My PC at home just died...

godzilla525godzilla525 Western Pennsylvania Member
edited July 2003 in Hardware
Got off the phone with the parental units around 10:30pm this evening... screen went black, then came up with a BSoD of some kind (of course no one bothered to note what the details were...) :rolleyes:

No big deal... maternal parental unit turned it off, then back on...

Uh-oh. :eek2::wtf: turns on, beeps, then turns right back off. (of course no on bothered to note any details of the beeps!) :shakehead

had paternal parental unit crawl under desk to cycle the power switch on the back of the PSU. Now it won't do anything at all... it's completely dead. :scratch:

No burning smell or smoke that anyone can tell... hopefully that's a good sign. There was a thunderstorm at home so there was a possibility that something got fried... I do have everything going through surge suppressors and the PC is on a UPS, and that thing usually beeps if there are any power fluctuations... (no beeping from it this time)

Tuesday afternoon after my math exam I'll have to drive home and pull it apart. Will post my findings (if any)... hopefully I won't need to buy any new parts. :crazy:

(Abit KT7, Duron 650 @ 950, 340 watt PSU, Asus V8200 T2 Deluxe, 384MB Micron PC133, etc.)

Comments

  • ClutchClutch North Carolina New
    edited July 2003
    Seems like the ups failed. If it fails to turn on then first off check all external power cords, never know if someone might have unplugged it because of the storm. Do you have a spare psu to swap out to test?
  • WuGgaRoOWuGgaRoO Not in the shower Icrontian
    edited July 2003
    man forget about how many things it could be....i thought i KNEW it was my cpu that burnt...i was wrong...it was simply my RAM...and mobo...regardless...troubleshoot...take those parts and put them into a working configiration..and not the other way around...and just keep plugging crap in
  • godzilla525godzilla525 Western Pennsylvania Member
    edited July 2003
    Well, I got home and tried it... it powered up but didn't turn on the monitor or beep at all... which apparently is my parents' idea of 'not doing anything at all.'

    Slight miscommunication but I was relieved that it actually did something.

    Pulled it apart, cleaned every card edge thorougly with Q-tips and rubbing alcohol, vacuumed the dust out, ran a piece of cardboard soaked in alcohol through the AGP slot (standard operating procedure these days...), and put it back together.

    Booted into windows just fine, but the case fan was inoperative and the video card fan was buzzing. I knocked the wire loose for the case fan (it's just 22 AWG solid copper stuffed into the unused floppy power connector). I should fix that properly one of these days when there isn't someone sitting around over eager to use the computer...:nudge:

    Took the AGP card back out and oiled the fan bearings, put it back in and .... same problem as before... power on and... nothing. Turn it back off, wiggle the AGP card, power back on, and it works....

    So it appears that the card edge connector on my Asus V8200 T2 deluxe is having problems making a good connection with the AGP slot on my Abit KT7... it actually feels like the socket isn't getting a good grip on the AGP card anymore, and the HSF on the vid card blowing dust into the socket isn't helping either. :mean:

    which is really odd considering that when you pull the card all the contacts spring back toward the center like they should.

    Hopefully the socket will hold on to the card long enough to make it to the next upgrade cycle... :crazy:

    Ah well... that may be years off yet :)

    My next thing to try would be to fold a piece of 1500 grit sandpaper and polish the contacts in the slot with it...

    Oh... that BSoD that had triggered these events was caused by a streaming radio station player program messing up IE and taking the kernel with it (reproduceable). Not good... especially since this is XP. :wtf:
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited July 2003
    Um, I would power it off, use same QTips and rubbing alcohol treatment on the APG socket. Then take an air can or hair dryer and blow the socket dry.
    Then try again. But good luck, either way.

    Also, jumbo paper clip that is straightened out with about 1\16"(1.5-2 mm) of an end bent at 90 degrees makes a nice finger contact retensioner-- hook and pull each "finger" a tib out toward middle open area of socket.

    I also had this gal of a friend of mine's drop a computer-- would not come back on. Reseated video card, came back on. Looked real close, and sure enough the mobo was slightly canted as had warped a tib with a heatsink holddown tension. GE Silicone bead kept it from coming out, and kept dust from getting in.

    Just a few "old geek" tricks.... :)
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