What to do to check/rescue a dumped PC?

[Zucca]

I found a spotless Dell mini tower XPS 8910 in the dump, sticker says i7... . Looks like new.
It does not boot because there is no RAM in it. I just ordered 4x16GB DDR4 just to give it a try.
Then MEMTEST86 it and see what happens.
I tend to say 4x8GB is plenty for my bench PC to use it with a Picoscope, but you know me I can't resist to max out the RAM.

Any further particular stress tests you guys suggest to check a unknown PC found in the garbage?

[tunk]

Run a stress test, e.g. prime95.
Check if there's any SMART disk errors.

[Zucca]

Check if there's any SMART disk errors.

There was no RAM, nor disks just a CD reader.
I would install of course a SSD and let it go.

I hope the MB [EDIT] and the PSU arer just fine.

[Ice-Tea]

Go hunting for the porn folder? 

[50ShadesOfDirt]

As it's a Dell PC, just use their own pc check utilities on it. Assumes it boots, allows you into bios, and recognizes everything, all you need next is an OS. The dell utilities will exercise all the parts.

Throw an SSD in it, load up a temp win10 OS on it, and finally load up an appropriate pc check utilities from dell's website. You can then test all the hardware to see what has happened in this PC's hard life, to end up on the dump heap.

That's not the worst abuse I've seen, so it might work out for you ... a hurricane was the worst, with PC being relocated by tornadic winds, saltwater exposure, etc.

Some dumps have a special "location" for electronics, and if one has the time, it might be worth it to look through the stuff being dropped off, to find similar gems such as your dell tower, or UPS's that just need a battery, specialized audio equipment, and so on.

Hope this helps ...

[Zucca]

Hell yeah it helps, W10 install is also interesting to see if there is a paid license on that machine....

It is such a clean machine I think it was dropped a few hours before I saw it.
I am now so temped to swing by the dump every week and pull my luck again.

[xmris]

You can check on dell.com the history - what accessories have been with it even what OS was pre-installed- if it's still on warranty (even then zero chance to use the Dell warranty as you need transfer of ownership) etc , by using the service nr of that machine.

[tunk]

And maybe see if there's any BIOS and firmware updates.

[Zucca]

All already on my list.... appreciate. I can't wait the RAM to come in.

[Johnny B Good]

 I'm rather surprised that no one has suggested the more obvious way to test it out (once you've received your memory modules). Why not just download a recent version of Linux Mint (KDE) ? The current version is 21 but, if you can still download it, I think  Linux Mint 17.3 'Rosa' KDE 64 bit would be a better bet for testing in live usb boot disk mode. You'd only need a 2GB (or larger - v21 needs an 8GB minimum) USB thumb drive to create a Live boot disk.

 If you fancy trying an actual install of Linux on that 'spare' machine, you can always install Oracle's Virtualbox and then install your favourite flavour of MS Windows OS in a virtual machine as a workaround for any "must have" windows only software packages - with 64GB of ram, you needn't skimp on the ram allocation to a VM.

[Perkele]

In addition to Memetest86, also try stress-ng.
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/Reference/stress-ng

Prime95 is OK for CPU testing, but in this case you also need to put some pressure onto the chipset and I/O in case if motherboard is faulty.

[iJoseph2]

And maybe see if there's any BIOS and firmware updates.

Yes definitely reflash the BIOS from the dell website so you know you have a trustworthy BIOS.

Wrt memtest, I memtested (I think it was the version on the fedora install iso) a HP elitedesk 800 and it would always come up with errors (quite quickly) with more than one stick installed.. one stick would be fine.. which threw me around in circles for a little while.
Testing another (same) HP and it did the same thing..
At that point I just assumed that memtest wasn't suitable for this hardware.

[james_s]

Unless you're planning to sell it in which case it's worth checking out thoroughly, I would just install an OS and use it, if it works it works, if it has issues you'll probably notice pretty quickly.

[AndyBeez]

Find the user manual for the motherboard and check for any pin jumpers that are missing or misplaced. Erase the BIOS password if that can be done with a jumper setting.

You should be able to view the BIOS page without the need for RAM or HDD. Press DEL, ESC, F12 or something like that. This will also reveal if there is a BIOS password.

If you can access the BIOS, set the boot sequence to include USB - as you can run a Linux distro from a USB stick.

As other's say, reflash the BIOS as you have no idea of where that PC came from and what malware might be inside the BIOS.

If all is okay, fit a brand new memory backup battery.

[Zucca]

RAM installed, pass POST (Power On Self Test) on LED Diagnostic level (solid LED white on the power button)... but no image on monitor.

from service manual:

    Power-supply unit Built-in Self Test (BIST)
    XPS 8930 supports a new power-supply unit Built-in Self Test (BIST). BIST can now be performed by connecting the power cord to the
    power-supply unit.
    1.
    Turn off your computer.
    2.
    Disconnect the power cord from the power-supply unit, and wait for 15 seconds.
    3.
    After 15 seconds, connect the power cord to the power-supply unit.
    •
    If the LED is on for 3 seconds and turns off, it indicates that the power-supply unit is functional. Continue with troubleshooting
    steps for other devices.
    •
    If the LED does not turn on, it indicates a hardware failure.

LED does not turn on.... I hear you guys laughing....

[2N2222A]

As other's say, reflash the BIOS as you have no idea of where that PC came from and what malware might be inside the BIOS.

Which has to be done without starting the system using the system firmware, since the malware would add itself back to the BIOS or system firmware again during the reflash.

Modern serial SPI flash in the standard 8-pin IC has no hardware means to write protect it, unlike the old parallel flash. Write protect can only be done through software programming the IC or sending a session write protect command to the IC, and the write protect pin on the IC is a software write protect override, to turn off the software write protect, not to turn it on!

Power supply is probably bad. Try another one. Else the local CPU / memory power supply on the board could be bad.

[Johnny B Good]

RAM installed, pass POST (Power On Self Test) on LED Diagnostic level (solid LED white on the power button)... but no image on monitor.

from service manual:

    Power-supply unit Built-in Self Test (BIST)
    XPS 8930 supports a new power-supply unit Built-in Self Test (BIST). BIST can now be performed by connecting the power cord to the
    power-supply unit.
    1.
    Turn off your computer.
    2.
    Disconnect the power cord from the power-supply unit, and wait for 15 seconds.
    3.
    After 15 seconds, connect the power cord to the power-supply unit.
    •
    If the LED is on for 3 seconds and turns off, it indicates that the power-supply unit is functional. Continue with troubleshooting
    steps for other devices.
    •
    If the LED does not turn on, it indicates a hardware failure.

LED does not turn on.... I hear you guys laughing....

 Looking at those instructions, I'm left wondering if they mean the power led should light up for three seconds and extinguish after connecting to a mains outlet before you try pressing the front panel on/off button???

PS Almost forgot; some MoBos won't boot if the lithium coin cell (typically a CR2032 but a CR2025 could be used in a pinch) has become so discharged as to only show a few millivolts using a DMM to test it. If the coin cell has become so deeply discharged it might be worth replacing it and testing again.

[DonKu]

Hell yeah it helps, W10 install is also interesting to see if there is a paid license on that machine....

It is such a clean machine I think it was dropped a few hours before I saw it.
I am now so temped to swing by the dump every week and pull my luck again.

For similar reasons both the electronic and battery sections of my town dump recently added prominent "No Scavenging"  signs all over. Yet, one guy ignored the signs and scavenged. He said he had official approval to do so.

[james_s]

For similar reasons both the electronic and battery sections of my town dump recently added prominent "No Scavenging"  signs all over. Yet, one guy ignored the signs and scavenged. He said he had official approval to do so.

I think it should be illegal to prevent people from scavenging, it is certainly environmentally irresponsible. The most efficient form of recycling by far is repair and reuse. Blocking people from salvaging what can be salvaged is reprehensible, that e-waste just gets shipped over to 3rd world countries where poor people pick through it to recover raw materials. I scavenge stuff when I can, so far nobody has tried to stop me. With so much actual crime going unpunished are they going to actually prosecute someone for "stealing" garbage?

[themadhippy]

Blocking people from salvaging what can be salvaged is reprehensible, that e-waste just gets shipped over to 3rd world countries where poor people pick through it to recover raw material

Only after the tips  provider of the largest brown envelope preferred  contractor has had a good sort through

[AndyBeez]

Indeed, some tragic loses to the great e-waste pile in the sky. Once saw full spec gaming PC crushed to death. Why? The gamer did not want his old machine to fall into "enemy hands". He had issues.

DDR is about the most economically recoverable and reusable part from a dumpster surf, followed by CPU's and SATA leads. Unless in mint condition, everything else is really just someone else's junk.

The real issue with e-waste is data. @Ice-Tea mentioned, search for the porn directory. Thieves are looking for more than just compromising images of your ex wife's sister. Bank statements, personal letters and stored passwords, are all on the identity thieves want list. Never send a PC or laptop to the dump with a drive inside. Physically smash the HDD. So for a disposal facility, people should have confidence that their HDD is not going to end up in the hands of thieves or geeks. Even if that WD 4TB Red drive had only had 100 hours usage before the crap PSU blew.

on a side note:

With so much actual crime going unpunished are they going to actually prosecute someone for "stealing" garbage?

Come to Britain. We had a dumpster out the back of a nearby store in which the store would dump produce which had exceeded the sell by date. The only crime was the prices they were charging, which is why the dumpster was filled on a regular basis. Enter a homeless guy who thought he'd gone to heaven, until the police prosecuted him for stealing a cheesecake. The waste was the property of the waste management company which ergo, made him a criminal mastermind. Unable to pay the fine, the court ordered the confiscation of his property. Which amounted to a cardboard box and a sleeping bag. So he went to prison for six months for stealing a cheesecake. Okay, he now had a roof over his head, a door that would lock and three good meals a day. But that's not the point. Just yards away from where this purp' was busted, drug dealers operated in full public view. Thanks mainly due to the council providing CCTV cameras to make the dealer's clients feel safe. The homeless guy was not a drug user, just some poor bastd with PTSD.

[2N2222A]

I think it should be illegal to prevent people from scavenging, it is certainly environmentally irresponsible. The most efficient form of recycling by far is repair and reuse. Blocking people from salvaging what can be salvaged is reprehensible, that e-waste just gets shipped over to 3rd world countries where poor people pick through it to recover raw materials.

Definitely! Makers of new electronics may have an interest in preventing scavenging. We need more reuse!

There is however a situation where scavenging becomes a problem. It's when scavengers pull valuable parts off of something, making what remains in to junk with negative value. Metal scrappers are best known for this. They'll cut a power cord of some working equipment that someone would have taken as a whole. They'll break apart a TV to take the copper off of the back of the tube and leave glass everywhere.

[james_s]

The real issue with e-waste is data. @Ice-Tea mentioned, search for the porn directory. Thieves are looking for more than just compromising images of your ex wife's sister. Bank statements, personal letters and stored passwords, are all on the identity thieves want list. Never send a PC or laptop to the dump with a drive inside. Physically smash the HDD. So for a disposal facility, people should have confidence that their HDD is not going to end up in the hands of thieves or geeks. Even if that WD 4TB Red drive had only had 100 hours usage before the crap PSU blew.

That's absolutely absurd, I think people that smash functional hard drives have some kind of paranoid delusional mental illness, either that or they are just stupid. Simply wipe them with one of the various programs out there that is meant specifically for wiping hard drives, or if it's a decent drive keep it yourself for other purposes. I'm glad not everyone out there is that paranoid, I've scavenged quite a few hard drives that I've put to other uses. If it's been wiped you're not going to recover any data from it.

[AndyBeez]

Most people are not computer nerds. Simple file deletion is all they think they need, especially when listing some forgotten PC on ebay. Long cold 40G HDDs end up in the scrap bin with their redundant data intact. House clearances are an issue - watch out for any CDRs in drawers. So too are industrial asset clearances where the system manager forgot to erase the RAID array before he collected his last pay check. As for miitary grade data erasure, nothing beats a few turns of det chord. Or a chain saw, if your Walmart is out of explosives for this Thanksgiving holiday.

[2N2222A]

That's absolutely absurd, I think people that smash functional hard drives have some kind of paranoid delusional mental illness, either that or they are just stupid.

Agree 100%!

They're usually the same people who have already had their data taken several times over by installing malware. And then the legitimate spyware has been capturing all their browsing history for years already.

The only real threat is if the user has checked "save password" in the browser or password manager. But honestly nobody cares. Millions of passwords are stolen by software means through malware, not from someone reusing junked hard drives from a dumpster.