no post, no boot - bad cpu fan + power supply + ??
Hi,
(crossposted - posted yesterday on
alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup, sorry, I'm desperate!! Hope
this isn't bad form, please advise if it is....)
I came back over the weekend to find a dead computer. Had been hearning
the CPU fan and meaning to check it out (replaced it a couple years
back). In any case, opened it up, found the CPU fan pretty much locked
up, and the PC wouldn't power up (hit power switch, lights would come
on for about 1/2 second). Put on a spare one, which still spun OK, was
just noisy and on it's way out. Still nothing. Went and bought a
cheap Dynex power supply (300 watt, matched what was in there before).
Now it powers up, but one of the Cd drive lights stays on, and the HDD
light stays on. Really odd thing (to me, anyway) is that the thing
surges, sounds like it's a car that someone's revving up and down.
Plus - the CD and HDD lights brighten up when it revs up, along with
the optical mouse light and (!!) the room lights! Husband thinks the
motherboard is causing the problem, something shorting out and causing
the revving. I'm wondering if I got a bad new power supply? Can a
motherboard or processor cause the revving/surging?
Things seemed OK until now except - sometimes I would get a reboot when
not expecting it. But I was usually experiencing some software problem
at the time, too.
Any help would be appreciated! Since my laptop doesn't have newsgroups
(yet) I'll have to wait for Google groups to catch up.
Re: no post, no boot - bad cpu fan + power supply + ??
"" wrote:
> Hi,
>
> (crossposted - posted yesterday on
> alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup, sorry, I'm desperate!!
> Hope
> this isn't bad form, please advise if it is....)
>
> I came back over the weekend to find a dead computer. Had been
> hearning
> the CPU fan and meaning to check it out (replaced it a couple
> years
> back). In any case, opened it up, found the CPU fan pretty
> much locked
> up, and the PC wouldn't power up (hit power switch, lights
> would come
> on for about 1/2 second). Put on a spare one, which still
> spun OK, was
> just noisy and on it's way out. Still nothing. Went and
> bought a
> cheap Dynex power supply (300 watt, matched what was in there
> before).
> Now it powers up, but one of the Cd drive lights stays on, and
> the HDD
> light stays on. Really odd thing (to me, anyway) is that the
> thing
> surges, sounds like it's a car that someone's revving up and
> down.
> Plus - the CD and HDD lights brighten up when it revs up,
> along with
> the optical mouse light and (!!) the room lights! Husband
> thinks the
> motherboard is causing the problem, something shorting out and
> causing
> the revving. I'm wondering if I got a bad new power supply?
> Can a
> motherboard or processor cause the revving/surging?
>
> Things seemed OK until now except - sometimes I would get a
> reboot when
> not expecting it. But I was usually experiencing some
> software problem
> at the time, too.
>
> Any help would be appreciated! Since my laptop doesn't have
> newsgroups
> (yet) I'll have to wait for Google groups to catch up.
>
> TIA,
>
> Pat
The "revving" is most likely due to the power supply. As the hard
drive, or cd-rom spins up, or the processor works hard, it is using
more power, thus the dim, then when the demand lessens, the whole
system will seem to rev up. My suggestion would be to try a better
power supply, like an antec, one that is a true 300 watts, or more if
it is required. It sounds like your new one isn’t performing as well
as it advertised, like 300 watts PEAK, but may have nominal of around
200, low for most systems.
Re: no post, no boot - bad cpu fan + power supply + ??
"" wrote:
> Hi,
>
> (crossposted - posted yesterday on
> alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup, sorry, I'm desperate!!
> Hope
> this isn't bad form, please advise if it is....)
>
> I came back over the weekend to find a dead computer. Had been
> hearning
> the CPU fan and meaning to check it out (replaced it a couple
> years
> back). In any case, opened it up, found the CPU fan pretty
> much locked
> up, and the PC wouldn't power up (hit power switch, lights
> would come
> on for about 1/2 second). Put on a spare one, which still
> spun OK, was
> just noisy and on it's way out. Still nothing. Went and
> bought a
> cheap Dynex power supply (300 watt, matched what was in there
> before).
> Now it powers up, but one of the Cd drive lights stays on, and
> the HDD
> light stays on. Really odd thing (to me, anyway) is that the
> thing
> surges, sounds like it's a car that someone's revving up and
> down.
> Plus - the CD and HDD lights brighten up when it revs up,
> along with
> the optical mouse light and (!!) the room lights! Husband
> thinks the
> motherboard is causing the problem, something shorting out and
> causing
> the revving. I'm wondering if I got a bad new power supply?
> Can a
> motherboard or processor cause the revving/surging?
>
> Things seemed OK until now except - sometimes I would get a
> reboot when
> not expecting it. But I was usually experiencing some
> software problem
> at the time, too.
>
> Any help would be appreciated! Since my laptop doesn't have
> newsgroups
> (yet) I'll have to wait for Google groups to catch up.
>
> TIA,
>
> Pat
Pure speculation with the information , but it sounds like either the
power supply or hard drive.They are the culprits to cause surging
usually.
What happens if you disconnect the hard drive and try and boot into
the BIOS?
I would start ruling a few things out.
Install another hard drive and see if the computer is willing to boot
properly.
What are the specifications of the computer?
no post, no boot - bad cpu fan + power supply + ?? 
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