Dell GX150 Pentium III extreme makeover - Page 4

**loninappleton** · 01-23-2007, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kodi

What is not working Properly now?
Did you manage to get the case closed properly?

The top case is being held up by a couple of wood blocks
at about a 20 degree angle. This allows use of the
cdrom (working) and floppy (working.)

The screen rex is at 600x800 but only 16 colors.

Getting that much done was a big job for a solo experimenter like myself.

I had to do a lot of replugging and fooling around to get this much going.

When first opened, the case seemed cramped in the
first place. IOW the hinge and all the gear sort of
creaked open. I checked for clearances on the
cable replacements but did not force anything.

**loninappleton** · 02-01-2007, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nego-oh-oh

first thing
did you download ALL the files from dell???
did you get the AC'97 audio to work properly???
second thing
download a program called aida32 a link is somewhere
here at the forum.it will tell you everything about
your computer.(free and really good)
third thing
go to display properties window=>settings tab
left click on advanced =>then adapter=>list all modes
see what it says there???? also, left click on
properties=>left click on driver=>left click on
update drive =>follow on though with the driver up date
make sure you point the wizard to the folder where you
un-packed the video driver file from dell at.the rest
is done automaticall by windows

do the same with all the downloads from dell(through
the device manager)

you cant really screw it up too much(that's what the
cancel button on the lower right is for) !!!
if you do manage to do just that,you can
scream,pull some of your hair out,run around your house
2 or 3 times,and do something disgusting to the neighbors
garbage can!!!!!! (dont do it to you own)

what your video will end up as depends alot on what your
moniter can handel

always keep in mind that the downloads can be bad(corrupt)
just go through it again until you find something that
does work

(((after you read all of this and decide you are a real
glutton for punishment ?!?!?! let me know,and i'll keep
posting )))

the reason for this => got old 110 fired up,installed
an old 6gig hard drive,installed an old 2x cd reader that
had only the analog sound cable,hooked up my spakers,
found my win 2000 cd,loaded her up,found my dell downloads
i had saved to cd,-----did this,that, and the other,

STILL NO DAM AC'97 AUDIO

THE SAME THING THAT HAPPENED TO YOU, GOT DONE TO ME

i started recalling the really hard time i had,
countless downloads that didn"t work,lots of time
on the net,nothing that really worked,--bla,bla,etc.

but i also remembered that i got her to work perfectly
without having the original dell setup cd.(could't
find one for $1mil (now probably $20 mil)

some down loads are not up-grades they are down-grades!!

while i'm doing all this i decided to check out
the newest firfox,down-loading,and doing dell&intel
yep seems ok,decided to download a free firewall,
to see how that checked out.

walked away,started on old 110 again,came back ten
minutes later, about 12 pop-up windows telling me
about all the spyware,virus and bad stuff that they
just down loaded on my computer!!!!!
hjt just sits there after the scan window comes-up,
looks at me kinda stupid and don't do nothing!!!!!
ie is only half there,(kind of par for the course),
firefox is somewhere over the rainbow!!!!

my new project FRESH INSTALL XP

i forgot that i had turned off my antvirus and firewall
while i was messing around with ie&firefox

---old people do stupid things sometimes---and i just
added one more to my list.!?!?!?

any waaaay ,she's up and running,100%,purrrrring like
a little kitten. Now it's your turn! please keep in mind
that this is just a hobby for me,i'm not a professional!!

I put the quote on here for reference (sorry about the bandwidth, guys)

I'm going to print off what it says here but don't know (hell, I'm pretty sure
I _do_ know) that the user won't be able to do the download procedure without it being laid out a bit more.

This is all a by-hand job and I feel that the user will be frustrated with
trying to pick it all up.

I wish I could do a 'dry run' but the machine is delivered. I think dsl service
is still being set up on it-- 2 weeks to go through the phone company.

Anyway, I could do the install on one of my machines to at least identify the
correct path to point to the directory. Quite frankly, I have hard time
doing that myself and what I'm afraid of is one of those repeated errors that
'Windows can't find this and that, please try again." Etc.

mazinoz · 02-12-2007, 07:10 PM

Regarding the network card. I have eight of these on a network and the network card is a
3Com card. 3c905C-TX/TX-M [Tornado]. Dell often uses Intel drivers also eg: video cards.

**loninappleton** · 02-16-2007, 12:18 PM

Well I hope the case is closed anyways.

I got a mail showing the users brand new email address just purchased
so everything must be going ok.

I wanted to complete the screen resolution discovery as described in the
message but couldn't do that. So I copied off the info and gave it
to the user.

I haven't heard directly from the user since so happy camper is the
assumed status.

Got another headache brewing
with a motherboard that won't find any storage devices besides floppy.

(Hello Joe.)

:-)

**kodi** · 02-16-2007, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loninappleton

s.

Got another headache brewing
with a motherboard that won't find any storage devices besides floppy.

:-)

Go into BIOS and set them to AUTO DETECT

**loninappleton** · 02-16-2007, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kodi

Go into BIOS and set them to AUTO DETECT

**loninappleton** · 02-16-2007, 08:46 PM

Screwed up the last post.

Which screen in BIOS?

I set Quick start to find CDROM, FDD, IDE o and IDE 1

Still nothing.

What needs to be changed is anything to get the board off of SCSI
including any MSI motherboard jumpers. Also my activity lights aren't working
after following the manual for setup of that jumper block. The jumper block
had to be completely connected before I could get even a POST.

Everything else works: graphics card, NIC are installed and the board has
onboard sound which can't be tested without a file load.

I have HD's with Windows on them but no drive is recognized besides
floppy.

Is there a standard solution to such a situation?

No drive found is the error displayed at Primary and Secondary channels--
all of them.

caseycam · 08-08-2008, 06:42 PM

i was wondering if someone can please email me and help me through installing a cd-rom drive into a gx150. i can't get the computer to register that it is installed. my email address is *********

thanks.

casey

**loninappleton** · 08-08-2008, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caseycam

i was wondering if someone can please email me and help me through installing a cd-rom drive into a gx150. i can't get the computer to register that it is installed. my email address is **********

thanks.

casey

An oldie but a goodie. When I did this machine the cd rom drive was never removed because it was embedded in the small case.

What is the operating system? I reinstalled Windows 2000 pro as the OS on the Dell in this thread. Method of installation was from the
four rescue disks and an upgrader or something.

Does the cd rom drive physically work? Door opens and closes etc.?

Check the power train back to the board. Check ribbon cable and power. Find out where the thing is jumpered. Like any cd rom connections. If the device is getting power it should allow you
to use it to install the OS.

Other thing with that one was I never got the case to go back together once a new HD was installed. Try to make things work with the case open.

See what's going on with the IDE connection to both the hard drive and the cd rom. I don't think you can switch them though.

Any problems like this can be worked out in the forum and it helps others. TSF spent a couple weeks with me on this one. I did it as a free job and donated a small hard drive to get it going. The user apparently has been using it since this thread was made.

caseycam · 08-09-2008, 12:12 AM

the CD rom physically closes. the OS is windows 98. i have software for windows xp. i want to add a second hard drive to it as well but i want to get the cd-rom to work first. i think i'm going to check out the cables in the morning.

Casey

**loninappleton** · 08-09-2008, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caseycam

the CD rom physically closes. the OS is windows 98. i have software for windows xp. i want to add a second hard drive to it as well but i want to get the cd-rom to work first. i think i'm going to check out the cables in the morning.

Casey

The one I doctored was a hand-me-down that my friend got from someone who I think got one one of the those business closeouts on ebay-- the place where bargain refurbs come from.

I don't know where you're going to fit another drive in there.

Use the XP to get bigger drive size. Or run it open like I do all my stuff.
I have a large old IBM case fan on machine screw stilts with nylon
screw caps over the cpu and heat sink of one rig-- plenty of cooling
for a Sempron.

When you check the connections to the cd rom, replace the
ribbon cable with one you know works or a fresh one. Examine the
plug ends for breaks. Those are a poor design and the newer ones
for disk drives are more robust. Take a peek at the pins on the
cd rom plug end as well. Something could be bent. Other thing is
with replacement cable, make sure it is the same. Some IDE cables
have a twist.

Products like Compaq and Dell are not service-friendly. Sometimes
connections are modified to prevent casual repair.

Sad but true.

Ree-Zun · 08-22-2008, 01:29 AM

loninappleton; caseycam,

I ran into the same issue you did. Here is what finally worked for me... tonight, actually (Dell OptiPlex GX150):

-- Setting the CD-ROM Drive (jumper) as Master
-- Connecting the CD-ROM Drive to IDE 1 (on the motherboard), with the Hard Drive disconnected.

(That was the first time I ever saw the CD-ROM Drive recognized by the system, in the BIOS.)

-- Setting the Hard Drive (jumper) to Master
-- Connecting the Hard Drive to IDE 2 (on the motherboard).

And, interestingly, the Hard Drive appeared, as well (both configured as Master)... and I subsequently had to set it to Auto in the BIOS. I, then, simply configured my boot order... and off I was... installing WinXP Pro SP2... to completion.

FYI, just like 'SpeedStep' mentioned in the Dell Community Forums (link below), and as I personally experienced, all of the system's drivers are automatically and properly installed with WinXP SP2.

http://www.dellcommunity.com/support...l=en&cs=&s=gen

I hope this helps a future reader.

**loninappleton** · 08-22-2008, 09:57 AM

I'm sure it will be appreciated.

thanks

02-16-2007, 12:18 PM	#64 (permalink)
loninappleton TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 727 OS: Win2k, XP	case closed Well I hope the case is closed anyways. I got a mail showing the users brand new email address just purchased so everything must be going ok. I wanted to complete the screen resolution discovery as described in the message but couldn't do that. So I copied off the info and gave it to the user. I haven't heard directly from the user since so happy camper is the assumed status. Got another headache brewing with a motherboard that won't find any storage devices besides floppy. (Hello Joe.) :-)

08-08-2008, 06:42 PM	#68 (permalink)
caseycam Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 2 OS: win98	Re: Dell GX150 Pentium III extreme makeover i was wondering if someone can please email me and help me through installing a cd-rom drive into a gx150. i can't get the computer to register that it is installed. my email address is ********* thanks. casey Last edited by Deleted090308; 08-09-2008 at 12:42 AM. Reason: email removal to prevent spam

08-09-2008, 12:12 AM	#70 (permalink)
caseycam Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 2 OS: win98	Re: Dell GX150 Pentium III extreme makeover the CD rom physically closes. the OS is windows 98. i have software for windows xp. i want to add a second hard drive to it as well but i want to get the cd-rom to work first. i think i'm going to check out the cables in the morning. Casey

08-22-2008, 01:29 AM	#72 (permalink)
Ree-Zun Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 1 OS: WinXP SP3; Vista SP1	Re: CD-ROM Anomaly loninappleton; caseycam, I ran into the same issue you did. Here is what finally worked for me... tonight, actually (Dell OptiPlex GX150): -- Setting the CD-ROM Drive (jumper) as Master -- Connecting the CD-ROM Drive to IDE 1 (on the motherboard), with the Hard Drive disconnected. (That was the first time I ever saw the CD-ROM Drive recognized by the system, in the BIOS.) -- Setting the Hard Drive (jumper) to Master -- Connecting the Hard Drive to IDE 2 (on the motherboard). And, interestingly, the Hard Drive appeared, as well (both configured as Master)... and I subsequently had to set it to Auto in the BIOS. I, then, simply configured my boot order... and off I was... installing WinXP Pro SP2... to completion. FYI, just like 'SpeedStep' mentioned in the Dell Community Forums (link below), and as I personally experienced, all of the system's drivers are automatically and properly installed with WinXP SP2. http://www.dellcommunity.com/support...l=en&cs=&s=gen I hope this helps a future reader. Last edited by Ree-Zun; 08-22-2008 at 01:35 AM.

08-22-2008, 09:57 AM	#73 (permalink)
loninappleton TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 727 OS: Win2k, XP	Re: Dell GX150 Pentium III extreme makeover I'm sure it will be appreciated. thanks

02-12-2007, 07:10 PM	#63 (permalink)
mazinoz Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 2 OS: Fedora Core 5 SuSE 10 OSS	Regarding the network card. I have eight of these on a network and the network card is a 3Com card. 3c905C-TX/TX-M [Tornado]. Dell often uses Intel drivers also eg: video cards.

02-16-2007, 08:46 PM	#67 (permalink)
loninappleton TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 727 OS: Win2k, XP	Screwed up the last post. Which screen in BIOS? I set Quick start to find CDROM, FDD, IDE o and IDE 1 Still nothing. What needs to be changed is anything to get the board off of SCSI including any MSI motherboard jumpers. Also my activity lights aren't working after following the manual for setup of that jumper block. The jumper block had to be completely connected before I could get even a POST. Everything else works: graphics card, NIC are installed and the board has onboard sound which can't be tested without a file load. I have HD's with Windows on them but no drive is recognized besides floppy. Is there a standard solution to such a situation? No drive found is the error displayed at Primary and Secondary channels-- all of them.