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Phoenixing a CF-74 A new build from the boneyard....

Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2014 11:22 am
by Low_Bridge
So we have enough parts to start putting together another CF-74

Caddy & Cable?

Question: Has any one used the cd/drives as a main caddy? I've seen them on Ebay? Whats really required or will she only run & boot properly from the main caddy bay?

Thanks

Re: Phoenixing a CF-74 A new build from the boneyard....

Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2014 11:31 am
by Shawn
The trick is you MUST use an IDE drive in the DVD drive caddy to get it to boot.....NO IDE to SATA adapters.
My experience is with a CF52, but I am sure the CF74 is the same.

With any kind of SATA drive in the DVD bay, it will get stuck and not get past post or boot.

Re: Phoenixing a CF-74 A new build from the boneyard....

Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2014 11:46 am
by ADOR
Also remember using Barts PE you can build a live version of windows for it with all the programs you want, or use a DVD/USB version of Linux. I know DSL and Puppy have a run in ram option also so after it's loaded you can remove the usb Drive.

Re: Phoenixing a CF-74 A new build from the boneyard....

Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2014 12:01 pm
by Low_Bridge
Problem solved I just snagged one with a hard drive at a so so price.....

Question: I've considered painting the unit Black ~ It's for my son 10yo~ Do's Dont's What's the best paint to use?

Will She prefer Win 7 ? 64 or 32? It has an XP COA ~ if one goes with Xp can updates still be downloaded?

Thanks

Re: Phoenixing a CF-74 A new build from the boneyard....

Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2014 12:22 pm
by ADOR
What Mark is it? All of them run good on windows 7. All of mine are running Windows 7 x32 right now.

It just depends on what you want to do with them. Right now I am in the middle of swapping out some of the ones I have.

The future wife just went from a Mk3 to a Mk4 (windows 7, 4GB, 160GB), Her youngest daughter I swapped her Mk1 for her moms Mk3 and upped her from 2 to 3GB of ram, Her oldest daughter is using a Mk2. I just took my youngest two boys from them and they are getting 52's(one Mk1 ATI, one Mk2 standard Intel until I can get another ATI Model) so I will wind up upgrading her oldest girls pc if she wants it here before long. My daughter is running a Mk3. That left me with one Mk4 left so I threw one the caddy and a X25 SSD into that one with 4gb of ram. Still need to install a 5100 wireless card though.

The kids mostly do light gaming. Her girls are more facebook games, flash games. My kids run minecraft and a few others on there pc. Just for the hell of it I put Skyrim on that Mk4 with SSD. It's playable, but still need to turn the settings way down and use a modded driver. I don't think the factory Panasonic driver is cutting it. I plan on making it my new shop pc.

Another thing to consider is the battery. One of them stayed pugged in all the time and it has just about killed that battery. I went into the bios and activated the "high temp" running on the battery so it won't charge over 80% so it will help save the battery some. That battery still works but is now a 20 minute battery.

Re: Phoenixing a CF-74 A new build from the boneyard....

Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2014 12:41 pm
by Low_Bridge
CF-74ECBAXBM yes Minecraft, .... he's been asking for that for a while

It's going to need a hinge replaced ...which I have ....how far down to I have to go?

Re: Phoenixing a CF-74 A new build from the boneyard....

Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2014 12:55 pm
by ADOR
For minecraft a dedicated card would help out a lot. Minecraft is java dependent game and likes to eat a lot of ram. With intergrated graphics you may need to use a modded driver to get the most out of video. Also it only uses one core (unless a update here lately has changed that)( I haven't logged in to see in the last 4 months) but you can use a mod known as "optifine" to help out. It runs minecraft on one core and loads the world on another one.

That machine is a Mk2. It has a 945 chipset. It will take some tweaking for it to run smooth and a low render distance.

Re: Phoenixing a CF-74 A new build from the boneyard....

Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2014 1:03 pm
by Low_Bridge
I had 2 Cf-73's go south on me this year I'm starting to think that the secondary battery on them was the culprit :(

So this should be at least a small step up....

Re: Phoenixing a CF-74 A new build from the boneyard....

Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2014 1:29 pm
by Shawn
Rust Oleum texture paint...silver it's almost exact match for the original paint..