Advice on a PeeCee

[JaXanim]

@Everyone

I'm really overwhelmed by the advice given here and the offers of help and parts. Thank you all very much.

I have decided that the defunct Packard Bell is never gonna get anywhere. If I can beg an old mobo/cpu somewhere, I'll try to refit it. If not, well it was interesting while it lasted!

I only need a simple PeeCee/Win95+ so I can use my new Epson to print off my WaveGuide manual. That's currently held on an even older 386/Win3.1 IBM box. It's is very reliable, but is now too old for printer support.

My old printer with Win3.1 support died a fortnight ago. And before anyone suggests transferring the files to my Amiga, I've looked at the options and the job is too complex, for me anyway.

It's in Lotus AmiPro format with about 15Mb of AmiPro graphics which I am not prepared to revamp into Wordworth or whatever. A free PeeCee seemed to be the solution. Well, there it is. If someone really will send me a mobo/cpu for the price of the postage, I'll gladly send them the money.

Thanks again.

JaX

[JaXanim]

@bloodmoney

The heatsink with fan attached was clipped to the CPU OK, but the power lead from the fan was rolled up with a rubber band around it. The plug had never been connected to the supply. This is definitely the condition as originally purchased. Would that be likely to eventually fry the CPU?

Strange thing is, the machine had been in very light use since 1996 or so.

ANYWAY, I'm getting rid of the Packouta Hell and cobbling together an alternative system (thanks to the generous spirantho).

I've no doubt I'll be back with updates/problems in due course.

Cheers,

JaX

[JaXanim]

@Mikeymike

The more I hear about this contraption, the more I wonder whether my brother-in-law (he gave me it) was taken for a ride when he bought it.

As I said, he bought it brand new from one of the high street suppliers in 1995/6 I guess. At that time, I reckon he'd shell out around a grand for it.

When I opened it up (he never had, nor would he), there were clear signs of tampering to one of the case blanking pieces. A crude self-tapping screw fix had been applied and it certainly wasn't by him (a totally non-practical individual). So who'd done that?

When I next see him, I'll ask him how stable it was when he ran it. As far as I can recall, he only used it occasionally to learn French. The kids weren't interested at all. So no CPU-intensive games, etc. Maybe that's what 'saved' it?

Whatever, the exploding PSU seems to have seen to it in the end. I'll transfer the HD, floppy and CD-ROM drives to a better mobo/CPU and hope for the best.

I assume all being well, it will boot into the OS as if nothing had happened. Is that so?

Cheers,

JaX

[JaXanim]

@mikeymike

Your guess at the date is clearly better than mine and I'm sure you're in the right ballpark.

No, it's absolutely impossible that the fan could have been connected at the time of purchase. The fan wires were tightly rolled up and tied with an elastic band. No possibility that they were ever used. The wires were of the through connection type with a male and female connector attached and each connector was tied into the wire bundle.

I think he was sold a runt, but I don't know if I'll have the heart to tell him!

Cheers,

JaX

[JaXanim]

Blimey!

I ask for a little advice and end up thumping somebody! Easy to see  how wars start, eh?

Anyway, back to dust patterns.
There was no dust pattern of any kind. No rings, no swirls, no alien traces at all. Inside, it was clean. I said it was hardly used and that's what I meant.

So, as far as I'm concerned, I got my advice and I've hopefully been put on the right track. Thanks everyone. If the latecomers wish to argue about the things PeeCee users argue about, please feel free to continue this thread wherever it takes you.

Many thanks,

JaX