The drive is definitely dead. I stuck a usb adaptor on it. First try I could hear it spinning up, but it was not recognized by my main pc. Then it just stopped spinning. I remembered why I'd only been using the server as an ssh and scanner slave over vnc: it's an HP dx5150, and not the dc5750 as I'd hoped (MrsD's replacement model). SATA1, DDR1... not really worth any upgrades. I can get a 160GB pull drive for $16. That's about what it's worth. Ho hum. I do have an athlon x2 that I might stick in it to replace the 3200 x1. No harm in that I guess, if it posts.

My issue with old computers like that is the power consumption - that's if energy use is a concern to you. Looks like the AMD 64 3200 in that system possibly has a TDP of 89W depending on the generation. Though if you have the parts spare I guess it's still cheaper to spend that small amount more on electricity for a couple of years than buy something new and low-power.

We don't pay separate electric, it's included in the rent.

Well in that case, who cares!

Well, we do turn off the AC in winter...

I ordered a used drive online I won't be seeing for a week, so when I got home I discovered a 6-7 years old 500G under a pile of rubbish, stuck it in and installed ubuntu 16.04 lts to it. I was a bit amazed it recognized the full size of the drive. Odd problem, when it goes to sleep in power-saving mode (must remember to turn that off) I can't seem to wake it up again with mouse or kb, it needs a hard reset (with no reset or poweroff button*, this means pulling the plug from its superior NA-style wall socket). This happened with the live dvd and now booted off the hdd. Maybe there's some bios setting needs looking at.

Edit: before turning it off last thing last night (still unable to wake it up), I checked the psu fan at the back and it was blowing really, really hot. So that's something to look at.

Edit II: So I RTFM, and it turns out holding the power button down for 4-seconds is supposed to power it off, and (if asleep) just punching it is supposed to wake (this did not appear to work yesterday).