Computer won't boot up

Stridar · 01-31-2007, 11:55 AM

Not sure if this is PS/Ram problem or a motherboard or something else.

I'm stumped...My brother brought over his computer last night for me to look at(I built it for him a couple years ago) as it hasn't booted up for him for several months. My first thought of course was that it would be the power supply from how he had described it. I always have an extra power supply(cheap ones that come with new cases) laying around so I told him to bring it over and I'd let him have my extra one for now.

Soon as he gets here I plug in it to make sure and it is just as he said, when you push the power button the lights blink and the fans spin for about 1/2 to 2 seconds(no beeps) and then all dies down. Never gets near POST. I unplugged everything, pulled out the power supply, stuck in mine, hooked it all back up and the exact same thing happens. So of course I think well maybe mine was bad. I hook up his ps to my computer and my computer boots and works fine, so it wasn't his power supply. So I pull out my new one and plug his back in, at first I plug it in to just the mother board and try to turn it on and it comes on right away, so that leaves me to think that some other connection is causing it to not work, but first I try to turn it off and on again with just the motherboard hooked up and it goes back to doing what it was doing to start with. Blinks on and then goes off. I went ahead and hooked everything back up 1 connection at a time and tested it and same thing over and over. After I get it all hooked back up I tried a few more times and after about 10 attempts his pc boots up. I turn it off again and try to turn it back on and it goes back to doing what it did before, blinks on for a 1/2 to 2 seconds and then turns off, but only after I turn the power button on the ps to off, hit the power button on the PC to discharge everything and then turn the power button on the ps back on and then turn the pc on. if I just flip the switch on the ps to off and back on it won't do anything, has to be discharged. Normally after setting there spamming it, i can get it to boot up about 1 in 50 tries and it runs fine. i haven't had it hooked up to a monitor/mouse/keyboard...etc yet though, but I can tell by the sound of it, no error beeps that it is booting up into windows just fine.

So what else could it be? Bad motherboard? bad memory? From all my experiences in the past a new PS has fixed this type of issue, but it isn't working this time as his PS has now worked fine when I hooked it up to my other 2 pc's and both are more power consuming this his.

Any input would be appriecated here

95five-0 · 01-31-2007, 12:26 PM

Check the BIOS and see if it has a sensor for the system fan. So computer will shut themselves down if they can not detect the system fan. Also you might want to check and make sure all the post are properly grounded to the case.

95five-0 · 01-31-2007, 12:33 PM

Sorry about the double post

**Kalim** · 02-03-2007, 12:24 PM

Hmm.

What is the PSU spec you have?

Install minimum hardware needed to bootup, especially any GPU -- get rid of it if you can for the testing stage setup and use the onboard if you have it.
Use one RAM stick, get an empty air can and clean out the system for any dust, especially around the fans. Connect one HDD and nothing extra to see if it boots up.

Try clearing the CMOS too and booting. If you have a better CPU fan, link that on and then test to see if POST is reached.

Were you overclocking this system?

**Done_Fishin** · 02-03-2007, 01:18 PM

Have a good look at the motherboard to see if there are any bulging capacitors ... they are normally flat topped .. but there was a big problem a few years ago with substandard manufacture of capacitors. That has meant that hardly a PC manufacturer has managed to avoid this problem. Some almost went bankrupt trying to keep pace with repairs and warraty replacements.
Look hard at that board ..

01-31-2007, 11:55 AM	#1 (permalink)
Stridar Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 1 OS: xp	Computer won't boot up Not sure if this is PS/Ram problem or a motherboard or something else. I'm stumped...My brother brought over his computer last night for me to look at(I built it for him a couple years ago) as it hasn't booted up for him for several months. My first thought of course was that it would be the power supply from how he had described it. I always have an extra power supply(cheap ones that come with new cases) laying around so I told him to bring it over and I'd let him have my extra one for now. Soon as he gets here I plug in it to make sure and it is just as he said, when you push the power button the lights blink and the fans spin for about 1/2 to 2 seconds(no beeps) and then all dies down. Never gets near POST. I unplugged everything, pulled out the power supply, stuck in mine, hooked it all back up and the exact same thing happens. So of course I think well maybe mine was bad. I hook up his ps to my computer and my computer boots and works fine, so it wasn't his power supply. So I pull out my new one and plug his back in, at first I plug it in to just the mother board and try to turn it on and it comes on right away, so that leaves me to think that some other connection is causing it to not work, but first I try to turn it off and on again with just the motherboard hooked up and it goes back to doing what it was doing to start with. Blinks on and then goes off. I went ahead and hooked everything back up 1 connection at a time and tested it and same thing over and over. After I get it all hooked back up I tried a few more times and after about 10 attempts his pc boots up. I turn it off again and try to turn it back on and it goes back to doing what it did before, blinks on for a 1/2 to 2 seconds and then turns off, but only after I turn the power button on the ps to off, hit the power button on the PC to discharge everything and then turn the power button on the ps back on and then turn the pc on. if I just flip the switch on the ps to off and back on it won't do anything, has to be discharged. Normally after setting there spamming it, i can get it to boot up about 1 in 50 tries and it runs fine. i haven't had it hooked up to a monitor/mouse/keyboard...etc yet though, but I can tell by the sound of it, no error beeps that it is booting up into windows just fine. So what else could it be? Bad motherboard? bad memory? From all my experiences in the past a new PS has fixed this type of issue, but it isn't working this time as his PS has now worked fine when I hooked it up to my other 2 pc's and both are more power consuming this his. Any input would be appriecated here

01-31-2007, 12:26 PM	#2 (permalink)
95five-0 Hardware Tech Team Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Plano, TX Posts: 1,325 OS: 2000/XP/2003/Vista	Check the BIOS and see if it has a sensor for the system fan. So computer will shut themselves down if they can not detect the system fan. Also you might want to check and make sure all the post are properly grounded to the case. __________________ "If it's really a supercomputer, how come the bullets don't bounce off when I shoot it ?" <<PC Pitstop>><< AVG Free>><<Spybot>><<Everest 2.0>><<Trend Micro House Call>><<HijackThis How-to>>

01-31-2007, 12:33 PM	#3 (permalink)
95five-0 Hardware Tech Team Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Plano, TX Posts: 1,325 OS: 2000/XP/2003/Vista	Sorry about the double post __________________ "If it's really a supercomputer, how come the bullets don't bounce off when I shoot it ?" <<PC Pitstop>><< AVG Free>><<Spybot>><<Everest 2.0>><<Trend Micro House Call>><<HijackThis How-to>>

02-03-2007, 01:18 PM	#5 (permalink)
Done_Fishin Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Brit living in Greece Posts: 4,937 OS: Win ME, Win XP Pro SP3, Ubuntu 7.04, Mepis 6.5 My System	Have a good look at the motherboard to see if there are any bulging capacitors ... they are normally flat topped .. but there was a big problem a few years ago with substandard manufacture of capacitors. That has meant that hardly a PC manufacturer has managed to avoid this problem. Some almost went bankrupt trying to keep pace with repairs and warraty replacements. Look hard at that board .. __________________ D_F How to mark your thread as solved

02-03-2007, 12:24 PM	#4 (permalink)
Kalim Roaming To Help Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 5,553 OS: Many	Hmm. What is the PSU spec you have? Install minimum hardware needed to bootup, especially any GPU -- get rid of it if you can for the testing stage setup and use the onboard if you have it. Use one RAM stick, get an empty air can and clean out the system for any dust, especially around the fans. Connect one HDD and nothing extra to see if it boots up. Try clearing the CMOS too and booting. If you have a better CPU fan, link that on and then test to see if POST is reached. Were you overclocking this system?