(c'est la vie)

October 6, 2023

This post is a formal apology for the impromptu hiatus this site has been on. My computer shat itself out of nowhere, and resolving the issue turned out to be a months-long process. And I didn’t feel like editing the site on my laptop, for reasons mainly relating to the futile hope that I’d be able to solve the problem on my own, and executive dysfunction. I will share my experience here, just in case anyone feels like commiserating.

Be me. Browsing forums on my desktop computer. Typing up a lengthy reply to a post that I genuinely found quite interesting. Out of nowhere, the video output to the monitor gets corrupted. Okay, I have a degree in CIS infrastructure, I know how to troubleshoot A/V issues: turn it off and on again (did not work), reseat the VGA cable (yes I still use VGA, it was a Windows 7 eMachine, get off my dick) (did not work). Okay, fine, time to power the PC itself off/on. This was the fatal error.

See, after that point, I was not able to get the computer running again. It would power up, but it wouldn’t actually boot (i.e., no signal to the monitor, no startup beeps to indicate POST errors or lack thereof). The next step was to open the computer up and try to troubleshooting the motherboard. This is where I hit my first main obstacle: finding a screwdriver that could actually undo the screws.

The only screwdrivers I had were size 1/16” to 3/32”, meant for small electronics like Tamagotchis or portable cassette players. The only screwdrivers my roommate had were too big. It took me two and a half weeks (18 days) to actually get my hands on a screwdriver that worked. This would not be the last of our troubles, unfortunately.

After getting the computer on the autopsy table, my plan was as follows:

  1. Dust it off (the motherboard was very, very dusty)
  2. Reseat all the cables
  3. Reseat the GPU

After every step, I would try booting the computer again. None of my attempts were successful. Inadvertently, I fixed a different issue I had been having for a while (unresponsive power button), but that was it.

It was at this point that I began to feel very discouraged. I decided to take matters out of my own hands and sent the computer to a repairman. Spoiler alert: he also could not fix it. More on this later.

In the interim, my mom offered me a stand-in: my grandpa’s Windows XP desktop. When I tell you that using this computer was a fucking religious experience….We’re talking ball mouse, loud ass keyboard, CRT monitor. Literal heaven. I have seen the face of God and it was a Windows XP loading screen on a CRT monitor.

Here’s the downside though: the computer was my (now deceased) grandpa’s, and I’m a very sentimental person. Therefore, I didn’t have it in me to erase any of his data. While I didn’t want to originally, I did end up taking the computer (and keyboard and mouse) back to my apartment. I created a user account separate from the one my grandpa had been using, just to take it for a test spin. This was ultimately fruitless. It felt wrong to be doing my normal, everyday (possibly degenerate) things on that computer. Like defacing a time capsule. I didn’t really have the heart to tell that to my mom, though, so it just sat in my apartment, unused, for about a month.

Fast forward to Thursday, September 28. A full 94 days (or: approximately three months; the entirety of my summer vacation) since the issue began. I receive a text from my mother informing me the repairman has made a diagnosis: the issue is with the motherboard, and he doesn’t order or install them (terminal, untreatable). This was disappointing, as the feeble optimist inside me never gave up, but unsurprising. It was at this point that I gave up on the Windows 7 eMachine. I was not about to invest the money and effort required to install a new motherboard onto a dead computer at the same time midterms were rolling around. It wasn’t a decision I made lightly (see: sentimentality & the autistic need for familiarity and the inability to let go), but I feel like it was the right choice.

I’ve got a replacement, now. It’s still a Windows 7, although now I’m running on Professional as opposed to Home Premium. It’s also a Dell instead of an eMachine, which I am a bit sad about; eMachines is a discontinued manufacturer, so a bit of the retro feel was lost when I had to make the switch to Dell. Because the Dell is a bit newer, it only came with USB ports for peripherals, and not PS/2 (the round purple and green ones), so I had to get an adapter in order to be able to use the clicky keyboard and ball mouse. It also didn’t come with games installed, and finding a working download of classic Minesweeper was harder than you’d think.

Other than that, adjusting to the new computer has been pretty smooth. I was able to install applications like my VPN and Discord out of the box, which is an improvement from the previous PC. On the last one, some vital updates were missing, so I had to seek out Microsoft servicepack archives and manually install 128 updates before I could get the .NET framework needed for most modern applications.

I don’t have much else to say (at least, not that I can think of at the moment). I might update this post if I realize I left out some juicy detail.