[RESOLVED] whats the oddest computer setup you have seen

[messiah]

just wanting to know whats the oddest thing you or your customers have done to there computer

I somewhat a economical (sorry for spelling) computer user my overclock amd its water cooled and also heats my fish tank in the winter keeps the fish warm at 74-80 degress and also my computer cold at the same temp
once a month a get vxd errors and i know when to change the filter and clean out my water
what do all you have setup in the dungons

[d_dcomp]

Nothing too elaborate!

But oddest computer seen was the pegboard computer!

Close second a gateway who ever heard of a cow using a computer? hehehe



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Later days and better leis!!

[Nighthand]

A while back Windrivers had a picture of a wearable PC. That was pretty cool.

[BreakWindows]

Deep in the MIT resources, l ofund plans for a Linux-powered home. Lights, toasters, toilets and pretty much everything you can imagine...lf l ever buy a house, it WILL be penguin powered!!



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Either drop the Windows out of your computers, or drop your computers out of the windows.
BreakWindows (http://www.breakwindows.com)

[jimmr13]

Last summer at the River (Parker AZ.) It was like 119 degrees out side and we went to see my Friends Cousin who lives there he had his Tower open with a big pan sitting next to it with a block of ice in it and a big fan blowing acrossed the ice right on his computer! He told me "**** Dude it's the only way I can keep it and me cool in this damn mobile home." Funny part was it worked!
Parker Az.?? Water skying !! ( Her Cousin is a boat machanic.) Okay messed up my Berkeley Drive.BUT THAT IS ANOTHER STORY!! http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/biggrin.gif

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If all else fails read the directions !

[ftctech]

The strangest computer ever brought to me
was in a cardboard box with no case just
the insides, all hooked up the ,guy who brang
in said that when he kicked the case it fell apart

[BreakWindows]

Jimmr's story reminded me of something l did this summer. See, l'm poor folk http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/wink.gif , and it came down between a PIII or air conditioning for my apartment. Of course, l chose the PIII

So, l put as many ice packs into Ziplock bags as l could fit, stuffed them into my case, turned the computer backwards on top of my desk; the result: the cpu fan would blow freezing cold air into the case fan, and the case fan would blow freezing cold air onto me. http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/biggrin.gif l believe l'm officially a hacker http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/wink.gif

Hey, it was the only way for me to beat the hot NYC gritty summers.



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Either drop the Windows out of your computers, or drop your computers out of the windows.
BreakWindows (http://www.breakwindows.com)

[3fingersalute]

Originally posted by BreakWindows:
So, l put as many ice packs into Ziplock bags as l could fit, stuffed them into my case, turned the computer backwards on top of my desk;

Now there's a cool idea, (pardoon the pun) although I could just imagine what would happen if one of the bags sprung a leak....bye-bye new Pentium III

[This message has been edited by 3fingersalute (edited December 08, 2000).]

[jaeger]

Got bored one afternoon and built an old 386 inside out. Took it to school the next day and replaced my teacher's computer with it. The look on his face was classic. My line? 'Must have been a virus'

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Life isn't one damn thing after another, it's the same damn thing over and over.

[MacGyver]

I used to live in an apartment without air conditioning, so the only way I could keep my computer from overheating was to remove the case cover and have a 12" oscillating fan about 3" away blowing into it! I even had it plugged into my power strip so it would come on with the rest of the setup. I know it's been done before, but now that I'm married I don't think my wife would put up with it.

It was so bad that with the cover on, I would get internal temps of around 45 degrees C (that's 113 degrees F for those of you in the US) But it was a pretty bare setup: P2/233 with 3 gig HD and G200 vid card. Now I live in a nice cool basement and I don't even bother monitoring the temps anymore.

[BreakWindows]

Originally posted by 3fingersalute:
Now there's a cool idea, (pardoon the pun) although I could just imagine what would happen if one of the bags sprung a leak....bye-bye new Pentium III

Pun forgiven http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/wink.gif Actually the heat got to my brain, so it seemed worth it...but when a friend finally brought up the high risk of hot metal touching cheap plastic ziplock bags, it was back to sweating.

Oh well, at least the computer didn't have to be on as long, since compiling and running processes sped right along...well that, and l was drunk from drinking cold beers to stay cool...




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Either drop the Windows out of your computers, or drop your computers out of the windows.
BreakWindows (http://www.breakwindows.com)

[CREEPINGDEATH]

[[I've only acyually seen this in a few slightly older packard hell's]]


I thought it was strange that they would put the motherboard on the bottom of the case
[horozontally not vertically]
And this is in a Tower!!!

It's the most stupid setup I've ever seen and they usually acumulate about an inch of dust down there.

[sorry bout the spelling]



[This message has been edited by CREEPINGDEATH (edited December 10, 2000).]

[LORE]

anything that compaq puts out for home use is pretty odd. Did anyone have any contact with the blue "toaster oven" they put out about a year ago??? what a freekin joke that was!

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We may be through with the past, but the past is not through with us.

[himthatwas]

My friend was building his first Linux machine out of parts found in dumpsters. Unfortunately the only Hard Drive he could find was just about as big as the case so he just strapped it on top and called the machine hunchback1. It ran great and if I'm not mistaken he is still using it to host his web pages.

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Go Forward...

[FatalException0E]

Yes, I've seen the little blue Compaq toaster oven - Someone brought one into my shop just today with a modem problem. For a strange setup, how about my roommate's computer. He has an Abit KA7-100, and a PCI IDE RAID card. That's right, 6 IDE channels, and he's putting one drive on each one. He also has a SCSI CD-RW.

Compaq also sold something ages ago that looked like a portable vacuum cleaner - keyboard clipped to bottom, 8 inch monitor in case, was a 286. Then there was the computer someone brought in that had been shot.......

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Two things are infinte: the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - A. Einstein

[baconboy21]

yeah this one time i saw a intel machine that had MAC OS 8 on it... it was a strange thing.

[Niaboc Sanavrin]

How about the Compaq "footballs" as we so lovingly call them at my shop. You know, the mini-mini-tower where you have to remove the power supply to upgrade the ram?


Originally posted by FatalException0E:

Compaq also sold something ages ago that looked like a portable vacuum cleaner - keyboard clipped to bottom, 8 inch monitor in case, was a 286.

They looked more like a sewing machine all packed up. I used to have one. I gutted it and managed to put a 486 in the case and use the exsisting video hardware.
Helluva project.
Helluva mess.
Helluva waste of time.

But I have fun.



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Welcome to an inventive idea.
A great creation of the complex human mind.
Welcome to a wonderful thing that would enthral the average Joe.
Welcome to stupid.

[FUBAR]

Years ago I worked in an office that used Prime PCs. The power supply plugged into the backplane!. You also could not run the machine with the case off as there was a switch that kept the PC from running without the case. We quickly learned to bypass that design flaw!

[Raijen]

Originally posted by Niaboc Sanavrin:
How about the Compaq "footballs" as we so lovingly call them at my shop. You know, the mini-mini-tower where you have to remove the power supply to upgrade the ram?


Originally posted by FatalException0E:

Compaq also sold something ages ago that looked like a portable vacuum cleaner - keyboard clipped to bottom, 8 inch monitor in case, was a 286.

They looked more like a sewing machine all packed up. I used to have one. I gutted it and managed to put a 486 in the case and use the exsisting video hardware.
Helluva project.
Helluva mess.
Helluva waste of time.

But I have fun.


I swear, the big C puts little sharp jagged pieces in their older machines. I was sticking an RW drive into a P233 model, and the hand came out with enough lacerations that I was glad my teatnus (sp?) shot was oup to date. http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/smile.gif

Gotta love those brand-name computers :-)

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Nicholas "Raijen" Furniss

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
Lord of the Smileys
:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Visit My Homepage (http://go.to/rffa (http://go.to/rffa)

[Draggar]

Well, for the computer MFG I used to work support for, the last system that got shipped out (they went bankrupt) was a box of wood. Now THEREs an odd setup....

How about a VCR and a Nintendo attached to an old Commodore 64 monitor?

[DrewMcV]

I had a Linux BOX for a while, no case (couldn't afford one and figured who needs it anyway~!), just the internals in a brown cardboard box with a fan blowing in and a fan blowing out. It worked well as a firewall.

[window_washer]

I work at a Computer Renaissance and you wouldn't BELIEVE the old junkers that come in here sometimes to be repaired (or worse yet, that someone thinks we're going to PAY hundreds of bucks for.) I've seen three of the Crapaq Sewing Machines in the past year. The weirdest thing, however, has got to be the mural my tech class made on the wall to honour our teacher--it had computer components and random bits of nonrelated hardware strewn across a 4'x6' board, with working connections, fans, LEDs, bells, whistles, and other doohickeys that looked really cool but didn't actually function as a computer. We had a great time razzing the next class by telling them that by the end of the course they had to make it "work" or they would fail.

(And if I ever get my hands on one of the Crapaq design engineers...)

You all familiar with those bizarre Packard Hell corner units with the L-shaped cases?

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There's an exception to every rule, except this one.

[cheezmonkey]

Originally posted by FatalException0E:

Compaq also sold something ages ago that looked like a portable vacuum cleaner - keyboard clipped to bottom, 8 inch monitor in case, was a 286. Then there was the computer someone brought in that had been shot.......



yo Ive Actually GOT one of them things. ive had it knockin around for years. it took me an hour to figure out how to get it to come on. and to this day ive never managed to get INSIDE the darn thang!

[Kromrider]

How about those old AST systems with the monitor built in. Actually was a pretty good design.

[c0ry]

here in the shop we have a computer that we used as a tester for chips...ram....drives..etc.. the "case" was a piece of wood with a bracket to slip diff. MB's in and it had both an AT and ATX power supply...needless to say i wish my compuer at home was setup like that..

[CrkdLtr]

I work for a big computer retail store, so I have seen the come, and I have seen them go, I have seen the Compaq Toaster, the Compaq "VCR", but by far, the worst case design I have ever seen... was a design produded by NEC before they went out of business. This was a tan and blue tower, that had the CD Rom, CD-RW and the floppy drive verticle instead of the standard horizontal. Let me tell you, this was the most pain in the but case I have even had to contend with.

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If I can't beat you, I'll run you off the road.

[xDarkDrake]

I would have to say the oddest set up is my friends PIII machine that was hand built, but the power switch was broken, so he stripped the two wires from the switch and now jump starts it when he uses it... I laughed so hard the first time I saw it. It was priceless.

[behemoth1]

same story here built a machine from an old industrial alarm enclosure used a nibbler to chew out air vents for the heat sinks then right when i was in the middle of it ATX comes out....no momentary switches around so i pop the door and short the jumper with a screwdriver....my boss was watching this procedure (software gal no hardware knowledge at all...) and she just about peed her self laughing....but now whenever something needs "jury rigin" im the man.... i ought to jury rig her brake light controll so every time she hits the brake her in dash computer will put "pay your tech more" on the display....

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hear that sound? thats me shakin the pillars of heaven baby.

[tobrien]

I would love an internal CD burner

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[Archangel_of_Underworld]

USB hard drive.

[jza734]

The oddest computer setup i have ever seen was a bizzare motherboard mounting. This customer brings in some old moldy at case that he claims crashes all the time, etc. All sorts of bizzare problems. Anyways, I looked at the thing for a while and decided that it probably had hardware problems instead of just simple software errors. Come to find out whoever assembled this stinkin machine decided that motherboards don't need to be screwed into their standoff's! all this joker had was one plastic standoff securing the motherboard in place while he merely placed electrical tape over the rest of the metal standoff's to keep the motherboard from shorting out!

All of us tech's were laughing until we cried on that one.

[Snommis69]

A girl I work with has a "Computer Expert" dad. He built her a P133 system, and to ensure the mobo did not ground out on the case, he put the bubblewrap baggie between the mobo and the case! Heat problems...you bet! Then, he put in a super old Sound Blaster card (the real old ones, that took 30-pin simms) that was so long, it sagged and grounded the end to the case. So he broke out the electrical tape...

Originally posted by jza734:
The oddest computer setup i have ever seen was a bizzare motherboard mounting. This customer brings in some old moldy at case that he claims crashes all the time, etc. All sorts of bizzare problems. Anyways, I looked at the thing for a while and decided that it probably had hardware problems instead of just simple software errors. Come to find out whoever assembled this stinkin machine decided that motherboards don't need to be screwed into their standoff's! all this joker had was one plastic standoff securing the motherboard in place while he merely placed electrical tape over the rest of the metal standoff's to keep the motherboard from shorting out!

All of us tech's were laughing until we cried on that one.



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Is the damn thing plugged in, is the damn thing turned on?

[jza734]

haha i saw two other ones (insane motherboard mountings) that made me cry from laughter:

The first one somebody actually screwed their mobo directly into the case with screws, (sans standoffs) then wondered why it wouldn't do anything, gee i wonder?

The second:
This person actually reversed the standoff's, so the motherboard was sitting right on the thread of the standoff's - no joking!

Anyone else got crazy computer hardware stores?


Originally posted by Snommis69:
A girl I work with has a "Computer Expert" dad. He built her a P133 system, and to ensure the mobo did not ground out on the case, he put the bubblewrap baggie between the mobo and the case! Heat problems...you bet! Then, he put in a super old Sound Blaster card (the real old ones, that took 30-pin simms) that was so long, it sagged and grounded the end to the case. So he broke out the electrical tape...

[carrienscott]

The best I ever saw was a system that had no case... All of the parts were hot glued to a sheet of plywood... http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/biggrin.gif

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It's a dog eat dog world out there and I'm wearing milk bone underwear.

[QSECOFR]

The oddest computer setup I saw was a 286 running Windows 3.1 and Multitasking

[QSECOFR]

I don't think this is particularly odd...unless you are from Pakistan or some 3rd world country

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, Geneva, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by tobrien:
I would love an internal CD burner

</font>

[kpataska]

I have a Compaq Deskpro 386/20 running Arachne for DOS (Web browser w/frames, jpeg & png support) that I can get onto the 'net with.

Other than that, I can dial into my shell account and use Lynx to browse (ha!) the web on my Apple ][e and even older is my Ohio Scientific Inc. Challanger 1P (it takes half an hour to load the terminal program off of ***cassette tape***) circa 1979.

I also have a working Digital DECWriter IV (very dumb hard terminal) that can be used to do this, but everytime you jump to another link, it's got to reprint the entire page. A real paper waster... FYI - this connects via a 300 baud acoustic coupler modem - a machine for people that have a lot of time on their hands

[Rstutte]

used to work for a super spy agency when i was in the military... where i worked they had a warehouse of all kinds of computers and electronics (a techies dream!)from the latest thin flat screen monitors to the oldest thing i found ( i dont know what it was or how old it was) but the thing couldnt load dos on it it was like 2 feet X 2 feet X 1 foot tall, amber screen and keyboard built in and weighed about 20 lbs. http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/smilies/cwm11.gif

[This message has been edited by Rstutte (edited December 21, 2000).]

[behemoth1]

I found this one kinda funny...

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, Geneva, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Rstutte:
used to work for a super spy agency when i was in the military... where i worked they had a warehouse of all kinds of computers and electronics from the latest thin flat screen monitors to the oldest thing i found ( i dont know what it was or how old it was) but the thing couldnt load dos on it it was like 2 feet X 2 feet X 1 foot tall, amber screen and keyboard built in http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/smilies/cwm11.gif </font>


sounds like an old artillery computer....feed in windspeed elevation etc they give you the powder weight / fuse setting....supposed to give remote access to a "hog" but it needed like a 1" diameter cable that ran from one gun to the next....only thing is the cable was so thick that if you ran it over in a jeep it would seperate the stranded cable and pop the shielding....dead cable 14 - 15 times a day....smaaarrrrrrt! musta been thought up by intelligence.



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be·he·moth n.
1. Something enormous in size or power.
2. Often Behemoth. Bible. A huge animal, possibly the hippopotamus, described in the Old Testament.
3. Someone who is abnormally large [syn: giant, goliath, monster, colossus]
4. A person of exceptional importance and reputation [syn: colossus, giant, heavyweight, titan]


Acronym - Definition
BEHEMOTH Big Electric Human-Energized Machine, Only Too Heavy
eaven baby.

[Interex]

A bulletin board server, it was literally mounted to the wall on a bulletin board!

[UsePost2000]

I used to hang with this guy Vinnie...he had a Compaq mini tower. Problem was, he had powered off the damn thing too hard and dislodged the power button. Too bad I didnt know him b4 he did this...he took pliers and ripped the button off..so he now has too hot wire his computer on and off...it sparks and really shocks you if you arent carefull..
I dont know what kind of current or voiltage runs through those switches..!!!

[algorithm_x]

A friend of mine Justin, who is THE linux guru, works for a lady creating web sites, well she only had a G3 and didnt know any better (a b*tch to get perl to work right or something like that), well first of he got Linux to work on it, (yellow dog), then for her to use some program available only to window, he uses wine, what is really funny, is that somehow he got all of the os's to work with a weird USB modem. He was sitting here one night working on my sendmail server and told me about this, I laughed for ten minutes, A mac running with linux, and using WINE? go figure

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Bah friggin Humbug