PC won't turn on

skwelch

After years of trouble free operation my home built pc won't turn on. No fans and the only lights are the connectivity lights by the ethernet cable. I put in a working PSU... nothing. The power switch works fine. I figured it was the Mother Board. I put my HD and PSU in a working PC and it turned on, but no video. I swapped video cards, still no video. I noticed that the HD indicator light is on constantly. I put the original HD back in the once working pc and it turns on but no video and the HD indicator stays on constantly. Is this some kind of virus?

PirateNinja

Not a virus, do you know how to reset your cmos? I'd give that a run, instructions will be in your mobo manual.

Your'e sure your cables from the case (power switch, hd indicator, etc.) didn't get reseated by some evil prankster overnight?

Do either computers turn on normally with a different hard drive?

skwelch

I don't know how to reset cmos and even if I did, wouldn't need to be running?

Cables have not been switched. It was working fine earlier in the day. It is set to go into hibernation after a period of time. I thought that is what it did until I tryed to turn it on and nothing happened. I disconnected the power switch wires to check continuity and was very careful upon reconnecting them.

The home built computer still does not turn on at all. The other one turns on but there is no video and the HD indicator light stays on constantly.

pigflipper

CMOS needs to be reset while there is NO power.

What is the model of all components in your system? That will greatly help us help you.

skwelch

The Mother Board is a Mach Speed N2PAP-Lite. I found the CMOS reset in the manual. I will try this and let you know. Thanks.

pigflipper

Just keep us informed and we will do our best to get you back up and running; barring that, we will help you identify the problem component.

skwelch

I followed the reset procedure in the manual and it still does not turn on. I appreciate all the help I can get.

PirateNinja

Trying to wrap my head around this, please let me know if the below situation is correct:
1. PC A stops working all together, but you have Ethernet lights
2. You put a known working PSU in PC A, 100% sure all your plugs are good, and it does the same thing
3. You take the known working PSU out of PC A, put it back in PC B along with the hard drive from PC A
4. PC B now turns on, fans move, but no video output and the HD light on PC B is stuck on
5. You take PC A's HD out of PC B, put it back in PC A. But PC B exhibits the same behavior, HD light on, fans on, no video

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Let me know if that is what you are saying and I'll give you some ideas

skwelch

That is correct Gravite2090.

PirateNinja

One last question, which PC (A or B) did you reset the CMOS on?

skwelch

A

PirateNinja

My best recommendation is to take all original parts that were in B, when B was working, and reinstall them. No parts from A.
Triple check your cable work, the monitor, etc. and if necessary clear the CMOS on B. Then see if you can get B to turn on normally again.
If B does the same thing...
listen for a beep code..is there any beep at all? If not, do you have onboard video you can use on B (video built in to your mobo)? How about a 3rd video card to test with?

I have a strange suspicion that you have dead video cards...and possibly worse for A.
See if you can get a beep code for A too. If not, it sounds as if your mobo is dead on A. (it happens).

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so ..
1. Go back to original hardware config on both machines
2. Triple check your work and reset the CMOS on B
3. Get beep codes on A and B if necessary
4. Use beep codes to ID problem
5. If no beep code ... mobos are possibly dead and need further diagnosis

Also when doing all of this, make sure absolutely no PCI/expansion cards, or external usb/otherwise devices are plugged in. Start with the essentials, plug stuff in until it doesn't work to identify the device causing your headaches.

..That is all I have for now.

skwelch

I put every thing back to original with minimum things connected. PC A is still dead with no fans and the only lights are by the Ethernet cable. PC B still has no video output and the HD light stays on constantly. I am going to call tech support at Mach Speed to see if they have any ideas. They produced the mobo and it has a lifetime warranty on it. Thanks for your help.

Myrmidon

So I know you've pretty much solved this via lifetime warranty, buuuuuut...

I actually just dealt with this exact issue (all the way down to replacing stuff in my PC B and having my PC B stop working) - and it wasn't my first time. The first time, I was able to fix it by (get this) swapping out the CR2032 battery (it's that watch-battery lookin' thing on the mobo). This was done just on a hunch, based on my BIOS consistently resetting to default values, but it solved the issue.

The second time, changing out the battery did NOT fly. I tried swapping parts around in PC A and B, and just wound up with TWO nonworking computers for a few reasons:
1. I didn't connect the graphics card power cable (thought it wasn't important for troubleshooting, just wanted to see if I got a beep code - turns out an nVidia 8800 series card squeals like a stuck pig if it doesn't have power).
2. I NEARLY forgot to connect that stupid little eight-pin power connection on the motherboard
3. I managed to poorly seat my CPU.

...hey, it was a hot day and I was a little drunk. Lemme be.

Anyway, these three problems (once remedied) put PC B back in working order, which brought me BACK UP to square one. You might check them in PC A, but I highly doubt they're the problem. I wound up simply having to buy a new motherboard (once I fixed PC B, I went back to using it for troubleshooting - everything but the motherboard worked fine, even after battery replacement and CMOS flashing).

PIA, right?