[conspire] linux computer repair in san francisco?

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Jim Stockford (jim at systemateka.com):

> Someone with a "Ubuntu laptop" has asked me to 
> point them to a shop in SF that can repair their 
> non-working machine. 
>     I like ActNet in SF for computer repairs, they're 
> great for hardware, but they're a Windows shop. 
>     But what if the problem's not with the hardware? 

Boot a live-CD distro.  If it works, then it's not the hardware.
If it doesn't work (and you are using a reasonable, reasonably recent
live CD), then it's the hardware. 


I am sure you posted every bit of information you were given, so please
understand that this is in no way any complaint, much less one about
your report:  The phrase 'non-working' is pretty vague, making it a
little difficult to help.

It would be good if the machine owner himself/herself would post to a
Linux community mailing list (or Web forum, or whatever) about the
problem, as communication then becomes more direct and easier.  E.g.,
what is the actual _symptom_?  We don't know (and that almost certainly
includes you among the 'we').

> I like ActNet in SF for computer repairs, they're great for hardware,
> but they're a Windows shop.

That certainly doesn't preclude fixing machines running other operating
systems.  Why would it?

You know, by the way, even most laptops, not the most modular of
computers, typically have the hard drive in a bay and fairly easily
removable.  If a shop hypothetically needed for some reason to have an
MS-Windows OS load to do hardware repair -- and I cannot imagine why --
then all the owner need do is remove the regular hard drive and say
'Here ya go, put whatever hard drive and OS in it you want.'

Yeah, the owner has to learn to use a screwdriver.  Horribly technical,
I know.  (There are probably outliers, laptops that need to be partially
dissected to change the hard drive, or require something a little odd
like a Torx wrench.  Pity the owner didn't provide any make/model
information.)