Computer Won't Boot (Not Even To Bios)

[Chris.Skittz]

Ok so I came home from work, my computer is generally always on as it was on the day of doom.

I did a few things as usual, checked my email, stuck on some Minimal Techno and then left my comp to go wash the pots.

When I came back my monitor was doing the Rave like colour "No Signal Input" display. The music had also stopped playing.

Now the computer won't even boot to BIOS. For the couple of weeks prior to this my CD Tray kept opening and closing at random intervals.

My first thought is the PSU but I don't wanan buy another then realise its somethin more serious. Any ideas?

 

[GavX]

I had something similar, the PC just wouldn't boot, but I looked up on the net about the BIOS bleeps, was a great GPU, so you might want to try that

 

[Ham]

Do the fans spin up for a few seconds then go off? Or is it just dead form the word go.

Have you tried the simple things ala reseting the cmos?

 

[Chris.Skittz]

Do the fans spin up for a few seconds then go off? Or is it just dead form the word go.

Have you tried the simple things ala reseting the cmos?

All the fans spin n stuff but the keyboard/monitor doesnt work and the only way i can switch it back of is using the master switch at the back.

Oh yeah also tried clearing CMOS.

 

[Ham]

Sounds like the motherboard is fried too me .

Try unplugging all power sources, revmoving the CMOS battery and leaving it for a few hours (overnight idealy).

If that fails disconnect the PSU and jumpstart it. Grab a DMM and mesure the voltage on the 12v and 5v rails on a molex plug to check they're within spec.

If they are fine, start stripping out components to the bare minimum (1 stick of ram, no HDD/ODDs etc) and test then.

After that it's a case of testing everything on a different machine untill you find the culperate.

Good luck, lets hope somthing isn't dead.

 

[Chris.Skittz]

Ah screw it i'll just sledgehammer it and get a new one.

 

[kendo]

Have you tried the other vga/dvi output on the card? You may get lucky.

If the keyboard has numlock/caps lock lights are these also dead (along with the mobo) If they light up I'd try/borrow another graphics card asap as that's my first guess.

Other than that, strip it down, dust it all off carefully, and rebuild from the basics up with a graphics card/memory module you know is working.

Of course, it could still that your psu/mobo at fault so if you have access to another pc test your components out on that first.

 

[Chris.Skittz]

Have you tried the other vga/dvi output on the card? You may get lucky.

If the keyboard has numlock/caps lock lights are these also dead (along with the mobo) If they light up I'd try/borrow another graphics card asap as that's my first guess.

Other than that, strip it down, dust it all off carefully, and rebuild from the basics up with a graphics card/memory module you know is working.

Of course, it could still that your psu/mobo at fault so if you have access to another pc test your components out on that first.

Yeah the Numlock doesnt light up liek it used to. I'll plug the beep error speaker back in when i get home see if that can tell me whats wrong. It is litterally dead, I could use it as a room fan tho. Or a door stop or to make my bin look a bit more fuller.

 

[Chris.Skittz]

I can't live without a computer *sob*

 

[Rastalovich]

I'd strip the computer completely down and try sticking things in one at a time to see how far it goes.

Start off with just, JUST, psu+mobo+cpu+1 stick memory+gfx+keyboard(preferably ps2), and if that posts ok, add more things 1 at a time.

This is where some cheap spare things come in handy. Some crappy memory, a pci gfxcard and so on.

 

[Chris.Skittz]

Well my computer is now obsolete anyway its an old socket AMD 939 i dunno if its worth the hassle right now. I've been plannin to upgrade anyway and I can always fix this at a later date.

I was gonna donate it to someone once I built/bought the new one, may jst keep it for spare parts.

Shame really It has served me well as an all round computer. Feel a bit lost without it now.

 

[Chris.Skittz]

Right so I've just taken it apart n put it all back together again and still nothing works. When you turn it one the fans start spinning and the front panel of the case lights up but that's it. I can't even get it to turn off using the power switch on the case, I have to turn it off at the power supply.

I'm hoping it's the PSU but I think it may be the Motherboard.

Any ideas ?

 

[Snafu]

I would pull the PSU and jump start it on the bench with a few fans attached. Measure each rail. If you can add as many fans as you can to try and simulate a larger load and see how the 12v rail reacts.

SOme computer places can test PSUs but I am not sure if you have one in the area. It may be easier to get another PSU. If you are planning to build a new system then perhaps you could buy a PSU and swap it in to see if the system works.

DId you try starting the system with just the board and cpu? This should give you a series of beeps to say that ther eis no ram (obviously) but it will confirm that 1) the speaker works and 2) the board can tell that there is no ram.

After that then add one stick of ram and see (hear) what happens.

Post back what you find out.

 

[Carel]

Testing...

You can even try running only the motherboard, just the motherboard, with no CPU, no GFX, nothing! It sould then stay on for more than 5 seconds, if it doesn't : Throw it away, it's damaged. If it does come on, then try inserting the CPU, with at least one RAM stick, if it doesn't turn on then, then it should be the CPU, but try running it without any CPU / RAM / GFX first, just to see if it turns on at all, but this sound to me like:

PWR on for < 1 second --> Short circuit --> PSU turns off forcibly (SCP kicks in).

 

[Snafu]

Any news on this?