Oh...damn... &@!$%@@ *whimpers* help? (UPDATE)

lumen

Senior member
Dec 15, 2002
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I am such a damn newbie... so I build my entire new box, no real problems to speak of... aside from the whole Crucial fiasco with my pc2700 not working.. which leads me to the source of the box's demise... I order some kingston hyper-X pc3000.. which arrived today, so in my excitement to switch out the DIMMs I apparently didn't install the new ram correctly... because on boot up... smoke... no startup...

What did I just do exactly?

I know it will be expensive, but how expensive, please help a guy out..

EDIT: btw, now that I've installed the ram CORRECTLY, the power light will come on for a split second, the fans will continue to run... but nothing more, the monitor won't intialize either....

to that guy with the first reply.. thanks so much for your laughter...really.
 

thorin

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
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Well if you believe the RAM is currently installed correctly how was it installed incorrectly before? Was it not in all the way? Did you somehow manage to put it in backwards (though I don't see how)? etc? What smoked the PSU? CPU? Video? NFC?

Thorin
 

lumen

Senior member
Dec 15, 2002
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It must not have been in all the way, after doing it correctly this time, there is a distinct "click" when you put it all the way in... I'm still not sure what smoked, kind of hard to tell...... the motherboard (Epox 8RDA+) displays "FF" on the code.. which is basically the normal operating code I've noticed.
 

ZimZum

Golden Member
Aug 2, 2001
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Thats kind of hard to do, because the notches usually prevent any incorrect insertion.
 

foofoo

Golden Member
Mar 5, 2001
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hi,
do you have any small pc2100 dimms around?
the first thing that i'd try is putting in a small dimm in the correct orientation and seeing if it posts. if so, you are golden. i say to use a cheap small dimm since you can damage it if the mb is also damaged. if it doesnt post, you need a new mb as well. hopefully your ps is ok but i'd check it in another machine as well.
after this, it's just troubleshooting anything else that mihgt be wrong. in my experience, most of the time the processor is ok as are the peripherals.
good luck
 

lumen

Senior member
Dec 15, 2002
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no.. I don't have any small 2100's around... so you think I could have toasted the ram that was in there (even though it wasnt in there correctly?) AND the mobo AND the psu and perhaps the cpu as well? jesus...
 

Lonyo

Lifer
Aug 10, 2002
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Double check you've pushed it in hard enough. I had a problem wher my RAM wasn't pushed in hard enough, so nothing happened after power came on, no monitor output or anything, exactly what you describe.
Maybe you could borrow some off a friend if pushing it in harder doesn't work.
Souns like there is a definite problem with the board not seeing there's any RAM there.
 

lumen

Senior member
Dec 15, 2002
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alright, checked and yes the ram is all the way in... man, ah well...

guess i'm destined for future dell purchases...

*sobs*

and everything went so well to begin with too!
 

dowxp

Diamond Member
Dec 25, 2000
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Originally posted by: Budman
Haha
dude thats not cool. one day when you screw up something you wouldnt like it someone told you that.

i think he burnt his ram. you can put it in backwards, but not "clicking" my friend burned his sdr ( a while ago ) .. so its possible. worst possible scenario is dead ram, dead mobo (my friends case). the cpu is unlikely gone.

are there burn marks on the ram? my friends had 2 leads burned out.
 

Firus

Senior member
Nov 16, 2001
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If there was smoke, shouldn't there be fire (or signs of it)? I mean did you check the CPU to see if it looks fried? That would be a good way to see if it might be the chip and not the RAM. Or does the RAM look burnt? and wires burnt? because i mean if something got hot enough to smoke there should be some visible damage.
 

dowxp

Diamond Member
Dec 25, 2000
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Originally posted by: Firus
If there was smoke, shouldn't there be fire (or signs of it)? I mean did you check the CPU to see if it looks fried? That would be a good way to see if it might be the chip and not the RAM. Or does the RAM look burnt? and wires burnt? because i mean if something got hot enough to smoke there should be some visible damage.

=P yep. look for burn marks somewhere...
 

lumen

Senior member
Dec 15, 2002
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yep, sure enough, one of the leads on the new ram (that was in there at the time) is black.... good job me, woohoo... so excited.. *sigh*

I put the old ram back in, still won't do anything...
 

thorin

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
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Is the socket melted/discoloured at all? Do you have any known good RAM that you can put in? Even a small 64MB module or something?

Thorin
 

lumen

Senior member
Dec 15, 2002
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yeah, I put the old RAM in which should be fine, it's crucial pc2700... so there should be no problem there at all...

and yeah, i'm advertising it, this is my first time ever touching the innards of a computer, maybe i need a little help so sue me...

EDIT: I'm taking it to a friend's house tonight so we can tear it apart together, he's pretty experienced with this stuff so we will see if the cpu is gone too.... I can't believe all of this over one tiny mistake, after doing everything right initially building it...
 

dowxp

Diamond Member
Dec 25, 2000
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Originally posted by: Budman
Originally posted by: Bangsailio
Originally posted by: Budman Haha
dude thats not cool. one day when you screw up something you wouldnt like it someone told you that. i think he burnt his ram. you can put it in backwards, but not "clicking" my friend burned his sdr ( a while ago ) .. so its possible. worst possible scenario is dead ram, dead mobo (my friends case). the cpu is unlikely gone. are there burn marks on the ram? my friends had 2 leads burned out.
Dont worry,If I burn something up I sure as hell will not advertise it. lol This is a good example of rushing in without checking & rechecking before pressing the power button. Rookie mistake that I hope he will hopefully learn from.

yah but whether you post about it or not isnt the issue. dont laugh at other people's misfortunes. =(
 

dowxp

Diamond Member
Dec 25, 2000
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Originally posted by: lumen
yeah, I put the old RAM in which should be fine, it's crucial pc2700... so there should be no problem there at all... and yeah, i'm advertising it, this is my first time ever touching the innards of a computer, maybe i need a little help so sue me...

itsokay dude. my first accident was running my first 733 p3 without a heatsink because i was lazy and thought it wouldnt get that hot. i still thank myself for choosing intel and not amd... my chip shutdown =) and i was stupid enough to touch the core and i burned myself =(

goodluck ...
 

lumen

Senior member
Dec 15, 2002
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budman, i'm asking nicely, just leave it be... i need some help and not a flamewar, just do me that one favor alright?
 

Technonut

Diamond Member
Mar 19, 2000
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I have seen one case of a stick of RAM being installed backwards... It fried the mobo and RAM, nothing else. Look and see if there is any burnt components around the RAM slots on the mobo...
 

Dreadogg

Golden Member
Mar 1, 2001
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Originally posted by: lumen
alright, checked and yes the ram is all the way in... man, ah well...

guess i'm destined for future dell purchases...

*sobs*

and everything went so well to begin with too!

dont give up so fast, its really not that big of a deal, just either ship it back and get new stuff you proabally just toasted the ram or and motherboard.