this post was submitted on 13 Aug 2023
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Operating Systems

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Ok, I know this is outside of the norm for this page, I don't really care.

Backstory: I buy things from estate auctions on hi-bid. Nobody else bid on this so I got it for the minimum bid, $2.50 USD.

It was missing the hdd, and it was in a filthy barn.

Side note: auctions are generally "as-is, where is" that means you pick these items up at the location of the estate, they usually pull things out and organize them, but they don't clean them or anything usually.

I have an extra IDE HDD, so I threw that in and tried to install Windows XP. I got errors halfway through saying "setup cannot copy the file:"

Then I got it to go all the way through, but it won't boot.

Then I got a system error that the HDD is not present.

I tried an IDE adapted SSD, still not recognized.

Then I got the HDD recognized again.

I figured I would check the ram: 1x 256MB. I threw in 2x512MB, that's a neat trick.

I also swapped out the cd drive since it was having a hard time opening up anyway.

Now I'm back to, "setup cannot copy the file:"

Maybe a bad CD burn? Idk, it's been awhile since I've done this.

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[–] SkepticElliptic 6 points 1 year ago
[–] SkepticElliptic 5 points 1 year ago

I swapped the system battery with a good one. Maybe it's losing something on restart when the install actually completes.

[–] rhythmisaprancer@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Does it have a requirement for the first memory slot to be populated by something smaller than 256? Can you try a low end Linux OS just to get it up and running?

[–] SkepticElliptic 1 points 1 year ago

There is a bios setting for "os install" which limits the amount of available ram, I believe that is for older os's. This one shipped at the very end of windows xp in around 2005.

[–] nyan@lemmy.cafe 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If the HDD is intermittently not being detected even in the BIOS, there's probably an issue with the hardware involved. Flaky IDE port on the mobo? Bad power or data cable? Overheating? Or, as someone has already suggested, capacitor plague?

I can't remember whether Dells of that era had manufacturer hardware lockin issues or not.

[–] SkepticElliptic 1 points 1 year ago

I swapped cables and etc. It turned out to be a bios setting for the drive. I think the bad battery just caused the settings to get wiped.

Why it was intermittent like that makes no sense though, but it's good after I figured out how to enable that drive number.

[–] moonsnotreal@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Apparently the Dimension 3000 can boot from usb, so it might be worth a shot to burn xp to a spare drive.

[–] SkepticElliptic 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Cool, I'll try that instead. I didn't think it could do that.

Edit: that might require a bios update as I don't see it as an option under "boot sequence"

[–] moonsnotreal@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] SkepticElliptic 12 points 1 year ago

I like tinkering, it's meditative to me.