Boots but shuts off?

edited December 2005 in Hardware
Hi there, I just added a new hdd to my pc last night, and when i went to replug my computer in, my monitor isnt working right. It kind of boots up for a little, but then the monitor just kind of dies, and i think my pc might freeze aswell. Everything turns on, fans, powersupply, the motherboard lights. I have a dual Opteron 2.0 model 247. I have 2 gigs of ram, 1 gig on each processor in the form of 2 512 chips, they are corsair pc 3200 ram. I have a maxtor harddrive and an IWill DK8N Motherboard. Evertyhing worked about 12 hours ago, but now I have nothing. It just says Check PC and Monitor plugs, like it was never plugged in. If you need any more information please post what you need, and i'll post it. Like i said, it will boot up, goes up fine, but it can shut off at any given time. It does the same Check Pc and Monitor plugs, and No Signal thing, the it just goes to sleep. I tried unplugging the new hdd but it still does it, it only did it after i unplugged the monitor from its old plug. Last time this happened was when i redid my pc room and once again unplugged my monitor from the wall, and it did the same thing. TheBaron told me to unplug the back of the monitor and check if that was it, but it doesnt seem like thats the problem here as i tried it on a different monitor (15" HP LCD) and it didnt work. My current monitor is a 19" CRT and worked fine until i tried to move the plug. Could there be something loose in the computer after i put in the new hdd cause im all out of ideas and my pc's out of commision.

Thanks,
Flamez

Comments

  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited December 2005
    Flamez wrote:
    ...Could there be something loose in the computer after i put in the new hdd...
    Anytime you open the case up and change something around you have the possibility of bumping something loose. What you describe sounds like that could easily be the case here.

    Unplug the power cord, then check that all of your cards are fully seated in their slots, that all cables are fully seated (and not plugged in backwards, etc), make sure your RAM is fully seated, and check all the power connectors. Make sure your CPU fans are connected in the right place on the MB, too. Then cross your fingers and see what happens.
  • edited December 2005
    Ok, as soon as i get home today i'll try re-plug my coords and stuff in, the only thing i touched was the plug for my hdd that i boot from, and an extra plug for the power, do you have an specific plugs i should check, or just do a once over on the entire cpu. Cause i mean, it boots up fine but then it just kinda dies, and its really annoying :bawling:
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited December 2005
    The fact that it starts, then dies would lead me to carefully examine the CPU fans. Make sure they're hooked to the right connector on the MB and that there aren't any cables keeping the fan from rotating at full speed. A full check of everything (cards, RAM, etc) would be a good idea in any case.

    If all the hardware is fine, see what happens when you try to boot in Safe Mode.
  • edited December 2005
    The thing about safemode im not even sure about because the monitor can shut off in mid boot, even before it boots antyhing, last night i went into my bios and the monitor shut off while i was in there. So im not sure it has anything to do with windows
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited December 2005
    This could also be a power supply problem. Maybe the additional HD you just put in there is the straw that broke the camel's back. It sounds like that system is pretty high-end; what PSU do you have?

    You could try disconnecting all the drives, then see if the system will stay on. If it does, reconnect your boot HD and then check your voltages. After that you can add the other drives back in one-by-one and see if it remains stable. I'd do the HD you just added last. :)
  • athalonheadathalonhead Member
    edited December 2005
    That almost sounds like a video card problem or a cpu overheating. Or maybe even the monitor itself---.power supply? If it does that in bios......

    profdlp correct me if my thinking is wrong
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited December 2005
    ...profdlp correct me if my thinking is wrong
    A dying video card or overheating CPU could be the problem and that is well worth checking out. :)

    Some points to consider:

    How hard are the video card and CPU working whilst displaying the BIOS screen?

    He's tried another monitor he knows is good - same sad story.

    If the PSU is going croakers, the system could shut down at any time. For instance, if the 12V rail suddenly starts pumping out a measly 3 volts you probably will not get very far at all.
  • edited December 2005
    Well, if it was the power supply why would the computer stay on, all the lights, the fans, the processor, the hardrive, the disk trays, everyone still has sufficient power, its just the monitor that simply shuts off on me.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited December 2005
    I thought the whole works was kicking out on you after a while.

    Since everything else seems to work and a different monitor didn't help, it looks more and more like the video card. If it's snug in its slot, you should try a different card for troubleshooting purposes. There are BIOS settings which can affect how the card operates, but if you haven't changed anything in there then that's not likely to be the problem.
  • edited December 2005
    My brother at home just turned my computer on after unplugging the plug in the back, its been on for about 20 minutes now without going out which is alot longer than before, befor ei only had mayb 10 or so minutes, if that, before it cut out on me. I'll post whether its still on after i get home, if not, i'll try the stuff you said and post the results.
  • edited December 2005
    i think quite possibly it might be my CPU, i checked it now and it appears that the 1 cpu fan is cracked, it scrapes the side when it spins which is slowing it down, also, when i touched my processor it was on fire, my other one was fine, becuase that fan works fine. Im going to get my friend to bring me a new fan, hope it fits, might be why the monitor is going off and my computer is staying on instead of restarting because 1 procesor is working fine, while the other is overheating.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited December 2005
    That sounds quite likely. I wouldn't run it any longer than necessary, but a quick check of temps in the BIOS should answer the question for you.

    Either way, a new fan is a must.
  • athalonheadathalonhead Member
    edited December 2005
    If the slow fan was causing it to overheat it probally shut down before it damaged anything.When you put a new fan on and that was the problem you will probally be ok.
  • edited December 2005
    Thank you guys for the help, yes it was the fan that was the problem, had to get some longer ide cables, but simply out of the fact that they were stretching to their limits and couldnt read the cd drives lol, technically, when the computer was having problems it wasnt turning off because when the 1 processor was overheating and turning off, the second one was staying on, which was keeping all the other stuff to stay on, which just made it hotter. My friend brought me over a new processor fan, but im getting myself another one, gotta find one that will fit into my case >.<. But as soon as we put it in it fixed it right up, and to think, it was all just a tiny crack, not even half an inch long that caused all these problems :confused:
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited December 2005
    It always amazes me when an expensive piece of technology is brought down by a 2-cent plastic part. Glad you got it going, Flamez. :thumbsup:
Sign In or Register to comment.