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Questions tagged [defective-hardware]

29 questions
4
votes
0 answers

How to physically damage a USB stick, SD card, or SDXC card to permanently make it read only?

Over the years, I have had several cases where either an SD card, a USB stick or any other removable storage medium has had a physical defect, and after some use, or a certain amount of formatting, it becomes a Read only drive no matter what OS or…
DanRan
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3
votes
1 answer

Linux media box/mail server suffering filesystem/RAID errors, kernel panics

In the past week, the mini-ITX machine I built myself to serve mail and Samba shares has kernel panicked twice with filesystem-related stuff. Last night I noticed integrity errors when streaming a movie to my set-top client (video artifacts), so I…
dwf
  • 133
2
votes
1 answer

What precautions should I take once defective RAM has been replaced?

I recently discovered that my RAM is faulty (MemTest86+). I am waiting for new RAM to be sent to me.  It was through sheer luck that I discovered something was wrong. I was copying a large amount of big files and decided to verify the copies by…
DustByte
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2
votes
0 answers

Strange bright/white bubbles beneath LCD screen

I've got an older generation x86 Macbook Pro that has some weird white bubbles embedded in the LCD. The actual pixels seem to be working fine (not dead or stuck), and when I put colored images in those areas, the bubble-affected regions change color…
Calvin Huang
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2
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0 answers

Custom desktop reboots every 4 seconds

Any help would be so appreciated. My son and I recently put together a desktop from parts. Was working amazing for 3 weeks, then suddenly froze for the very first time. Did a hard shutdown, but when turning the desktop back on, it powers for about…
at01
  • 279
2
votes
0 answers

Does this show a defect in my Dell monitor, or is it acceptable?

After the system powers off, my monitor (Dell 3011 2560x1600) continues to display the contents of the video buffer for a LONG time. Right now the PC has been powered off and the display cable disconnected for about 16 minutes (no exaggeration) and…
Stilez
  • 1,825
2
votes
1 answer

Freezes and glitches

Currently trying to diagnose the cause of some freezing issues with my windows machine. Here are the current issues and steps I've taken to resolve this issue: During windows session, usually 2-8 hours in my computer would seemingly freeze. I could…
Blue
  • 294
2
votes
4 answers

How to save a SATA HDD with a broken data connector?

While reconfiguring my home server, I discovered why my data drive isn't detected anymore: This is an expensive 6-terabyte drive. I'm not asking whether it can be salvaged, I'm asking how? I can think of a few ways, but please help me choose the…
Torben Gundtofte-Bruun
  • 18,646
1
vote
1 answer

Monitor fails randomly

I have an HP Pavillion 27xi LED IPS monitor that randomly fails and fails in different ways. In this I mean that some times it works for 30 seconds then goes black with the power light still on. Other times, the screen comes on but then the OSD menu…
T0t3sMcG0t3s
  • 158
1
vote
0 answers

Does this HDTune result indicate a bad/damaged HDD?

Recently, my laptop started slowing down a lot more than usual, where it took more than 5 minutes to load Visual Studio (Before, it only took at max 30 seconds). so I ran an HDTune Benchmark: This is a 750 Gig 5400RPM SATA Laptop Harddrive. My…
TtT23
  • 125
1
vote
1 answer

How can I test a GPU completely to ensure all of it's components work properly?

I was unable to find a solution to this on Superuser, the GPU isn't overheating nor is it crashing, it simply provides wrong output and practically explodes sometimes. I need to find a tool which can help diagnose and possibly pinpoint what is…
Howard Lince III
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1
vote
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SSD disappears/shuts down while computer is running

so this is the first time I'm having a problem with a SSD. Issue: While the computer is running - and has been for at least one hour - one of my SSDs suddenly 'disappears' for lack of a better word. System can't find anymore/can't access it. If I…
Wiste
  • 123
1
vote
2 answers

Where do I connect this wire from the side panel fan?

Is the wire broken? Where do I connect it?
Henry
  • 13
0
votes
1 answer

Laptop power adapter stopped working

I have a Dell Inspiron 5521 which has no problems whatsoever. I bought it in Oman but I live in India. Consequently, I had to purchase a 3 pin converter to use the laptop charger back home. However, recently (after about a year of usage) the adapter…
x__x
  • 101
0
votes
0 answers

How can I access BIOS on an external monitor, when primary display is broken?

I am basically having the same issue as this (How to install access BIOS with broken screen) with my Sony VAIO VPCEB33FD (Windows 7). The external monitor only works once Windows starts. I opened up the laptop and disconnected the built-in monitor…
Phil E
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1
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