Installed RAM, destroyed computer??

edited March 2006 in Hardware
In this thread I asked about what ram to get and also provided details about my system. I received the ram, (256 pc2100) installed it, and started my computer.

It seemed to be working, but the monitor would 'power on', but act as if it wasn't connected to the computer (iow it showed a test screen). I turned it off and tried to restart.

Nothing happened, its just dead. I turned it off, removed the ram, tried to turn it on again, and nothing, the computer just sits there without turning anything on.

I have no idea what I did to it or how to undo it. I don't know if I need to get a new one or what. At first the idea of taking some of the recent additions out of this unit and putting them into a newer one that I could build up from a bare bones or something seemed a reasonable alternative to fixing this one, but, hell, if I destroyed my computer by adding a little bit of ram, then who the heck knows what I'd do if I purchased parts to 'build' one.

Comments

  • edited February 2006
    sounds like it might be a power supply problem. but first put the system in this thread. mobo,memory,video card,powersupply,cpu
  • edited February 2006
    MSI (Micro Star) Computer Model MS-6533
    CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 1.70GHz
    CPU Speed: 1693 MHz
    Front-Side Bus Speed: 100 MHz
    Currently Installed Memory: 256 MB
    Maximum Memory Capacity :2048MB
    Total Number Of Memory Slots: 2
    Available Memory Slots :1 [the used slot is: 256MB Non-parity DDR PC2100
    The video card is:
    128 MB MSI GeForce FX5200 DDR TV 8x AGP FX6300-T128

    Also, I turned it on the other day and it came on, but I had no idea what to do so I just shut it off. I will check agian today, but the monitor still wasn't working.

    It had been working until I added that RAM. Maybe I put the Ram in upside down or something?
  • qparadoxqparadox Vancouver, BC
    edited February 2006
    The ram as a little notch in it so its very very difficult to put in the wrong way.

    Like any component, the ram does require some power to operate. Its possible that adding in another stick of ram just pushed your power supply over the edge. I guess you don't know your power supply? Even if its a generic, there should be a label on the side stating stuff like:

    5V - 10 A, 12V - 8A. and such. Could you find that stick and tell us what it says on it?
  • edited February 2006
    I think RAM need to Clean'd properly ... I am sure it will work... U clean your Ram with clean cotton cloth

    If Still problem exist then try clean with some Quick drying Spray like "Deodarant" i faced same problem i done same thing its worked for me ! Reason is it may have Some dirt on place both male and female part better try this
    "dont use any strong Spray" which is not good
    "use only very soft Quick drying Spray"
    "dont use too much .... Use little "
  • drasnordrasnor Starship Operator Hawthorne, CA Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    The RAM is brand new, why would it need to be cleaned? Deodorant? Uh, no thanks. Only use cleaner that doesn't leave residue like alcohol.

    I'm assuming your computer was working before you put in the stick? If so, unplug all your hard drives, CD-ROMs, floppies, etc. and remove all your expansion cards except for video. Remove all but one stick of RAM. Try to power on your computer in this condition. If it starts up, start putting things back in until it stops working to find the damaged component (if any). You may have just shaken a cable loose.

    If that doesn't work, you might want to pick up an ATX power supply tester at your local electronics store. The tester is a little switch connected to a large resistive load and a little bit of electronics that starts up your power supply and allows you to measure voltages. It shouldn't cost more then $20. If your power supply tests good with that, your problem is almost certainly the motherboard. If you were wearing any heavy clothes, rubber-soled shoes, or woolens while installing that memory odds are you triggered an electro-static discharge (ESD) that smoked some component on your motherboard.

    -drasnor :fold:
  • edited February 2006
    "Deodorant" i used it worked i didn't have Cleaner at that moment even it doesn't leave and residue ! but I agree with DRASNOR use only CLeaner
  • ronboronbo Connecticut
    edited February 2006
    This might sound to simple but when you installed the ram did you push it all the way down so the clips on each side locked it down in place? You will hear a click for each clip when the ram is seated...
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited February 2006
    OK, let's slow down here. You either knocked something loose you moved something that you shouldn't have.
    My guess is that you have either loosened a power connector, or you didn't have the memory in tightly. It is also liekly that when you removed your new memory you loosened the old one.

    Now, nice and easy. turn the computer off and unplug it. Open it back up.
    First, make sure that your existing memory is seated tightly. You might want to unlatch it (push the little tabs at the ends down) and then reseat it until the tabs click back into place.
    Second, folow the power wires from the power supply and make sure that they are all snug. While you are at it ckeck the fan connections to the mother board also.

    Let's see where that gets us.
  • edited March 2006
    Ok, its been a while, apologies. Here's what I've been able to do. Like I noted, it worked after being left alone for a while without the ram. So I put it back in, made sure that there were no wires disconnected, started it, and then it was the same problem. The monitor acted as if it wasn't connected to the computer.

    So I powered down, took out the ram, restarted. The same result.
    Powered down, removed my recently added SCSI card (which was working fine with the system), restarted, same result.
    Then I removed my new video card, and connected my monitor to the original space it was connected to. Restarted, same result. I've tried it like that with all comibinations of the ram, old in slot one, slot two empty, old in slot two, new in slot two, etc, allways the same results. Plus, the light on the front of my computer, normally it lights up green, but I noticed now that its orange/yellow. I even tried disconnecting my 3 1/4 disk-drive, still same result. That's reconnected now though.

    So I am at a loss as to what to try next. I really don't want to get a new computer.
  • athalonheadathalonhead Member
    edited March 2006
    Did you do this?
    I'm assuming your computer was working before you put in the stick? If so, unplug all your hard drives, CD-ROMs, floppies, etc. and remove all your expansion cards except for video. Remove all but one stick of RAM. Try to power on your computer in this condition. If it starts up,and the monitor goes on, start putting things back in until it stops working to find the damaged component (if any). You may have just shaken a cable loose.

    And this
    Second, folow all the power wires and connectors from the power supply and make sure that they are all snug. While you are at it ckeck all the connections to the mother board also. Check every connector in the computer.
    That is what I am thinking
    You either knocked something loose you moved something that you shouldn't have.
    Question for the pros. Could that new memory have been faulty and corrupted somthing in the operating system? But by disconnecting the hard drive would rule out the OS Wouldnt it?
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    Question for the pros. Could that new memory have been faulty and corrupted somthing in the operating system? But by disconnecting the hard drive would rule out the OS Wouldnt it?

    Memory could be faulty and prevent boot if first stick in order of access was the new one. Yes, unplugging HD would rule out the OS.
  • edited March 2006
    Yeah, I think that unplugging the hard drive and seeing if it would post would rule out any hard drive corruption.

    I also think it's concievable that a defective dimm with a short in the pcb could very well have fried something on the motherboard if it fed 12v directly into some circuitry not designed for a power feed.

    Have you tried disconnecting all extra connections(such as hard drive and floppy ribbon cables and internal speaker wires and hard drive lights to moboand also the reset button if your case has one) and cards from the motherboard except the power button wires and the video card and 1 stick of ram? Don't have anything else hooked to the motherboard except those items and then see if you can at least get to a post sceen.
  • edited March 2006
    Ok, i disconnected the drives, and all that was connected to the motherboard was the power button, the original ram, and the usb port, and it there is another cable connecting to the mobo but I don't know what it is and don't think its a good idea to disconnect it. Still the same problem.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2006
    Try resetting the BIOS, if you haven't done that already.
  • edited March 2006
    How do i reset the BIOS? Why would the BIOS have been affected by adding a RAM chip?
  • edited March 2006
    eidmar wrote:
    How do i reset the BIOS? Why would the BIOS have been affected by adding a RAM chip?

    You should have a jumper on the mobo, most probably near the little round battery, that clears the cmos. Find the jumper, unplug the machine from the wall, then set the jumper in the clear position for 30 minutes or so, then put the jumper back to the original position. That will clear the cmos and you wil have to go into bios if it boots up and reset time and date and any other settings that you need to alter.

    As for why bios is affected, who really knows, but I've seen funny stuff like that happen before. It could be something as strange as you putting that dimm in the board changed spd settings for the ram where it wouldn't boot. Resetting the cmos is just another troubleshooting step.

    BTW, here's the MSI webpage for your motherboard. It should have some links to the manual, if you don't have the manual already. It should clearly show how to reset the cmos.
  • edited March 2006
    unfortuantely msi doesn't seem to have their manual for that board available. I will have to try something.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2006
    eidmar wrote:
    unfortuantely msi doesn't seem to have their manual for that board available. I will have to try something.
    Try this link. :)
  • edited March 2006
    Yep, prof's link will get you your manual. I just d/l'ed it and your clear cmos jumper is at the bottom of the board, to the right of the pci and cnr slots.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    cnr slots
    Ouch, that is an old machine. Congratulations for using it so long and resisting spending money on upgrades.
  • edited March 2006
    Also, if it does turn out that the stick of ram you tried putting in your machine did fry the mobo for some reason, there are a few motherboards that you can buy for $50 or less that will run with your present components. That's if you would want to spend money getting that old machine running again. But a machine with a 1.7 Williamette P4 is pretty darn old, so I don't know if it would be wise to spend more good money on it either.
  • edited March 2006
    I tried downloading the manual but I get an error message. I don't know what the problem is. I had tried downloading a manual that I thought was close enough to mine once before, but I had the same problem. If I try to 'save as' i get an error message, if I just click on the .exe link, a pop-up appears but freezes.
    Leonardo wrote:
    Congratulations for using it so long and resisting spending money on upgrades.
    I should've resisted longer, because it was working well enough before hand, but now its nothing but a plastic box.[QUOTE=Congratulations for using it so long and resisting spending money on upgrades[/QUOTE]
    Its a bit of a problem. I'd certainly like to just fix the one thing that is wrong with this computer and move along, but I have no idea if its a problem with the mother board or what, or, regardless what was the original problem, if anything else has been fried or is salvageable, like the scsi card or the video card that i bought. And some computers now are so cheap that if I send anything over a 100$ in total to fix this one, its like I am getting ripped off.

    Also, its hard to rationalize fixing this one, or even taking peices out of it and putting them into a new one, when I fried this one simply by adding a new ram chip. If all this went wrong from that, who knows what would hapen with anything else.

    My biggest concerns are the data on my harddrive and the video card (which isn't great, fine, but its new). I don't know what my options are, if I can connect the current harddrive to any new computer, or if that will just end up frying anything new, or what.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    Yes, you should be able to connect your hard drive to just about any new computer. You won't necessarily be able to run a new computer with your hard drive configured the way it is, but your data has a pretty good chance of being intact.
  • jim6787jim6787 Southern California
    edited March 2006
    Hi! I would suggest you bundle the computer and monitor up and take into a service repair shop ..ask for an estimate ...ask them to look at it ..remember take the memory you bought with you ..it may be a real simple service to get it back up and running ..but if you keep changing and unplugging things you may really damage something ...dont say too much when you take it in ... let them diagnos your problem ...you may be surprized some of those local service depot can fix you up and save you some money....
    Good Luck ...Jim6787
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