Hi Im wondering if anyone has had a similar problem or knows about what may have happened here, Here's the problem:
My Dad got a new computer desk, and before we put his computer into the new desk, I convinced him that blowing out the Dust bunnies would be a good idea, so I opened the sides of His PC and removed the excessive dust, I was grounded with the power cable, I didnt touch any circuit at all, and got the majority of the dust out (6 years worth):p. After seting it up again , THERE is no signal to the monitor at all, monitor tests as good on another PC. I took out and removed the Video card , then reseated it, still no signal to the monitor.
The PC sounds like it is booting up to a point. It is a Celleron 450Mhz 128MB RAM 8Gig HD generic PC with a creative Video card that worked fine just before the computer was moved. Running Windows98SE
Any one know what is going on here?
Any reply welcome TIA

Happy Holidays,
Rhys

Welcome to http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif

Are you getting a beep when you boot? If you are not getting a POST beep, the problem may not be the video, but rather that the system is simply not able to complete POST and that can be due to any number of other problems. I would probably try opening the case and tightening any and all connectors to make sure it is not just a loose connection. If it still doesn't work, post back with more details about what you have done and we will give you more ideas.

Budfred

Thanks Budfred,

I am not getting a beep on boot. The hard disk makes a normal clicking on powerup but I hear no loading of the OS.
The HD indicator LED stays on, the PC wont shut down when the power button is pressed again. It checks the A: drive and the CD-ROM drive, and the keyboard lights on powerup, no beep.

I opened it again, removed and resocketed all cards and all connectors, and I reseated the RAM.

Still the same condition persists. no beep etc.

Thanks,
Rhys

That doesn't sound good. No beep usually means POST (Power On Self Test) failed and that usually means a problem with the motherboard or CPU. The next step, unfortunately, is probably to disconnect everything except the CPU, one stick of RAM, video, keyboard and power supply, then try to boot. If you get POST and video, then add one component at a time to see what makes the problem happen. If you are really lucky it could turn out to be the power supply.

If you still don't get POST, the next step is to take the motherboard out of the case and put it on a nonconductive surface, like a wood tabletop, and the same minimal configuration, then try for POST. If you get POST, it probably indicates a short between the motherboard and the case, so you can reinstall very carefully and make sure you have no short, then try again.

If it still doesn't post, you will need to find either another compatible CPU to try or another motherboard that is compatible with your CPU, preferably both. That way you can test them both to see if one or both is the problem.

Let us know what you find out.

Budfred

Well,

I tried everything you said, with the minimal config, still no post beep. took the MoBo out and did the same , no POST beep. I tried a Different RAM, still no go.
I put it together again , still no go
there was no video or beep.
I also reseated the CPU, no change.
I don't have another equal PC to test with.
I have some older 486 machines, but Im not sure how swapable they are.
they probably dont have an AGP slot, and probably dont use PC100 SDRAM
My Dad will probably call the guy who built it for him.
I'll report what happens.

Thanks for your Help Budfred, I appreciate it Muchly.

Rhys

Yeah, I don't think you will get far in swapping with a 486 chip, except maybe to make things worse and ruin your old chip. Sorry there doesn't seem to be an easier solution... it does seem likely that either motherboard or CPU needs a quiet funeral.:(

Budfred

It might possibly be the power supply. With a six year old computer, any of the components could go. Do the fans run when you try to start?

Whichever component failed, it shouldn't be to expensive to get it running again. :)

Well,

The powersupply Fan was running (slightly noisily at first but its been that way for a while) and there is a fan on the front grill of the case , that was running.
There are 2 CPU fans, they were running. The SuperDrive/floppy, CD-ROM, and HDD were spinning up and lighting up on start up. front LED's were lit up.keyboard litup... <sigh> no beep , speaker pluged in...
PS seems ok from what i can tell, unless there is something wrong with some of the leads to the MOBO.?

>>Whichever component failed, it shouldn't be to expensive to get it running again.

I hope your right Steve. :)
I told my Dad that we could replace that stuff ourselves if we could pinpoit the part.

Thanks,

Rhys