Totally Baffled

[nooyawkah]

I'm at wits end (and my wit ain't all that long). I'll admit I break computers. That said, I just CAN'T fix mine. I'll explain as best I can.

The computer was starting up for a second and then turning off. I figured it was my fault as I had changed rheobuses. I thought I had narrowed my troubles down to the cpu and mobo. So I bought new ones. I installed the new board and the cpu and for good measure, used a different heatsink. Arctic Silver and all that stuff. I plugged in the PSU and hsf. I put in RAM and videocard. That's all. Same same same. Fan turns for a second and goes off.

Made a trip to CompUSA and bought a new Antec True Power PSU. Same! No change!

OK, the mobo, cpu, psu, hsf (including fan) are all different. Nothing has changed. Nothing works. I checked the connections from the case to the mobo (power SW, hdd lcd, speaker, etc) and they're tightly plugged in. I know if the RAM is not attached securely I should hear a long beep. There's no beep.

What's left? Video card? Bad power blug in case? Bad on/off switch in case? (It's a quality case - Lian-Li).

I really, really, really need some expert help here. I've already made all the lame guesses, don't need any more. Thanks.

[jAkUp]

what are you system specs??

[nooyawkah]

As of this moment all that is plugged in is Epox 8rha, 512 Geil PC 3200 RAM, Antec True Power 550, Volcano 9 with TT Smartfan 2, XP 2100+ T-Bred

[CaptNKILL]

Try different memory if you can. From my experience GIEL isnt exactly a top notch memory producer. Just go through each of the parts that are left. Video and Ram.
If those dont fix it, move it to a different wall outlet, there could be a short. PCs use lots of electricity which can really show a weakness in an outlet or wire.

Id say its most likely that its the wall outlet. Yeah it sounds far fetched, but its your best bet. (and its the easiest)

[nooyawkah]

Tried Crucial RAM, tried different vid card, tried new outlet, tried removing mobo from case and putting it on non-metal surface. :(

[The Baron]

You could try jumpstarting the PSU (I forget what it is--SEARCH FOR IT--you connect pin 4 to pin 7 with a piece of insulated (INSULATED--I don't want anybody getting electrocuted except K.I.L.E.R. ;) ) wire, and the PSU should start up).

Other than that... I dunno right now.

[jAkUp]

check the psu setting on the back.. make sure it is set to the correct voltage

[nooyawkah]

Afraid to jump start a 550W psu

psu set for 115

even trief new wall outlet

will try new case tmw

[CaptNKILL]

well if you tried all that, the only thing I can think of is a stuck power\reset button.

Aha! I think thats what it is! That would explain why it turns off after a few seconds. Its like you are holding the power button down. You know what I mean? The PC doesnt turn off emediatly, you have to hold the button for a few seconds....

I bet its your power button. Not the wire connection to the mobo, the actual button. It could be either damaged, shorted out or just stuck on something.

I get a cookie if im right :)

[nooyawkah]

Funny, I thought of that. I'll see if it's stuck, but I don't believe so. I guess I'll pay CompUSA back for all the times they've overcharged me. I'll buy a case there tomorrow and do a return afterwards. Just to give it a try.

[saturnotaku]

If you have the CPU fan plugged into the motherboard, are you sure it's plugged into the right fan header? I had this problem once, where my system would power on but shut down after a couple seconds because the system BIOS was not recognizing that a fan was connected to the motherboard.

Otherwise, if you have your CPU fan plugged into your PSU via an adapter, did you make sure to disable the option in your BIOS to shut down the PC if it senses a fan failure? If you have this option enabled and your CPU fan isn't hooked directly into your motherboard, you system will act like you described. A simple reset of your CMOS will fix that problem.

[nooyawkah]

I've tried every fan header. Can't possibly get into bios, machine won't start. Will clear CMOS, thanks. I've also swapped out ram, vid card, changed wall outlet.

[MUYA]

Have u tried putting the Ram In different banks etc? also check all jumper/bios settings. In fact if you can get into bios just load up default values first and see if you can boot up properly. Maybe u would wanna try clearing the cmos/bios etc.Best of luck man. I hope you sort it out soon.

MUYA

[nooyawkah]

"Try different memory if you can. From my experience GIEL isnt exactly a top notch memory producer."

Au contraire:

http://www.thetechzone.com/display.php?i=186&p=1

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Have u tried putting the Ram In different banks etc? also check all jumper/bios settings. In fact if you can get into bios just load up default values first and see if you can boot up properly. Maybe u would wanna try clearing the cmos/bios etc.Best of luck man. I hope you sort it out soon.

I'll try memory banks and CMOS this A.M. Can't get into BIOS.
Last night I tried a different power cord. :confused:

I'll also borrow a case this morning. New case=new switch.

[NeoGeo]

hey man you don't need a new case to check your system out ;)

just touch a peice of metal (norm a screwdriver for me) over the power switch connectors, its perfectly safe btw it does the same job as the power switch, just shorts the two pins for a second.

[nooyawkah]

You're not going to believe this one. After swapping the cpu, mobo, RAM, video card, psu, and even the case...plus taking mobo out looking for a short, resetting CMOS, changing plug and outlet, and I can't recall what else, I figured it out.

All I did originally was add a rheobus and a new cpu fan. Here's where the adventure began. That's when everything died. In a million years I never thought to mention the fan - and here's why. I had an Alpha heatsink but it had a crummy LED fan. In the drawer was a ThermalTake Smart Fan 2, so I attached it. The machine ran for less than a day and just stopped. I removed the rheobus and later, the heatsink, sort of on a hunch. I put in a ThermalTake Volcano 9 hsf with the same Smart Fan. No good either. Now I was convinced it was the fan so I swapped it for an adjustable Enermax. Still nothing worked. There went the fan theory. Then I took a chance and used a stock AMD heatsink. Bingo! It worked like a charm. It turns out that BOTH the Smart Fan AND the Volcano are defective. I figured this was impossible, but I've tried them on both a EPOX and an ABIT with the same results. Now I'm back to the Alpha but with the Enermax fan.

Now I need to return the mobo to Newegg and the PSU to CompUSA. The only good thing that came out of this is that I really wanted the 2100+ T-Bred 'B' so I guess I'll keep it. OCing here I come.

Thanks to all for the help.

[CaptNKILL]

awww.... so I dont get a cookie?
*cries*

Anyway, glad you got it fixed! I cant believe it was not just ONE defetive fan, but TWO defective fans. Thats wierd.

Good luck with your OCing too.... man I wish I had a TBred B....