[Dart060]

Today I went to work with my dad to get started on making a new Linux based server computer. I got a new computer tower, boxes of leads and cards, an old keyboard and my sisters old monitor.

I started by inserting the motherboard, hard drive, CD-ROM, floppy drive and the networking, video and sound cards. I plugged in the keyboard, monitor, mouse and the tower and started it up. It started up its text based interface detecting the system, all was going well until it came with a BIOS checksum error and an invalid floppy drive, so I took apart the computer and removed the motherboard, leads, memory and the cards.

I replaced the motherboard and inserted again, re-installing all of the above and then started again, loaded fine so I entered setup, I changed the first boot from floppy to CD-ROM, auto-detected the primary master and secondary master/slave and restarted the computer.

The computer started fine all loaded up, continuing to the next screen with just a flashing cursor, well that cursor stayed there for 5 minutes so I shutdown the computer and check it again for any loose cables, reposition the power sw, reset sw, power ldd and the speaker cables and restarted for the 3rd time, that's the problem with making your own computer, you get experience but at a frustrating cost.

Startup for the 3rd time, all is good, computer loads Linux Red Hat 8.0 disk and starts installing, I partition the hard drive, wiping Windows 98 and continue installation. Half an hour later tada!, Linux Red Hat is finally finished and ready to configure.

After 5 1/2 hours (including breaks) I've custom made my own server computer.

This post has been edited by Dart060: 30 November 2004 - 09:29 AM

[Nate]

i bet you had heaps of fun didnt you? anyway good job

[Dart060]

Had great fun and experience for later on

[Nate]

next time you build one it wont take 5 hours

[Crown]

thats like me makin a quesadilla

[SlainThrax-]

how much did it cost you for parts or were they all relativly free?

[Red Sentinel]

i think most of them was free, because it was on his desk

[Bodom]

Ever thought he bought them and put them on his desk?

(never read the whole post but hey)

[Ratty]

Sweet!

Nice job Dart

ehehe, its good experience alright

[CongressJon]

Good job on that one, Dart! If I ever tried making a computer, even with a manual, I'd probably end up with a smoking screen, and a flashing light going off in the CD drive or something

[Phieta]

Good job, the first try is always the hardest. Just don't be like my brother and forget to add a fan

[Ferret Overlord]

I don't even want to know what the wall looked like after that mess up, Phiet.

[r@nG3|2s]

Well done!
Next time it wont take as long, if u need help with the hard ware part of installing things which i thing u don't lol, ask me. Though i dun no much about linux
hehe
--rangers

[Phieta]

I don't even want to know what the wall looked like after that mess up, Phiet.

...?

It didn't catch on fire or anything, but we've hadthis comp (the one with no intake fan) since 1998/ 99... and I only found the problem last month. Sad, really. ANyhow, no fire, but over the course of the last 5-6 years that comp's killed a video card, processor, CD-ROM drive, and two hard drives.