Hardware Tinkering Horror Stories

Hypertime

My old laptop recently shit the bed, so I went out and got a new one figuring that I'd toss the old hard drive into an enclosure, transfer my stuff to the new one and try to repair the thing if I have the time. The old machine is the notorious 12-inch PowerBook.

I always heard that the thing was a nightmare and a half to disassemble, since it was so tightly packed. Still, I figured, all I need to do was remove the hard drive.

Oh, god. The horror. The horror: http://www.powerbookmedic.com/xcart1/files/G4alum12.pdf

I would've lost my mind if I hadn't found that guide and bought the appropriate toolset (thank you, RadioShack!). Even with those comprehensive instructions, the sheer number of screws of different size and shape and the slabs of metal and plastic that you need to manhandle are taxing on the hands and nerves.

After two straight hours of disassembly, I finally got to the hard drive and was able to rescue my immaculate porn collection. Unfortunately, I am not able to put it to good use. While removing the trackpad enclosure, I gave my hand a pretty nasty gash.

Ah, well. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I'm sure I'll hear far, far worse from y'all, though.

darleysam

I generally find this (XKCD) comic to be really quite true when it comes to doing any kind of tinkering with my pc. Like a fishtailing car, it just gets worse and worse until you hit a wall.

chamberlain

Not computer tinkering, but consoles count.

I purchased a very cool transparent black case for my Dreamcast a few months after its release. The off white was fine, but it just didn't match anything else in my room. Taking the console apart was not terribly difficult; no proprietary screws to deal with like on the GBA when I added an afterburner, just a lot of them in different places. When it finished I had no parts left over and everything seemed to fit correctly, but the damn thing wouldn't turn on, and there was Phantasy Star Online to play.

I turns out that I had snagged a cord in the fan, stopping it completely. No permanent damage, and a cool looking DC. I wonder if I still have the old case, putting a PC in there would be pretty cool...

Ballman

I once fried a power supply when I tried to fix my computer while drunk. I really don't know how I did it, but it was a crappy computer anyway and I wasn't mad for very long about it.

Drool

I bought a huge case for my most recent PC. I have big hands and usually slice them up on any case I open up. But my nice big Antec has all the sharp edges filed down or covered in rubber. I love that case except for the fact that the PC weighs about 58 lbs.

Other then mangled fingers I've only ever fired a PSU. It wasn't a hard fix.