[starman]

The guy says it "stops when it tries to install". Could be a mobo problem, could be simple RAM. Thoughts?

Mike

[chris v]

Could be the CD drive. Could be the hard drive. Could be something really stupid and easy, but I'd diagnose it before I gave him any money.

My cube is in the shop because wiggling (I.E. touching at all) any cables plugged in to the bottom causes it to wig out and shut down/ sleep/re-boot. Definitely a motherboard problem-- you might want to check for that, too.

CV

[RonnieoftheRose]

Ten shillings and eight pence.

[Spliffdaddy]

At least it tries to install. That's a good sign.

If you have another Cube it would be a tremendous help if you could swap parts between them.

Bad RAM is a common issue that will cause trouble loading an OS - *any* OS. Windows is no different in this respect.

I'd suspect a bad hard drive first, followed by bad RAM, followed by something stupid like a loose IDE cable, followed by corrupted firmware (or it needs a simple firmware update?). Is the seller using the same OS the Cube shipped with? Or is the seller trying to install a newer OS on 'old' firmware? This could be a simple fix.

The fact that it begins loading the OS before it craps out is something to be optimistc about. Apparently the machine passed its power-on-self-test (hardware) before handing control over to the OS bootloader.

Unless the seller is lying to you - and it doesn't try to load the OS at all - then I'd say you have a 90% chance of figuring out the problem and fixing it. It would suck to have to guess what's wrong. You don't want to buy RAM or a hard drive just to see if a new one fixes the problem. If you already have access to RAM and a hard drive (or a whole working Cube) you could save some money on the troubleshooting.

I'd say it's worth fully half of what a comparable working Cube would cost. Provided that it *does* actually 'pass the control' over to the bootloader (ie, you *can* boot from CD - but not necessarily get data written to the hard drive. I hope this is what is meant by "the OS won't install"). Can you get the Cube to boot into its firmware menu? maybe that's a better question. If so, I'd say the motherboard has a high likelihood of being functional. The motherboard is probably the only unobtainable component. If its bad, the Cube ain't worth much at all.

[PowerCube]

The motherboard is probably the only unobtainable component. If its bad, the Cube ain't worth much at all. [/B]

Actually, there ARE logic boards available, as I just purchased a new one for ~ $200 from a guy over at Cube Owner. I only bought one because I have done a lot of mods to my Cube, and when the extended warranty runs out, I plan on keeping this thing breathing for a long time.

[cal6n]

A very common cube fault that can cause installation problems (as well as many others!) is detailed here:

http://cubeowner.com/kbase/index.php...x_v2&id=92&c=7

My cube was bugging-out during OS installation till I followed Rupert's advice, which is quoted here:

"My Cube was fine for a couple of years, but then I took it apart several times to fit a 120GB seagate drive and a 1.2GHz processor and fan (Acoustifan from Quiet PC UK, VERY quiet). Since the last rebuild, I have experienced many spontaneous shutdowns and instant sleep sessions. After reading the advice here, I took it apart again and gently but firmly levered up the metal on which the power button is mounted. Raising the switch by about 1 to 1.5mm has cured the problem. It appears that taking the little creature's core out too many times can result in the core settling slightly lower in the case, leaving a gap below the switch gasket. Since the switch is heat-operated, this allows the heat from the beefed-up processor to seep in and activate sleep or shutdown at random intervals, especially when gaming or doing other processor-intensive tasks."

Hope this helps

Calvin

[leucas]

It also depends on the current hardware configuration. If the sick Cube has very little memory and a small hard drive, things which you probably want to upgrade anyhow... And if you think you want to replace the cpu with a third-party chip, and maybe replace the cd drive with a dvd drive... But if you think you want to replace all this stuff consider what a different model would cost. On the other hand, part of the cachet of having the Cube is that it's so beautiful.

How reasonable is his asking price? What's it worth to you?

[jtfolden]

Originally posted by starman:
The guy says it "stops when it tries to install". Could be a mobo problem, could be simple RAM. Thoughts?

Mike

My opinion would be to take the average price of a working Cube with the same specs and then deduct the price of the most expensive component to replace + the labor it would cost to replace it.