Boot-up woes!! Power-supply problems??

[Volstag]

Greetings All,

Quick background: for the past four-months I've been saving and planning for a new computer (1.2Ghz Athlon, GeForce 2 (w/ 64 megs), 256 RAM, 40 gig HD). I finally got it built and shipped. It showed up last Friday. Set it up and everything was working GREAT (other than a small glitch with the sound card -- which I promptly corrected). So anyway, I play around with it on Friday and Saturday afternoon -- she's running like a dream -- I'm as happy as a clam! On Sunday evening, I'm coming home, thinking about squandering some time playing Combat Mission on my shiny new computer....

I turn on my monitor, speakers, etc, then power up my tower. The fans purr up to speed, the CD drive spools for a couple seconds, and then..... then..... nothing!! No signal going to the monitor. No "beep" from the computer. The hard-drive doesn't make a speck of noise. No error messages, no CMOS, no BIOS, no nothing. Just fans running, and a blank monitor -- I want to stress that the connection between the computer and the monitor is not in question -- it's the fact that the computer makes absolutely no attempt to go through the boot-up cycle.

So I rip off the case.... all of the fans are running fine. All of the connections look great. Nothing seems out of the ordinary.. What the heck is going on??? Some of my friends speculate that it might be a power supply issue. I want a 2nd and 3rd opinion.

If you need more info, feel free to ask.

Thanks,
Volstag

[BigGeek02]

That definitely sounds like the power supply to me. They're only about 50 bucks for a 330 Watt supply (which should satisfy most people's systems). I know you don't want to hear this, but it could be a bad processor too. If there aren't any beeps and nothing comes on, that might mean the processor is gone and nothing has had a chance to come on. So, before you buy a supply, definitely see if the processor smells burnt or if there are any black areas around it or on your motherboard. Did you have any lightning storms between the time you last used it and the time you tried to turn it on?

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Computer Error Haiku-
"Warning: Universe Corrupt. Reboot?(Y/N)"

[Volstag]

I checked the CPU extensively. Everything seems to be a-okay. In fact, my buddies who built it, made me go over the CPU + fan with a fine-tooth comb. They said if the fan wasn't running, the CPU would burn-out in under 5 seconds (or something crazy like that). No lightning storms recently.

Also... I've heard that if the CPU and/or memory dies, that your computer will give "long beeps" when you attempt to boot it up. Is this true?

Later,
Volstag

p.s. Thanks BigGeek02 http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif


Originally posted by BigGeek02:
That definitely sounds like the power supply to me. They're only about 50 bucks for a 330 Watt supply (which should satisfy most people's systems). I know you don't want to hear this, but it could be a bad processor too. If there aren't any beeps and nothing comes on, that might mean the processor is gone and nothing has had a chance to come on. So, before you buy a supply, definitely see if the processor smells burnt or if there are any black areas around it or on your motherboard. Did you have any lightning storms between the time you last used it and the time you tried to turn it on?

[Randy_tx]

The FIRST thing I would do is call the company you bought it from and RETURN it while under WARRANTY. Dont attempt to "Do" anything on this new of a computer. We could speculate forever about what it might be (my guess is memory), but to mess with it means to VOID most Warranties.....so send it BACK !!! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

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"As hard as a rock & dumb as a brick"...Windows CEMeNT

[Volstag]

Here's the situation... my long-time buddies hand-built this machine for me. They work for a company that builds computer systems (for normal, respectable people -- unlike myself). Typically they are under warranty. My system was done "under the table", so to speak. There is no warranty for me. Basically I attempt to fix it myself... or I ship it back to them.

Later,
Volstag


[This message has been edited by Volstag (edited 03-27-2001).]

[mjc]

Try reseating everything (video card, memory, etc.) make sure all the lockdown tabs are engeaged and everything. If it has more thatn one memory stick try just one at a time. If it works with one then the other is probably bad, if it works with both but not together they maybe mismatched or the BIOS could need some "tweaking" for the memory settings. Check to see that the CPU is properly seated and that the heatsink fan is actually working (not just spinnning but spinnig fast enough to do something).

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mjc
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