[SGVLUG] Asking questions (was misguided...)

[David Lawyer]

On Wed, Aug 31, 2005 at 03:34:51PM -0700, Emerson, Tom wrote:

> > -----Original Message-----
> > Behalf Of David Lawyer
> > So I think that just using trial and error may be the best method.  A
> > major problem is selecting search terms.  One soon discovers that
> > searching on a generalized error message (minus numbers unique to your
> > situation, like tty2) works well.
> 

> How about a case where there are no error messages?  [real life case
> -- in fact, it just happened last night]:  My mom's computer simply
> "won't start" -- what's wrong?
> 
> If I were to put on my newbie hat and post the above question to a
> newsgroup, forum, or list such as this, what are the odds of getting
> a good answer? [oh, wait, that was the lightning discussion -- wrong
> thread]  "searching google" for "computer won't start" is way to
> general as well [go ahead, try it...] and any reasonable amount of
> "trial and error searches" isn't likely to narrow down the results
> or find an applicable solution in my lifetime or the next.
> 
> Now suppose I elaborate with: the BIOS "post" doesn't show up, the
> drives don't spin, but the fans do [and the power does shut off if
> you hold the switch for 4 seconds].  Unplugging the DATA cables from
> the drives DOES allow the drives to spin up when power is on, but
> still "nothing" shows up on the screen.  The system was working
> roughly an hour or two prior (she had shut it down to eat dinner)
> and finally, the system is less than a year old.
> 
> This is perhaps too specific (bios does NOT pass the POST stage, in
> fact, the post doesn't even appear to start) yet all the search
> terms are too general (bios, post, start [or not], drive, spin,
> etc.)  As much as I love google, it still isn't going to tell me
> much -- separating the wheat from the chaff is still too difficult
> here.
> 
> OTOH, if I'd seen this question, complete with the extended
> description of the problem, the answer I'd give would be "EXPERIENCE
> tells me that this is likely a bad motherboard or CPU", but this
> begs the question, "how do you search 'my experience' with google?"

Simple: I searched on: computer dead "blank screen" and immediately got
a good tutorial.  Fist you need to check all power connections to
insure the MB is getting power.  Then remove all non-essential cards
to see if one of them was causing the problem.  Etc.  So it may not be
the motherboard.

Well, my first try was a failure: I search on "no bios messages" but
the poor results made me realize that few people would say it this
way.  Trial and error, but it works.

			David Lawyer