Spring Break has ended, so I figure that I’d make a quick update…
T420
As mentioned in my previous post, the T420 did not make it unscaved out of its operation. Disassembly and reassembly had some hiccups, which are never good.
After the machine was reassembled, it would not startup. It would just sit there blinking its power LED, with no backlight, no fan sounds, or anything else.
As mentioned, Spring Break ended so I had to return without the T420. My cousin (who knows quite a bit about computers) is going to take a look at it, (hopefully) fix it, and tell me what went wrong so that I can learn.
I also created a forum thread on a forum to ask questions and see what may be wrong. A fellow forum member mentioned that the BIOS EEPROM may have failed – which in most cases necessitates replacing the system board (Lenovo’s term for motherboard.)
It’s disappointing to make mistakes like this. It is stressful to loose your main machine, as that is what I use for homework, answering e-mails, making majority of my blog posts, and much other. However, failure isn’t always to be seen in a negative light. We learn from our failures. Now I know what I can improve at – sticking to my plan, keeping screws separated, and allowing ample time to work on computers.
At first I was discouraged. I’m a college students whose goal is to graduate and work in the IT industry. If you haven’t looked at my website or don’t know me, computers is something I truly enjoy working with. I will not let this failure discourage me, but rather I’ll learn from it and grow.
Time and my cousin’s work will tell what went wrong. Hopefully it’s just a connector that got overlooked during reassembly (as it was happening around midnight) or something small. Fingers crossed. Unfortunately, there is no time frame (or ETA) for how long the T420 will be out of service for – it could be a week, the rest of this semester, etc.
The Impact
Due to the failure, the only computer I have with me is the IBM ThinkPad T42. It’s very limited in what it can do (no YouTube, no social networking, no advanced websites, no PDFs, etc.), but it is still useful. While I can’t play Minecraft or the other games, I still have Solitaire and 3D Pinball. I also have my phone, which will allow me to stay connected to social networking, answer emails, view advanced websites, etc.
As for the blog, a recent WordPress update has limited the T42 further in what it can do. Before the update, I could format text in posts using the T42. Unfortunately, I can no longer do that. I could never add images to posts using the T42, so that’s another limitation. But I can still write posts (like this one) on the T42 – I just can’t format them or add pictures.
The good news is that I can really exercise the T42. I was planning on possibly using it solely for a week, albeit with upgraded memory (did I mention the T42 is still at 512MB of total memory on Win7?) and the T420 still functioning fine.
I still have access to computers at my work and our school library, so I will still be able to do homework and other things that require a more advanced computer or software. (For instance, adding Daisy’s picture and formatting text in this entry.)
Now, enough bad news. What about the good things that I was successfully able to accomplish over the break?
I was able to get a bunch of personal “to-dos” accomplished. But one thing that I can share is the Pinnacle.
Pinnacle
The 1981 Free Spirit Pinnacle got two tires mounted and ready to hit the road over break, if you missed the latest post in the Pinnacle project category. Both tires have held air just fine.
The true test is going to be getting both wheels mounted on the bike, the tires inflated to their “permanent” pressures, and getting the rest of the bike ready to go. The bike needs brakes and a mechanical tune-up before the bike can hit the streets.
As mentioned in the recent Pinnacle update, both wheels have been damaged by some sort of impact. They’re going to need to be replaced when possible. But they should be able to work sufficiently until I have the time (and money) to replace said wheels.
I also noticed that the tire that I mounted on the front wheel is slightly bigger when inflated (height from the bead to tread) than the rear tire. I’m hoping that this doesn’t cause a problem, and I don’t think it will. If it does, it should be a fairly easy swap. But I won’t know until the bike is entirely ready.
This Spring Break was short and so-so, but at least I did get to spend time with my family and our pug, Daisy.
