[TAG] Fwd: Complete, and I DO mean COMPLETE Crash

[Brian McLean]

Hi Ben,

I thank you all for your help which has been extremely useful. Well, so
useful the system is up and running again. Besides all the other things I
did, I also reset BIOS which I believe was probably the underlying problem.

Although not strictly a Linux/OS problem, when doing all my spring cleaning,
I realised that the ventilator side of the case was against a solid side of
the desk completely impeding exhaust from the cooling fan. (yeah, OK! I
know! But it was so much more convenient on that side. Rather like someone
choosing an OS because it's got a pretty Log-in screen). I'll see how things
go over the net couple of days.

Although I'm a newbie to Linux, I have been using a PC at home and work
since before Mr Bill (them at exorbitant) Rates was able to grow much of a
beard and windows were something you used for spying on your neighbours'
wives, and I have never had this happen before, if indeed, that was part of
the problem.

Once again, thanks a million.

Cheers,
Brian

On 6 July 2011 18:00, Ben Okopnik <ben at linuxgazette.net> wrote:

> Hi, Brian -
>
> On Wed, Jul 06, 2011 at 10:56:48AM +0200, Brian McLean wrote:
> >
> > I have Linux Mint 11 (Katya Main Edition) and have been using
> successfully for
> > a few weeks (as mentioned before, I AM a Newbie and have, therefore, not
> > tweaked beyond basic add-ons and programmes from the repositories. I tend
> to
> > avoid the terminal as I am sure I could really bugger things up from
> there). A
> > couple of nights ago I closed down my desktop (Acer Aspire M3610-NETZ) as
> usual
> > (or so I thought) and the following morning I was unable to boot it
> (though I
> > was tempted to put on my Doc Martin's and do it literally. LOL). All I
> could
> > get was the "Acer Screen". Before anything else boots, or while it's
> warming
> > itself up, the pale blue/green screen has the Acer and Intel Logos and,
> at the
> > bottom: "Press Del to Enter Set Up" and F12 to enter "Boot Menu".
> > Neither of these options worked, the PC simply did nothing. I even left
> it on
> > with that screen for several hours and did not see any change, nor the
> screen
> > saver. However, each time I switched on, I DID get the single beep which
> is, I
> > believe, POST telling me the hardware is operative.
>
> It sounds like the system is hanging between the POST and the hand-off
> to the hard drive's MBR (Master Boot Record.) This can happen for a
> couple of different reasons - primarily memory problems, which others
> here have noted. It could also be that your MBR was damaged - say, by a
> virus - and the system is hanging there (a bit hard to tell without
> looking at it.) Last, there's also a chance that the BIOS itself has
> gone a bit whacky - this happens sometimes - and reflashing it may be
> worthwhile.
>
> These can be diagnosed/fixed, in order, by pulling out the memory and
> turning the machine on (you should get three beeps, if I recall the
> Acer BIOS version correctly); replacing the memory and removing the hard
> drive (two beeps); and reflashing the BIOS (instructions here:
> http://macles.blogspot.com/p/acer-aspire-one-bios.html).
>
> Sure; all of those depend on the computer working.
>
> > I am currently using my laptop with XP for communication. I have no Linux
> on
> > this PC, as I have no Windows on the other. As you can very well imagine,
> I am
> > pretty desperate by now and would very much appreciate a few words of
> soothing
> > wisdom and comforting advice.
>
> Well, it's not an OS-based problem, so no Linux advice pertains - but
> hopefully the above will be of help.
>
>
> Ben
> --
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