Need Help With Dell

1Racerdude1Racerdude Washington state
edited October 2004 in Hardware
I have a Dell 4200 and about a month ago after a bad storm when I came home,the monitor would not come on.Fans come on and the lights on the power switch.
I have tried another video card,PSU,memory and another monitor.The surge protector was not thrown after the storm so I have no idea.It may just be a coincidence with the lightning.
Anybody got any ideas what might be wrong IF lightning got to it.There are no visible signs that I can see.

Comments

  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    When you say you tried a new PSU, where did you get the PSU from?
  • 1Racerdude1Racerdude Washington state
    edited November 2003
    Brand new out of the box PSU for my new computer. A Vantec 520 stealth.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    Retail PSUs don't work with Dell computers 98% of the time because dell rewires 80% of the wires in standard ATX plugs and sockets so nothing is interchangeable with off the shelf parts as far as powering the motherboard is concerned.

    A new PSU can't be used with the mobo, and a new mobo on a Dell PSU will probably be fried.
  • 1Racerdude1Racerdude Washington state
    edited November 2003
    Well with adaptors I have everything plugged in and green light on mo bo came on along with fans and power light,so it was connected and working.The Vantec does the same thing as the Dell PSU.
  • ketoketo Occupied. Or is it preoccupied? Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    Don't matter. Dell changes something like 16 (of 20) connectors around in the ATX plug, plugging in a non-Dell PSU to a Dell mobo (or a Dell PSU to a non-Dell mobo) is a recipe for disaster. There's probably still enough commonality to run the lights n fans but beyond that, you're likely applying + voltage where ground is needed, and vise-versa. You need a Dell PSU to test the system.
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited November 2003
    I have seen an adapter plug on some website so that you could run a standard atx psu on a dell mobo; I'm trying to remember where. I want to say it was directron, but I'm not positive.

    There are other ways for lightning to hit the computer besides the power. I've personally worked on 1 that got cooked through the phone lines; killed the modem right away and the mobo died 2 weeks later.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited November 2003
    if you did not get an atx --> Dell adapter for that Vantec PS (it did NOT come with one... I can assure you of that), your board is dead. Period. Dell does NOT use standard atx pinouts, and standard ATX power supplies are not compatible with Dell's boards. just because the computer turns on does not mean that it's OK. The board is dead. Period.

    On a side note, this one of the reasons why I can't stand Dell.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    That's what I was afraid of... My guess as to what happened:

    1.Power fluctuations killed your dell PSU

    2.You plugged vantec stealth into dell

    3.You just killed your dell mobo.
  • 1Racerdude1Racerdude Washington state
    edited November 2003
    Gentlemen, I have the correct adaptor. I ain't THAT big of a dummy.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    In that case it sounds like the original farked PSU took down the system and blew out the mobo.

    I've had a single bad PSU take out no fewer than the motherboard, video card, processor, and network card in a computer before.
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited November 2003
    Yeah, a bad psu can cook off a lot of equipment in your rig. Steve over at hardocp had an enermax fry several components in one of their KGR giveaway rigs a couple of years ago too.
  • 1Racerdude1Racerdude Washington state
    edited November 2003
    Yea,this family has Dell,Gateway,HP,and a few that I have never heard of.They will buy whatever-just so as it makes noise and lights up.Me on the other hand=Asus P4C800E,P4-3.2,2GB 3200,ATI 9800XT,Koolance case.They all think I know all about these things(yea right) But to check things for them I have had to get a bunch of different stuff to check small problems for them.(yea--going to hang out my shingle next week)The bad part is all are different:banghead:
  • GargGarg Purveyor of Lincoln Nightmares Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    Is the Dell still under warranty? If so, make them fix it :D
  • 1Racerdude1Racerdude Washington state
    edited November 2003
    Thats what I would do,it is 2yr's old.Then again it is my sister's and who knows.

    THANKS FOR YOUR HELP EVERYBODY.
  • GargGarg Purveyor of Lincoln Nightmares Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    Mine had the 3 yr warranty. The HD died about 2yrs and 10 months into it :). I'm pretty lucky, haven't had problems with any other parts since warranty expired.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited November 2003
    muddocktor mentioned that power surges can fry modems (via phone lines) and Nics (via cable modems).

    I've seen systems which appeared dead come roaring back to life after removing one fried component. Try removing everything except the vid card and see if you get lucky. If not, it's time to make that RMA phone call...
  • 1Racerdude1Racerdude Washington state
    edited November 2003
    OK,I will give it a shot.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited November 2003
    Here's an idea:

    Tell your sister it's not fixable.
    That there's no way to fix it.
    It's totally dead.
    And that she needs a new computer.
    And that to keep this from happening in the future, you'll have to build it for her.

    Use her old hard drive, the optical drives if they're decent, and build her a new, halfway decent, non-proprietary system; she'd probably be better off with that anyhow.
  • 1Racerdude1Racerdude Washington state
    edited November 2003
    HELL OF AN IDEA,I'll see if it will float.

    THANKS
  • groovemaster1groovemaster1
    edited October 2004
    http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/dellconverter.html
    Here's the link to the ATX to Dell converter. I want one but I really don't know if it works as they said. Dell dimension 2100, 145W dell PSU. My chaintech geforce4 mx440 PCI is suffering, I can't turn he graphics high in NFS U, because it restarts the system.
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