Experiments in Chaos—Failures from September 24, 2014

So, yesterday I pull out another backup machine to check, because I can't remember what's on it.
It won't complete a boot without hanging.
Since I don't know what the problem is, I decide to pull the hard drive and stuff it into another backup machine I have in the closet.
That one turns out to have a bad power supply.
No problem, I've got a spare power supply.
Whoops, I can't remove the power supply without first removing the motherboard.
Hm, there's another machine.
Doesn't have a video card.
No problem, I'll pull the old one out of the backup that was hanging.
Nope, doesn't want to work.
Okay, so I remove the motherboard, pull the power supply, stick another in it, and it doesn't work. It's sending power, but it doesn't want to power up this machine.
Hokay, I have another.
The screwholes don't match.
All right, at Midakey we make it fit.
Jam a screw in there counter cockwise, so it'll hold still while I'm trying to plug in a power cord.
Done.
Put the motherboard back in.
Done.
Works.
Optical drive won't read the Linux CD.
FINE.
Pull out another drive from the first machine (remember the first machine?) and install that.
Works.
And now, it doesn't see the hard drive.
All righty then.
Poke around the innards.
Why in hell did I connect it to the secondary port?
Pull and reconnect cable to primary port.
Works.
Now, install Linux Mint.
Incredibly, nothing goes wrong.
So, that five-minute check of a backup machine winds up taking about three hours.
Today, I got to clean up the mess I made yesterday.
And that's why I'm moving to a cave in Idaho.

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