Archive for category Hardware
How To Destroy Brand Confidence In One Hit
Posted by Ville Walveranta in Hardware, Technical on 20 January 2010
Couple of a weeks ago the power supply of one of our PCs failed. The system is about one and half years old, so fine – sometimes things break. I replaced the power supply and the system was back up and running. The failed OCZ power supply was under warranty, and so I sent it in for replacement. The usual way: I pay the shipping in, they pay the shipping back.
The replacement – a reconditioned unit – arrived yesterday. First thing I noticed that the “WARRANTY VOID IF BROKEN OR REMOVED” sticker was, well, broken. Hm. So today I went ahead and installed it back into the original system, taking out the temporary PSU. I really hate replacing power supplies when the case is even slightly congested and this one was pretty tough to get to. Finally, the replacement PSU was in place and I hit the power button. Nothing!
Few moments of testing later I had determined that the unit OCZ sent as a replacement was DOA. I had to rip it out and put the temp PSU back in. Note to self: from now on the PSU replacement protocol will include stand-alone testing the new unit before I touch the target system.
I very much doubt the unit broke in transit; I’m guessing they either didn’t test it after repairs were completed, or for some reason the unit was never serviced and so I got someone else’s failed PSU in exchange to PSU I sent in for warranty service. The only way OCZ can salvage the situation at this point and avoid getting on my bad list is if they offer to pay shipping both ways. It’s not that much money, but the time wasted on this far exceeded what the replacement is worth.
Many companies forget that the value of warranty they offer not only comes from what they can advertise but also from the PR – positive or negative – depending how they handle warranty.
UPDATE 21 January 2010: Five Star Damage Control
OCZ handled the situation about the only way they could’ve handled it to minimize the negative impression that had already been created: they offered a free upgrade to a new product, or a pre-paid shipping label to return the DOA unit to service/exchange (apparently in case I had to keep the same model, such as a component for a tightly specified system). I chose the upgrade. Let’s hope the new unit works! 
UPDATE 22 January 2010: Not so fast, my friend
More to come. Dealing with OCZ tech support turned out to be less than what the first impression promised.
Something I didn’t know about KVM switches and Motherboard BIOS…
Posted by Ville Walveranta in Hardware, Technical on 02 September 2009
I recently installed Gigabyte GA-EP45T-UD3LR motherboard to a small LAN file server. It’s a decent, stable, inexpensive board. But what I didn’t realize is that if you want to use a shared USB keyboard and mouse with a Windows system, some BIOS options must be available and editable (assuming they’re not set “correctly” by default from the KVM switch’s point of view). This motherboard’s BIOS doesn’t have those options and apparently the BIOS defaults aren’t the right ones for this kind of use. The result: once USB keyboard and mouse have been switched away from the system with a KVM switch, they’ll never be reacquired by the system until the system is rebooted. Fortunately RDC works so that the console is not usually—or at least is very rarely—needed…
For reference, if you’re planning to use a Windows system with a KVM switch, make sure its BIOS has the following options:
- HALT ON ERROR: All but keyboard (usually in Standard CMOS settings)
- PnP OS: yes (usually in PnP/PCI settings)
- USB IRQ: enabled (usually in PnP/PCI settings)
Without these options set the only way to find out whether a specific motherboard will or will not work with a USB KVM switch, is to try. Gigabyte GA-EP45T-UD3LR does not.