-=PCTechTalk=- Re: puzzling problem
- From: "Jo Ann Weaver" <bookworm54@xxxxxxx>
- To: <pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2008 00:57:51 -0400
GMan,
Ok, here's what's happening. I was checking connections and noticed the hard
drive cable was a flat cable that somebody
wrapped material around to make it round and crimped it up.Replaced it with
a new flat cable ( everything else still disconnected )
and it booted right up. Hooked up first optical drive which was a DVD
player, and still booted, hookep second CD-RW on the same cable
just like it was before, and no boot. The DVD is set to master on the end of
the cable and the second one is slave. Unhooked second drive,
booted right up. Replaced second drive with another drive, no boot. Decided
to let that go for now and replace cards. Put in sound card, booted.
Put in dial-up modem, no boot. Took out sound card, put in ethernet card,
booted up. Put in USB card, booted. Then no boot next time. Took out
sound card, booted up. Later repalced it, it still boots. It's booted
several times in a row and I played a game on it, but I'm still not
convinced it's ok.
Still won't boot with the second optical drive at all. Going to bed now,
will take a hammer to the thing tomorrow :)
Jo Ann
----- Original Message -----
From: "GMan" <gman.pctt@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2008 8:57 PM
Subject: -=PCTechTalk=- Re: puzzling problem
> Jo Ann,
> Some PS models sense when they have the wrong power and shut themselves
> down. Some don't. In the US, it should always be set for 110V (or 115V,
> if
> that's the lower option). But I would suspect the phone call would have
> included something about the crackling followed by a familiar smell if
> 110V
> could hurt a unit looking for 220V. However, I was only talking about the
> small, usually black, rocker switch. It should be close to the red power
> rating switch you described, but you would never get the fans spinning if
> it
> was set to off. So, the next thing to do is to swap power supplies again.
> If it doesn't work with the original one, it's probably not the PS.
>
> I'm now also picturing a booboo I made myself once. I had everything
> put together and couldn't get the thing to fire up (but I did get beeps
> form
> the mainboard during POST). I practically tore the thing down twice
> trying
> to isolate what was holding up the works. It eventually turned out that I
> had plugged in the hard drive data cable, but never gave it any power. My
> bad! The reason for telling you this is that problems like these are
> usually caused by something simple. I didn't say Easy, just simple. Try
> following every cable to make sure it terminates somewhere. Look at each
> device and make sure it's connected in every way it requires. Pull and
> reseat all cables again, including those going to the hard drive. Ensure
> that all cables are plugged in the right way and that none are harshly
> kinked. If you find a kinked one, there may be a break in the wires
> inside.
>
> Peace,
> G
>
> http://tinyurl.com/ypbuue
>
> "The only dumb questions are the ones we fail to ask!"
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jo Ann Weaver" <bookworm54@xxxxxxx>
> To: <pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2008 8:09 PM
> Subject: -=PCTechTalk=- Re: puzzling problem
>
>
>>
>> GMan,
>>
>> The switch on the power supply was the first thing I thought of. Had him
>> to
>> check it, then checked it myself as
>> soon as I got it back. I made one mistake and I hope it wasn't a bad one.
>> Sometime after I talked to him by
>> phone and told him to check the switch and whichever way it was to flip
>> it
>> the other way and try it, I remembered
>> the red switch under it that sets for 110 or 220 AC. When I got it back
>> it
>> was set for 220. If he set for 220 and plugged it into his 110
>> outlet, would it have harmed it? Of course I set it back before I plugged
>> it
>> in.
>>
>> Ok, I reset the ATX plug, reseated the RAM and disconnectd and or removed
>> all cards. Fired it up, and hear nothing but the fans.
>> Had my hubby to listen for beeps and he didn't hear any either. Is there
>> anything else to try before I deduce the mainboard is
>> dead?
>>
>> What makes me feel bad is, it was working ( albeit not too greatly ) when
>> I
>> got it. Makes it look like I killed it. I
>> know it was working good when, I sent it back to them, but I don't know
>> if
>> they believe it.
>>
>> Jo Ann
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> Jo Ann,
>>> After a full reinstall, you can be pretty certain it's not the
>>> software.
>>> Not entirely certain, but pretty sure. If it never came on for them,
>>> then
>>> there a decent chance that something happened during its travels. The
>>> simplest of things are the first things to check. It could be that the
>>> switch on the back of the power supply was thrown the wrong way. You've
>>> already replaced that, so that's not it. Inside the case, a memory
>>> module
>>> may have popped out of its slot. It could even be caused by them
>>> plugging
>>> it into a wall socket that isn't supplying any power because the breaker
>>> had
>>> tripped. On the other hand, this could be as serious as a mainboard
>>> failure.
>>>
>>> With the case open, locate and carefully reseat the main power source
>>> to
>>> the mainboard. It's the 20 or more prong connector that attaches
>>> somewhere
>>> relatively close to the CPU. Since you are getting power to the extras
>>> (hard drive, optical drive, floppy, fans, etc.), this is the most likely
>>> place for a mainboard problem like this. Next, scan the rest of the
>>> mainboard to make sure there isn't one of those 4 pin ports that
>>> requires
>>> an
>>> additional 4 prong power supply line from the PS. Most modern boards
>>> require this extra power. If it needs one and doesn't have one, this
>>> will
>>> also cause this problem. You may find that the PS you used to replace
>>> the
>>> original doesn't have the cable. If that's the case, reinstall the
>>> original. Finally, turn on the system to see if the problem is gone.
>>>
>>> If all is good with the PS to the mainboard but it still doesn't
>>> work,
>>> disconnect everything except for the bare necessities (power supply,
>>> mainboard, CPU, RAM) and fire it up. If you don't hear any beeps, the
>>> mainboard may have seen its final days. If the board beeps (the pattern
>>> doesn't matter), turn it off again by holding in the power button for 4
>>> seconds. So far so good. Hook up the hard drive & monitor and fire it
>>> up
>>> again. Can you hear the drive spin up? If not, the drive is probably
>>> bad.
>>> Install it into another system as a Slave and see if the OS can see any
>>> of
>>> it in Windows Explorer or My Computer to test it. If it does spin up,
>>> do
>>> you get anything on the monitor? If not, the video card or its port are
>>> suspect. If you can see it POST on the monitor, so far, so good again.
>>> Connect the optical &/or floppy drives and test it again. you may find
>>> that
>>> after running through these tests, it goes completely together and works
>>> just fine. That will indicate that something wasn't kosher in the
>>> original
>>> plugging in of the various devices. Many floppy drives have ports where
>>> you
>>> can easily plug in the cable backwards (no key notch to guide you). If
>>> the
>>> cable is in wrong, the drive LED will stay lit up constantly, but the
>>> drive
>>> itself will not function.
>>>
>>> Peace,
>>> G
>>>
>>> http://tinyurl.com/ypbuue
>>>
>>> "The only dumb questions are the ones we fail to ask!"
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Jo Ann Weaver" <bookworm54@xxxxxxx>
>>> To: <pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>> Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2008 5:56 PM
>>> Subject: -=PCTechTalk=- puzzling problem
>>>
>>>
>>>> This computer I'm working on has me bamboozled. Here's the story.
>>>> Custom
>>>> built box, running XP Pro, 2 gig Intel CPU,
>>>> single stick of RAM 512 MB. It was brought to me because it was slow
>>>> and
>>>> they kept getting
>>>> kicked off the internet on their dial-up connection. Had recently got
>>>> broadband, but couldn't get it to install the software.
>>>> It had no active virus software. I installed AVG and Spybot S&D . Found
>>>> a
>>>> few things and they deleted them, then started
>>>> having Windows errors. Talked to the owners, Formatted and re-installed
>>>> XP. Got everything working, installed AVG for them,
>>>> tested it a while and sent it home, working fine. They said it wouldn't
>>>> come on or do anything. Got it back, nothing worked,
>>>> no fans, no lights, nothing. Checked all connections, nothing. Changed
>>>> power supply. Now all fans work, hard drive light and
>>>> light on CD drive light up red and that's it. Getting nothing on the
>>>> monitor. Any ideas?
>>>> Jo Ann
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