Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Drew345]

After watching some of the Heros series on TVlinks last night, my computer bit the dust this morning.
I guess the place to bring it is somewhere in Yongsan. Anyone know the more specific part of Yongsan for good desktop repair? Or is home repair the way to go?
When I power on, the computer goes immediately into beeping mode. It is about a one second beep every 5 seconds. There is nothing on the screen. It wont turn off by the on/off switch, so I have to turn off the power in the back.
I power on again, same stuff. I can open the disk drive and put in the Original Windows system disk. Power off/ back on, still only beeping. So it cannot boot off of a system disk. Still no message on the screen.
I think those beeps with no screen messages means hardware error.
It is a Gateway PC running Windows XP. Bought it one year ago in America.
Any ideas for repair.
Thanks so much,
Drew

[Drew345]

Here are some more specifications on my non-functioning PC:

GT5220, AMD Athlon 64 dual-core 3800+ 2GHz Processor, 1GB RAM, 250GB Hard Drive, 16X DVD+/-RW Drive, Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005

Drew

[kprrok]

I don't know how current it is, but here's a link to a list of what the beeps mean. Maybe you an figure out which one it is and that should help you figure out how to fix the computer.

http://networking.ringofsaturn.com/PC/beep.php

KPRROK

[Drew345]

Thanks for that list. My computer just repeatly beeps, one second beep every 5 seconds. Doesn't really have a pattern as described on that page. But the information does say that patterns vary between makers. Most all the problems indicated by the beeps are hardware, that's a good start.
Thanks,
Drew

[cbclark4]

Re seat everything.

Turn off the power.

Open the case pull all the cards including the memory.

Re insert all the cards.

If that fixes it good.

You may want to run the vacuum in there to get all the dust out too.

If you have more than one stick of memory you can test them alternately.

[Drew345]

That is a really good suggestion about reteating the cards. I will try that.
I don't have an ESD workbench in my apartment, but I doubt the guys at Yongson would be using ESD approved methods anyway.
After thinking about it some more:
Last night I watched Heros from the TVlinks website linked to the Veoh website.
The Veoh website did install a video player on my computer.
I think the video player may have corrupted my BIOS video card settings. So now my computer can't see the video card, and sits there beeping with nothing on the screen.
So I will try to reseat the cards, and if that don't work, I may try removing the CMOS battery for about 20 seconds. Does that make sense?
Thanks,
Drew
Oh, and if I do have to take it to Yongsan IT mall. Should I take it up to the top 3 floors and look for repair? Would that be the best place. I can't carry the CPU around too much, so just wondering where the PC repair guys are located there.
Thanks,
Drew

[eamo]

[Drew345]

I tried reseting the BIOS. Didn't help.
More information on the motherboard / video card.
It is nVidia GeForce 6150 LE
The computer beeps (1 second beep every 5 seconds). No startup, no signal to video screen.
Doing some internet searching I found a couple of other people describing the same problem with this card; unfortunately they didn't post their resolution. Trying some PMs.
I didn't try reseating the memory yet. I tried reseating a keyboard in a laptop once and the darn connector broke. This does seem like a good idea, so I'll have to try.
Drew

[ttompatz]

1st test - video card is not initializing - change it out - try a different one.
If you still do not get a POST (power on self test) after changing out the video card then your mobo, RAM or CPU are toasted.

With the beeps I personally suspect the CPU got burnt (no, I don't know why) and I can't be sure from here.

2nd - Swap out the RAM or test it one dimm at a time (I assume you have 2x500mb dimms). I don't suspect your RAM but it is possible and it is easy to test.
If still no POST, then the mobo or CPU are toast.

3rd - Time to buy a new MOBO and upgrade your CPU (yours was the 1st dual core that AMD produced) while you are at it. The cost should be a bit less than 200k for a new mobo and updated CPU.

[Drew345]

OK Got IT,
Thanks everybody. I got it working. It was the RAM seating.
I took out the second RAM and tested with only the first. The computer booted (did a fast backup)
I put the second RAM back in and the computer booted fine and sees all RAM.

I guess I learned a couple of things (may not be accurate, only my newbe guesses here).
For a computer to boot, it needs BIOS and RAM (maybe not exactly correct, just for this discussion.)
First test the RAM (as was suggested and I didn't do first)
Removing RAM is easy, putting it back in takes a lot more force than I was thinking.

Just a few of my lessons learned, good thing I didn't have much to do this morning.

[cbclark4]

Yay