Windows installer locked on some pc model

[DavideP]

I have a problem with a very particular system.

I have a Plotter A0 and a scanner A0 that need a server in order to work, in fact both plotter and scanner without the server are just a pice of metal.
In the server there is a propietary pci card ( not pci-e ) for LVDS serial comunication with the plotter and the scanner.
On the server run an embedded version windows xp with preloaded the software needed for running all the things ( make scann, make print, and comunicate with other pc and server ).
I have the original floppy for the installation of the operating system, but ( and that is the problem ) the software can be installed only on few computer model ( some dell optiplex like the GX520 and other similar ); when you try to install it on other pc ( also pc with exactly same specs ) the installation suddently arrest and waring that the pc don't match the possible pc model list.
The original pc died years ago, and now is dead the 2° pc that i have buy used, this particular model seems have a realy weak motherboard they just keep dieing ( no power issue on the line no particular problem arround, all other server and pc on the office work fine ).
Anybody know a way to force the installation of the OS on a pc that not match the model list set on the OS ?

[Zando_]

Is the company that made the software still around? We have a coffee roaster that runs on Windows 7 embedded, which the company no longer supports, but they were able to hunt down some old internal PDFs from the previous customer support guy on troubleshooting steps so we could fix the issue on our own. If it's a more niche company with an internal support team (vs outsourced folks who have access to a basic service script and little else) they may be able to help. 

[thevictor390]

There isn't a generic universal answer... you (or someone) will have to study the installer and see if you can either reverse engineer/replicate it or find the check mechanism and alter or bypass it. Potential easy answer: examine the files on the floppy and see if somewhere on there is a list of compatible models you can change.

[jaslion]

This is unfortunatly a case of either contact the company that made it for a unibersal installer, dissect the installer, install the os on a supported one and virtualize it,...

 

We ended up having this for a bike assembly machine. After a install I cloned the drive and virtualized it to a hyper v server and its been working well ever since happily confused.If it acts up I have a master copy that I can just spin up.

 

The gx520 is common in machinery but has a severe case of the capacitor sickness of the early to mid 2000's. The boards need to be recapped with decent capacitors and then will run for another 20 years basically. The caps used were miserably quality.

 

 

[DavideP]

@Zando_ @jaslion In the past year i try to contact the company that made plotter and software, the answer was "just buy the new model we can't do nothing"; that machine cost sometingh like 12K€ is not exactly cheap and is very annoing that i have to replace it just because an extremly cheap pc is broken...

 

Just for information the comany is Ocè now owned by Canon.

 

@thevictor390 Ok that a possibility, onestly i don't know where i need to look  but i will try 

 

@jaslion uhmm that interesting beacuase now i have two GX520 with what i diasgnose broken motherboard ( fan spin, no video output, no 5v on usb, and cant even enter the bios - try to replace cpu, ram, psu, remove unecessary stuff but nothing completly dead ); i supose was a most extense damage maby some IC, but if is "only" a capacitor problem maybe i can fix one of them

 

Thanx all 

[E-waste]

23 hours ago, jaslion said:

We ended up having this for a bike assembly machine. After a install I cloned the drive and virtualized it to a hyper v server and its been working well ever since happily confused.If it acts up I have a master copy that I can just spin up.

So hold on.  Bike assembly machines exist in the first place?  I do not understand the logic or need for their existance, and now I must know more about this.

 

Why am I perplexed?  O.K., for one, the demand for bikes must be in the literally millions of times lower than that for engines.

 

What exactly, is this machine assembling?  Is it the chains and gearing, plastic pedals, or putting on tires?  I just wouldn't have thought putting together something as basic as a bike, would require automation to put together.  I could see the gears being created by a machine, 100%, but not assembly.

[jaslion]

1 hour ago, E-waste said:

So hold on.  Bike assembly machines exist in the first place?  I do not understand the logic or need for their existance, and now I must know more about this.

 

Why am I perplexed?  O.K., for one, the demand for bikes must be in the literally millions of times lower than that for engines.

 

What exactly, is this machine assembling?  Is it the chains and gearing, plastic pedals, or putting on tires?  I just wouldn't have thought putting together something as basic as a bike, would require automation to put together.  I could see the gears being created by a machine, 100%, but not assembly.

Just the wheels that one. All those spokes are done super fast that way

 

Other machines do the chains and gear assembly.

 

Also a tire machine

 

Else the rest is by hand

[DavideP]

@jaslion you are probably right  some capacitor are in short, and visibly damaged

[jaslion]

6 hours ago, DavideP said:

@jaslion you are probably right  some capacitor are in short, and visibly damaged

Yeah a bunch burst, are about to and are leaking.

 

Easy to replace tho