AthlonXP 3000+
Geforce FX5900
400W Actiontec PSU
The other day I left the computer to get a drink of water and when I'd come back something strange had happened. The computer's power light was still on, but the monitor light was orange. The computer was dead silent, no fans could have been running. I figured that it must have gone into suspend or hibernate or something even though I always turn that stuff off. I press the power button to wake it back up. Nothing. Moved the mouse, tapped keys, pressed ctrl+alt+del, nothing.
So I turned it off by holding the power button in, then turned it back on. Lights turn on, fans whir, but no video and no post! I turn it off again, and check inside. My FX5900 looks like it might have come slightly lose, doesn't look like its screw was in all the way. So I gently nudge it so that it looks more firmly in place and tighten the screw. I try again. This time it posts, but when it gets to windows, it can't get much farther than the bootsplash (when the windows logo appears with the blue progress bar). For a brief moment I see a blue background and the mouse cursor, like it's about to load the login screen, and then the video cuts out. Crap.
Sometimes when I reboot it won't post and requires a fresh boot. I try fiddling with the card more but can't get it to work any better. I try loading linux to see if it's an OS specific problem but Linux more or less craps out in the equivalent place -- as soon as it tries to load X (responsible for video) the monitor light goes orange again.
So then I borrow my friend's radeon 9700 pro and try it. After endless removing and reinserting, changing what power connector the card is using, etc. I can't get the computer to post with this card at all. Worried that I've screwed up my box worse, I try the geforce fx again.
And it WORKS. Windows loads perfectly. I want to see if linux is fixed too, so I reboot to it. Linux kindly informs me that I haven't plugged in the FX power connector. Whoops. So I turn off the machine, plug it in, and try windows again. This time it gets to the blue wallpaper with the mouse cursor and craps out -- for about 10 seconds -- then comes back showing the login screen with rectangular regions missing -- definitely a rendering error. Proceeding to login and use the machine causes it to freeze after only a few minutes.
I try again with the power disconnected, and this time I get rectangular regions missing again, although less of them. I try again with the card plugged in but my floppy drive and cd-rom drive disconnected, but it still shows rendering weirdness.
Given that this whole thing started by the computer acting weird power wise (being 'on' but having no fans running) and that I think the radeon 9700 pro is a more power hungry card and it won't start with it at all, and given that once without the geforce power connected it ran perfectly -- I'm beginning to think that something has gone wrong with my PSU.
Am I on the right track? Is there something else I should try before going to the store and buying a new PSU? Has anyone else had experience with Actiontec's behaving like this?
Geforce FX5900
400W Actiontec PSU
The other day I left the computer to get a drink of water and when I'd come back something strange had happened. The computer's power light was still on, but the monitor light was orange. The computer was dead silent, no fans could have been running. I figured that it must have gone into suspend or hibernate or something even though I always turn that stuff off. I press the power button to wake it back up. Nothing. Moved the mouse, tapped keys, pressed ctrl+alt+del, nothing.
So I turned it off by holding the power button in, then turned it back on. Lights turn on, fans whir, but no video and no post! I turn it off again, and check inside. My FX5900 looks like it might have come slightly lose, doesn't look like its screw was in all the way. So I gently nudge it so that it looks more firmly in place and tighten the screw. I try again. This time it posts, but when it gets to windows, it can't get much farther than the bootsplash (when the windows logo appears with the blue progress bar). For a brief moment I see a blue background and the mouse cursor, like it's about to load the login screen, and then the video cuts out. Crap.
Sometimes when I reboot it won't post and requires a fresh boot. I try fiddling with the card more but can't get it to work any better. I try loading linux to see if it's an OS specific problem but Linux more or less craps out in the equivalent place -- as soon as it tries to load X (responsible for video) the monitor light goes orange again.
So then I borrow my friend's radeon 9700 pro and try it. After endless removing and reinserting, changing what power connector the card is using, etc. I can't get the computer to post with this card at all. Worried that I've screwed up my box worse, I try the geforce fx again.
And it WORKS. Windows loads perfectly. I want to see if linux is fixed too, so I reboot to it. Linux kindly informs me that I haven't plugged in the FX power connector. Whoops. So I turn off the machine, plug it in, and try windows again. This time it gets to the blue wallpaper with the mouse cursor and craps out -- for about 10 seconds -- then comes back showing the login screen with rectangular regions missing -- definitely a rendering error. Proceeding to login and use the machine causes it to freeze after only a few minutes.
I try again with the power disconnected, and this time I get rectangular regions missing again, although less of them. I try again with the card plugged in but my floppy drive and cd-rom drive disconnected, but it still shows rendering weirdness.
Given that this whole thing started by the computer acting weird power wise (being 'on' but having no fans running) and that I think the radeon 9700 pro is a more power hungry card and it won't start with it at all, and given that once without the geforce power connected it ran perfectly -- I'm beginning to think that something has gone wrong with my PSU.
Am I on the right track? Is there something else I should try before going to the store and buying a new PSU? Has anyone else had experience with Actiontec's behaving like this?
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