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Geek Culture / Computer won't start! Aaaaaa!

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Toasty Fresh
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Posted: 23rd May 2010 00:58
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Today I woke up and went and booted up my computer and every nerd's worst nightmare began for me: My computer's not starting.

Basically, all the fans are going, the lights on the front come on, however the monitors stay in standby mode, and the backlit keyboard won't turn on. It just keeps running all the fans and nothing happens.

I've checked inside the computer and nothing appears to be wrong, all the power cords are connected, everything is inserted properly, and none of the fans have anything interfering with them.

If anyone could provide any assistance I'd be VEEERY thankful
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BiggAdd
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Posted: 23rd May 2010 01:03 Edited at: 23rd May 2010 01:10
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Do you get any beeps? If you don't, try and remove your ram and turn on the computer. If the motherboard doesn't beep, it may be faulty.

[EDIT]Try remove all connections to your HDDs. I think a similar thing happened to me, tuned out the HDD was fried.

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SikaSina Games
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Posted: 23rd May 2010 01:09
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Have you tried unplugging the Power cable and plugging it back in? If it doesn't beep it can also mean that a part connected to it is faulty; try running it with various parts disconnected, if it makes a long beep, it is missing a vital part so the parts connected work. If it doesn't beep try after try, then the motherboard may be faulty as Add said .

-SSG

--=. ,=--
"Death is a surprise party. Unless, of course...you're already dead on the inside." - John Kramer, SAW III
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Toasty Fresh
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Posted: 23rd May 2010 01:28
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Removed the RAM and rebooted, and it starts making the reboot beeping noise, so it's not the motherboard apparently...

I should also mention that I recently installed a 1tb hard drive, although barely anything has been put on it and it hasn't affected the computer otherwise.
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BiggAdd
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Posted: 23rd May 2010 01:32
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Have you tried removing the HDD then?

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Toasty Fresh
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Posted: 23rd May 2010 01:35
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Just tried that then, nothing changed.
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SikaSina Games
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Posted: 23rd May 2010 01:52
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Quote: "Removed the RAM and rebooted, and it starts making the reboot beeping noise"


Was it longer than what it normally is? If not, then the RAM's packed up.

Quote: "I should also mention that I recently installed a 1tb hard drive"


That wouldn't stop the system from booting since it's not an essential item required to start up . I had this problem before, be it finding out that my only 1GB RAM stick had stopped working, which was when I upgraded to 3GB RAM . But yeah, RAM is usually the problem if a system can't start up, it means the memory is permanently corrupted in the worst case.

-SSG

--=. ,=--
"Death is a surprise party. Unless, of course...you're already dead on the inside." - John Kramer, SAW III
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BiggAdd
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Posted: 23rd May 2010 01:53
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Quote: "That wouldn't stop the system from booting since it's not an essential item required to start up"


It would, as its happened to me before.

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lazerus
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Posted: 23rd May 2010 02:10 Edited at: 23rd May 2010 02:13
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Quote: "t would, as its happened to me before."


That and hardrive failure are the two most common things i deal with in hardware issues. It was actually advice given by you MR. biggAdd that hinted me towards it, in another tech thread.

I mainly fix older rigs so its wear an tear after years of use that casues it normally, that an the fre who managed to get coffee/tea/drink in there or let the cat sleep in it +___+". I have noticed that larger/newer ram is more susceptable to breaking, the ddr2 series was the most ive replaced in 10? rigs while the average joe ram is on about 4. He Hee i get alot of work around here

Though that could be because its a little more common. I dont know the more you squeeze outa it the more likly its to break right?


http://lazerus-reborn.deviantart.com/
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Toasty Fresh
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Posted: 23rd May 2010 02:19
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I've got 2 2gb DDR2 RAM chips, could only one of them be corrupted? I'll try removing one and then if it still doesn't work, remove the other and put the other one in. If neither of them work I'll try using one of the 1000 RAM chips I have lying around.

It'd be a great excuse for my dad to by me some new RAM More than 4gb would be great.
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Thraxas
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Posted: 23rd May 2010 02:54
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I had this happen to me not too long ago. Turned out it was my DVD drive at fault. Try removing that and then booting up. I've no idea why a malfunctioning DVD drive should stop a computer from booting but it does.

Your signature has been [mod edited] :-p
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Toasty Fresh
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Posted: 23rd May 2010 03:26
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Tried that, same result. Also tried changing around my RAM chips, that didn't work either.
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Benjamin
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Posted: 23rd May 2010 03:44 Edited at: 23rd May 2010 03:47
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If you're not seeing even the boot screen (BIOS stuff) then it's probably not a HDD or memory problem, since you require neither to see it. I'd say it's an issue with either the graphics card, processor, or motherboard. Not to say that a component has failed, but perhaps there's a loose connection somewhere, or possibly a faulty device is causing problems.

When my graphics card failed the monitor just stayed in standby when I started the computer. Of course, I already knew what the problem was since it failed while playing a game.

I'd suggest removing any non-essential expansion cards and disconnect all drives (including HDDs) and see if it makes any difference.
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Toasty Fresh
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Posted: 23rd May 2010 04:02 Edited at: 23rd May 2010 04:07
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Uninstalled 3 hard drives and my DVD drive, reseated the RAM chips, and it still won't work.

I'm gonna try plugging my monitor into he motherboard instead of the GPU and see if that works then.

Also, while I've been uninstalling everything, I've noticed this computer is bloody filthy

EDIT: Unplugged the monitors from the GPU and back into the motherboard, nothing changed. This is wierd.
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Bugsy
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Posted: 23rd May 2010 05:50
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don't plug your monitor into your mobo when you have a GFX card in. the GFX card always comes first, and mobo is ignored when you have a GFX card.

imageflock.com/img/1272671763.jpg[/img]
skype = isaacpreston. I want to talk to YOU
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Toasty Fresh
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Posted: 23rd May 2010 06:22
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Removed the GPU completely and still won't work.

The only thing I haven't tried is removing the hard drive and booting from a different one.
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JoelJ
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Posted: 23rd May 2010 06:39
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Let me get this straight... You get no beep, you took the ram out and it beeps. Right? if that's the case, you most likely found the problem: Either your RAM is fried, or the slots are fried on your MOBO. Find some other ram and plug it in, see what happens.

I would personally unplug everything (PCI cards, disk drives, etc.) except for the RAM and Power Supply (of course) and the CPU and it's fan. (Also, make sure the CPU fan is plugged in all the way and spinning. The MOBO won't start if it can''t detect a CPU fan.) Plug your monitor into the onboard video card. See what happens. If that works, start plugging things in one at a time.

But I think it's your RAM from what I've read already, with it beeping with no RAM.

Your mother has been erased by a mod because it's larger than 600x120
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Toasty Fresh
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Posted: 23rd May 2010 07:26 Edited at: 23rd May 2010 07:44
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It was beeping with RAM.

EDIT: Removed everything in the computer except the CPU, power supply, motherboard and1 stick of RAM. Problem still persists.

EDIT 2: Replaced the RAM stick with the other one, and now it's booting. So I'm still a little confused. When the HD was plugged in, with ONLY that stick of RAM, it wouldn't boot. When I remove the HD it boots, but when I replace the stick of RAM with the other one, it won't boot. Wut? Is both my other stick of RAM and my HDD broken?
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charger bandit
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Posted: 23rd May 2010 08:50 Edited at: 23rd May 2010 08:52
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It is the RAM. I purchased a broken RAM once,wouldn't give image,replaced it with my trusty RAM and worked straight,get a new RAM If it still won't work,you also have to change your HDD as it seems they are in conflict.

HDD alone cannot cause no image problem EVER,unless it's a conflict problem. If the PSU would be broken it would not even power up or it would restart every few moments.


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Code eater
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Posted: 24th May 2010 20:30
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I wonder how he made this post Must have a direct link from his brain to the internet If so I am jealous and a half

Thanks,,,

Codeeater
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SikaSina Games
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Posted: 24th May 2010 21:06
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Or an iPod touch, smartphone, different PC or a device with WiFi? We have almost 10 items with WiFi in our house so there's no excuse for not getting online!

-SSG

--=. ,=--
"Death is a surprise party. Unless, of course...you're already dead on the inside." - John Kramer, SAW III
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Yodaman Jer
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Posted: 25th May 2010 02:14
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Most people these days have at least two computers. One that's a few years old and outdated, and the other being their newest and favorite one that will be outdated by the time they get all of it out of the box and set up.


Check out my videos!
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BearCDP
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Posted: 25th May 2010 04:34
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Do you have an opportunity to plug your components into another computer to test if they work?

Also check out the surfaces of chips and on the mobo. You said your computer was dirty, some stray piece of something or other made a connection that shouldn't have been made? That's how my wonderful Radeon X800 XL died, stupid bracket fell off the case and short circuited it.

Check out this WIP flash game from the Global Game Jam!
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charger bandit
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Posted: 25th May 2010 09:24
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CoffeeCoder: That is why I keep my trusty Athlon 1800+.

Try to get a cheap new RAM somewhere or borrow it and test it out. I am pretty sure that is the cause. But,it is very possible that there is a short circuit like BearCDP said or the motherboard went to hell.


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