On 29/11/13 16:33, Russell Coker wrote:
On Fri, 29 Nov 2013 13:08:29 Morrie Wyatt wrote:
Even when installing linux on a desktop PC, if the installation crashes or corrupts the hard drive, so that you can't boot the PC, the original supplier can't be expected to class that as a warranty claim.
The contents of the hard drive are not covered under warranty. The supplier should be able to replace the hard drive for the purpose of running tests. It should only be required that it be possible to demonstrate the problem.
IBM and Lenovo have a good history of accepting Thinkpads for warranty repair with the hard drive removed. Sometimes I've taken in a Thinkpad with a floppy disk to boot and demonstrate the problem, sometimes I've just given a description and let them use a boot CD or hard drive for their tests. At one time IBM even had a check-box on the warranty form for whether the hard drive was installed as it was so common for people to remove the disk.
Pretty much anyone that sells hardware to large "enterprise" customers will allow this, even if not to everyone. We had it from HP at my previous job, and from Seagate as a tiny small business. My laptop at $DAYJOB actually has it listed on the serial number sticker that the machine is expected to have the drive missing when returned for support.