EPIC Fail computer!

Hi guys, I really couldn't find a thread for this to go in, and if there
is one... I'm sorry, hopefully it can be moved there, but I have a
massive problem atm with my computer. This might be a long post, but I
promise I'll try to make it short.

First off, I have an E-machine T5082 (God knows that I had problems
with it when I first bought it) I was happy to see that it was very
cheap with such a cool bundle package... but *** was emachine thinking,
shipping a computer that had an O/S that required at least 1 gb or ram
to run properly, but only came with 512 mb? With that said, here's the
issue, I got the computer in 2006... after I got home with it, I had to
uninstall almost all the software that came with it, but after I
upgraded the ram to 2 gb, it started running pretty nice. Now I do
understand that this is by far not a gaming rig, but I do use it to
Beta-Tests several MMO's currently active and never had a problem with
running them in at a pretty fast FPS.

1 week ago, I turn on my computer and log in, go to log into one of the
games (work 5 - 9 hrs a day on some of these games) and I get a prompt
for a Windows update... sigh lol, so I let it download, restart... then
epicdoomfailsauce... I get a loud "system beep" and the computer shuts
down... errr ok never did that before, so I restart it, everything seems
fine until I see the "your *******: message... "Windows has recovered
from a Thermal Event" ??? Well, I thought to myself 2 things: Either my
fans are dirty, or something in my BIOS changed itself. I turn off the
computer, take the casing off (yay 2 yrs after warranty lol) and low and
behold, the heatsink fan and other fan were alittle "untidy" so me and
my wife decide to clean them, got them to look nice and hooked
everything back up.

DENIED!!! turn it on and \o/ the fan comes on, heatsink does not,
lights to my ethernet are on, HDD isn't... no system activity
whatsoever... so I'm thinking awesome, we hooked things up wrong...
sigh, try again, this time, fan doesn't come on, heatsink does though,
still no HDD or system activity.... ok now I start to get alittle grrr.
We have another computer, but it's more of a 2001 XP wooden PC, 356 MB
ram, 32 mb intergrated video card lol, she sees that there is a plugin
that isn't hooked up from one of the XP PC fans, so she decides to
unplug the fan plugin from our vista one (I "facepalm" knowing that
unplugging said device isn't going to help it work) but ***?! both fans
came on! Still no HDD, and no system.

I have checked both the HDD on the current working system, it works but
alas it has vista and needs 512 mb ram to remotely work, and I have 356
on this one lol, power supply works as well, or the fan and lights to
the cards wouldn't come on at all... I have called around to various PC
stares, they all said it wasn't the Motherboard, but bring it in and
they would fix it, but I haz no moniez for that atm, barely enough to
stay on the net XD, so if I did something to make it not go "lol" then I
would love to see if I can take the "let me fix what I made a boo boo on
and save money, kinda would like to save the PC until Tax Season and
just break down and buy a new one, I really wouldn't have an issue with
not being able to use the PC, since I have one that can connect to the
net, but like I said, I'm a beta teser and need a computer that can run
the games... I can barely play age of empires 2 or Starcraft on this one
XD

If anyone can help me, I would be greatly appreciated! And, again,
sorry for the long post, just didn't want to miss on a detail that could
help.

TY!

TY for the reply, now a new change... fans don't come on at all and when
I press my power button, nothing happens... plus my monitor shows
nothing but the LED light blinks blue like it's in sleep mode... I'm
guessing that either my motherboard is shot, or power supply, The
motherboard is like $59 power supply is kinda cheap. I also just found
out that I did actually get the Job I was hoping to get (GM/Graphics
designer) but really makes me upset is that I was told that this type of
computer was totally upgradable (graphics/video, sound, RAM, etc) I just
found out that the computer can only go 2 gb RAM, it has an integrated
graphics card, so a no go there...and realtek doesn't support drivers
for the PC anymore... so thanks alot Bestbuy.

Thank you again for the reply Ani ^^

Instead of going back and forth here on the board I'm just gonna give
you a list of ways of troubleshooting this issue... It may be a bit time
consuming depending on how well you know the interior of a computer but
even though it may look like a lot of work it is actually the easiest
way to rule out a faulty component.

Before we start I want you to check ALL cables and make sure they are
connected properly and try one last boot.
If the issue remains we'll start the strip-down.

Remove all PCI/PCI-E/AGP devices such as a video-, network-, audio
card.
Disconnect the harddrive(s) and optical drives (dvd rom/burner, floppy
etc).
Also disconnect any extra chassi fans you have...

If you have more than one memory module remove all but one.

When the strip-down is complete you should only have the motherboard,
CPU, RAM and PSU left.

If the system doesn't boot try moving the single ram module to another
socket and boot again.
If the issue remains after trying the ram module in each socket you
take another ram module and do the same.

If the system boots try turning the system on and off a few times just
to make sure it isn't a fluke.

Now comes the time consuming part.
You need to connect one component at a time... We're doing this so that
you instantly know which component is causing the system not to boot
properly.

Make sure that system is turned OFF when you connect a new component
and make sure the componenet is seated properly and has it's cables
connected (Harddrive = Power and Data cable, Video Card = Possible power
connection) and so on.

Boot the system with the new component in... If the system still boots
add another component.

Let me know how it goes

/ Ani

ShinKato wrote:
> TY for the reply, now a new change... fans don't come on at all and when
> I press my power button, nothing happens... plus my monitor shows
> nothing but the LED light blinks blue like it's in sleep mode... I'm
> guessing that either my motherboard is shot, or power supply, The
> motherboard is like $59 power supply is kinda cheap. I also just found
> out that I did actually get the Job I was hoping to get (GM/Graphics
> designer) but really makes me upset is that I was told that this type of
> computer was totally upgradable (graphics/video, sound, RAM, etc) I just
> found out that the computer can only go 2 gb RAM, it has an integrated
> graphics card, so a no go there...and realtek doesn't support drivers
> for the PC anymore... so thanks alot Bestbuy.
>
> Thank you again for the reply Ani ^^
>

If the blue LED was running from the +5VSB output of the power
supply, that could indicate a power supply problem.

The question I've got for you, is if you took the computer
all apart, would you be able to put it all back together
again like you found it ? Putting in a new power supply,
requires putting all those power connectors in the right
places.

Power supplies can be tested, by connecting PS_ON# to COM
pin, on the main connector. You'd completely disconnect
the power supply from the computer (to prevent damage
to the computer). The power supply should have a load
on it, a slight load, to help it maintain regulation.
Then, you can use a multimeter set to the volts range,
to verify the voltages. (I have a home made load box,
to load the supply.)

Now, if you weren't technical at all, you could also connect
PS_ON# to COM, and if the power supply fan spins, pretend all
is well. If the power supply fan does not spin, when PS_ON# is
connected to an adjacent COM pin, then suspect the power supply
is bad. That ignores whether all the output voltages are
correct or not, which is a good thing to check before
connecting any supply back to the computer.

Some computers have been known to be destroyed (motherboard
and hard drive ruined), by a failing power supply. Continuing
to "torture" the existing supply, by perhaps flicking the
power switch on and off rapidly, could result in a lot
of damage to other components in the computer. When I
work on them, I would sooner replace the supply, than
continue beating on the old supply.

To install a new supply, you have to put all the wires back
where they belong, and do a good job of "dressing" the
wires, so none of the extra ones fall into a fan later.
I use nylon wraps, to secure the wires, and don't do
them up so tight that the insulation on the wires is cut.

Page 37 here, shows the power supply main connector. PS_ON# is green.
COM is black. Those are the wires and pins you short together,
to make the fan spin on a power supply (with the supply
disconnected from the computer, if you suspect the supply
is bad).

http://www.formfactors.org/developer...public_br2.pdf

Here is a picture of someone starting their supply manually. Since
there are multiple black (COM) wires, you have more choices
for which of those to use. There should only be one
green wire. Any of the black wires would do.

http://www.dansdata.com/images/digidoc/runatx360.jpg

It is a messy job, fitting a new supply. If you're methodical,
and take careful notes of where all the wires go, you can do it.

The power supply should have a label on the side. On it, is
printed ratings. Based on those ratings, you can select
another supply. Here is an example. At the very least,
I want a power supply that has customer reviews, so I
can determine if they're crap or not. So I would not
just do an Internet search for "T5082 power supply" and
buy the first one I found.

http://www.cputopia.com/emachine-480...ies-t5082.html

What is a trifle weird about that example supply, is it still
has a minus 5 volt rail on it. That means the designer of the
supply, wants it to support virtually any computer from the
last 10 years or more. You can check you own supply, and
see if there is a wire where pin 20 should be. Notice in the
formfactors document, that pin 20 is marked as "reserved",
meaning on a modern computer, they've dropped the requirement
for that wire. So part of due diligence, is to check the
supply you have right now, and see if that pin is missing.
It makes it easier to replace the supply, if pin 20 on a 24
pin is missing (as most of the new supplies, won't have a
pin 20 present).

I looked for a supply in the ballpark for the job, and
this one has good reviews. The second link, is to a picture
of the ratings. You can compare that to the existing supply,
and see whether it meets or exceeds the requirements. This
supply is 80% efficient, which means it will run a bit cooler
than the previous supply.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139003

http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggIma...139-003-06.jpg

(Click the "resource" link, to see more info. The supply has a
2x4 pin connector for the processor, which "unhinges" to give
a 2x2 connector suitable for your motherboard. So this should work.)

http://www.corsair.com/products/vx/default.aspx

So that is the basic idea. But you still need to check the
label on your supply, to see what kind of load it could
support. Based on a guess at the power, the real load of
your system is probably around 160W or so. And it might not
really have an excessive requirement for 3.3V and 5V. But
that supply should give you a reliable result, based on
the reviews being good.

HTH,
Paul