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Hank Scorpio
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
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 Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2003 5:52 am Post subject: |
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| Tiger Beer wrote: |
Oh forget to mention.. yes, its a desktop.
Surgery time.. yeah, seems like its going to come to that.. I'm just clueless on it.. but thats probably the next step.. make sure everything is securely in place.
The other thing is when I used it last.. I definetely didn't move anything around.. so I can't figure out how things were jarred out of place..
Seems more like something might be fried or something.. |
You could very well have a dead power supply also. Pray to the computer gods that that's what it is, because that's an easy, cheap fix. That'd be the first thing I'd check. I had pretty much the same thing happen to me before. If you have another PC around you can swipe the power supply from that'd help. Or, see if you can used a buddy's. |
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hojucandy
Joined: 03 Feb 2003
Location: In a better place
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| Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2003 5:57 am Post subject: |
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ah - to be without a computer - how could we survive!!??
my beloved mac powerbook has been running on an external keyboard ever since some stupid person spilt coffee on it (the third time!!!). this saturday i decided to take it to the applecentre for a new keyboard.
they will replace it for free (3 year warranty) but they will keep it for a week. so it looked like i was facing a week with no computer.
i have a friend's pc at my place. it does not work -or at least, it would not switch on last time i tried it. i decided to put it in the cupboard out of the way. carrying it up the stairs (my apartment has a loft!) i nearly dropped it and gave it quite a jolt.
i decided to try it one last time before i put it away and i found it works now. that jolt did it. so i am using a cursed windows box til my mac returns. don't tell anyone.... |
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Bulsajo
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2003 7:28 am Post subject: |
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It won't be a power supply failure- I've had those and you can't even make it to POST without a working power supply.
EDIT: Sorry, it could very well be a partially failed power supply.
Incessant beeping sounds to me like vidoe card failure- I've had that happen before too.
TB try to get your hands on an old video card to swap out. Other top culprits would be hard drive and RAM.
But what you really need to do is find out what kind of system board you have and look up the specs on the internet- that will tell you what kind BIOS/CMOS you have (American Megatrends, Award, or Phoenix), from there you can look up the POST beep codes for your POST. That beeping is telling you exactly what is wrong with your PC- that's what they're there for.
If can't or aren't willing to do this and don't have a friend with lots of spare parts to come over and swap stuff out for you then save yourself some time and grief and take it in to a shop. |
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Hank Scorpio
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
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| Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2003 7:48 am Post subject: |
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| Bulsajo wrote: |
| It won't be a power supply failure- I've had those and you can't even make it to POST without a working power supply. |
Oh, yes you can. A dying power supply doesn't necessarily stop working, it can just stop carrying as much capacity as it once did. I've seen bad power supplies just crash computers in the middle of operation, I've seen them go completely through their BIOS and then crash as soon as the HD starts whirring up, and I've seen them make it to post and just sit there beeping.
Power supplies can get tricky on you. |
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The Lemon
Joined: 11 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2003 7:58 am Post subject: |
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| If you've ruled out all the petty ante stuff like a stuck key, etc, then you probably either have a fried mobo (easy enough, one little solder point breaks, and bye bye), a dead processor, or possibly one of your DIMM's have failed spectacularly (although this is doubtful, RAM usually gives you ample warning before dying off). |
This is all true... but I find a common cause of the non-POSTing BEEPS is a PCI or AGP card not seated properly, or one of the RAM sticks has somehow moved out of its socket.
Rather than try to wiggle and test, I usually take everything out and put them in one at a time, testing each time. If you take them all out, but the graphics card - and disconnect all of the drives too, and you still get the sound and no POST, then you know you have something seriously wrong with the MB/CPU/graphics card. If you do get POST, it's just a matter of sticking stuff back in, slowly.
Good luck! |
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Mr. Literal
Joined: 03 Jul 2003
Location: Third rock from the Sun.
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| Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2003 10:30 am Post subject: |
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| Most likely a video card. Windows won't even attempt to load is there's a problem with the video card/driver. |
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jaebea
Joined: 21 Sep 2003
Location: SYD
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| Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2003 3:23 pm Post subject: |
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The fan on the CPU heatsink could be screwy (dust or just poor mechanisms = not reaching sufficient RPMs). Also check any other fans on the motherboard, as newer ones have them on the Northbridge, but as far as I know, this shouldn't induce a POST level error.
Most of the advice here is sound, and if you had the knowhow and some time, I'd recommend Lemon's approach, to take everything out and put them in one at a time, to try to isolate a problem. I usually keep a spare DIMM and cheapo AGP graphics card handy for this, but I'm assuming most people don't have the same luxury.
Don't worry about the monitor, as they usually won't power up if the system doesn't POST. It's definitely something internal, and if fiddling around with the bits inside your computer seems a little daunting, then get a tech to have a look at it.
If it's a heatsink problem, then you're lucky, as you can buy a nice one for pretty cheap. One word of warning is if you're new to it, I wouldn't try seating it yourself, as you can potentially ruin your CPU by improperly unmounting/mounting a heatsink... :)
Good luck!
jae. |
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Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2003 7:32 pm Post subject: |
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I puttered around with it last night.. plugged and re-plugged everything that was external.
It is apparently in the inside.. and began looking around in there.. a fairly daunting task.. no clue as to the solution yet..
I'll try to identify the video card.. but without spare parts not so easy to check on my own.. probably going to have to enlist a friend to come on down or something or another.. |
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Bulsajo
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2003 7:43 pm Post subject: |
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Be really careful inside that thing!
In the winter when the air is very dry the danger of damaging a sensitive part from ESD (Electro-static discharge, i.e.- static electricity) is very real. A shock too small for you too feel can still damage some of the more sensitive parts. |
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panthermodern
Joined: 08 Feb 2003
Location: Taxronto
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| Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2003 9:00 pm Post subject: |
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| Is it possible that Tiger Beer just wore the damn thing out? |
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Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2003 8:49 am Post subject: |
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Thank you to Derrek!!!!
Its fixed! I brought it over to his house.. and he figured it out.. basically came down to a faulty Modem (inside the computer) which I don't even need anyhow. Once that was removed, it started up fine once again.
Problem solved!! Whew.. I was preparing myself financially to have to soak money into this thing to get it going.. |
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Bulsajo
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2003 9:17 am Post subject: |
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| Tiger Beer wrote: |
Thank you to Derrek!!!!
Its fixed! I brought it over to his house.. and he figured it out.. basically came down to a faulty Modem (inside the computer) which I don't even need anyhow. Once that was removed, it started up fine once again.
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Faulty modem preventing POST from completing? That's one for the books as far as I'm aware- For future reference, what operating system are you using and what kind of modem was it? 56K dial-up? |
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Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2003 9:27 am Post subject: |
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| Bulsajo wrote: |
| Tiger Beer wrote: |
Thank you to Derrek!!!!
Its fixed! I brought it over to his house.. and he figured it out.. basically came down to a faulty Modem (inside the computer) which I don't even need anyhow. Once that was removed, it started up fine once again.
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Faulty modem preventing POST from completing? That's one for the books as far as I'm aware- For future reference, what operating system are you using and what kind of modem was it? 56K dial-up? |
Windows ME. I don't know the modem exactly, but it was inside the PC case. I don't even use it, I just use DSL here in Korea.
With Derrek's direction and guidance (he basically did everything while I observed), he pulled out both video cards (is that what you call them) and then the modem card as well (or whatever you call them). The video ones worked fine when put back in and started up.
I'm not quite sure how or why that modem slot card (or whatever its called) would prevent it from booting up.. but without it being there, its fine again.
Maybe Derrek will see this thread tomorrow sometime and can say exactly with more precision than I can. (But thats basically how I've come to understand it). |
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Bulsajo
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2003 12:31 pm Post subject: |
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IRQ conflict I guess.
I suppose that makes sense since that would prevent the o/s from loading... you hadn't installed any new cards recently? 
Sometimes these things just happen [computer Gremilins- don't let anyone tell you they don't really exist]. |
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Derrek
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2003 3:00 am Post subject: |
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It was just one of things that just happened. I also pulled the ram and stuck it back in too. For all we know, it could have been that, but it seemed seated fine.
The cards hadn't been changed in a long time. I moved a few cards around, too, so that might have resolved any IRQ issue.
We'll never know, but i'm certain he never would have used that old 56k modem again anyway -- bad or not.
He had a weird 2 video card configuration going on. Both were PCI, and the AGP port was empty. I concluded that the guy who built this and sold it to him must have put it together based on different used parts, or didn't know that an AGP port is better for graphics than using PCI. I've never used a PCI graphics card before (always gone AGP route), so it was all new to me with the routing thing.
The first video card was an S3 Trio 64VT, and it was routed into another PCI card -- a 3dfx Voodoo Banshee. In the interest of time (it was 1am and I had work the next day), and the fact we had pissed around with the drivers for an hour, I got the S3Trio card running, and we kept the 3dfx card out of the system. Both cards work though. He said he never plays games anyway, and we were just happy to get it going again.
Had to get drivers from the net (using my computer) and bring them over on floppy to his (my connection didn't work on his computer, even after setting it up to do so). The drivers were nowhere to be found on his computer, and he was never given disks for those cards. I was afraid he'd have to buy a new LAN card, but he says it works at his home, so OK. Wait, he has DSL, and I don't. I have Cable Modem... anyway....
Tiger, personally, if you have time, you should get a copy of ME or XP and reinstall or upgrade your windows. It needs it. |
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