GTaudiophile
Lifer
So, I walk into work this morning and one of the (hawt) interns from the adjoining organization tells me her computer, the main receptionist machine with several databases on it, won't post. So, of course being the nice guy, I go take a look.
(This machine gave them similar problems about 3 weeks ago. When you turned it on, instead of POSTing, the CPU fan would speed up and slow down. Turning the machine on its side like a desktop instead of a tower, it would POST fine. I ended up finding out that the HSF seemed loose. I tightened it up and it seemed to POST fine in any configuration.)
Today, the HSF spins like normal, but still no POST. No monitor signal, no beep codes, nothing. I checked the typical things: all internal wiring, re-seated the RAM, etc. Still no POST.
Here's the kicker: the intern told me that she was instructed to use her finger on the center of the CPU fan to STOP the fan if it started spinning erratically again! My jaw just dropped when she told me that. WTF! STOP THE FAN?!? I told her there is no faster way to ruin a machine and maybe your finger too. Modern CPUs can only last a few seconds without proper cooling!
Anyway, I couldn't fix the machine as I have my own work to do for my own company. I figure it's either the CPU or motherboard. The latter is a microATX Intel board I think with on-board sound/NIC/video. I wanted to trouble-shoot the video but we don't have a spare PCI nor PCI-Express videocard on hand. Oh well. Their problem.
(This machine gave them similar problems about 3 weeks ago. When you turned it on, instead of POSTing, the CPU fan would speed up and slow down. Turning the machine on its side like a desktop instead of a tower, it would POST fine. I ended up finding out that the HSF seemed loose. I tightened it up and it seemed to POST fine in any configuration.)
Today, the HSF spins like normal, but still no POST. No monitor signal, no beep codes, nothing. I checked the typical things: all internal wiring, re-seated the RAM, etc. Still no POST.
Here's the kicker: the intern told me that she was instructed to use her finger on the center of the CPU fan to STOP the fan if it started spinning erratically again! My jaw just dropped when she told me that. WTF! STOP THE FAN?!? I told her there is no faster way to ruin a machine and maybe your finger too. Modern CPUs can only last a few seconds without proper cooling!
Anyway, I couldn't fix the machine as I have my own work to do for my own company. I figure it's either the CPU or motherboard. The latter is a microATX Intel board I think with on-board sound/NIC/video. I wanted to trouble-shoot the video but we don't have a spare PCI nor PCI-Express videocard on hand. Oh well. Their problem.
