 Computer shut off..., And won't turn back on. |
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 Apr 26 2005, 10:51 PM
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New Member  Group: Members Posts: 8 Joined: 26-April 05 Member No.: 18,248  |
I'm playing Neverwinter Nights yesterday, when all of a sudden my computer shuts off. No log off, no nothing. Thinking it might be a heat problem, I turned everything off and let it sit for like 20 minutes. Tried to turn it back on. Nothing. Nothing at all, no fans running from the power supply or the CPU. I'm not sure if I smell anything burnt/burning. The power supply felt hot after I turned it on for a second, but still no fans or anything, no beeps, no signal, no nothing. I've checked the plugs. I do have a video card with 256MB of RAM, so I figured it could be an overheating problem, so I replaced the 350W supply with a 420W one today. I unplugged every IDE and power cable, tried to turn it on after every unplug. I checked the RAM. I haven't checked the mobo for shorts yet, but I'm just curious about something. What do you think it could be? I'm not a specs person, so I don't remember my exact specs, but I run an Athlon AMD processor, about 200GB, 512 RAM. This is an awesome website, so I'll also ask this question. How do I get involved with helping people? Can I just post if I have a helpful idea? Thanks in advance! |
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Apr 27 2005, 12:03 AM
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 Forum Regular Group: Members Posts: 178 Joined: 27-December 04 From: Willow, AK Member No.: 7,997 |
Try looking in the back of the power supply, the little red voltage switch might have been knocked to 230v accidentally. If the power supply's voltage switch is set higher then the input (usually its set at 115 or 110) than it doesnt get enough power for the computer, but just enough to warm it up. This is one of the most simple things, but it has stumped even the best techs.
Also, look and see if any wires between the outlet and the motherboards power supply plug have been cut accidentally, especially the power supply's bundle. If you wear a glove and are grounded, sometimes you have to jiggle around the power supplys plug into the motherboard and try to turn it on, as with time it can become loose--but be careful when doing this as there are high voltages present! One last thing, try taking the motherboard etc out of the case and lay it out on a unconductant table (caseless computer) sometimes the motherboard shorts out with the case. (If this is the problem, just put small plastic washers between the motherboard and the case mounts) Hope this helps! -Nick --------------------  PM me if you have a 3 wheeler you would like to sell!!! (any condition) Current Ride: 1986 ATC250R -- 85 motor (worked), Ohlins resivour, +4 Durable axle and carrier, 400ex hubs, Douglas rims, lowering link, steering stabilizer, peg extensions, Oury grips, Sand Skate II paddles on DID rims, twist throttle, FMF Fatty Gold Series, Answer Racing silencer, jetted Keihin flatslide carb, Sunstar chain and sprockets, K&N filter with opened airbox, burns 100LL AVgas/20:1 mix. Soon to have 89 Clutch kit and possibly a Magura Hydraulic clutch lever, and possibly a +2 Swinger. |
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Apr 27 2005, 01:55 AM
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#3
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New Member Group: Members Posts: 8 Joined: 26-April 05 Member No.: 18,248 |
Thanks a lot for your help. When I try to take the motherboard out, and then put it back in, you think it will work again? I was under the impression that if it shorted that was it for the motherboard.
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Apr 27 2005, 10:48 PM
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New Member Group: Members Posts: 8 Joined: 26-April 05 Member No.: 18,248 |
Update...I switched out the motherboard and then tried it. Power supply works, CD light is on, HD light shows nothing, and I don't hear the HDs spinning. It's either the video card, the CPU, or the RAM. Any ideas?
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Apr 28 2005, 01:00 AM
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#5
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Forum Regular Group: Members Posts: 178 Joined: 27-December 04 From: Willow, AK Member No.: 7,997 |
Does anything show on the monitor? The video card shouldnt have anything to do with the hard drives. If the hard drives arent spinning make sure the power is connected to them properly. If that doesnt work try using a differernt plug on the power supply for the HDDs. (or the other power supply) Also, if you are using more than 1 stick of ram try putting only one stick at a time in and see if one isnt bad. Take off your heatsink and see if there are any burn marks, discoloratoin, or small cracks or chips alond the edges of the core. Has there been any pressure on the heatsink besides the retainer clip? If so, you might have crushed your core.
-------------------- PM me if you have a 3 wheeler you would like to sell!!! (any condition) Current Ride: 1986 ATC250R -- 85 motor (worked), Ohlins resivour, +4 Durable axle and carrier, 400ex hubs, Douglas rims, lowering link, steering stabilizer, peg extensions, Oury grips, Sand Skate II paddles on DID rims, twist throttle, FMF Fatty Gold Series, Answer Racing silencer, jetted Keihin flatslide carb, Sunstar chain and sprockets, K&N filter with opened airbox, burns 100LL AVgas/20:1 mix. Soon to have 89 Clutch kit and possibly a Magura Hydraulic clutch lever, and possibly a +2 Swinger. |
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Apr 28 2005, 01:17 AM
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 Forum Addict Group: Members Posts: 2,159 Joined: 18-March 05 From: near Sydney, Australia Member No.: 14,809 |
Unless the system is stuck in a reset loop the Hard drives should spin up no matter what. Also the CDROM led being permanently on does not sound right.
I'd disconnect everything except the floppy drive, and the video card and try to boot off a Startup Floppy. Try booting with no RAM at all, you may get a beep code which would indicate that the system can at least run POST. Try to get another video card (borrow one?) any old PCI thing will do just to see if you can get something on the screen, if you can't then I don't think there is much else you can do with that system - you may be able to get a PC repair place to test your RAM and your CPU. If they are OK then its new motherboard time. 
-------------------- Soltek QBIC, Pentium 4 3.0GHz, 512MB RAM, 200GB SATA HDD, ATI Radeon 9600XT 256MB, Netgear 54Mb/s WAP, ridiculously expensive Satellite Broadband Windows XP Home SP2, Trend Micro Internet Security, Firefox, Thunderbird, AdAwareSE, Spybot S&D, SpywareBlaster, A-squared Free, Ewido Security Suite. |
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May 5 2005, 02:25 AM
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#7
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New Member Group: Members Posts: 8 Joined: 26-April 05 Member No.: 18,248 |
Okay, update again...I got a new motherboard and CPU for the computer. I tried to turn it on...there's a little LED that shows everything is okay, and the mobo beeps. Fans are running, etc. But nothing shows up on the screen. I've tried two different video cards, and while I'm not sure, I don't think they're both bad. The only other thing, I think, could be my RAM. But even then there should be something on the screen. It seems that it's reading my DVD ROM, and I don't think I hear HDs spinning. Thanks!
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May 5 2005, 05:11 AM
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Forum Addict Group: Members Posts: 2,159 Joined: 18-March 05 From: near Sydney, Australia Member No.: 14,809 |
OK what are the details of your motherboard? What kind of AGP does it support?
What video cards did you try in it and in which slots? -------------------- Soltek QBIC, Pentium 4 3.0GHz, 512MB RAM, 200GB SATA HDD, ATI Radeon 9600XT 256MB, Netgear 54Mb/s WAP, ridiculously expensive Satellite Broadband Windows XP Home SP2, Trend Micro Internet Security, Firefox, Thunderbird, AdAwareSE, Spybot S&D, SpywareBlaster, A-squared Free, Ewido Security Suite. |
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May 5 2005, 10:17 AM
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#9
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New Member Group: Members Posts: 8 Joined: 26-April 05 Member No.: 18,248 |
So the motherboard supports 1 AGP 8x/4x card. I have two video cards I'm trying. One is the eVGA 128-A8-N303-LX Geforce FX5200 128MB DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card, and the other is Diamond Stealth S120 - ATI Radeon 9550, which requires Intel® Pentium® 4/III/Celeron™, AMD® Duron™/Athlon®/Athlon XP® or compatible with AGP 4X (1.5V), 8X (0.8v) or Universal AGP 3.0 bus configuration (4X/8X). Theoretically (haha) I should be able to use both of these cards. There's only one AGP slot, so that's the only place I've tried them.
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May 5 2005, 06:55 PM
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#10
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Forum Addict Group: Members Posts: 2,159 Joined: 18-March 05 From: near Sydney, Australia Member No.: 14,809 |
Make and model of the mobo? Does it have onboard video?
What BIOS does it have? I think your going to have to go through all the posted suggestions again with your new motherboard &CPU. Looking back through the posts I don't see anything which says you've confirmed your monitor works. Can you take your monitor to another PC and connect it there to be sure its working? Before you do look closely in the end of the plug and see if all the pins are straight and the same length - you could just have a bent pin after all the swapping around. -------------------- Soltek QBIC, Pentium 4 3.0GHz, 512MB RAM, 200GB SATA HDD, ATI Radeon 9600XT 256MB, Netgear 54Mb/s WAP, ridiculously expensive Satellite Broadband Windows XP Home SP2, Trend Micro Internet Security, Firefox, Thunderbird, AdAwareSE, Spybot S&D, SpywareBlaster, A-squared Free, Ewido Security Suite. |
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