• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

cruncher down, need help

Philippart

Philippart

Golden Member
One of my computers won't start up anymore: when I press the power button both the hd and power light keep blinking and the cpu fan tries to start up but fails to do so and tries again and again, making a pulsating sound (spinning up and down the fan).

I can't reset the CMOS: taking out the battery doesn't fix it.

Does anyone know what this could be? PSU? CPU? Motherboard?

Thanks 🙂
 
Sounds like the PSU.

If you have had the box apart and the mobo is Gigabyte, check the polarity of the front panel power switch.
 
My computer did this for awhile. I think I finally narrowed it down to an old DVD-ROM drive! So try unplugging all unnecessary accessories.
 
Philippart said:
no beep at all it retries starting up before even the fan spinup and beep!
Click to expand...

even i can't decipher that.. well.. i'm not even going to try... don't know if this is one idea or four different ideas. do it in bullet points or something, writing in continuous like this makes it difficult to figure out what you are trying to say, which makes it harder for the rest of us to assist you.

I would go with ken_g6's idea and petrus's idea.. and then go with the power supply being bad if neither of those ideas work.

And going with Rudy Toody's idea.. just disconnect the power switch and reset switch from the motherboard, and just momentarily short the two pins for the power switch on the motherboard together to turn the computer on. I normally just use a phillips screwdriver to do this....
I had a gigabyte case once that displayed similar problems. The case itself had a circuit board for front panel controls that started to go bad.

oh.. and does the fan in the power supply spin up? (any power supply worth anything has a fan)
 
actually, if the fan keeps trying to start and fails in an infinite loop, it's most likely a mobo problem more than the PSU. this same thing happened to my gigabyte board when the mosfet got fried. next culprit would be the PSU, then the memory.
 
WhiteFireDragon said:
actually, if the fan keeps trying to start and fails in an infinite loop, it's most likely a mobo problem more than the PSU. this same thing happened to my gigabyte board when the mosfet got fried. next culprit would be the PSU, then the memory.
Click to expand...

I removed the hd and unplugged any external stuff, I removed the RAM and exchanged the PSU:
same problem.

So it must be the mobo since a bad video card would result in beep tones and a broken cpu would result in a message like "cpu error" as far as I know. Am I right?
 
Yes, you probabaly are.
Broken CPU gives probably no signal at all ... that has happened to me once.
A message "CPU-error" requires an at least partially working CPU - without at least some CPU-functionality you won't get any messages at all.
Check the capacitators and the MOSFETs - look for buldging tops and/or signs of overheating or burns.
If it is the mobo, lets hope the CPU, RAM and cards survived ...
 
I tested everything and it's indeed the motherboard. But I don't see any physical damage and no flames either 😉

I think running it way too much overclocked for 3.5 years 24/7 was too much for it...
It was rated FSB1066 (266Mhz real) and I ran it @FSB1500 (375Mhz real)

it was this one: http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=YwIVDOTcvIMHZdTy&templete=2

I ordered this one to replace it: http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=URA00A6u0GrUqHiH&templete=2
It is rated FSB1600 so I won't push the board too hard this time 😉

Thanks to everybody for your precious help!
 
I have both - the P5B ist still going strong after more than 3 years of 24/7 @ 350MHz and the P5Q is sweet (don´t remember how long I have had it - less than a year ...).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top