Boot Failure

Help! I was on my computer yesterday chatting away to my friend on MSN and it turned off! So, OK these things happen sometimes with computers, so i switched everything off and tried again...no good. Now when I try and boot up the only thing I get is a slight whiring from the PSU for a split second and then nothing. I thought maybe it could be a problem with the power supply because of this, but then other times when I try to boot up I can hear the fans for about a minute and THEN it switches off. I get nothing on the screen, no BIOS info comes up, there's no bleeping noise for when the hard drive is recognised. I've tried disconnecting the hard drive and the DVD drives and still no good.

I really need my computer to work soon, lots of work to do like now!! Thanks very much in advance everyone!

Pete :major

 

Have you a spare power supply?
I would start there, as it sounds as though it is on the way out,- as it starts to power up, but cpu fan just flips in , then off- THIS IS PROBABLY THE FIRST PIECE OF HARDWARE TO INITIALISE, AS THE BIOS SCREEN IS ABOUT TO START.

 

Yes just tried a 350watt power supply ( i was using a 500watt one) and it didnt even turn on! Any other ideas?

Thanks again

Pete

 

How about the silly question- fuse in mains plug?
Have you checked that the Ram is seated properly, as sometimes,
by moving the computer , or, a little knock, it can play up.
Remove it , check for dust/fluff, if you have an air--spraycan (make sure computer is not warm, when using)and replace, checking that the securing clips have locked, by pressing lightlytowards the Ram.
Can you test the cpu in another board ?
It is rare for them to fail. I only ever had one CPU fail on me, and it did all that you described, before refusing to start.- This was a fairly recent 2.8ghz P4, which failed after a few weeks from new, but it was confirmed as a manufactered faulty.

 

If you psu spins, even briefly it is likely to be OK.
That leaves motherboard, processor, memory or cabling/connections one or more of these has failed.
Is there alot of dust etc inside?
Are there any motherboard lights on when powered up?
The first thing is to check the easy stuff see
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=116450
If reseating components does not work then one of the above has failed.

Studio T

 

Thanks for the replies guys!

I think ive narrowed it down to just the Motherboard, i tried my flatmates CPU, memory and PSU, ive even taken out my graphics card and everything else i dont need! So really that only leaves the motherboard!

What do you think to that idea, its only been bought 2 months ago?

With regards to the plug, i dont feel i can be that as im still getting some power, and if the fuse had gone i wouldnt be getting any!

I havent checked the lights on the motherboard, its a stupid layout (NForce 3 or something) as i cant find them, which makes me believe there arent any as i had a look around on the board!

So i think it must be the board...you ever heard of that problem before with boards, just turning off and not working again?

Thanks again!

Pete

 

If the fans start to spin the psu must be converting the mains to the low voltage required by them. This does not provide conclusive proof that the psu is OK but is a good guide.

The point about the contacts is that constant, if minute, thermal expansion and contraction can cause chips and cards to 'walk' in their sockets. If a grain of dust get in before they walk back then you have a loose contact.

Hence the advice to Dinsdale to take stuff out clean and reseat. Any service tech will tell you that many problems disappear once boards have been wriggled about. It's also the easiest and cheapest fix on the planet!

You did do this didn't you?

A good motherboard will start (no picture) with failed graphics / graphics card.

Did you say that you could get your processor and memory to work in your mate's pc or that you could get your mate's processor & memory to work in yours?

Not all motherboards have LED lights but most modern ones do. These come on when the board is receiving power and change colour when things are working.

Note that modern boards receive some power even when the pc is 'shut down'. This allows wakeon.. functions to operate.

This is also why you should disconnect from the mains before working on the pc. Mostly you would be OK but 10% of the time static or a short will kill something.

Component failure theory is called 'the bathtub curve' because you get a high proportion of failures happening at the beginning of the service life, followed by a long period of few failures followed by a gradually steepening rise in falure rate as the component approaches the end of its service life.

I hope this is under guarantee 2 months it should be.

There were a lot of failed new Foxconn motherboards reported in a recent thread.

Let us know how you get on.

Studio T

 

Thanks for the advice, sorry i took so long getting back to you!

I cleaned all my parts when i took them out and i tried my friends stuff in my computer, i used his memory, processor, graphics etc and the only thing i didnt change or try different was his motherboard! This lead me to the conclusion that it must be my motherboard thats gone bust!

I have subsequently ordered a new MOBO and a new graphics card (couldnt get an agp8 MOBO for next day delivery) so when this arrives i shall put it all together and hope it works! Im going to send the bust motherboard (if it is bust) back and get my money back due to buying a new board, just a pain because im doing work and stuff for uni and i need it asap!

Ill let you know how my new MOBO gets on when i recieve it!

Thanks for all the help!

Pete