Help.....My PC has just died!
I decided to plug in my new mobile via USB a few moments ago. I used the front USB port, and the computer said something about a power surge. The mouse froze (which was USB) but everything else seemed to be working okay.
However when I shutdown, it froze just before the computer completely shutdown. Like a fool, I just pressed the power button for 4 seconds with a vierw to re-booting.
Now when I switch the PC on, I get absolutely nothing. All the fans work, and the HDD seems to be functioning, but it doesn't seem to boot and I can get no display.
Is there a fuse/switch somewhere that needs resetting? Or do I need a new Motherboard? I can't believe something as simple as a mobile phone could kill a computer.
I've tried unplugging the graphics card and replugging that in?
Any ideas.....please!!!!!!
However when I shutdown, it froze just before the computer completely shutdown. Like a fool, I just pressed the power button for 4 seconds with a vierw to re-booting.
Now when I switch the PC on, I get absolutely nothing. All the fans work, and the HDD seems to be functioning, but it doesn't seem to boot and I can get no display.
Is there a fuse/switch somewhere that needs resetting? Or do I need a new Motherboard? I can't believe something as simple as a mobile phone could kill a computer.
I've tried unplugging the graphics card and replugging that in?
Any ideas.....please!!!!!!
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Comments
Post your PC specs, and also the phone would be helpful.
So for PC specs, Post as much of this info as you can find:
Power Supply
Video Card if you have one
Any other peripherals that may be using power.
Type of CPU and MOBO.
Amount of Ram
Anything else you may want to tell us.
And just let us know what kind of phone this was.
I won't be much help, but everyone else should be after you post this info^^.
450w PSU
Gigabyte GA-8I848P FSB 800
512Mb Ram
Windows XP
ATI Radeon 9600
Pentium 4, 2.6Ghz
Phone is Nokia N80
USB Mouse
PS/2 Keyboard
Trust Soundcard 5.1
Hope this helps diagnose the problem
Before you give up on the board, try the following:
1) Unplug all USB devices and see if that makes a difference.
2) If you still have no luck, leave the USB devices unplugged and reset the BIOS by unplugging the computer from the wall, removing the CMOS battery from the motherboard, and moving the CMOS jumper to the "clear" position. Leave it like that for twenty minutes, then reverse the process.
3) If you've reached this point without success, see if you can get into the BIOS and disable anything related to USB.
4) If it's still no-go, try disconnecting everything from the motherboard except the CPU, heatsink/fan, memory and video card. If that gets you any activity on the screen, shutdown and add the other devices back in one at a time.
Good luck.
Do you get a boot post?
It would sound like a series of short and long beeps, the sequence of which can help diagnose the issue.
If not, try to turn the system on with the case open (Carefully! don't shock yourself). Check to see if there is a light on the motherboard (it will ususally be a small green or red LED), if that light is on, then your motherboard is getting power, and we can trouble-shoot further from that point. (this is where you might refer to Prof's post). If there is no light, then your motherboard is somehow not getting power.
In that case, carefully turn the system back off, and unplug it. Then, carefully check all of the capaciters on the board (they look like really small soup cans). They should all have flat tops. If any of the tops are rounded, then you have blown a cap, and the motherboard needs to be replaced. If the caps are fine, carefully check the internal wiring connections, to make sure that everything is seated properly. Once all the connections are checked, try turning the system on again, and check for that light again.
Post here once those steps are completed, and we can figure out the next step for you.
If the power source was 'fried' the system's fans would not activate.
Another question you should always ask when troubleshooting a problem is "What took place just before the problem occurred?"
In this case, he plugged in his phone and {poof}
harvest1, if it turns out to be that you've fried something, my advice would be to get a powered USB hub before you try the phone hookup again. Onboard USB ports have to draw the power for the device through the motherboard (See attached picture), and usually will only supply a small amount of juice. That's fine for a mouse or (most) keyboards, but you'll notice that larger items (like scanners and printers) all have their own power supply.
Another possibility is that the front ports were miswired. Did you ever try any other device in them with success? Something to add to the list of things to try would be to go into the computer and and disconnect them altogether for the time being.
If this fails, continue with the previously documented steps. This has worked for me dozens of times when i couldn't even get a POST screen. \
good luck.
monkeysplice
Thankyou for joining our forums. My hat's off to you for diving in and assisting another user right after you registered. Please stick around. We're pretty laid back, respect each other, and have a lot of tech and gaming enthusiasm.
Many thanks
What I find strange, is before I turned it off everything was fine except for the USB mouse (and presumably all other USB devices). Why when shutting down and rebooting does the PC then do this. I could understand if the screen had gone blank when I originally did this!!!
All the capacitors are fine. I've tried unplugging everything except RAM, CPU, FAN and still nothing.
I'm hoping it's the motherboard and not the CPU, as that's the cheaper option.
Any ideas?
Again, it's only a guess. Do you have a friend who would let you test your other parts out in his system? If everything else works there, it's probably a safe bet to just replace the MB.