At least, I think that’s the problem.

If you can get your hands on the last voice post, then that’s grand. The HTML code is all correct, but my web server won’t serve the goddamned file (at least, not to me), and I think it has something to do with either an obscure hardware or software issue that I haven’t been able to rectify (I’ve done hardware and software upgrades over the past few years). Unfortunately, it seems that I will continue to have these problems until I get a new server.

Sigh.

This evening, I thought it might be a good idea to try to upgrade my server to the 2.6 kernel. After coming across an issue with the Squid proxy I use for WAP connections (I downgraded it so that things started working again, but I considered the relative benefits of upgrading before I’ve been really left out in the cold).

I’ve had this weird network issue that I still don’t know why it happens… on the one hand, ssh+putty connections will lock up when “a lot” of data is coming down… but then it’ll also lock up on an `ls` that puts out 6-7 lines. I’ve tried to find the common thread, but so far, no go.

I considered that perhaps the 2.4 kernel I’m running needs to be upgraded, but I’ve got a hardware issue standing in the way of that. Back in 2003, I purchased the Promise SuperTrak SX6000 IDE RAID card. It’s got 6 channels, so even back in ‘03, I could have probably come pretty close to a terabyte storage capacity without really breaking the bank… too much.

So, tonight, I download a 2.6 kernel for debian and compile away, adding this module, that module… and… it doesn’t fucking work. OK, no problem, I knew there were going to be issues… perhaps I need to upgrade the firmware on the RAID card.

No go. I try two different downloads (nevermind the headache I had to go through to get a DOS boot disk working)… no dice. I get this error: “dl_flash_block return status != IO_STATUS_OK” which returns 0 results on google. Great.

I did a little more searching based on the errors I was receiving when the i2o_block module was loaded (block-osm TID 001 error status 0×05, detailed status 0×0004), but the one patch I came across didn’t relate to my kernel patchlevel (2.6.18), but even when I tried implementing it anyway, it still didn’t work.

So I went back to the 2.4.32 kernel… and it’s working just fine. Obviously, I need new hardware, because this Promise SuperTrak SX6000 card just isn’t worth the headache.

Haha, I love it. I just received an email from a Customer Advocate at Dell… it looks like it’s not necessarily a problem that I popped open my computer, though I do have a few corrections on my rants that I’ll point out after I display his email and my response:

James,

My name is DellGuy and I am a Customer Advocate located in Dell’s corporate headquarters. I have read your posts about your notebook repair and would like to assist in any way that I can. First of all I would like to state that nothing you have done should void your warranty. I do not know if you got the motherboard issue worked out or not, but if you can get me the service tag of the system or maybe a dispatch number, I would like to look into what happened and try to prevent things like this from occurring in the future.

I would be more than willing to send out a technician again (If you feel comfortable with that), or setup a service to have the machine repaired by our depot. If you prefer I can also send you a shipping label to have the machine sent directly to me and I will repair it myself.

As you said on the 19th, Dell is online and searching blogs. However we are not here to spy or lurk, we want to reach out and engage with our customers.

If there is anything I can do to help, or if you would just like to relay some feedback, please just shoot me an email.

Thanks,
DellGuy

Hi DellGuy!

I’m not at all bothered by the fact that you’ve read my blog. I was almost counting on it, though the warranty issue was the wildcard for me. It’s good to know that this won’t be considered a problem.

The motherboard was replaced and the system is otherwise functional, so that I do not have a problem with that at all. It was the fact that the notebook was handed back to me essentially in a state of disrepair, with screws loose and missing, and all of that. I’m glad I decided to open up the case a second time so that I could inspect what was causing the right-hand side of the palm rest to rise up, because it was then I discovered a very loose screw on the inside of the system which, if it had come out, could have caused severe damage to my notebook.

Unfortunately, I am not in the position where I can ship my notebook out for service. I suppose that having another technician sent out would be the most timely solution for me. I would most prefer to have a manifest of screws shipped to me so I can install them myself this time around, but if this is not an option, I understand.

Perhaps part of the problem I had was that the technician I got was relatively inexperienced (as she herself admitted) with computers and was in something of a hurry. I also think it was a third-party dispatch service, so it wouldn’t have been a technician employed directly by Dell. I didn’t exactly mention this in my blog, so I’m going to post these notes as a correction of my oversight.

My system’s service tag is ABCD123, and the warranty repair happened in March or April of this year. Actually, it should be the only time a technician was ever sent out to service my machine, so it shouldn’t be hard to track this one down.

Best regards,

James

After re-reading my earlier entries, I realize that they sounded a little paranoid. But as I noted in my email to DellGuy (pretty unique name, don’t you think?), I was kind of counting on it being noticed, but I was uncertain about the warranty.

So far, I have had a fairly good customer experience with Dell… it was mostly that when the tech handed back to me a half-put-together notebook that I got a little irritated… but, busy as I am, I guess I didn’t want to deal with it until I absolutely had to. Heh. It took a few months for me to get irritated with the screen flopping around and the keyboard being all weird and stuff, I suppose.

Oh, and funny bit–he sent it to my gmail account. I thought I might have had my personal email published somewhere around here, but it got to me just the same.

So, three cheers for Dell! No, really, they doing me a solid on this one. I know some people have horror stories, but really, so far, I’ve done pretty well with them. I’ll need to upgrade or buy a new computer eventually, so I’ll probably stick with ‘em when the time comes… and this time, I’ll order the CD/DVD burner AND the extra-large hard drive! (Kicking myself over “how am I going to fill up 60GB on my notebook? I’ve got plenty of storage on my server!” Feh.)

Oh, and I’m not sure if I got this across… I’m actually rather impressed that Dell goes out and reads related blogs. I’m sure they get a lot of heat from some paranoiacs, but really, if you post something on the Internet, it’s public. Even if you’ve posted it privately, you can’t depend on it remaining that way.

Honestly, though, next time… I guess I really should call them and be a little less passive-aggressive.

Oh oh, one final note. I work with computers daily. I do software programming and I’ve done my share of hardware maintenance and repair. The only reason I felt comfortable risking a violation of my warranty is because this is the sort of thing I do day in, day out. The main reason I got the warranty is because notebooks get a LOT of wear and tear and I did not want to risk being out $2000 or so because it got dropped or something. I just want to be clear on this in case some random individual reads this (not really any of my friends or family) and thinks that they can just screw around without knowing what they’re doing.

Okay, now I think I am of a mind to complain.

When I had cracked open my notebook to peek inside to see what was causing the ill-fitting-ness, I thought, “Oh, two minor-ish things, no big deal.” But when I put it back together, there was a definite “rise” over the right-hand side of the mousepad.

This might have been caused by my screwing around, but I really don’t think so.

The reason I say this is because THE SYSTEM BOARD WAS NOT SECURED WITH ANY SCREWS.

It’s entirely within the realm of possibility that my computer was shipped without any screws and that the tech did not have any spare screws on hand to replace the missing parts… but somehow I really, really doubt this.

Now… it’s easy to drop screws when you’re working on stuff like this… they’re tiny, and virtually disappear even in plain sight sometimes. Hell, even normal computer screws can just sort of disappear, and laptop screws are generally smaller by a factor of 2, right?

Well, problem is, my laptop is currently missing at least a half dozen 5.25mm screws, half a dozen 8mm screws, and 1 3mm screw. The incompetence of the tech they sent me is absolutely staggering. If my warranty is canceled at this point, I might not care, because I don’t think I want somebody else with that level of incompetence touching my property ever again.

I’ll have to get my hands on the appropriate quantities of missing screws (and a few extra) so I can replace those and feel secure about my laptop’s physical state. I’ve already gone in pretty deep with this, so I won’t pretend this is “just a quickie.”

But worse than this… not only were screws missing, but the screws that were there were very loose. One screw in the system board was about ready to pop out! No screws had come out entirely, thank goodness, because that could have fried my system, and then where would I be?

I will say that I am finally happy with the way the screen is solid, though. I guess those screws just come loose through normal use, though it should have been this tight when the tech handed me the laptop, telling me that she was finished.

I’ve got a bit of an issue, server-wise, and I’m not quite sure how to distill it into search terms for google.

What’s happening is I’ve got a debian server running 2.4.32 with a Lite-On LNE100TX (rev 20) network card. The problem I’m having is that network communications will occasionally just stop.

These might be two separate issues, but the first place it’s been happening (with almost maddening results) is when I am logged in to my server via PuTTY. Occasionally, the putty window will simply stop updating. The odd part about this is that the ssh tunnel appears to still be active, because I can perform keyboard input and things on the server change (I’ve touched a file with the screen frozen).

The second place it’s been happening is when I’m working on my blog. It’s probably time for a new server, but I’m not even sure where to go to begin debugging this. Network traffic appears to be OK using tcpdump, but webpages on this end will just up and die.

It’s possible that it’s my laptop, too… but I don’t have problems with other ssh hosts or websites. It’s also possible that it’s my router, but I can’t afford to replace anything right now.

It’d be so cool if somebody had a few pointers, something for me to inspect. It’ll probably just be easier to buy a new server altogether (and, in fact, when I have the cash, I intend to do just that).

Upon a private comment from a friend of mine, I’d like to say that I do realize that representatives from Dell do end up reading blogs out there in the blogosphere. It’s possible that Dell will look at my entry and end up saying, “Feh! You broke the terms of your warranty, so you don’t get no more help!” It’s not like I’m hiding my identity… and if that is their decision, I suppose it’s appropriate, technically speaking. But if they decide to wig on me and drop my warranty because I fixed something that their tech screwed up in the first place, I’m not sure that Dell would end up keeping me as a customer.

It’s not like I’ve opened it up, broken something, and am asking Dell to fix it as a warranty repair. I fixed it better than their tech left it (and their tech actually caused one of the tabs on the bezel to snap off, but as long as the hinge is still connected, I don’t really care).

So, I would say that my latest action, though technically against warranty terms (which I accept), was a follow-up to the tech’s work, and that any complaints I have about the tech’s work are nullified by the fact that I resolved the tech’s errors.

I don’t know if that would stand up in court, but it works for me. But like I said, if Dell wants to drop their warranty, it’s their right, but I don’t really see why they would risk losing a customer on a technicality when their tech was at fault initially.

I did a little repair-work on my Dell laptop… it would probably be considered a breach of the terms of my warranty (which extends until next year or possibly the year after), but allow me to tell my story, in a way.

I use this laptop every day of the week for work. Hence, I really need it to work pretty much all of the time. The last time I had a problem and called Dell for tech support, they had to replace my motherboard. Heck, I’d much rather prefer Dell take care of that as opposed to me having to do it myself… especially considering if they screw it up, I can ask them to fix it.

Well… the person who replaced the motherboard kind of… didn’t put my laptop back together correctly. The computer still worked–for the most part–but the screen was really loose and the left side of the keyboard was raised in comparison to the right.

So, it was workable, but there was also this weird problem where it would occasionally lock up if I moved it from A to B. Perhaps you’re not supposed to do it, I don’t know–you’re not supposed to have them on your lap, either (I have a little lap-desk thing that puts a good distance between the computer and my balls, so my sperm count is safe).

After a little personal craziness, I went to the local computer shop and… used their desk space to see if I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with it. As it turns out, the screw on the left side of the screen had been sheared off, so I removed the post and found a replacement screw, reattached, and the screen moves smoothly back and forth like it used to–very, very nice. This might not have been caused by the person who performed the warranty repair, but after the repair, the lower left corner of the front bezel was pushed forward, and the plastic tab that hooks them together simply broke off a week or two after the warranty repair had been completed.

Of other significant note was the keyboard. After removing the bottom screws, I discovered that there was a cable that was being compressed between the keyboard post and the bottom of the laptop case. A simple push-out-of-the-way, and voila! Keyboard is nice and even again.

I definitely appreciate that Dell replaced my motherboard, but I’m a little irked that it came back kind of shoddy. The sheared screw might not have been the tech’s fault, but putting it back together with it not fitting together properly just isn’t right, and having the keyboard not be level also just isn’t right.

But hey. It’s fixed, and I’m happy… as long as Dell doesn’t read this and consider this to be some huge breach of warranty. I didn’t change anything else and fixed up their tech’s minor screw-ups.