Help! why wont my computer start up...at all!

HeroHero formerly known as XGPHero Icrontian

before you ask, yes its plugged in... i was listening to music this morning, and my computer spontaneously powered off. when i started it up again, the only things that happened were; the fans started up, the hard drive zipped around for a couple seconds, and the power switch led and mobo power consumption leds(a kind of guage i guess) lit up. no displays worked(i tried my tv and 2 different old flat panel monitors that wered lying around), so i have no idea whether the computer was trying to do anything at all, but it didnt sound like it. i cracked the case open and checked for loose connections, and dusted...no bones.

PLEASE HELP ME...that computer is the only entertainment i have out here in BFE.

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian

    Sounds like a toasty power supply.

    Hero
  • HeroHero formerly known as XGPHero Icrontian

    shit...can you send me that link to determining my power supply requirements? it was on my desktop, and i dont have it on my laptop.

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian

    650 watts should be fine. Those are pretty cheap.

    Hero
  • HeroHero formerly known as XGPHero Icrontian

    yeah, i new i would have to upgrade from 450, but i think we had determined that as long as i wasnt overclocking it would work for a while.

  • HeroHero formerly known as XGPHero Icrontian
    edited January 2015

    one of the capacitors does appear to have some leakage out of the top. just a little though, no pop.

    EDIT: in the power supply

  • HeroHero formerly known as XGPHero Icrontian

    was that jeff bridges???

  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian

    You can test just the power supply to see if that is what is causing your issue.
    If you have an old hard drive, connect it to the PSU. Unplug all other PSU connections from the motherboard, video, everything.
    Now with the switch on the back if the PSU off, find the green wire in the big 24pin connector. Take a paperclip and jumper the green to any one of the many black wires.
    Now plug the PSU into the wall and turn on the switch. If the fan starts and the hard drive spins.. It probably ain't the PSU.

  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian

    If you know how to use a multimeter, you can go further.
    Yellow wires should have 12v on them
    Red wires should have 5v on them
    Orange wires should have 3.3v on them.
    All DC voltage, so make sure the meter is set to DC.

  • HeroHero formerly known as XGPHero Icrontian

    can i use the fan from the old psu for additional cooling in my tower? it has two pins, and the mobo has 3 pin ports.

  • HeroHero formerly known as XGPHero Icrontian

    it wasnt the psu. i dont mind buying a new psu because i new it would be a good idea eventually. but what else might it be?

  • HeroHero formerly known as XGPHero Icrontian

    update:
    still not working, but just for shits and giggles, i decided to put the windows 7 install disc in the cd drive, and the drive started humming away. i still cant see, but im hoping that means something...

  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian

    Is the fan on the cpu spinning too?
    Does your monitor have power?

  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian

    Is the fan on the cpu spinning too?
    Does your monitor have power?

  • HeroHero formerly known as XGPHero Icrontian
    edited February 2015

    @ryder yes, and yes. my monitor is normally an HDTV connected by hdmi, but i tried an old flat panel too, for the sake of troubleshooting.

  • HeroHero formerly known as XGPHero Icrontian

    @ryder, that msi mobo did not see much use did it?

  • HeroHero formerly known as XGPHero Icrontian

    more clues...
    CPU is in "phase 6 power mode" at all times according to the indicator leds on the mobo
    the "Dual BIOS" LED indicator(again on the mobo) is off indicating "normal".

  • shwaipshwaip bluffin' with my muffin Icrontian

    have you tried resetting the bios at all?

  • HeroHero formerly known as XGPHero Icrontian

    @shwaip, i think so...the mobo has jumper pins that set the cmos to store the configuration, or you can jump it to not keep cmos configuration. i tried it but it changed nothing

    the manual has this to say...might make more sense than ^

    "you can clear CMOS by shorting 2-3 pin while the system is off. then return to 1-2 position."

  • HeroHero formerly known as XGPHero Icrontian

    i removed the gpu to see if the power mode leds would change(like they usually do constantly) and they did not. so heres what i think i know:

    • GPU is OK
    • RAM is OK
    • PSU is OK
    • Processor is OK (its generating heat anyway)
    • DVD Drive seems to work
    • Hard Drive might be OK...though i can only confirm that the heads are moving around, and the platters are spinning up.
    • Fans are all running, though they seem to run at one(medium) speed at all times
    • All connectors are securely attached and in the right place. I should also mention that i have removed anything i consider to be unnecessary for basic functionality (like wifi card, keyboard/mouse, speakers, etc.)

    So i guess the only thing that could be causing my problem is the mobo...FML :bawling:

  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian

    The motherboard had never been used when I sent it to you.

    You said the computer won't turn on.. what you mean is that you never get anything on the monitor, right?

  • HeroHero formerly known as XGPHero Icrontian
    edited February 2015

    @Ryder yeah
    im afraid i might have had a power surge, though i dont know how. i have a very fancy surge protector courtesy of my moms days as an IT director(a couple years ago)

  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian

    What did you do to test the GPU?
    Did you try a different HDMI or VGA/DVI cable to the monitor/TV?
    Do you see anything on the screen at all? No POST text or anything?

  • HeroHero formerly known as XGPHero Icrontian

    removed it entirely, while i wasnt able to test the monitor that way, there was no change in the sounds or led indicators on the tower itself. which are also behavingin a very specificly unusual manner.

    my hdtv is hooked up using HDMI, the old flat panels i tried use that old ?serial? port with a dvi adapter. tried both with the same results

    nothing at all, the tv says no signal detected, and the old monitor says it is in power save mode and that i should power on my computer. so...they both dont even know my computer is on.

  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian

    Now I am confused.

    "What did you to test the GPU" - Answer: "removed it entirely"... That doesn't test a GPU.

    Is there a speaker connected to the speaker pins on the motherboard? If yes, when you turn the PC on, does it beep at all?
    If there is no speaker, can you find one? It needs to be rather small, can't be an audio speaker, doesn't need to be a PC speaker but maybe one out of an old hand held game or something would work.

    Have you removed all the memory and then inserted 1 stick at a time in the same slot to test that?

  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian

    I will be honest, it sounds like you are pulling and changing multiple things at a time. You need to work on 1 thing at a time and try all permutations of that item before moving on.
    I may be dead wrong and that is fine, but I am just stating what appears to be happening.

  • HeroHero formerly known as XGPHero Icrontian

    @ryder ok, im gonna jump on mumble in a minute. on the off chance you are on, i would love to explain to you in depth what i have done, but in the more probable case where you are not on, understand that i know better than to test more than one thing at a time. in fact i test each "thing" more than one way per "time". the GPU had only a couple ways i could test it, and those ways all occured concurrently, but the fact that nothing changed when i removed the GPU seems to rule out the GPU as the problem...as much as i would love for the GPU to be the problem(it has a full warranty, and to my knowledge it is the only component i have that has a warranty) my testing seems to indicate otherwise.
    please give me other suggestions, as i would hate to throw money at this problem(i have very little money to throw)

  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian

    If you remove the GPU no monitor can come on.. so how is that testing? If I remove the GPU from this computer right now.. I can't tell if the computer booted to Windows or not. That is why I don't understand how you say the GPU can't be the problem. That is.. unless you put another GPU in its place.

  • HeroHero formerly known as XGPHero Icrontian

    because before i had problems, the "power phase" indicator LEDs(on the mobo) would change from 6 to 1 and everything in between constantly, and the hard drive would make the different sounds every time i hit the power button.

    now the "problem PC" the power phase indicator is costantly at 6, and the hard drive makes the same "zip...zipzipzipzipzip...zip...zipzip. that is the exact cadence of every hard drive startup.

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