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

[Lincoln Peters]

On Wed, 2005-06-22 at 17:03 -0700, Justin Thiessen wrote:
> 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.

Unfortunately, I've already replaced the motherboard, and I had to
replace the CPU and RAM in the process.  Although I do have a spare ATX
tower in the garage, so if I can successfully load the old components
into that tower (possibly after performing a few of the other procedures
suggested by various people on this list), this might turn out to be the
cheapest new computer I've ever purchased!

Having replaced the motherboard, the computer now seems to work again,
although I'll need to do a bit of re-configuring for the new and
slightly different hardware.

By the way:

* It sounds like there is some confusion about the symptoms my computer
was having.  When I plugged in the system, the power supply, fans, and
hard drives would power up, but would all power down about 1 second
later.

* This computer contains NO unkeyed HDD cables, so that's not even a
possibility.

* According to Scott Mueller, alcohol is safe to use for cleaning
contacts, but only if it's chemically pure (drugstore rubbing alcohol is
not).  Something to keep in mind, at least.

* I don't think it's any sort of video problem, since a video problem
wouldn't have caused the system to refuse to stay powered up (it merely
would have been unusable in a powered-up state).

* When the computer failed to start, it was using a USB keyboard AND a
USB mouse, neither of which would be adversely affected by being plugged
into the other's USB port.  I tried re-connecting my old PS/2 keyboard,
just in case[1], and it still didn't work.  And the PS/2 ports are
color-coded, so I doubt that I had mixed them up.


[1] Magical thinking; sometimes used when one's actual knowledge fails
to explain something.

---
Lincoln Peters
<sampln at sbcglobal.net>

What is food to one, is to others bitter poison.
		-- Titus Lucretius Carus