best cheap/free scores 1.1

[momaka]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

80gb PATA:

1. bought new as a gift (when I was in middle school). fried by a powmax power supply (years later I would find out why a-power and powmax were bad).

2. came from a HP evo d530, eventually made its way into a 700mhz emac. works great, no issues

3. came from the drive I got today. so far, no issues.

Check them for bad sectors. I regularly see these with bad sectors. About 1/5 of them some at work (most have just a few, so they work fine).

Also, what's wrong with #1? Does it not spin up or does it click? If the former, keep it for spare parts - particularly the heads. I think this is what goes bad with these drives.

[ratdude747]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Check them for bad sectors. I regularly see these with bad sectors. About 1/5 of them some at work (most have just a few, so they work fine).

Also, what's wrong with #1? Does it not spin up or does it click? If the former, keep it for spare parts - particularly the heads. I think this is what goes bad with these drives.

#1 was dismantled for magnets a long time ago... I was a N00B back then. IIRC the controller board was fried. But then again, I would have never opened a power supply for the fear of my life or even known what to do with a solder iron. (I was only 13 back then)

#2 last I checked the sectors were good

#3 not sure... I think it was okay sector wise.

[shovenose]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Oh My Goodness! A toughbook!! Good luck trying to destroy that. those things are indestructable

I replaced the HDD (the original was dead, "gel padding" or not...surprisingly it was very easy. Unfortunately it's only got 256MB RAM and an 800MHz PIII...If it's too slow with Ubuntu 9 (had it lying around) I'll use Damn Small Linux...
but I think I have some problems with the bad colors of the screen!

[c_hegge]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

I hope it is not klunky like the nc6000... I got one of those free as well, dead with the MAX1987 issue. at least I got a 1gb PC2700 module out of it (and so I was able max out my old d400 to 2gb of RAM)

nope. It's quite a nice little machine now that I've fixed the USB ports. I ended up selling it for $200, since I have my thinkpad.

[B757]

Re: Your Best Dumpster Finds

This is very hard to believe but someone seriously threw out a Q6600 system with an aluminum case, some sort of Nvidia graphics card, and a high end Asus motherboard with heatpipes on the heatsink. I only took the Q6600 since someone else wanted the rest, but that's an awesome find. Why anyone would seriously throw that away beats me.

In a school ewaste event people threw out numerous working iPods and Gameboys. Unfortunately they won't let me take any.

[momaka]

Re: Your Best Dumpster Finds

This is very hard to believe but someone seriously threw out a Q6600 system with an aluminum case, some sort of Nvidia graphics card, and a high end Asus motherboard with heatpipes on the heatsink.

Nice.

Around here, we just started getting Pentium 4 computers (used to be Pentium 3 not too long ago). I just got another S478 P4 computer last Monday. Not sure what speed as I haven't tested it yet, but it doesn't look very promising. The motherboard is (again) some ESC crap - P4IBMS if I remember correctly. So it has 3 SDRAM slots (one is missing the plastic retainers, one has partially melted pins), 4x AGP slot, i845 chipset (with broken heat sink retainer), and only 400 MHz bus. Top it off with G-Luxon caps everywhere (none bulging, though) - with 3 of them missing from VRM low side (they seem to have been pulled off by the owner) and a broken USB port on the back which has also caused the resettable fuse for it to short and burn.
So overall that computer is in pretty sad shape actually. The PSU was no good either. It's some cheap POS with tiny heatsinks and wires - looks new, though. The computer also had a 60 GB Maxtor hard drive, but that's dead too. Last but not least, the CPU fan has had its wires cut and wired directly to one of the PSU connectors. It also needs a cleaning - it has that rancid sewer smell. I can't tell anymore if that smell is from roach poo or tar from cigarette smoke. Anyways it smells bad. At least it wasn't that dusty.
The only thing I've tested so far that works out of that computer is a 256 MB stick of SDRAM.
I found this one on the curb by the road, by the way.

In a school ewaste event people threw out numerous working iPods and Gameboys. Unfortunately they won't let me take any.

That's pretty stupid. Never understood why some people would *prefer* things go to waste rather than give them to people that can actually use those items.

[goodpsusearch]

Re: Your Best Dumpster Finds

Nice.

Around here, we just started getting Pentium 4 computers (used to be Pentium 3 not too long ago). I just got another S478 P4 computer last Monday. Not sure what speed as I haven't tested it yet, but it doesn't look very promising. The motherboard is (again) some ESC crap - P4IBMS if I remember correctly. So it has 3 SDRAM slots (one is missing the plastic retainers, one has partially melted pins), 4x AGP slot, i845 chipset (with broken heat sink retainer), and only 400 MHz bus. Top it off with G-Luxon caps everywhere (none bulging, though) - with 3 of them missing from VRM low side (they seem to have been pulled off by the owner) and a broken USB port on the back which has also caused the resettable fuse for it to short and burn.
So overall that computer is in pretty sad shape actually. The PSU was no good either. It's some cheap POS with tiny heatsinks and wires - looks new, though. The computer also had a 60 GB Maxtor hard drive, but that's dead too. Last but not least, the CPU fan has had its wires cut and wired directly to one of the PSU connectors. It also needs a cleaning - it has that rancid sewer smell. I can't tell anymore if that smell is from roach poo or tar from cigarette smoke. Anyways it smells bad. At least it wasn't that dusty.
The only thing I've tested so far that works out of that computer is a 256 MB stick of SDRAM.
I found this one on the curb by the road, by the way.


That's pretty stupid. Never understood why some people would *prefer* things go to waste rather than give them to people that can actually use those items.

P4 cpus are always welcome!

Too bad for the motherboard... It doesn't seem worth bothering..

Please post some pics of the psu. Those tiny heatsinks and small transformers and of course inadequate filters are always fun to see

When you say that the maxtor is dead what do you mean? Bad sectors or pcb dead, does nothing when powered?

[rigeback]

Re: Your Best Dumpster Finds

Hey Giani,
I notice you live in Como, I live in Piemont NR asti, do you or know some one who does MB reballing in Italy?
Ciao

[brethin]

Re: Your Best Dumpster Finds

Wife picked up a Dell XPS 400 at a yard sale today for $5. Opened it up for quick inspection and everything looked ok other than dusty. Powered it up and got the floppy warning (no floppy installed but bios thought it had one) changed that setting and it booted right up. Pentium D 2.8, 1 gig DDR2, ATI PCI-E video, 160GB seagate, DVD Rom Drive, DVD/CD RW Drive, Multi Card Reader, XP Pro MCE and Office 2003 installed. They were asking $10 for it and I would have jumped on that but she like to haggle.

[ThePCDoctor]

Re: Your Best Dumpster Finds

As a little kid, I was working the back alleys in my neighborhood with my little red wagon, taking home all sorts of little treasures.

More recently, a Eureka upright vacc. cleaner, that just needed cleaning and a new belt,, a chrome stand fan, that just needed some oil on the motor bearings,, a stack of brand new bed clothes, pillow cases, etc.
And WOOD, tons of wood from construction dumpsters.

Dumpsters are like a box of chocolates..... You never know what you'll get!
(dang, that sounds familiar! )

Cheers Mates!

[kc8adu]

Re: Your Best Dumpster Finds

got a big pile from my apartment cleanout guy today.an am2 mobo with cpu and ram was the best item.marked "BAD" on the bag.had 4 2gb sticks of some unknown cheap ram in it.
1 stick would stop post of whatever i put it in.other 3 went solid red in memtest.the board and cpu are ok.its a amd phenom quadcore.

[momaka]

Re: Your Best Dumpster Finds

Went on a bike ride yesterday with my friend and found a 19" Dell LCD monitor. I picked it up on the ride back to my house. Wasn't as hard to carry while biking as I thought it would be.
I haven't tested it yet, but will do that tonight. The screen did not looked cracked. The monitor is very dusty, though.

Please post some pics of the psu. Those tiny heatsinks and small transformers and of course inadequate filters are always fun to see

Will do. I'll let you know when I post them.

When you say that the maxtor is dead what do you mean? Bad sectors or pcb dead, does nothing when powered?

It spins up, but my BIOS says SMART on it has failed or it just doesn't detect the drive. I tried it on 2 different computers. I'll play around with it a little more for sure. It doesn't click loudly and seems to initialize properly.


*** EDIT ***
Well I just checked the 19" Dell monitor, and it works fine. I don't quite understand why it was thrown away. It was sitting in a box for a HP widescreen monitor so my guess is the original owner upgraded and just didn't need this one.
I'll still probably open it, though. Need to do that anyways, both for clean up and to check for bad caps. The monitor smells a bit like mold. It might have been kept in a humid basement or garage after all.

[kc8adu]

Re: Your Best Dumpster Finds

apartment cleanout guy strikes again.akai 37" 1080p lcd.
dead so another megmeet psu roasted its caps no doubt.

[Junk Parts]

Re: Your Best Dumpster Finds

Yesterday my son found and almost new 6.75 hp self propelled Craftman lawnmower sitting next to a dumpster. The crank shaft is bent a little. I think I have a used shaft that will fit it.
A week or so ago he found a Hp Pavilion ze5700 Lappy in the trash bin. It hasn't got a hard drive in it. As soon as I find a power cord for it I'll see if it will post. I would bet that this Lappy is toast but you never know. The screen and case do not look to be cracked or broken.

[ratdude747]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Found a linksys WRT54G V8 for $4 at a goodwill today. Since I have a Military ID (via my dad, until I am 21), I got 15% off... so it comes out to $3.20

the wall wart appears to be klunky... plug it to the wall and then into the router it is ok, do the opposite and the router freaks. didn't do it with the wart I stole from the netgear WGR614 that the linksys is to replace.

of course, I checked the caps, 3 su'scons , not bloated. I know, it will probably need a recap...

for now, I DD-WTR'd it... so far, so good.


----

I also found an old Phillips Nottignham 3 speed cruiser bike for $10 ($8.50 after mil. discount). based on some date codes on the rear hub it appears to be made in 1970 (12/69 hub code). I'd say more but this thing will get a new thread in the Off topic area.

[Ami Sapphire]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Found a linksys WRT54G V8 for $4 at a goodwill today. Since I have a Military ID (via my dad, until I am 21), I got 15% off... so it comes out to $3.20

the wall wart appears to be klunky... plug it to the wall and then into the router it is ok, do the opposite and the router freaks. didn't do it with the wart I stole from the netgear WGR614 that the linksys is to replace.

of course, I checked the caps, 3 su'scons , not bloated. I know, it will probably need a recap...

for now, I DD-WTR'd it... so far, so good.

I also have the exact version of that router. That one is great for DD-WRT. In my case, it is in Repeater Bridge mode, so it serves as a second wireless connection exclusive to my family's Nintendo DS Lite handhelds. But, mine is JTAGed and CFE compressed. As a result, the firmware it is using is a micro-plus release.

I never had that AC adapter issue with mine. Interesting, nonetheless.

[ratdude747]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

well, she overheated last night... sounds like I might need to order some caps!

[ipman]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

I've got a WRT54G v7 (does not support dd-wrt) for around $5 here as defective. In fact, the power supply was bad, the router was working just fine.

[NxB]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

All of these are worth about 3.50 with their crippled ram size. I've resorted to upgrading the ram in all of my gimp routers. Most have 16mb-64mb, depending on what fit. The flash is still limiting but at least micro plus works.

[shovenose]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

In the apartment building we live in now there is a sort of ongoinging free pile in the hallway to the manager's office. I found a nice 2-port belkin KVM Switch (and two of those extremely rare PS2-to-USB adapters attached to it), and MS Works software...

A tenant in another unit says he has an extra Sony Trinitron that "works perfectly except the sound doesn't work and the headphones jack is shot" that he would give me for free...which I'm considering taking. should I? (this is the same guy that gave me the nice Sony sound system that is really awesome except teh CD part doesn't work)...