Is my computer dead? 1

[JimZap]

Just turned on my pc and got nothing!!!! Pc gets power although cd drive trays do not open, red hard drive light stays on,Blank monitor, no beeps, no sounds other than the fan.

It seems like the bios isn't doing its thing. Tried using a startup disk in drive a but pc does not access the drive.

If it's the bios can I replace just the chips? Do I have to replce the motherboard?

I have a amd athlon xp1700 and a kt266 chipset ddr atx motherboard.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

TIA,
Jim

 

[erehton]

The first thing I'd check would be the power supply. If you don't have a VOM meter and specs regarding the correct voltages, the easiest way is to replace it if you have a spare lying around, or take one out of another system (if you have one). If no spare PS is available, you can most likely get the voltage specs from the PS manufacturer's web site.

erehton

 

[shtick]

first, try disconnecting the hard drive's data cable from the drive and the board. Next, try unplugging and reseating everything; cables, power connectors, memory, cpu, cards, etc... making sure all have a good connection.
After that, try booting with minimal components installed. first w/cpu, mem, video card. If that works, add one component at a time until you find the problem hardware. Also see if the power supply fan is spinning and also check to see if the power supply smell burnt. Electrical smell is very distinctive. I was taught to divide and conquer. Try to move the problem by moving hardware.
Hope this helps.

 

[ceh4702]

My bet is the power supply. If you have not changed anything and suddenly it wont even boot, it may not have enough Power in the +/-5v or +/-3.3v lines. Without a power supply tester it is hard to say. I have seen 2 power supply's just quit for seemingly no reason. I think sometimes they just have a dust buildup and it kills them.

I wouldnt hurt to have a spare power supply laying around.



If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[JimZap]

Thanks guys for the info and advice. With three replies implicating the power supply, I'd better check it out. And now that you mention it, I do recall smelling an electrical odor at one time but could not locate the source so I just dismissed it. I did notice some capacitors that were bulging and oozing brown crap. I removed those caps and have ordered new ones but I will definite check out the power supply.

Could the faulty power supply have caused the caps to go bad or visa versa?

TIA,

Jim

 

[Freestone]

Maybe the other way around. Bad capacitors on motherboards are an epidemic. Here is just one article amongst many on the Internet:

http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/resource/feb03/ncap.html

I'd suspect your motherboard is the cause of your grief. Is it still under warranty?

 

[BadBigBen]

Hi there, sounds like you have a multitude of probs, PSU and the CAPS...

a while back I had luck with my old mobo, noticed probs with the OS (WinXP) lots of crashing and such, even though the Win98 side was working without a hitch... opened the case and noticed buldging caps... my luck was that it was still under warranty...

my suggestion - check PSU with a known working one... then do as STHICK says, bare all boot (CPU, Mobo, PSU, and GFX card) no drives attached aswell as no power/reset switch (bridge the connector with a screwdriver, but be carefull)as these can cause the symptoms you described, aswell... if it posts, then add one piece of hardware at a time until you find the culprit... if it is a drive replace the cable first before you replace the drive...

hope you get it sorted out...

Ben

 

[Fishguy]

I have this problem all the time and believe it or not, the solution is generally simpler than you think, in my past experience it has been the hard drive cables plugged in backwards, all you have to do, provided that this si the problem, is to unplug the hard drive cables, see if the computer works, then plug them in correctly.
It's the most common problem I've had with computers, and luckily, its an easy one to fix.

-----------------------
Fishguy

 

[JimZap]

Thanks everyone for all your help.

The problem was the capacitors. After replacing the six that were bulging and oozing I was able to get the pc working but it would still shut down unexpectedly. After I replaced the other eleven on the mobo the thing works like brand new. Total cost $20 for caps and shipping.

 

[SkipCox]

You do excellent work.

http://www.careyholzman.com/

Top left of page for some history of capacator problem.

Skip

http://home.comcast.net/~scox9/index.html