Things like this DRIVE ME NUTS!!!!! Am I paranoid????

FOH

Senior member
Aug 18, 2000
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This is a long story, but I will try and make it brief. I am building an AMD system - here are the specs:

XP2100
Abit KR7 133raid
(2) Maxtor 60G
ATI 8500DV
(2) Mushkin 512MB

I started it up -- nothing -- no video, no beeps, nothing. So I reset the video card and it came up normal. I went through the BIOS settings and then went to the RAID setup screen to set up the raid array, when it locked up. Nothing would work - Esc, Enter, Delete, Arrows, nothing. So I rebooted and now I have nothing again -- no video, no beeps, nothing. I have tried resetting the video card and clearing the CMOS again -- still nothing.

I was about to think about RMA'ing the motherboard when I stopped to eat. When I finished eating, I tried it again (I don't know why) and it worked!?!?!?!?! Before I ate, I had reset the video card, cleared the CMOS, and even removed the battery and reset it, and it still was dead. Now it has been working for about 3 hours now. :confused: I have loaded Win98 and Win2000, which has rebooted it several times, and it is still fine.

SO, do I trust it or not????? What would you do??? Stuff like this makes me paranoid. (This is just one of my 29 reason's why I hate computers!! ;) )
 

tenoc

Golden Member
Jan 23, 2002
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"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you."
 

ScottMac

Moderator<br>Networking<br>Elite member
Mar 19, 2001
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Did you remember to unplug the system while seating/reseating the cards?

If the system's plugged in, your motherboard is still hot, even though "turned off" by the front switch. Some power supplies have an on/off switch that will kill power to the motherboard, but it's easy to forget to turn it off. As a habit, I just unplug the system and give the PS time to discharge.

FWIW

Scott
 

FOH

Senior member
Aug 18, 2000
359
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ScottMac:

Thanks for the reply. Yes I did know to unplug the PS, but as you say it is easy to forget -- maybe I didn't -- I can't say for sure. Even if I did, I might not have given the PS long enough to discharge.

Just as an update, I have been working with it for several hours today and no problems. :D
 

HGC

Senior member
Dec 22, 1999
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A little off-topic, but if you unplug the computer are you still grounded? Can you discharge static by touching the chassis?
 

Drewpy

Senior member
Jun 1, 2002
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Grounding doesn't have to mean that you are grounded to the same level as the Earth. The importance of touching your PS (or anything else made of metal in your case) is to make sure that there is no difference between you and the sensitive electronics. That way nothing is going to get fried.
 

HGC

Senior member
Dec 22, 1999
605
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Thanks, I have always been confused on this point. A helpful first post!