mobo bios chip swap

My computer has been giving me BSOD issues lately, and after some initial investigation my partner determined that it was either:

• the memory
• the CPU
• the motherboard
• the BIOS

Swapping the primary BIOS chip (my mobo has a backup as well) is the least expensive solution at roughly $20 to buy one on eBay, so I've given that a try.  Unfortunately it was not a simple matter of unplugging the old chip from a socket, and plugging in the new one, as the chip was soldered directly to the board. >.<

Fortunately I've learned how to deal with removing these kinds of components by reading online and doing trial-and-mostly-error with non-critical components.. trying to scavenge parts from old hardware.

First I applied some flux to the chip's tabs and then with a wide flat tip on my iron I used some desoldering braid to wick up the solder holding the chip to the board.  I was then able to gently pry the chip up and away from the board with out damaging the traces.

The shiny area is where the chip was.. that's leftover flux which I cleaned up using alcohol and cotton swabs.  The chip above it, with the yellow dot, is the backup BIOS, which looks exactly like the original main BIOS chip.

Getting the new bios in place involved applying a little flux to the board and using that to stick the chip in place while I flooded the tabs with solder.  There were a couple of "bridges" of solder between the chip's tabs, but a little careful wicking with the soldering braid took care of that.  Handy stuff. :)

I also use jeweler's loupe's, which I picked up at Sayal, to help me see what I'm doing.  I'm also very near sighted in my left eye, which acts a bit like a magnifying glass for doing this kind of close up work.. if I ever get my eyes lasik'd I'll miss that super power. *heh*

Here's the new chip in place.  The machine booted up just fine and so far there has been no BSOD, but it's a bit early yet to say that this has fixed the problem.

Fingers crossed.

iQ rebadging

Finally stuck the Toyota 'pretzel' and 'iQ' badges that I modified to my iQ. \o/

Also check out my awesome Halloween themed dashboard mascot: "dead bunni."  (It's actually a squeaky toy for dogs.)

welcome to the club.

Went shopping this evening, nothing amazing about that, standing in checkout I decided to look something up on my Nexus 7 only to discover that the screen has mysteriously cracked.

I write "mysteriously" because I can not remember anything happening that could have caused it to break.  It was in the case that I purchased with it from Google and I don't remember bumping into anything.  It just up and broke.

When I returned home I checked online (using Google ironically enough) and found that there are many people complaining that their Nexus screens are breaking for no reason.

Welcome to the club.

$310 when I bought it.  $75 + shipping for a new screen + digitizer to replace the broken one.. and that's if I'm willing to take the risk of repairing it myself, which is certainly not guaranteed to work.  Then once I have it repaired, what's to stop it abruptly breaking again?  Would a solid case have kept it in one piece or are the screens that Asus makes flawed from the get go?

Seriously tempted to just throw it in the garbage, chalk it up to experience and stay away from tablets. >:(

FARKLES!

That's what I've heard them called on the V-Strom forums.. add on parts to make your motorcycle your own.  Which is what I've been doing for the past week or so.  I ordered some electrical cables and fuse boxes from Eastern Beaver, which arrived last week so I spent the long weekend getting them installed.

I've got the H4 Dual Headlight Relay Kit and the 3 Circuit Solution kits installed so far, which was quite the battle.  Had to take all of the side panels off, and dismount and remove the entire front end.. headlights, dashboard, windscreen, the whole thing comes off in one big chunk. >.<  The hardest part was connecting the 3CS's relay to the bike's wiring harness, as the connector for that is hidden away underneath the coolant overflow tank, which is itself hidden under the fuel tank.  Ended up threading my left hand up behind the bike's frame, over the tranny, behind the rear piston and up to where the wiring harness is located.

If I'd been wearing a Google Glass I'd've video taped the contortion show. :)  Trying to flick two plastic sockets open and then back together again with the spliced in sockets with just my left hand's finger tips was.. interesting...

But it works!  Next step will be installing my home made 5VDC converter into the top box for the bike and connecting it to the 3CS.  Also need to find some turn signals and a brake light to mount onto the top rack.

Photos soon. 8)

All Quiet

Sorry things have been rather quiet on this blog lately.  I recently purchased a Scion iQ - trading in my smart ForTwo - and have been focused on getting that set up as I'd like it.  It's also motorcycle season again and I've been adding gear to my Suzuki V-Strom 650 to get it ready for my summer vacation; a two week long ride to the west coast and back again.

My e-bike project has been shelved for the moment.  Just not enough hours in the day. -.-

I'll be making further posts soon about the car PC that I was working on soon, as I'm getting ready to install it into my iQ.  Just a few more technical details to sort out first...