technology

23115 readers

262 users here now

On the road to fully automated luxury gay space communism.

Spreading Linux propaganda since 2020

Rules:

1. Obviously abide by the sitewide code of conduct. Bigotry will be met with an immediate ban
2. This community is about technology. Offtopic is permitted as long as it is kept in the comment sections
3. Although this is not /c/libre, FOSS related posting is tolerated, and even welcome in the case of effort posts
4. We believe technology should be liberating. As such, avoid promoting proprietary and/or bourgeois technology
5. Explanatory posts to correct the potential mistakes a comrade made in a post of their own are allowed, as long as they remain respectful
6. No crypto (Bitcoin, NFT, etc.) speculation, unless it is purely informative and not too cringe
7. Absolutely no tech bro shit. If you have a good opinion of Silicon Valley billionaires please manifest yourself so we can ban you.

founded 4 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

wtf is wrong with my computer (hexbear.net)

submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

15 comments fedilink hide all child comments

recently there has been this problem that has been getting more frequent, my computer just randomly freezes up/blackscreens and then fails to post when i do a hard restart. this doesn't resolve itself until after i open it up and play musical chairs with the ram for a bit.

shit that i have tried:

swapped the ram around to different slots. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't
cleaned out the case
wd40'd the ram pins (helped with the posting but seems to have increased crash frequency, not enough data to tell for sure)

no idea where to begin with this one, can't tell if it's a motherboard or a ram issue or something else entirely. the sticks are of differing sizes and manufacture so that may also be an issue. would give specs but the thing just died on me in the middle of posting this and i can't boot in just yet. motherboard is a supermicro x9 something server board.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Don't put WD-40 on the pins. I'd start by pulling out the sicks and cleaning the pins off with a q-tip and iso alcohol. Probably a good idea to clean out the slots now too.

Get Memtest64 and run it with both sticks. If it fails try it with each one by itself. If a stick doesn't past the test you should be able to get a new one under warrenty. Just start an RMA request and say it failed memtest64.

If its not your ram then its probably a poorly seated CPU. Remove the cooler, clean the paste off and carefully put the cooler back on without over tightening it, or tightening one side more than the other.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

cleaning the pins off with a q-tip and iso alcohol

i tried this at the beginning, things didn't noticeably improve so i took it to a local shop and they gave me the wd40 treatment. will try again

probably a poorly seated CPU

inshallah please let this be it

[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

It is wild to me that they put WD-40 on it. It's a lubricant, not a solvent; it will leave residue behind. Regular WD-40 shouldn't get anywhere near PC components, and the specific stuff they make for cleaning electrical contacts has a bunch of warnings and cautions that would keep me from using it on anything delicate or expensive.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

WD40 isn't a lubricant, it's for "Water Displacement." While as a liquid it can be used as one, it is a poor one. It's whole purpose is to cover a metal part with a hydrophobic layer. It's good at removing water from something like your sparkplugs. Maybe they thought water had gotten in and was causing issues with contact?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

Seconding this. Get some 90% isopropyl and clean off all that WD-40. Let it fully dry/evaporate. The only thing you should spray on your computer parts is compressed air.