At 02:09 AM 10/14/00 -0400, you wrote:
I've been having terrible problems with xwindow crashes, screen distortion, ibm mouse port and serial ports. In desperation I squirted a little WD-40 on the cpu fan, well all the problems went away. I'm using a cyrix 686 233 MII, seems quite sensitive to a slight decrease in fan speed (increase in temperature). Any suggestions for a good cpu fan ,other cooling methods or any tips. Are there any comparable cpu's compatible with a bios from a couple of years ago, that use just a heat sink?
Hmm - scary.Sounds like the fan on the CPU cooler is a sleeve-fan. That means that the motor in the middle uses a plastic sleeve as an axle. That's all well and good until the sleeve wears, allowing play in the blades. The sloppiness then allows the blades to wiggle as they rotate, and the motor is not quite as good as it was power wise, hence the drop in revs/rise in heat and noise.
Getting a new fan and heatsink sounds like the best bet. Goldenorb coolers are well known, but any new heatsink/fan combo should last till the end of the machine's life.
Point of advice, if a cooler doesn't say "Ball bearing" on it, then its a sleeve fan, and should be avoided.
-- Criggie