[NBLUG/talk] Trying to explain sudden computer death...

Justin Thiessen thiessen at sonic.net
Wed Jun 22 17:03:19 PDT 2005


A couple of days after Lincoln posted his first request for help, I 
decided to re-install my main system.  To make this easier, I swapped in an
old 20GB hard drive to put the slack install tree on and provide a tertiary
backup medium.  In the process of weaseling around inside the case making
all the cables fit, I ended up in nearly the same position he was.  When
I tried to power up the system, the PS came up, the fans turned on, the
CD-ROM drive lights started blinking, but that was it.  Nothing came up
on the monitor, the keyboard lights did not flash, and no *BEEP* emerged from
the speaker.

I double-checked a bunch of stuff inside the case before I fixed the
problem.  Turns out I had somehow dislodged/shifted at least one of the front 
panel connectors.  I suspect that one was just bridging the reset pins and
causing the system to stall permanently in that situation.

In any case, having been through this sort of thing more times than I care
to count, my advice is simply to take all the system mostly apart and put
it back together properly.

* Disconnect the cables
* Remove PCI/AGP/whatever cards

Then put them all back in properly according to the manual.  If nothing else,
it's a chance to redo your cabling job, and I find that I can almost always
do a better job than I did the last time.


If the thought of that is unbearable, then restrict yourself to

(1) removing and reseating all the front panel connectors according to the
    mottherboard manual.
(2) double-checking that the clear cmos jumper has not somehow been shifted
    to the "clear" position, either by bridging pins that shouldn't be 
    bridged, or by being open when it's supposed to be closed.

That would be my approach.

Justin

On Wed, Jun 22, 2005 at 05:20:23PM -0700, Robert Hayes wrote:
> Then again, depending on the age of the motherboard, it may be something as 
> simple as a bad/dislodged jumper.
> 
> Check/ reseat (several times each) the jumpers on your motherboard (powered 
> down!) and see if that helps.
> 
> 
> On Wednesday 22 June 2005 02:34 pm, Lincoln Peters wrote:
> > On Sun, 2005-06-19 at 17:11 -0700, Ryan Culley wrote:
> > > Maybe the PC's power supply failed?  This link has some suggestions to
> > > determine if the power supply is bad.
> >
> > I've verified that the power supply is OK; I swapped it out with another
> > one, and got no change.
> >
> > > http://www.fonerbooks.com/power.htm
> >
> > I do notice that it suggests that the power switch might be damaged, and
> > I could try swapping the connection between it and the "reset" button.
> > I tried that as well, and it didn't change anything.
> >
> > > You might also try a different power source.
> >
> > I know that the power source is working because it also connects to the
> > monitor, printer, scanner, and even a lamp, and they all are receiving
> > power.
> >
> >
> > This is starting to look more and more like a motherboard problem...
> >
> > ---
> > Lincoln Peters
> > <sampln at sbcglobal.net>
> >
> > Friends, n.:
> > 	People who borrow your books and set wet glasses on them.
> >
> > 	People who know you well, but like you anyway.
> >
> >
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> 
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