, there are those who take advantage of a system like that but that's not the point. There are generous souls out there and not everyone wants to rip others off. TO ME giving away something feels better than destroying it because it didn't turn a profit or hoarding it for decades because it's MINE!

^^ Just to clarify, by "those people", I mean the ones who show up in my inbox half an hour after my for sale ad goes up, either begging me with some BS sob story, or just plain asking if they can have whatever it is I'm selling for free. I put a price there for a reason, and find this behavior incredibly rude, so I make sure the people who do that, specifically aren't the ones who get it in the end, even if I have to give it away to somebody else.

I don't destroy things needlessly instead of letting them go, and I'm usually quite happy to give stuff away to others in the community or friends & have done so lots of times. But there's an "easy button" to get on my exclude list. 😜

Miphee wrote:

There are generous souls out there and not everyone wants to rip others off. TO ME giving away something feels better than destroying it because it didn't turn a profit or hoarding it for decades because it's MINE!

I agree and think those who purposely destroy something just because they can't sell it for the price are being selfish and inconsiderate of others who could benefit. If everyone thought that way then forums like this would not exist because knowledge is priceless and many might decide not to share because they are not getting anything in return. just a thought....

Looking for a floppy drive in my boxed up junk stumbled on this Canon MD7511-C6 dual floppy so thought would give it a try.
Works fine after cleaning and lube and thought would share some info:
Make sure you set drive A=1.44Mb and B=1.2Mb in BIOS. Use the second (straight wired) floppy cable cable connector and 3.5" will be primary.
OR: 5.25" drive is primary, 3.5" is secondary if using the end of the floppy cable (past the twist). If BIOS has "swap A-B" use that to make 3.5" the primary. If you do not have an old style cable with both pin and slot connectors (this drive requires a standard 5.25" slot type) a pin to slot adapter is needed. There is a set of micro jumper pins but cannot find info on how to set them, my drive has no jumpers on any of them.

Caluser2000 wrote:

And here I was thinking it was just a broken trace....

In a way this is correct 🤣

Not your typical "retro hardware", but I'm counting it. I lucked into these two '80s style spring-arm lamps by the side of the road tonight. I've actually been after one for ages, but apparently they're so far out of style they may as well have never existed. I remember them being everywhere when I was a kid & now they're just gone. Bizarre. (I'm sure you can probably get them new from somewhere, but I never see them in thrift shops, offices, garage sales, people's homes, or anywhere really, so apparently no one's buying them.)

Fortunately they're in way better shape than the Asus A7V8X was. 😜 There was also a super-'80s stylish red one, but it was kinda trashed and didn't have the spring arm base, so I left it there.

I have a specific spot in my living room where one of these will be perfect. I'll probably use the other one for a reading lamp over my bed. Both areas are badly in need of some extra lighting.