Dead computer?

Just as the title says!
Reeltime
Boinc Second Lieutenant
Boinc Second Lieutenant
Posts: 543
Joined: Sun Sep 24, 2006 5:03 am
Location: Edinburgh
Contact:

#1 Dead computer?

Post by Reeltime »

My nice shiny new machine won't play :cry: :cry: :cry:

When I turn it on, the fan is kicking in no problem, then I get what sounds like the HDD for about 1 second, then nothing. Moniter is saying there is nothing coming through. I can't see anything phsically up with it.
Could it simply of overheated, and is trying to cool down? Its been about 3 hours, and still nothing tough
Image
Nightlord

#2

Post by Nightlord »

Overheating is a possibility, though unlikely with the symptoms you describe. We need a bit more detail to help investigate.
  • Can you check if the PSU exhaust fan is spinning even for a second or two when you turn the power on?

    Does the CPU heatsink fan spin up (even for a second)?

    Are there any beeps....any at all?

    Is there any output on the monitor when switched on?

    Carefully and lightly touch the case of the hard drive with finger tips. Can you feel the hard drive spin up when the power is turned on?
I have a feeling it maybe you power supply is toast, possibly not up to running a GPU card, but that's speculative just now, let's see what symptoms we have first.
User avatar
ianmbaker2
Boinc Corporal
Boinc Corporal
Posts: 69
Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2007 11:51 am
Location: South Lanarkshire
Contact:

#3

Post by ianmbaker2 »

First thing I would try is reseating all the power cables to the motherboard, especially the 12V CPU power connector.
If that doesn't work:-

Disconnect all external peripherals and try again.

Strip the system to PSU, CPU and mother board only (and leave in the graphics card if there is no onboard graphics, but make sure the GPU power is connected.). Disconnect all drives (Power & Data) and remove the memory. Try to power on and listen for memory beeps.

If you get beeps add the components back one a t atime.

If no beeps, remove the graphics card and try to power on. Listen for error beeps.

If there is still nothing at this stage, try substitung the few remaining components, PSU & CPU if you have any spares.

When mu new build didn't work, it the power to Graphics card missing, followed by the 12V CPU supply. We all forget something.

Ian
Image
Reeltime
Boinc Second Lieutenant
Boinc Second Lieutenant
Posts: 543
Joined: Sun Sep 24, 2006 5:03 am
Location: Edinburgh
Contact:

#4

Post by Reeltime »

Nightlord wrote:Overheating is a possibility, though unlikely with the symptoms you describe. We need a bit more detail to help investigate.
  • Can you check if the PSU exhaust fan is spinning even for a second or two when you turn the power on?

    Does the CPU heatsink fan spin up (even for a second)?

    Are there any beeps....any at all?

    Is there any output on the monitor when switched on?

    Carefully and lightly touch the case of the hard drive with finger tips. Can you feel the hard drive spin up when the power is turned on?
I have a feeling it maybe you power supply is toast, possibly not up to running a GPU card, but that's speculative just now, let's see what symptoms we have first.
Both fans running no probs, no beeps unfortunately, no output

I think the hard drive is kicking in but only for about 1 second
Image
Nightlord

#5

Post by Nightlord »

No beeps is not a good sign.

Follow Ian's advice: disconnect all peripherals. Remove any extra GPU card if you have on-board graphics and try to find a system that responds.

Try stripping it right down to bare bones: PSU, mobo and CPU. No HD, no CD/DVD, no floppy, no GPU etc and no ram either. The last point (no ram) is to check the mobo and CPU are running ok. If you strip it down to this, you should get beeps (typically three, but it depends on you bios).

If you get no beeps, then try a known good PSU. If you still get no beeps with a new PSU, you have a probable dead mobo. I have rarely seen modern mobo's go over without warning, so if you get here, my bet is on a peripheral (possibly a GPU?) hitting the mobo. You could try the next step anyway, but if you get to this point your hardware is in trouble.

If you get beeps from a barebones system, then you know the mobo is at least somewhat functional. From there, you put the ram back in and either try to identify the single piece of hardware causing the lockup as per Ian's line, or if you can't do that try remove the bios backup coin cell. Then turn on again (without the coin cell in place).

The coin cell trick may take a few hits, but it should force a bios error, which will trigger a BFG (Boot Failure Guard) boot to default settings. If you get that far, you can set you bios to defaults, no o/c or anything fancy and then try one add on after another - first try the HD. If it spins up and boots, then try the GPU if you have one.

The other thing I have found sometimes is to turn everything off, including the AC mains input, not just the front panel switch. Then after 30 seconds, turn on again. Some mobo's get locked up and the PSU, although turned off at the front panel is still powering up the mobo. Doing this completely drains the PSU and mobo: it might work and save you a lot of work.
Reeltime
Boinc Second Lieutenant
Boinc Second Lieutenant
Posts: 543
Joined: Sun Sep 24, 2006 5:03 am
Location: Edinburgh
Contact:

#6

Post by Reeltime »

Will try tomorrow, thanks for the help
Image
User avatar
ianmbaker2
Boinc Corporal
Boinc Corporal
Posts: 69
Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2007 11:51 am
Location: South Lanarkshire
Contact:

#7

Post by ianmbaker2 »

Good advice there from Nightlord. In adition, I would reset the BIOS to it's defaults using the motherboard jumpers. The instructions should be in your mobo manual.

Ian
Image
User avatar
MacDitch
Moderator General
Moderator General
Posts: 1129
Joined: Tue Jun 06, 2006 9:19 am
Location: Ex-Edinburgh

#8

Post by MacDitch »

...I have rarely seen modern mobo's go over without warning, so if you get here, my bet is on a peripheral (possibly a GPU?) hitting the mobo...
The problem sounds quite similair to what I experienced when my current machine was delivered - a new motherboard had it flying along nicely. At least for about a year, then I got a third mobo!

Modern boards definitely can die with no warning! Although maybe that's a Dell thing. :roll:

@ Reeltime. It does sound like my mobo problem but (as everyone has said) strip it down and add stuff one unit at a time until you can confirm.
Image Image
User avatar
Megacruncher
G.L.S.B.
G.L.S.B.
Posts: 4699
Joined: Mon May 29, 2006 11:33 pm
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
Contact:

#9

Post by Megacruncher »

What sort of socket is it? I might be able to send you a spare.
Willie the Megacruncher
Image
Reeltime
Boinc Second Lieutenant
Boinc Second Lieutenant
Posts: 543
Joined: Sun Sep 24, 2006 5:03 am
Location: Edinburgh
Contact:

#10

Post by Reeltime »

Sorry guys, I'm up to my eyeballs in work at the moment (burns night and all that) I'm off on Sunday (until the Superbowl lol) so will have a chance to have a good look at it then.

As a hardware beginner, if anyone else bought a quad off Mike, I'm assuming its the same Mobo. I need to get myself a multimeter, as every website I've looked at says the 1st thing to check is the PSU.... L:ast time I played with them, I landed up frying myself... Don't really fancy doing that again
Image
User avatar
Megacruncher
G.L.S.B.
G.L.S.B.
Posts: 4699
Joined: Mon May 29, 2006 11:33 pm
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
Contact:

#11

Post by Megacruncher »

A multimeter isn't much use unless you are a hardcore geek, which you clearly aren't. :wink: You can buy a PSU testing device at Maplin. The best test of course is a new PSU.

Never ever play with a PSU. Opening the case, once it's been switched off a day or two, hoovering out the stoor & replacing the case is about the limits of user servicability.

I have found that PSUs don't always react well to a rest and most of my failures have been when circumstances have forced me to stand down parts of the farm.
Willie the Megacruncher
Image
Post Reply Previous topicNext topic

Return to “Help”