You know the drill. The night before you shut down the computer everything is hunky dory, and the next morning you hit the on button and go sit down to read the paper and have a cup o’ Joe, only to come back a bit later to — the logo screen and the first line of the bios boot routine. Uh Oh! Let’s try that again . . . yipes, logo screen and freeze! Once again, this time to listen for any beeps for a clue as to what is not successfully passing the boot analysis. Nada on the beeps — just that confounded logo screen.

OK, crack the case. You see, this is a self-built system, so I don’t have the luxury of calling tech support and spending the better part of the day talking with someone from India or Indonesia and still not solving the problem. First, pull the video card and connect with the on-motherboard video outlet. Logo screen. Doah, Okie — you had a screen, so it wasn’t video related. Alright, pull the memory cards and re-seat. Logo screen. Try them in pairs for all possible combinations of the four — logo screen. Arrrrrrrgh! Wait a sec. The motherboard battery for the bios. Pull that, clean and replace. Logo screen. Shoot, why not go for a cheap diagnostic step — off to Radio Shack for a new one. Slap that sucker in and . . .

Logo screen!

You see, way before this I would have just gone online and looked around for answers to this problem, but that was problematic as the $#%&** wouldn’t boot. Wait a sec. The six & 1/2 year old tower that this puppy replaced has Kubuntu Linux on it. Linux is great on older hardware as it’s more efficient than Windows. If I could run my software on it, I would probably do so. Anyhow, boot up the old gal and fire up Fire Fox and sure enough, after a half-dozen forum reads a clue.

“Remove all USB connections.”

So, I dig up an old PS2 mouse and keyboard and pull the USB hub — I get past the logo screen and end up with some failure notices about corrupt bios calls. Reboot and go into the bios setup and save and then on to a clean boot. Now, it’s time to go out and do the week’s marketing. Arrrrgh! All I really want is to figure this out and see what’s not working. Guess that will be later.

Later, hook up the wireless mouse and keyboard — clean boot. Then the USB hub with no devices — clean boot. Then add the devices one by one until on the last one — logo screen. I moved it to a USB outlet on the front of the case and — clean boot with everything attached.

You see, I had worked myself up into a pretty wild state — Okie was cranky yesterday. For quite a while I thought that the motherboard had died, and that I’d either have to go out and get a new barebones chassis and rebuilt with what components I had or order another computer. It’s not like I don’t like new computers — they’re quite cool — but this isn’t the time for the expense and the 2-3 day loading of software is daunting on the spur of the moment. “Why me? Why Now? What have I done to deserve this?” Me thinks Okie was feeling a bit sorry for himself. Silly Okie.

It was Boxing Day. Worse things can happen — really worse, terrible things. Like on Dec. 26, 2004:

What is being reported as an 8.9 magnitude earthquake just off Sumatra, Indonesia spawned tidal waves that have killed over 10,000 and counting in Indonesia, India, Thailand, and as far west as Africa.

Vacationers snorkeling and just sunbathing on the beaches were swept out to sea, and their bodies brought back and thrown up on shore. The devastation is going to be enormous

The largest quake in 40 years, this is the 2nd over 8.0 quake in a week. It’s reported that the earth’s rotation has even been affected.

The toll of death and destruction reached proportions of magnitude nearly unimaginable. The coastal city of Banda Aceh was virtually scrubbed from the face of the Earth. Yesterday the survivors and families of the victims prayed and remembered.

Anytime that WE think that WE are in control — WE need to take a step back and consider the history of mankind, of our planet. Although we think, and feel, and love — we are as flecks of dust caught up in the maelstrom of events beyond our imaginings, let alone our own control.

However, all is not hopelessness. All is not insignificant. At least, not if you believe that we were created by a Creator for a purpose, that our insignificant, far-too-short lives have true meaning beyond our own wants, needs and desires.

Christmas day celebrated the beginnings of our pathway to achieving a state of grace. Best to keep that in mind, Okie — especially on Boxing Day.

Anothers’ thoughts on Christmas and the meaning/importance thereof: The Anchoress finds that the Christmas story is but the prologue to a larger narrative, one that may be meaningful even to non-believers in Christmas, Doubt and Downturns.

Problem: ASUS T3-M2NC51PV boot failure — Boots to logo screen only.

Solution: Remove all USB devices and hubs. Replace singly until problem device or configuration is found. Add self-powered USB hub to take power load off motherboard.

Hope that someone finds this info useful — not just the computer related stuff, either . . .

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