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My HORRENDOUS Sager tech support experience (SO FAR) - Page 3

post #41 of 81
9/30/03 at 11:14am
wow...i wouldn't call this such a HORRENDOUS sager tech support experience. instead of waiting for them to reply to ur emails...there is also a number that u can call. also sager isn't ur only choice in tech support...u can also contact pctorque and see what they can do for u. they at least offered some help instead of flat out saying "no we can't" or just ignoring u in the first place. also its probably more likely they wanted to get u an answer before replying to ur email...u asked...actually u sounded like to demand...a new sager and u would return ur old one. in situation like these...and u need additional help...either call them...or try contacting pctorque.
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post #42 of 81
9/30/03 at 11:46am
Quote:
Originally posted by Jebus
and u need additional help...either call them...or try contacting pctorque.
That is assuming he ordered through PCTorque. I'm guessing by the silence of PCTorque that he is not a customer of theirs?
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post #43 of 81
9/30/03 at 1:22pm
So basically... Save us all some typing, and do a 30 minute reinstall like has been suggested 30 times already. I only call tech support if its drastically necessary. Most everyone on this forum seems to be pretty hands on though. I mean most people buying a machine of sagers capabilities are usually pretty computer savy. I usually reinstall os every 6 months. Its recommended by 90% of computer experts, to keep your system running smooth. And if you do it like I said above, ghost your os partition after you get all your necessary proggies installed, it takes under 10 minutes to have everything reinstalled. Im not bashing at all. Same advice I would give to a first time comp owner, or someone that first started on a trs 80III (like I did hehe)
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post #44 of 81
9/30/03 at 4:12pm
Quote:
instead of waiting for them to reply to ur emails...there is also a number that u can call. also sager isn't ur only choice in tech support...u can also contact pctorque and see what they can do for u. they at least offered some help instead of flat out saying "no we can't" or just ignoring u in the first place. also its probably more likely they wanted to get u an answer before replying to ur email...u asked...actually u sounded like to demand...a new sager and u would return ur old one. in situation like these...and u need additional help...either call them...or try contacting pctorque.
You can call Sager? And actually get a live person!!!! I've had times where I called tech support for other companies and gotten the message, "Due to call volume, the estimated hold time is...45 minutes...please wait for the next available operator". And honestly, I prefer that to Sager. Atleast I can put the phone on speakerphone and play a game or something. But with Sager it took them 48hrs to call me back. 48 hours is a freaking long time. Heck, how many of you spent an extra $90 to get your laptop to you 48hrs faster?

Sure he may not have reinstalled his OS...but really, reinstalling your OS can be a bad thing. I had one time where I had a compaq laptop and after I had some issues that I later found were heat issues, I decided to reinstall the OS. When that didn't fix it I called Compaq tech support. They yelled at me for reinstalling the OS. They said that the version was older or something. Then they had to send me a new CD and the entire thing got ugly. I've found that if you try to think outside the box when it comes to tech support, that the tech support don't like it. THey have cue cards to go by, and if you do something that isn't on the cue cards they get antsy. I'm the kind of guy that when the tech support people are telling you where to go with your mouse already has that menu/properties up and running when they are 2 steps behind you.
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post #45 of 81
9/30/03 at 4:17pm

well

well, on a side note. I did call sager about an upgrade from my 5660 to a 5680 and they called back left a message promptly.
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post #46 of 81
9/30/03 at 4:47pm
Balcbeard you are just cranky because when they called you back you didnt have your laptop with you.

Quote:
Originally posted by BlackBeard
You can call Sager? And actually get a live person!!!! I've had times where I called tech support for other companies and gotten the message, "Due to call volume, the estimated hold time is...45 minutes...please wait for the next available operator". And honestly, I prefer that to Sager. Atleast I can put the phone on speakerphone and play a game or something. But with Sager it took them 48hrs to call me back. 48 hours is a freaking long time. Heck, how many of you spent an extra $90 to get your laptop to you 48hrs faster?
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post #47 of 81
9/30/03 at 5:45pm

well

i didnt get the actual person. but they did call back. I unfortunately missed the message.
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post #48 of 81
10/2/03 at 1:36pm
No, I'm cranky because the Sager tech support was unwilling to even consider that my noise was caused by the laptop. I guess I'll just have to go with the record and call back idea.
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post #49 of 81
10/14/03 at 11:13pm
Thread Starter 

Reinstall of OS doesn't seem to have fixed it

After talking again to Sager tech support by phone, we agreed I would reinstall the OS. I did this and today, which is two weeks later, the machine rebooted again. The last thing I did was upgrade to MSN Messenger 6 which I installed today. So they told me to back off to the last retore point, which I did. This took me back to yesterday, pre-MSN6. We'll see if it reboots again in this state.
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post #50 of 81
10/15/03 at 10:41am
Well, I feel bad for your situation, but try to keep in mind that Sager can't send you a new computer until they've run out of all other options. I'm sure there's only a couple more things they'll try before that.
-J
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post #51 of 81
10/15/03 at 7:28pm

RPC DCOM

What OS are you running, because the symptoms you are describing stink of the RPC DCOM exploit. Random/continous system reboots are the primary symptom of the worm. It is suggested that you do two things:

Install ALL of the latest hotfixes/security updates for your system and then go to symantecs website and download the RPC/DCOM worm removal tool (Blaster).

You may have to disable the RPC locater service in order to be able to stay online long enough to finish the downloads.
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post #52 of 81
10/15/03 at 7:42pm

oh yeah

the decombobulator
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post #53 of 81
11/11/03 at 8:56pm
Thread Starter 
The problem isn't related to the RPC DCOM bug in Windows. I always stay up to date with my patches and virus scanning stuff. I am also always behind a firewall. Furthermore, this problem has been happening since July which pre-dates Blaster.

Here's the latest email I sent to Sager in response to their latest suggestion:

Quote:
This is a followup to Case xxxxxxxxxx and xxxxxxxxx and RMA xxxxxxxxx, all related to a rebooting problem w/ my notebook.

Your latest suggestion was to see if the problem is reproducable in Safe Mode or the BIOS. I don't think this is a valid suggestion because the computer never reboots when it is sitting idle. Also, it doesn't happen very frequently so letting it sit for a few hours doesn't prove anything.

This doesn't seem like a software problem to me. If it was a software problem, programs would crash, the computer would freeze up, or I would get a blue screen of death. But what happens is the screens instantly goes black, and starts to reboot through the BIOS. This seems like the computer is a memory problem, or a CPU problem or a heat problem or a power problem - I'm not sure. But it definitely seems like a hardware problem.

Also, I have had two other problems relating to this RMA and case number - one is that my hard-wired Ethernet adapter will periodically become disconnected, and then reconnect after a few seconds or minutes. I have seen this happen on different networks using different cables so I am sure it is a problem w/ the NIC hardware. I reported this problem before sending you the laptop last time and it is still happening.

Also, I also described some problems I have had with my DVD/CDRW drive being unreliable. Sometimes it will fail to read CDs, or it will become unable to read them in the middle of installing software. I also reported this problem prior to sending the computer to Sager and this problem is still happening.

I don't use the built-in NIC or DVD/CDRW drive very frequently, but I always have problems when I do use them.

I really think there is something seriously wrong with this computer and that it is not software related. I can't even think of anything software related that COULD cause this. I am using all drivers that are supplied by Sager. Application software is programmatically incapable of causing reboots like this. I should know because I am a professional Windows programmer.

Here is my contact info again:

Cell: xxxxxxxx - Try this number first because I will be on the road on Wednesday.
Home: xxxxxxxxxxxx
Work: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
So this problem is still happening, and I'm still getting lackluster support from Sager. At this point I wish I had spent the extra money for a Dell because my company has next day, on-site support and this problem would probably have been solved in August at the latest. It is really sad that this problem has been going on for four months.

I just noticed some grammar mistakes. Oh well. I suppose some mistakes will be made when typing into the tiny little TEXTAREA they give you to describe your problem.
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post #54 of 81
11/11/03 at 8:59pm
Thread Starter 
I just thought of something else that doesn't add up. I have had this computer since Feb or March of this year, and the problem started happening in July. Then in October I reinstalled the OS and two weeks later it started happening again. That doesn't sound particularly software-related to me.
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post #55 of 81
11/11/03 at 9:11pm

at this point

id just send it back to them for replacement...youve been through too much...
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post #56 of 81
11/11/03 at 9:39pm
Thread Starter 
I wish it were that simple. But that is my goal.
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post #57 of 81
11/11/03 at 11:09pm
Some quite random clueless thoughts after reading all of these "incredibly awesome admins (if only in their own minds)" giving their piece of advice.

It is OBVIOUS just from your description that it could not have been MSblaster. That virus will give you a warning message before rebooting. It also reboots about every 5 minutes and not once every other day. You would see other quirky behaviour as well.

Have you taken the advice from very early on in this thread and tested your memory and video card??? Memory is what I would put my money on since the motherboard has already been replaced. Sounds like when it is trying to access some of the upper registers it just kind of pukes on you...

Also, where did you BUY the Sager from...?

But keep in mind that I realize that the older I get and the more I study - I come to find out that I don't know CRAP. So YMMV...
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post #58 of 81
11/11/03 at 11:13pm
Thread Starter 
They told me they replaced the memory as well when they replaced the mobo. I don't think I believe they did anything since I'm still having NIC and DVD/CDRW issues.

Your idea about upper memory registers being the problem has crossed my mind. I had forgotten about it until now, but I know there is a utility out there that will allocate memory in an endless loop until all the memory is used up. Come to think of it, let me go write something that does exactly that, and tries to read and write from the memory... a little stress test. Be back soon...
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post #59 of 81
11/11/03 at 11:34pm
Thread Starter 
Well, I guess that is not the problem assuming this was a good test. I wrote a bit of code:

HTML Code:
int * p = NULL;
while ( p = new int )
{
  *p = 0xFFFFFFFF;
  if ( 0xFFFFFFFF != *p )
  {
    AfxMessageBox( _T("0xFFFFFFFF != *p failed") );
    break;
  }
 }
if ( !p )
  AfxMessageBox( _T("Memory allocation failed") );
Anyone familiar with C++ will see that this code leaks memory infinitely. Well, before I got any AfxMessageBox action, I got a little "Out of memory" message from either Windows or MFC.

Here's what it looked like in Task Manager:


It went at 100% CPU for a time until it started swapping, then it slowed down in a sort of step-wise fashion until the system basically started crawling and the little "Out of memory" message box popped up from my program.
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post #60 of 81
11/11/03 at 11:44pm
Okay, if it's not memory let's see what kind of event id's you have..?

When was the last time the reboot happened..? And can you take a quick snapshot of your App log and system log during that time...?

Can you reproduce the behaviour at all...?

Like... If I open these three programs then it reboots?

Are you familiar with filemon...??
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