Hi
First post! Just found this forum after googling and it looks like a godsend!
Okay, let me start at the beginning.... I have an M4100 which has resolutely refused to behave itself in the time I have had it. I have read the post about the possible hardware problems with M4100s and can confirm that I have a revision 1 mobo - Assy# 70715048-001. It does not appear to have the solder mod between C182 and C26.
Symptoms - box will boot but does not stay online for long. Will sometimes respond to button resets from the front panel.. sometimes not.
Having whipped the lid off, it appears that the CPU fan does not spin up within the first couple of minutes of booting.
So, my questions to any willing souls would be:
1) Should the CPU fan spin from power on, or is it BIOS driven?
2) Having looked to remove the fan to test it, I have found that the CPU heatsink is firmly attached to the CPU. Has my thermal paste dried to the consistency of glue or are they attached with thermal epoxy?
3) Has anyone actually tried replicating the resistor mod to address the RAID stability issue? I can take a photo of my mobo later to confirm that it is unmodded, but don't have a camera at the moment.
4) I don't want to boot and consult the debug page until I know whether I am in danger of frying the CPU (mind you if it was going to happen, probably would have done so by now!). The box came factory configured as a 480Gb unit with 4 x Maxtor DiamondMax 9s. Out of interest, where is the boot image loaded from - flash or the HDs?
5) Has anyone tried setting the device to boot from a custom Linux image? What is the spare IDE sized connector on the Mobo for? Flashing from CD? Is it actually an IDE connector?
6) The PSU is pretty noisy, has anyone modded it to replace the fan, if so, can anyone recommend a part no?
7) Is there any benefit to upgrading the SD-RAM or onboard CPU (is that even replaceable - I can't see how to undo the socket)... yes, I am an overclocker at heart
This will hopefully only be the start of my questions... your help and suggestions are VERY much appreciated!
Have a very happy 4th of July
James