[GTALUG] computer hardware testing tools.

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

What exactly are the remaining problems that you can put your finger on?

Laptops effectively have built-in UPSes.  They should not be affected by 
drooping voltage and a surge would have to be fairly large to harm it.  I 
would guess that the first thing to fail would be the power brick.  Have 
you tested the system with a different brick?

A stereo that stops is an odd symptom.  What do you mean by "stop"?  What 
components do what?  (Many quite different constellations of devices are 
called stereos.)

Do you have any remaining concrete problem with your computer? Wanting to 
run diagnostics is reasonable except that good broad spectrum tests are 
hard to find.  The best diagnostic seems to be running the computer on 
normal tasks.

Diagnostics I use:
 memtest86+ for RAM (stand-alone)
 SMARTmon utilities for disks (Linux or Windows)
 fsck for filesystems (Linux)

| From: Karen Lewellen via talk <talk at gtalug.org>
| 
| My explanation was not clear.
| I believe the serge damaged the port  not the cable, which is why I am seeking
| software to test the integrity of internal things like the motherboard.
| My apartment is the upper basement of a house, where hydro is a part of my
| rent.
| However outlets on this floor seem to share circuits with other things both on
| this floor and likely in the rest of the house which may not be wired well.
| for example the fridge is on an outlet with other  items, so, at least
| according to those who have already investigated a slight surge or feedback
| may be being sent.
| I suspect one of my older mac laptops has paid the price, my stereo which was
| just refurbished will  stop, if something elsewhere int the house is turned on
| those kinds of things.  Have to run extensions because the outlets are all
| under the radiators etc.
| The thing is though I cannot be sure  just what is damaged, without a tool to
| test the internal  items like the board itself.  I only know the machine would
| not speak, even though sighted help at the time indicated the software  was
| loading on the screen.
| Kare