Computer help

[jlehnert]

Okay, now that I'm caught up on the board, I have to get my HS pc running. Just before it completely died back on July, it lost all LAN connectivity and started to act very flaky (locking up, running slow, etc). Finally, it just stopped booting at all. No POST, no beeps, nothing. The fans (CPU, power supply, case) all start up, but thats it. I removed cards one by one, along with the memory, without any change.

At this point, the only thing I can think of is 1) the MB/CPU have bit the dust, or 2) the power supply is not putting out the correct current. I have to see if I can strip a power supply out of one of the other PCs to test the latter possiblility.

Anyone else have any ideas?

 

[electron]

I would definitely test that power supply, that scenario sounds pretty familiar, and every time, it has been the PS. Is there a chance that any of the power connectors came lose (i.e. the AUX 5V connector if your board supports one)?

 

[smee]

I just replaced a power supply in a friend's computer. Things were dying one by one until it refused to boot anymore. First, the CD burner stopped working. Then the floppy (I may have the order backwards). Finally, it just refused to boot.

The fan on the power supply would still run, though.

New power supply and the problems were solved.

 

[Mike]

You should also look for shorts, but that doesn't appear to be your problem. Depending on the power supply its ome are good enough to be protecting you from damage. For example, I saw one case where a post that the motherboard attached to the case was in the wrong position and was contacting a part of the motherboards circuits (on the back of the board) causing a short. It gave a similar symptom (just no fans working).

The other thing to consider: Some motherboards use audio diagnostics (voice messages), if you have on board audio, plug in speakers to that output. Asus for example has this, it might give you more information as not everyone uses beeps anymore. Look at your motherboard manual for how it reports troubleshooting information.

Could be a silly question: Are you sure the video is working? I've seen a video card die and be a pain.... If you have another one I'd try swapping it unless you are sure it's ok.

 

[TonyNo]

Is your system relatively new? If so, it could have that electrolytic capacitor issue discovered a bit ago on many (all?) mobo's.

 

[jlehnert]

I was leaning toward the power supply as the problem, so it's good to see others in agreement. The MB is around 4 years old. I'm pretty sure it is a Asus MB, but I've never heard any voice prompts. I'll have to hook the speakers back up and see if I hear anyone. As for the video card, I've completely removed it (along with all the other cards). The MB should give some type of audible signal if it doesn't find any video card (assuming it's not a voice message) if it doesn't find a video card. I know I have a few old VGA cards laying around, so I'll try that before I buy a new power supply.

 

[Rupp]

Odd but I woke up this morning to a dead weather server. Flipped the on off button and nothing. Had a spar $15 power supply and placed it in and I'm back up and running BUT this power supply is/was putting noise on the powerline. I tried plugging it into an appliance module and then into my UPS and the noise stopped.