Computer contantly reboots/no monitor signal (tried another monitor and psu)

[CorCentral]

Of course the first day after I set my wife up with her new computer desk, printer and monitor, the computer throws me the finger **LOL**

It was fine lastnight, got it all updated and patched up and then left in on all night. Walk in this morning and the computer's on, I move the mouse (nothing happens). I push the power button on the computer and it won't shut off. So I flip the switch on th PSU and uplug for a few min, plug back in and the computer just swiches on. Still no signal from the monitor and the computer seems to be booting but will reboot when it reaches a certain point. (time wise, almost full boot it seems)

PS: (late last night was a Thunderstorm) I left this computer on with no problems.
I've tried 1 other monitor with the same results.


Win2000
Intel 865P
Intel P4 3.2
Mushkin 1gb (forgot the specs)
EVGA 6800gt AGP
Maxtor 80hdd


EDIT: Also swapped PSU's, still the same)

 

[marulee]

Originally posted by: CorCentral
Of course the first day after I set my wife up with her new computer desk, printer and monitor, the computer throws me the finger **LOL**

It was fine lastnight, got it all updated and patched up and then left in on all night. Walk in this morning and the computer's on, I move the mouse (nothing happens). I push the power button on the computer and it won't shut off. So I flip the switch on th PSU and uplug for a few min, plug back in and the computer just swiches on. Still no signal from the monitor and the computer seems to be booting but will reboot when it reaches a certain point. (time wise, almost full boot it seems)

PS: (late last night was a Thunderstorm) I left this computer on with no problems.
I've tried 1 other monitor with the same results.


Win2000
Intel 865P
Intel P4 3.2
Mushkin 1gb (forgot the specs)
EVGA 6800gt
Maxtor 80hdd

PSU faulty perhaps?
And next time, hold the power button until the power goes out!

 

[CorCentral]

So it could be the psu?

What's more likely? in this situation? PSU or Video Card?

I went to try the video card that was in this computer but I remembered it was PCI-E and the computer that's jilted is AGP.

I'm going up in the attic and see if I have a spare PSU to test. I think I have a spare Antec 350 from last year taht's fairly new. Will post back with results

 

[wanderer27]

Had almost the same thing happen to me a couple months back, but without the rebooting.

Turned out to be the Motherboard.

Do you have built in LAN on your MB? If so, do the lights flash? If not, there's a good chance you lost your MB.

 

[CorCentral]

Ok, just swapped PSU's and the same thing happens.

Turns on normally, hard drive active, (nothing visible on monitor ever) boots to a certain place and then reboots itself. I can almost feel where it reboots just from the time it normally takes to boot. It's either at the "Windows is starting"/black screen/white bar at the bottom, or the Next screen that's colored that says that Windows is starting.

No LAN on the MB.

My first thought would be the video card since there is nothing shown on the monitor while it's trying to boot. But then again, not sure what occurs more........ in this situation.

 

[wanderer27]

Reseat the Video Card and clean the Video slot?

I know sometimes I can really see a lot of dust, or something that looks like Aluminum powder around the Video slot if it's been a while since I've cleaned the inside of my computers. I could see this as a possible cause of problems.

 

[CorCentral]

Originally posted by: wanderer27
Reseat the Video Card and clean the Video slot?

I know sometimes I can really see a lot of dust, or something that looks like Aluminum powder around the Video slot if it's been a while since I've cleaned the inside of my computers. I could see this as a possible cause of problems.

But overnight dust would not have caused this problem, although..........
I actually went to swap video cards with this computer. I pulled the card out of the old and noticed it was AGP and then popped it back in :roll: I totally forgot about that. It's been a couple years since the build

 

[imported_nocturne]

I'm assuming you tried resetting the bios, right..?

 

[CorCentral]

Originally posted by: nocturne
I'm assuming you tried resetting the bios, right..?

No, I have'nt tried this yet, but the computer attempts to boot at least 1/2 of the way to windows. It's without a monitor, but I can tell just from the hard drive noise how far it's booted.
If resetting the Bios will work, I'll give it a whirl. Does this mean I lose any "Flash" I've done to the Bios?

 

[CorCentral]

So, is it reset the bios, buy a used video card or buy a used mb?

I would reset the bios but it seems like it's booting for 30sec+ before the reboot. If someone else explains why this would be helpful in this situation after what I've explained already, then I will reset.

I just don't trust most because they don't tend to read the actual start of the thread, or they only read that and then answer.

 

[mechBgon]

6800GTs can pull quite a bit of power. Are either/both of the PSUs quality-brand 350W+ units? Combining the 12V appetites of a P4 and a 6800GT, I would be trying for a pretty healthy 12-volt rail on the PSU, and a quality brand of PSU.

Other ideas: Try firmly re-seating the card in its slot, in case it's not fully bedded in there. AGP slots have two layers of contacts and can fake ya out Also, if the card takes an extra power cable, make sure it didn't work loose.

 

[CorCentral]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
6800GTs can pull quite a bit of power. Are either/both of the PSUs quality-brand 350W+ units? Combining the 12V appetites of a P4 and a 6800GT, I would be trying for a pretty healthy 12-volt rail on the PSU, and a quality brand of PSU.

Other ideas: Try firmly re-seating the card in its slot, in case it's not fully bedded in there. AGP slots have two layers of contacts and can fake ya out Also, if the card takes an extra power cable, make sure it didn't work loose.

The psu's are both Antec 350 SL's, and for a rig that's 2 years old and has been working for over 2 years with that same PSU.......... I've also just swapped it with a brand new exact same model psu. Again, this happened overnight. It's not about power other than a jolt to the pc from the storm perhaps
Reseated the videocard already. I know about the "extra" power cable.

I have'nt been doing this long, but since 2001 have learned alot building my own computers with minimal problems since then (mostly paranoia problems if any). Don't claim to be the Don Won of computers but when it comes to the components, I'm not Joe Schmo or Grandma.

I've run the computer in question for over 1.5 years with no problems, thunderstorm hits the other night/Computer not working................. Needing to know the component that's damaged

Mech----- I was just about to call on you but did'nt want to bother you since the last escapade.

 

[mechBgon]

You might also try a different surge supressor. I had a weird incident once where the computer seemed to have had a HDD failure. So I replaced the HDD, reinstalled Windows, took it back to the employee's office, and now it behaved the same way! Took it back to my office, it worked again. Took it to her office, it didn't. A new surge supressor fixed it.

 

[imported_nocturne]

btw, resetting the bios only resets the settings to defaults, and the bios version stays the same

 

[CorCentral]

Originally posted by: nocturne
btw, resetting the bios only resets the settings to defaults, and the bios version stays the same

Just tried resetting the bios but as I said, I get nothing on the monitor at all. Also bypassed the surge protector and plugged it directly into the wall and it's the same deal.


I'm going to be building another computer soon but would still like to know what this could possibly be so I can part this thing out. I may just take it into a local shop and find out which component is bad.