Computer's dead again

[MMike]

For real it seems too....

Now it just won't power up and the hard drive won't turn. I turned the power supply off an on. The fan will run for anywhere from 1 to 10 seconds and then just stop.

Taking to a PC repair shop after work.

How the HELL did DRB get into my house???

[binary visions]

Sounds like a bad power supply.

That'll teach you to get sketchy "deals" - shoulda just bought your own :p. At least then you might have a warranty for your troubles... or at least a legitimate Windows license.

[MMike]

Yeah....Ive had powersupplies go out before. But then it was just toally dead. Now if I switch the pwr supp off and on, the little pilot light in my mouse comes on, and like I said, the fan will run for a little while. I guess it's not totally dead....just mostly dead.

Maybe a nice new machine loaded with Vista is in order!

I'm just praying it's not the hardrive itself.

[DRB]

The wolverines are much smarter than you think.

[valve bouncer]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/Bent/loser.gif

[MMike]

That was hurtful

[binary visions]

Yeah....Ive had powersupplies go out before. But then it was just toally dead. Now if I switch the pwr supp off and on, the little pilot light in my mouse comes on, and like I said, the fan will run for a little while. I guess it's not totally dead....just mostly dead.

http://www.intriguing.com/mp/_pictures/grail/large/HolyGrail004.jpg

My last dead power supply had the same symptoms. Cycling the power on the power supply would allow me to get a small jolt of power into the system that allows the fans to spin for a second, but it would cut off really quickly.

[valve bouncer]

That was hurtful
Mate I just thank Wallace H Christ nothing has gone wrong with any of my computers cos I wouldn't have a bloody clue what to do. I only come to this forum to remind me how dumb I am. I understand about 6.8% of what is written here.

[binary visions]

I wouldn't have a bloody clue what to do.

You can barter for dildo-wielding advice.

[valve bouncer]

You can barter for dildo-wielding advice.

Mate the sum total of my advice comes to;
Bend over
Breathe in
Don't forget the KY.

[Secret Squirrel]

Mate the sum total of my advice comes to;
Bend over
Breathe in
Don't forget the KY.

Seems to me, that that should be very sage advice for most anything.

[Quo Fan]

I have seen, when power supplies fail, they also take out the motherboard, CPU and memory, though not necessarily all or any.

[MMike]

Turns out it's the motherboard.

I watched while he tested everything. Pwr supply was good, CPU was good....pulled all the cards out one at a time, the RAM...everything. But it's the motherboard.

So now 3 questions: Could I have zapped it when I installed my new network adapter? and if so, how come it worked fine for several days before dying?

And lastly, I took the machine to a little place just down the street. He only uses ECS motherboards. Are they decent? He has to get me a special one becuase my grpahics card is AGP, and he only has PCI in stock. I wouldn't mind changing my graphics card actually....but not today.

[DRB]

I think you should stick to an etch-a-sketch.

[MMike]

I think you should stick to an etch-a-sketch.

Oh yeah? Well I think you should stick to a slinky!

NO, I don't know what that means. Just shut up.

[DRB]

Oh yeah? Well I think you should stick to a slinky!

NO, I don't know what that means. Just shut up.

Guess what?

My computer works. :clapping:

[MMike]

Guess what! I had sex with your wife!

[DRB]

Guess what! I had sex with your wife!

At least one of us did.

[MMike]

So anyway.....back to my motherboard question..........

[binary visions]

ECS makes pretty cheap motherboards (they've been a strictly budget brand until recently), and their quality control is a little sketchy in my experience. I guess if you've got the guy local it's not so bad, since if it dies, you can go bitch at him instead of having to disassemble the computer yourself, send it in, and reassemble it or pay to have it reassembled.

[MMike]

Mmmmm.....should I try to get a different brand?

If you're saying "up until recently", the were low end....how recent? I'm guessing he has to order an older model to accommodate my AGP graphics card.

[DRB]

Dell.com called and said quit being a cheap bastard and buy a new computer.

[binary visions]

Dell.com called and said quit being a cheap bastard and buy a new computer.

:rofl:

Seriously, how much is this guy planning on charging you for a new motherboard? And then to build your system? And then you'll probably end up spending a bunch of time while the operating system whines and complains that you have a whole bunch of new devices recognized (new chipset, all new onboard hardware like ethernet, sound etc.), and it may or may not work properly.

Not to say it might not be worth it to replace the motherboard, but computers are so cheap that they're practically a disposable commodity now. For $450 you could get a really decent new machine from Dell. Just depends on how old the computer is, might be worth thinking about.

The ECS motherboard will probably be fine for the useful life of the computer assuming there are no problems with it out of the box.

[MMike]

Guy just called me....

1) He's getting me an ASUS motherboard
2) It's $105 CDN, installed. (No OS reinstallation)...so as I got the computer for free....I can't complain I guess. It's less than two years old.....or just about 2 years old anyway.

I'm still curious about the failure itself though. I know that there is potential for static build-up and all that. Could I have killed the motherboard when I installed my new network card? And if so, why was it such a gradual demise?

Seems unlikely that this episode happened so close to my other disaster.....

[DRB]

How long before "Computer's dead again AGAIN" appears?

[Westy]

Guy just called me....

1) He's getting me an ASUS motherboard
2) It's $105 CDN, installed. (No OS reinstallation)...so as I got the computer for free....I can't complain I guess. It's less than two years old.....or just about 2 years old anyway.

I'm still curious about the failure itself though. I know that there is potential for static build-up and all that. Could I have killed the motherboard when I installed my new network card? And if so, why was it such a gradual demise?

Seems unlikely that this episode happened so close to my other disaster.....

Tin whiskers. Crystalline structures must also hate you.

[H8R]

Guy just called me....

1) He's getting me an ASUS motherboard
2) It's $105 CDN, installed. (No OS reinstallation)...so as I got the computer for free....I can't complain I guess. It's less than two years old.....or just about 2 years old anyway.

I'm still curious about the failure itself though. I know that there is potential for static build-up and all that. Could I have killed the motherboard when I installed my new network card? And if so, why was it such a gradual demise?

Seems unlikely that this episode happened so close to my other disaster.....

It's REALLY easy to pop one in yourself. Seriously.

Mobos are dirt cheap.

[binary visions]

I'm going to laugh my butt off if it turns out to be your power supply and not the motherboard at all. I know you said he tested it but it really sounds like a PSU failure, did he try plugging another PSU into the computer and seeing if it boots properly?

Price sounds fine, go for it. I can think of a couple problems that might have caused a failure, but it's probably just a coincidence. Did the guy inspect the motherboard for burned spots or any other apparent physical problems?

[Westy]

I'm going to laugh my butt off if it turns out to be your power supply and not the motherboard at all. I know you said he tested it but it really sounds like a PSU failure, did he try plugging another PSU into the computer and seeing if it boots properly?

Price sounds fine, go for it. I can think of a couple problems that might have caused a failure, but it's probably just a coincidence. Did the guy inspect the motherboard for burned spots or any other apparent physical problems?


It will be even funnier if nothing is wrong and the CPU heat sink just came loose.

[MMike]

I'm going to laugh my butt off if it turns out to be your power supply and not the motherboard at all. I know you said he tested it but it really sounds like a PSU failure, did he try plugging another PSU into the computer and seeing if it boots properly?

Price sounds fine, go for it. I can think of a couple problems that might have caused a failure, but it's probably just a coincidence. Did the guy inspect the motherboard for burned spots or any other apparent physical problems?

Actually he did plug in a brand new PSU and it didn't work. He did it in front of me.

When I left it with him (after he did all of the obvious tests), he said that it was down to one of two things: Either somehow the mobo was grounding out to the casing of the tower...highly unlikely, but possible. Or the mobo was dead. That was not something he could test right away. He called me at home about an hour later and told that it was in fact the mobo.

[Quo Fan]

Just a coincidence that your mobo died when it did. ASUS make a decent to good mobo. Personally, I like Intel mobo's, but I know others who swear by their ASUS boards. I've used them in the past with no problems.

If you are running XP, you may run into a problem. XP doesn't like changes. I've found, that any more than 2 changes in hardware in a single boot sequence, and the OS freaks. Changing the mobo is a whole lot more than 2. You may be looking at a complete re-install of your OS.

[MMike]

Just a coincidence that your mobo died when it did. ASUS make a decent to good mobo. Personally, I like Intel mobo's, but I know others who swear by their ASUS boards. I've used them in the past with no problems.

If you are running XP, you may run into a problem. XP doesn't like changes. I've found, that any more than 2 changes in hardware in a single boot sequence, and the OS freaks. Changing the mobo is a whole lot more than 2. You may be looking at a complete re-install of your OS.

Yeah I'm sort of counting on that.....(and as we JUST did that last week, I'm pretty sure we can deal with it). Just major pain in the ass because my (legal) copy of XP is pre-SP2...so it took a couple of hours to reload all of the security upgrades.

The guy at the store said that because an ASUS is being swapped for another ASUS, I MIGHT get lucky and not have to reinstall....

[DRB]

Yeah I'm sort of counting on that.....(and as we JUST did that last week, I'm pretty sure we can deal with it). Just major pain in the ass because my (legal) copy of XP is pre-SP2...so it took a couple of hours to reload all of the security upgrades.

The guy at the store said that because an ASUS is being swapped for another ASUS, I MIGHT get lucky and not have to reinstall....

You lucky? Does your magic 8 ball have nothing but the "outlook is not good"?

[H8R]

. Just major pain in the ass because my (legal) copy of XP is pre-SP2...so it took a couple of hours to reload all of the security upgrades.


Slipstream that disc yo.

[binary visions]

:rofl:

Have you not been reading the threads?

May as well tell him he needs to solder his own video card :D

[Kornphlake]

Yeah I'm sort of counting on that.....(and as we JUST did that last week, I'm pretty sure we can deal with it). Just major pain in the ass because my (legal) copy of XP is pre-SP2...so it took a couple of hours to reload all of the security upgrades.

The guy at the store said that because an ASUS is being swapped for another ASUS, I MIGHT get lucky and not have to reinstall....

It's more important that the chipset is the same than the brand name on the motherboard. All the integrated perhiperials are related to the chipset more so than the mobo and that is what plays havoc with XP. Things change so fast you might have a hard time finding the same chipset as the one you got 2 years ago.

[MMike]

:rofl:

Have you not been reading the threads?

May as well tell him he needs to solder his own video card :D

If I didn't know better, I'd say you're mocking me....

[H8R]

If I didn't know better, I'd say you're mocking me....

VB's standard voice is locked in "mock" mode.

:hmm:

[DRB]

If I didn't know better, I'd say you're mocking me....

I bet all your shoes use velcro straps.

[H8R]

BTW - my rule of thumb:

New mobo, clean install of the OS. Always.


Less headaches and that fresh install smell.

[H8R]

I bet all your shoes use velcro straps.

And his mom has to tighten them.

[H8R]

Now I'm being mean.









Thank you.

[MMike]

....and they are on the wrong feet

[MMike]

And we're back in business.....McAfee won't install for some reason though......

[MMike]

ARRRRRGH!

What does this mean???

http://ati.amd.com/online/403/leech.asp

I'm getting tired of this...

[DRB]

So perfect...

[MMike]

Seriously....you'd swear I was doing it on purpose merely to amuse you.

[binary visions]

What does this mean???

http://ati.amd.com/online/403/leech.asp

I'm getting tired of this...

Try going to the website they specify and locate your driver again. You may have followed a link or something that was part of AMD before they got bought by ATI.

[MMike]

But it's the EXACT link I downloaded from last week....

I'll give it a shot though.

But it kinda seems weird that MacAfee won't install either. It will download, "pretend" to install and then say that some files could not be installed.

Never had either of these problems before...

[DRB]

Seriously....you'd swear I was doing it on purpose merely to amuse you.

Quit trying to suck up. I still hate you with the energy of infinity.

[MMike]

Finally got Mcafee installed. the ATI webiste just refuses to download the Radeon driver. So I'm downloading it from major geeks. It's taking forever. Hopefully nothing with go wr....

[Changleen]

Don't use McAfee, switch to AVG free.

[MMike]

I've given up...this is merely for your amusement....

The mobo I got has a VIA chipset (as opposed to the nVidia chipset I once had). Graphics card won't work with it. Stuck in VGA mode.

Done lots of digging. Found this an the ATI site

737-22933: No Direct3D Acceleration or Failure to Boot into Windows on Some VIA-Based Motherboards



The information in this article applies to the following configuration(s):


Catalyst Display Driver 6.5, 6.6, 6.7, 6.8, 6.9
VIA KT400 chipset
Radeon® X1600 series
Radeon® X1300 series
Radeon® X800 series
Radeon® X700 series
Radeon® 9800 series
Radeon® 9700 series
Radeon® 9600 series
Radeon® 9550 series
Radeon® 9500 series
Windows XP Professional
Windows XP Home Edition
Windows XP Media Center Edition
Symptoms
On some VIA chipset motherboards configured with an ATI AGP graphics product, attempting to boot Windows may fail and produce a black display or cause the system to restart. Other symptoms may include the desktop starting up in low resolution or color depth settings or Direct3D is disabled in the DirectX Diagnostics.

Other configurations may be affected.

Cause
Unknown at this time

Solution
For the following products, install Catalyst 6.10 display drivers.

Radeon® X1600 series
Radeon® X1300 series
Radeon® X800 series
Radeon® X700 series
Radeon® 9800 series
Radeon® 9700 series


For the following products, please install Catalyst 6.4 display drivers as a workaround. ATI Engineering has been advised of this issue and is investigating it. Any updates will be published when they become available.

Radeon® 9600 series
Radeon® 9500 series
Radeon® 9550 series



To ensure that you are notified of updates to this article, please register your product. Once the product has been registered and you have an ATI Customer Care account, please click "sign-in" in the top right hand corner to log into your account, and then click "subscribe to topic" on the right side of the article to be notified of updates to the article.



I tried the workaround. It does not work.

the whole reason I asked the guy to get me an AGP mobo was so that I didn't haveto buy a new graphics card.

Go ahead....keep laughing...

[DRB]

Dell.com called again and said just keep trying to fix your current computer they'd rather not have you own one of theirs.

[MMike]

As if....I've never known ANYONE to be happy with a Dell. My mother, sister in law, a few friends....ALL have had trouble, right out of the box. Defective hard drives, inoperative motherboards etc etc....

Dells are trash.....as are the people what tell others to buy them.

[DRB]

Defective hard drives, inoperative motherboards etc etc....



That sounds vaguely familiar from somewhere.

[MMike]

Yeah? Well....shut up...

[binary visions]

As if....I've never known ANYONE to be happy with a Dell. My mother, sister in law, a few friends....ALL have had trouble, right out of the box. Defective hard drives, inoperative motherboards etc etc....

Dells are trash.....as are the people what tell others to buy them.

I see. So, which do you think is more pertinent? The fact that you've seen a small handful of people who have had problems with Dells (and hey, look, you're having problems! And it's not a Dell!), or the fact that I've directly or indirectly supported a few hundred Dells over the ourpast 5-7 years and have not seen them fail at a higher rate than any other big brand?

Just sayin' ;).

Contact ATI, there's probably a step you're missing or something else you can do to get it running. ATI writes crappy drivers.

[MMike]

I see. So, which do you think is more pertinent? The fact that you've seen a small handful of people who have had problems with Dells (and hey, look, you're having problems! And it's not a Dell!), or the fact that I've directly or indirectly supported a few hundred Dells over the ourpast 5-7 years and have not seen them fail at a higher rate than any other big brand?

Just sayin' ;).

Contact ATI, there's probably a step you're missing or something else you can do to get it running. ATI writes crappy drivers.

JUDAS!!! Whose side are you on???

Yeah...I'm going to contact ATI. I just discovered this latest developemetn late last night, and needed to walk away. I'll email them later on......

[Da Peach]

man... you're going to be a pro once this is all over with. You'll be in charge of helping Mom from now on...

[binary visions]

man... you're going to be a pro once this is all over with. You'll be in charge of helping Mom from now on...

Wow, you must hate your mother.

[Secret Squirrel]

man... you're going to be a pro once this is all over with. You'll be in charge of helping Mom from now on...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzLB0pbypf4

[MMike]

Holy sweet jesus, I think I fixed it.

The support guys at ATI seem to have fixed me up. They pointed me to a slightly older driver suite, had me run Windows install clean-up....and it seems to be (jinx jinx) working....

Who's the moron now eh? Who's the moron n...........

[binary visions]

Backups? We don't need no stinkin' backaX%^$,VbKx ^]^]^] NO CARRIER

[Silver]

Wow, you must hate your mother.

I hate her too. She did give birth to MMike...

[Silver]

As if....I've never known ANYONE to be happy with a Dell. My mother, sister in law, a few friends....ALL have had trouble, right out of the box. Defective hard drives, inoperative motherboards etc etc....

Dells are trash.....as are the people what tell others to buy them.

And I've never had problems with them. Sony and Toshiba on the other hand...I can't say enough bad things about Sony in general, and Toshiba makes a good laptop if you need one for 6 months...

[MMike]

It's still working!!1


I am so smart!
I am so smart!
S,M, R, T!
I am so smart!!

[DRB]

It's still working!!1


I am so smart!
I am so smart!
S,M, R, T!
I am so smart!!

Give it a little bit...