Today, I got no love.

You’ve heard me talk about the new Mac minis before and how I really want one. You’ve heard me talk about how I’m bored and I want new challenges – the new Macs and its OS being a part of that. But I don’t need to have a Mac to be happy in trying something new. I have Ubuntu for that – or so I had hoped and thought.

Ubuntu is a Linux distribution that is very popular. Not only does it look really cool, it can run off a single CD – no hard drive needed – which my developer friends enjoy for work projects. It has OpenOffice 2.0, Gaim, a full email and calendar client, FireFox, and many more applications that all run in a very user friendly interface.

Or so that’s what the web site leads me to believe.

See, I can’t install Ubuntu. I can’t even run XP right now. At this very moment, my PC is a big (but cool looking) decorative piece for my floor and desk. Everything was going smoothly with the install until I tried to delete the partition of my spare hard drive. I was about to apply a new partition when all of a sudden the whole PC turns off.

No Linux kernal crash dump. No other type of BSOD for Ubuntu. Nothing. Just off. Its as if I turned the computer off with the power switch. And now, it won’t turn back on. I don’t know what could be causing it. Every time I try something that helps me figure out what could be the problem, I run into something new that either I’ve never seen before or can’t explain.

I don’t think its a power supply problem because it does get full power right away. It still could prove to be a supply unit problem but that’s an expensive guess. 500W power supplies, that I need to power the video cards, two DVD-RWs, three HDs, and cold cathode kits. Anyway, it could be the power supply is tripping an internal fuse or just giving out because of heat. There is a fuse in the motherboard and maybe that’s tripping some how (although when a fuse goes on a motherboard… i think that’s the end of it). It could also be the switch. Maybe its fragged somehow.

My biggest fear is that something is wrong with something I can’t really repalce. The BIOS is that thing. If the BIOS is corrupt, it could do some crazy things. I would imagine that if it was damaged, I wouldn’t get past POST commands but its been a long time since I studied BIOS programming and architecture. I do have a bacup BIOS but I’m not sure how that works either.

So I was all excited to come home and install a new OS for my boring computer. I got a little frustrated with some install issues (that I finally overcame). Then, when I think I got past them all, my entire computer dies on me like it was Kenneth Lay… Jerk.

So I’m really not looking forward to spending money on fixing my computer. And while I’m not keen on spending even more money on a new Mac, I can’t help but want one SO BADLY!! I’m really loving this OS and I can’t wait to hack it and get into the core UNIX kernal and see what this puppy can do! A new power supply will cost between 150 and 200 dollars and the new Mac mini – the way I want it – will cost 650. Its a big difference.

There’s nothing stopping me from getting a power supply later for the computer but it would be a waste. If I go with the mini, I’m not going to run my PC anymore. I’ll take the drives out and use them as networked storage for my wife and I. She is going to start her own business and it will need lots of storage. Right now, I’ve got 468GB of storage that she and I can use for our music libraries, her graphic designs and layout files, and our growing picture library (not to mention any video library we create if we get a digial camcorder). I’m thinking we can cut out some of the storage she will need in her new G5 or Mac Pro (that is rumored to be coming soon).

Anyway… where is this all going? I got no love on the computer front today. No love from the new OS I wanted to install (it did give me some trouble that I had to work to overcome). No love from my computer because it pulled a Red Buttons on me. And no love from the Mac Mini gods for making such a desirable product that’s out of my reach. Damn you Mini gods!!

No love.