The Cellar - View Single Post

11-06-2001, 08:41 AM

Tony -

if it doesn't POST, there are 4 likely problems:

-RAM is shit
-CPU is shit
-PSU is shit
-MOBO is shit

or at least, that's what i'm getting from what you've said. it's also possible that

-VIDEO CARD is shit.

turn the box on, and put your nose right behind the fan blowing out from the PSU. do you smell anything that's a wee bit like burning? if so, it's probably a burned transistor in your PSU. it's also possible that it's a burned transistor some place else, and the PSU is sucking in the burning smell. but seriously. smell for a faint burning smell. it's kinda hard to detect, but once you know it, you recognize it instantly. look for that.

if you can't smell anything, try swapping out the video card and see if it'll come up now. i'm guessing not, since the IDE light stays on all the time. but try it anyway - it's always possible.

i'm guessing that the monitor isn't getting any signal whatsoever - if this is the case, like i said, there really aren't that many things. disconnect the following:

-any and all ide devices (hard drives, cd-rom, zip drive, etc)
-the floppy
-any cards other than video

and see if you can get it to POST (Power On Self Test). make sure you leave the case speaker connected - error beeps are *really* important. anyway, if it still doesn't POST (or you can't see it), that means that one of the following (or more) are not functioning properly:

-motherboard
-cpu
-ram
-power supply
-video card

which is what we were guessing anyway. then, replace the video card with a cheapie and see if you can get it to work. test the ram in another machine and see if it works. make SURE that the fan & heatsink are on the cpu properly - if they're not, that could be causing the problem.

let me know what's going on with it. i've got a ton of experience troubleshooting hardware, so we can probably narrow this down pretty quick. could almost certainly tell you in an hour if the machine was in front of me, but we'll just have to do this in a bit of an unorthodox manner.

good luck. lemme know what's happening.

oh yeah - make sure the monitor is still good. that's important too

try it on another computer.

also - try letting the machine boot - see if it goes, and you just can't see it. if it does, see if you can telnet in and shut it down properly. if that's the case, it's easier to narrow down the problem.

11-06-2001, 08:41 AM	#4
dave Guest Posts: n/a	Tony - if it doesn't POST, there are 4 likely problems: -RAM is shit -CPU is shit -PSU is shit -MOBO is shit or at least, that's what i'm getting from what you've said. it's also possible that -VIDEO CARD is shit. turn the box on, and put your nose right behind the fan blowing out from the PSU. do you smell anything that's a wee bit like burning? if so, it's probably a burned transistor in your PSU. it's also possible that it's a burned transistor some place else, and the PSU is sucking in the burning smell. but seriously. smell for a faint burning smell. it's kinda hard to detect, but once you know it, you recognize it instantly. look for that. if you can't smell anything, try swapping out the video card and see if it'll come up now. i'm guessing not, since the IDE light stays on all the time. but try it anyway - it's always possible. i'm guessing that the monitor isn't getting any signal whatsoever - if this is the case, like i said, there really aren't that many things. disconnect the following: -any and all ide devices (hard drives, cd-rom, zip drive, etc) -the floppy -any cards other than video and see if you can get it to POST (Power On Self Test). make sure you leave the case speaker connected - error beeps are really important. anyway, if it still doesn't POST (or you can't see it), that means that one of the following (or more) are not functioning properly: -motherboard -cpu -ram -power supply -video card which is what we were guessing anyway. then, replace the video card with a cheapie and see if you can get it to work. test the ram in another machine and see if it works. make SURE that the fan & heatsink are on the cpu properly - if they're not, that could be causing the problem. let me know what's going on with it. i've got a ton of experience troubleshooting hardware, so we can probably narrow this down pretty quick. could almost certainly tell you in an hour if the machine was in front of me, but we'll just have to do this in a bit of an unorthodox manner. good luck. lemme know what's happening. oh yeah - make sure the monitor is still good. that's important too try it on another computer. also - try letting the machine boot - see if it goes, and you just can't see it. if it does, see if you can telnet in and shut it down properly. if that's the case, it's easier to narrow down the problem.