[TML] Computer problems

[Derek Wildstar]

Hi, Loren!

On Jul 25, 2008, at 2:27 AM, GDWGAMES at aol.com wrote:
> OK, my "new" machine broke down in a most annoying manner

Sounds frustrating.  Can you tell us more about the new machine?  Is  
it a PC or a Mac?  If it's a PC, what brand is it (HP, Dell, or a  
"white box" machine built by a friend or local shop)?  Is it actually  
new-out-of-the-box, a used machine or hand-me-down, or a frankenstein  
built from a mixture of scrounged parts and salvage (like a lot of  
PC's starships)?

> I can't shut it off, and the screen is blank.

When you say you can't shut it off, what is running?  Do you hear the  
fans and see lights on the CPU box as well as the monitor?

> The monitor indicates it is in power saver mode, and pulling the  
> plug to the computer shuts it off, but plugging it back in doesn't  
> reboot.

When you plug it back in and turn it on, does anything at all happen?   
You should get a power light, hear a fan start up, and you may be able  
to hear the hard drive spin up as well.  If you don't see the lights  
and fan, they you're not getting power to the system.  Probably a bad  
power supply, but also check - there may be a small on/off switch on  
the back of the power supply to really disconnect power (this  
overrides any push-button power switch on the front panel).

If you get some lights and a fan on the CPU, observe carefully what  
happens when the system tries to boot up.  Do you get any sort of  
indication on the screen (a flash or blink, some text that goes away,  
anything)?  Do you get any sort of beep code or blinking lights on the  
motherboard?

A system with bad RAM can't boot up, but often it uses an unusual beep  
signal (two long beeps) to indicate that it has a problem.

A screen flash or blink, or text that appears and then goes away  
quickly usually indicates that the basic components are working, but  
the system is unable to boot up.

If it's a new-bought system and still under warranty or exchange, at  
this point I'd take it back in for repair.  If it's a frankenstein or  
home-build, then here are some other things to try:

As Leonard suggests, unplug everything except for the power supply and  
the video board.  This means disconnecting the CD-ROM and hard drive  
cables inside, and pulling out all of the other plug-in cards (sound,  
networking, hyperdrive, etc.).  In particular, there was at least one  
generation of motherboards that would exhibit exactly this "power on  
but act dead" behavior ... if the hard drive cable is plugged in the  
wrong way around.  If the system boots as far as the BIOS screen and  
then stops with a "No Boot Device" message, that's your problem.  Plug  
things back in one at a time until either everything is back in, or it  
stops working.  The last thing you plugged in is your culprit.  Check  
the orientation of cables - although most cables are supposed to only  
plug in one way, many cheap cables will also fit (or sort-of fit) the  
wrong way, too.

Hopefully this fixes it.  If it still exhibits the same behavior  
stripped down to the minimum, they you've got a bad component on your  
hands.  The only thing to do is swap them (one by one) for known-good  
parts.  Video card is usually easiest, followed by RAM, followed by  
CPU, followed by motherboard.  The Law of Mechanical Perversity  
ensures that the component that is hardest to replace is the one that  
has failed.

Good luck!


ObTrav: The PC's starship, a frankenstein of salvage, recondition  
parts, and "midnight requisitions" is engaged in wilderness refueling,  
and took an unusually hard jolt during the scooping run.  The inertial  
compensators have always been dodgy, and failed to completely correct  
for the problem.  Various small parts are broken all over the ship -  
lighting panels, loose breakables of all sorts are smashed, and worst  
of all the ship's computer is misbehaving.

- Attempting to use any computer program that provides a DM or benefit  
(e.g., such as using Gunner Interact or Evade in combat) requires a 3+  
throw to succeed.  If the trow fails, a successful computer roll must  
be made to bypass the error and start the program.

- Attempting to jump requires a 3+ roll to succeed.  If the roll  
fails, the computer's error-checking circuitry has detected a problem  
with the computations, and the jump is aborted before the sequencing  
starts.  While this saves the jump fuel, the jump computations must be  
run again, and the jump sequence restarted from the beginning, taking  
at least an hour.  THe error can be bypassed with a computer roll,  
however on a critical failure of the computer roll, the ship misjumps.

- Library data and entertainment programs will operate correctly on  
3+.  If the roll is failed, the crash will be annoying and potentially  
embarrassing, but not actually harmful (e.g., you loose your high  
score on a game, all of the ship's menus and screen displays appear in  
an obscure dialect of Vargr, the "entertainment" holo punched up by  
the hedonist from Regina plays in the stateroom of the uptight  
passenger from Mora or vice-versa, the navigator's personal diary  
becomes the screen saver for all public terminals, or the ship's PA  
system spontaneously breaks into a medley of the greatest arias of  
Aslan Opera, etc.).

Apply a +1 DM to all throws for each jump the ship has completed, or  
each combat the ship has been in since the computer was damaged (e.g.,  
the first jump after the damage requires a 3+, the second jump is DM+1  
so requires a 4+, etc.).

Repairs require a world with a Class A or B starport, OR a TL equal or  
greater than the ship's TL.  If done professionally, the repairs will  
take two days, cost Cr 100,000, and will be completely successful.   
The PCs may attempt repairs on their own.  Each attempt takes a week,  
and has a target of 14+.  The following DMs apply:
+DM of the highest Computer skill of the crew attempting repairs
+1 if located in Class A or B starport
+1 if located on a world with TL equal or greater than the ship
+1 if located on a world with any starport and any character has  
Scrounging (or Streetwise, if your game doesn't have Scrounging).
-1 if attempting to make repairs while the ship is underway (in Jump  
or real space).

Also apply ONE of the following DMs based on the availablity of spare  
parts:
+1 if Cr 1,000 is spent on spare parts for this attempt
+2 if Cr 5,000 is spent on spare parts for this attempt
+3 if Cr 10,000 is spent on spare parts for this attempt
+4 if Cr 50,000 is spent on spare parts for this attempt
+5 if Cr 100,000 is spent on spare parts for this attempt
Spare parts are available on any world with a Class A or B starport,  
or any world with TL equal to or greater than the ship's TL.

If the throw succeeds, the computer is repaired (though you might want  
to track down which member of the crew has a fondness for Aslan  
Opera ...).  If the roll fails, increase the malfunction DM just as if  
the ship jumped or was in combat.

If the malfunction DM ever reaches +10 (so that the target number is  
13+) the computer has completely failed.  The ship cannot jump.  Other  
systems including the power plant and maneuver drive are operable, but  
should be watched over by duty engineer 24/7.  It can navigate in  
normal space; all navigation and piloting tasks become harder and take  
longer.

Once the computer reaches this point, spare parts MUST be obtained in  
order to make a repair roll.

---Derek