PC problem, help please!
Discussion
Before I take my old AMD Athlon PC to the local computer shop to get ripped off at £50/hour, i was wondering if anyone has any ideas as to whats wrong with it.
The problem i used to have is that it would run fine for about half hour or so but then the monitor screen would go black and i could do nothing but switch the pc off. If i tried to start it up again, nothing would happen, no power at all. The funny thing is, occasionally after leaving it for weeks it would start up again but exactly the same thing would happen.
I've changed the power supply, cpu and now the motherboard this morning. It won't start up at all at the moment so am totally baffled as to what can be wrong, any ideas??
The problem i used to have is that it would run fine for about half hour or so but then the monitor screen would go black and i could do nothing but switch the pc off. If i tried to start it up again, nothing would happen, no power at all. The funny thing is, occasionally after leaving it for weeks it would start up again but exactly the same thing would happen.
I've changed the power supply, cpu and now the motherboard this morning. It won't start up at all at the moment so am totally baffled as to what can be wrong, any ideas??
It sounds like something could be going (or has gone) short circuit and is sucking a big current out of the PSU. AFAIUI, PC PSUs have short circuit detection and will not power up if one is sensed.
Try disconnecting all peripherals - HDDs, Floppy & CDROM drives, any PCI cards etc and remove cables from the motherboard.
Does the unit power up with these disconnected ? If so, replace the components one by one until you can repeat the fault.
>> Edited by sotonS2 on Tuesday 17th May 16:07
Try disconnecting all peripherals - HDDs, Floppy & CDROM drives, any PCI cards etc and remove cables from the motherboard.
Does the unit power up with these disconnected ? If so, replace the components one by one until you can repeat the fault.
>> Edited by sotonS2 on Tuesday 17th May 16:07
adparker said:Again, not wishing to sound silly but have you checked it's not the plug socket itself.
May sound silly, but have you checked the fuse in the plug?
yeah, thought of that, even changed the power lead, still no luck
Me old dah always told me to check the simple things first! Of course I rarely ever do this until I've spent a fortune!
chim_knee said:
pdV6 said:
May sound silly, but have you checked the fuse in the plug?
yeah, thought of that, even changed the power lead, still no luck
Again, not wishing to sound silly but have you checked it's not the plug socket itself.
Me old dah always told me to check the simple things first! Of course I rarely ever do this until I've spent a fortune!
yep, tried that, no joy!
From the front of the case there should be some thin wires going to a jumper like panel on the front of the motherboard.
Four of these wires will make up the power switch and reset button.
Check that these are seated correctly.
From what you've said, my money is on a knackered power switch now.
Four of these wires will make up the power switch and reset button.
Check that these are seated correctly.
From what you've said, my money is on a knackered power switch now.
sotonS2 said:
It sounds like something could be going (or has gone) short circuit and is sucking a big current out of the PSU. AFAIUI, PC PSUs have short circuit detection and will not power up if one is sensed.
Try disconnecting all peripherals - HDDs, Floppy & CDROM drives, any PCI cards etc and remove cables from the motherboard.
Does the unit power up with these disconnected ? If so, replace the components one by one until you can repeat the fault.
>> Edited by sotonS2 on Tuesday 17th May 16:07
Thanks for the useful advice, just tried all of what you suggested but still no power
adparker said:
It sounds like something could be going (or has gone) short circuit and is sucking a big current out of the PSU. AFAIUI, PC PSUs have short circuit detection and will not power up if one is sensed.
Try disconnecting all peripherals - HDDs, Floppy & CDROM drives, any PCI cards etc and remove cables from the motherboard.
Does the unit power up with these disconnected ? If so, replace the components one by one until you can repeat the fault.
>> Edited by sotonS2 on Tuesday 17th May 16:07
Thanks for the useful advice, just tried all of what you suggested but still no power
Sounds like the power supply then
Does the fan spin up with the PSU disconnected from everything?Could easily be a faulty PSU.
I had one that would spike then 'Latch up'.
basicaly the PC would reset for no reason then not restart. pressing the restart button would not do squat. disconnect the mains supply, leave for 5 mins, reconect and it would fire up.
however if the PC was shutdown normaly, either from windows or the "soft" power button, it would restart ok.
Daft I know but true..
I had one that would spike then 'Latch up'.
basicaly the PC would reset for no reason then not restart. pressing the restart button would not do squat. disconnect the mains supply, leave for 5 mins, reconect and it would fire up.
however if the PC was shutdown normaly, either from windows or the "soft" power button, it would restart ok.
Daft I know but true..
[/quote]Sounds like the power supply then Does the fan spin up with the PSU disconnected from everything?[/quote]
Well, funny you should say that cos just now when i plugged the power lead in i'm sure i saw the fan spin for a couple of seconds but now when i want to repeat the same thing, absoultely nothing! I've tried my other PSU too and nothing either. Should the fan spin then, regardless of whether the PSU is installed in the PC, if power is attached??
I've thought all along that i've had a PSU problem but since i've tried a replacement PSU i'm not so sure anymore. Unless they've both been damaged by another underlying problem??
Does the fan spin up with the PSU disconnected from everything?[/quote] Well, funny you should say that cos just now when i plugged the power lead in i'm sure i saw the fan spin for a couple of seconds but now when i want to repeat the same thing, absoultely nothing! I've tried my other PSU too and nothing either. Should the fan spin then, regardless of whether the PSU is installed in the PC, if power is attached??
I've thought all along that i've had a PSU problem but since i've tried a replacement PSU i'm not so sure anymore. Unless they've both been damaged by another underlying problem??
adparker said:Sounds like the power supply then
Does the fan spin up with the PSU disconnected from everything?[/quote] Well, funny you should say that cos just now when i plugged the power lead in i'm sure i saw the fan spin for a couple of seconds but now when i want to repeat the same thing, absoultely nothing! I've tried my other PSU too and nothing either. Should the fan spin then, regardless of whether the PSU is installed in the PC, if power is attached??
I've thought all along that i've had a PSU problem but since i've tried a replacement PSU i'm not so sure anymore. Unless they've both been damaged by another underlying problem??[/quote]
Your old MB or one of the peripherals could have dragged them down. Might be the internal fuse in the PSU (Careful, high voltage!) The PSU fan should spin up with nothing connected. Then if I remember right, you should have some 5V & 12V outputs which you could check with a multimeter. Does sound like your box has killed your PSU's
Disclaimer:
I'm not a power bloke, it either works or it goes in the bin
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