XBox 360

[Lead Head]

Isnt surface mount called BGA or something like that?

[Aloone_Jonez]

BGA stands for Ball Grid Array and is a kind of surface mount technology, looking at it again that's what's being used here in the XBox 360.

[cymon]

I don't have an iron precise enough for SMT though.

But it looks like the dual G5 people will be able to emulate it rather easily...

[ReggieMicheals]

Well, as long as it isn't like Packard Hell...

[cymon]

I don't see what your issue with Packard Bell is. They made some good, solid machines. None of this thrown together shit you get nowadays. For instance, recently I had a 3-year old HP NIC break. What the fuck? It's not like it's extremely complicated. Their response is that 'computers only last three years'. Computers only last three years if they're trash.

[ReggieMicheals]

The PB computer I had(this was in the USA in the 90s, I don't know if they still do the same crap) had most of the parts integrated into the motherboard, so upgrading anything but the processor, 4 PCI devices, the drives, and the memory was nearly impossible(graphics card was integrated which was the thing that pissed me off later). To make it worse, the on board clock(not the instructions clock, but the one that was keeping time in the BIOS correct) was a Large Capacitor and not an actual battery, it died out and the BIOS would not allow me to access the Operating System. If Packard Bell still does shit like this I will not buy their computers...

[worker201]

If your CMOS dies, and you know the specs of your hard drive, you can usually fool the computer into letting you at least get in and salvage some data.  I've done this before.

Onboard stuff is just one of the methods that was used to keep prices down in order to insure that everyone bought a computer, even if they didn't need one.  Although it was shitty at the time, it makes PCs kinda cheap now, much cheaper than they should be.  Fortunately, most decent computers don't use onboard video or onboard sound anymore.

[Lead Head]

does packard bell even exist anymore?

[WMD]

does packard bell even exist anymore?

Yes, but only in Europe.  And even then, they aren't exactly a huge company.  Far from their glory days.

<-- Proud former Packard Bell owner, 50MHz 486

[adiment]

If your CMOS dies, and you know the specs of your hard drive, you can usually fool the computer into letting you at least get in and salvage some data.  I've done this before.

I'd like to see that. (links?)

If your CMOS dies, that means your mobo won't post (and cannot even supply a clock for the CPU) and you aren't able to do anything at all unless you buy a new CMOS chip from the manufacturer or you hotflash it from an idtentical board...or buy a new motherboard.

[piratePenguin]

I have an old computer that just won't do a damn thing, no output at all (well, the fans spin, an LED goes on, and that's it). Would that be a broken CMOS, or should/could it beep/something if the CMOS is broken?

The graphics card I was using in it is now working well on another computer, so it wasn't the graphics card.

[adiment]

it could be a corrupted CMOS... definatly a motherboard problem though. Same thing happend to me when I fried my motherboard overclocking. It'd turn on and fans would spin, but nothing. Just sat there, doing nothing.

[Aloone_Jonez]

Have you measured across the battery with a volt meter?

[cymon]

The PB computer I had(this was in the USA in the 90s, I don't know if they still do the same crap) had most of the parts integrated into the motherboard, so upgrading anything but the processor, 4 PCI devices, the drives, and the memory was nearly impossible(graphics card was integrated which was the thing that pissed me off later). To make it worse, the on board clock(not the instructions clock, but the one that was keeping time in the BIOS correct) was a Large Capacitor and not an actual battery, it died out and the BIOS would not allow me to access the Operating System. If Packard Bell still does shit like this I will not buy their computers...

You can install a real video card, and then just turn off the onboard in the BIOS. And I don't know what you're on about, I had a Packard Bell in a garage for 4 years, and the CMOS clock was only off by five minutes.

[piratePenguin]

Have you measured across the battery with a volt meter?

I have not.
It couldn't possibly be dangerous for me to try the battery from this computer on it, could it?
That might be worth trying some day.