Dead computer

[tommylux]

Hi There,

My mates computer which has been working fine for over 6 months,
brought from a computer fayre brand new. I brought it back home to
re-build windows xp.

The computer now doesn't fan up when you press the power switch, Just
dead. Weather it was the transport banging in the back of my car, or
the fact I put a desk lamp ontop of the PC where the power pack is (The
desktop lamp houses a transformer and is slightly magnetic) I am
unsure.

I am doubting it is the power pack cause, the LEDs on the Card reader
on the front of the computer lights up when plugged in. I have short
circuiting the power switch on the motherboard just in case it was a
broken connection.

Does a damaged power-pack still light up the LEDs on the front of the
case? Or is it the Motherboard which is more likely to be the case? It
is a ARock Motherboard, really expensive. A chance I could save it?

Thanks
Tom

 

[Rod Speed]

My mates computer which has been working fine for
over 6 months, brought from a computer fayre brand
new. I brought it back home to re-build windows xp.

The computer now doesn't fan up when
you press the power switch, Just dead.

Weather it was the transport banging in the back of my car,

Very likely, its unlikely to be a coincidence.

or the fact I put a desk lamp ontop of the PC where the power pack
is (The desktop lamp houses a transformer and is slightly magnetic)

It wont be that, the power supply wont care.

I am unsure.

I am doubting it is the power pack cause, the LEDs on the Card
reader on the front of the computer lights up when plugged in.

OK, then the power supply is likely connected to the motherboard.

I have short circuiting the power switch on the
motherboard just in case it was a broken connection.

Does a damaged power-pack still light up the LEDs on the front of the case?

Yes, it can do if the 12V rail has failed but the 5V rail is fine.

Or is it the Motherboard which is more likely to be the case?

That is less likely.

It is a ARock Motherboard, really expensive.
A chance I could save it?

Yes, worth trying a different power supply.

If that makes no difference, try running with the motherboard
loose on the desktop. You may have an intermittent short to
case and the move in the car made that short permanently now.

Check if a spare screw falls out when you take the motherboard out
of the case. Some dont bother to find those when they drop one.

 

[paulmd]

Hi There,

My mates computer which has been working fine for over 6 months,
brought from a computer fayre brand new. I brought it back home to
re-build windows xp.

The computer now doesn't fan up when you press the power switch, Just
dead. Weather it was the transport banging in the back of my car, or
the fact I put a desk lamp ontop of the PC where the power pack is (The
desktop lamp houses a transformer and is slightly magnetic) I am
unsure.

It's not enough magnetism to do any damage. The most it would do is
scramble the hard drive data.... and it's WAY too weak for that.

I am doubting it is the power pack cause, the LEDs on the Card reader
on the front of the computer lights up when plugged in. I have short
circuiting the power switch on the motherboard just in case it was a
broken connection.

Does a damaged power-pack still light up the LEDs on the front of the
case?

Sometimes.

If you're convinced it's not the power supply, it MIGHT be the power
switch. you can start a computer without the power switch by shorting
the appropriate pins with a flat blade screwdriver.


Or is it the Motherboard which is more likely to be the case? It

is a ARock Motherboard, really expensive. A chance I could save it?

Before you dig too deep, find out if it's covered by warranty. (make it
some one elses problem)

 

[paulmd]

Hi There,

My mates computer which has been working fine for over 6 months,
brought from a computer fayre brand new. I brought it back home to
re-build windows xp.

The computer now doesn't fan up when you press the power switch, Just
dead. Weather it was the transport banging in the back of my car, or
the fact I put a desk lamp ontop of the PC where the power pack is (The
desktop lamp houses a transformer and is slightly magnetic) I am
unsure.

I am doubting it is the power pack cause, the LEDs on the Card reader
on the front of the computer lights up when plugged in. I have short
circuiting the power switch on the motherboard just in case it was a
broken connection.

Does a damaged power-pack still light up the LEDs on the front of the
case? Or is it the Motherboard which is more likely to be the case? It
is a ARock Motherboard, really expensive. A chance I could save it?

Thanks
Tom

One more thing: if it was alive before you transported it and dead
afterward, then the ram or processor may have come slightly unseated.
More likely the ram. Pull out the ram, and put it back in. See if that
works.

 

[Rod Speed]

It's not enough magnetism to do any damage. The most it would do is
scramble the hard drive data.... and it's WAY too weak for that.

Sometimes.

If you're convinced it's not the power supply, it MIGHT be the power
switch. you can start a computer without the power switch by shorting
the appropriate pins with a flat blade screwdriver.

He already said he did that just above.

 

[DaveW]

The odds are tha the power supply unit died. It could be dead to booting
the computer and still light the LED's. Try replacing the PSU with a known
working one. If that fails to fix it, then the motherboard is the next
likely suspect.

 

[tommylux]

What a day

Took me three attempts writing this reply, Hopefully someone will
appreciate my reply.

So I decided to take my computer to work. Had a spray duster handy and
gave it a quick blast. Tried turning it on and still the same issue;
the LEDs would appear but not fanning up. Changed the Ram for some
spare DDR. Checked the connections again, Not messing around really but
plugged it in again and Fizzzzzzz... BANG. Was bright as a firework.
Lasted a good 5 seconds. The power pack blew up.
http://www.embers-online.co.uk/public/powerpack.jpg

Replaced it with working one I had in the office, and tried to switch
it on.. Nothing happened.

The Wolverhampton Computer Market is on every Tuesday, so I'm going to
pop down and pickup a cheap and cheerful motherboard and power pack. I
can test the hard drive to make sure it has not blown, My colleague
says that it would be very unlikely any of the drives to have blown as
it would need to have spun up.

Should I be worried about using the same processor/Ram if this was
damaged in the blowout of the power pack maybe they could cause damage
to the new motherboard? On the other hand, Wouldn't like to buy a new
AMD Athlon 3200 for nothing... Suggestions please.

Tom

 

[Rod Speed]

What a day

Yeah, tad of a bad hair day. Pretty common with
cheap power supplys failing rather obscenely.

Took me three attempts writing this reply,
Hopefully someone will appreciate my reply.

I certainly do.

So I decided to take my computer to work. Had a spray duster handy
and gave it a quick blast. Tried turning it on and still the same issue;
the LEDs would appear but not fanning up. Changed the Ram for some
spare DDR. Checked the connections again, Not messing around really
but plugged it in again and Fizzzzzzz... BANG. Was bright as a
firework. Lasted a good 5 seconds. The power pack blew up.
http://www.embers-online.co.uk/public/powerpack.jpg

Urk. Looks like the 3.3V rail went obscenely over current, due
to going obscenely over voltage. The 5V rail less dramatically,
the two significantly brown pins in the bottom row.

Replaced it with working one I had in the office,
and tried to switch it on.. Nothing happened.

Not surprising given that visible damage. Likely the motherboard has been killed.

The Wolverhampton Computer Market is on every Tuesday, so I'm going to
pop down and pickup a cheap and cheerful motherboard and power pack.

You can make a case for spending more on the power supply
so you dont get that killing of components plugged into it if it dies.

I can test the hard drive to make sure it has not blown,
My colleague says that it would be very unlikely any of
the drives to have blown as it would need to have spun up.

It may well have been fried by the significant over voltage on the 5V rail.

It doesnt need to spin up.

Should I be worried about using the same processor/Ram
if this was damaged in the blowout of the power pack
maybe they could cause damage to the new motherboard?
Unlikely.

On the other hand, Wouldn't like to buy a new
AMD Athlon 3200 for nothing... Suggestions please.

All you can really do is have a quiet grovel towards Mecca
before trying the new motherboard and power supply. Dont
grovel in public tho, they might well decide you're a terrorist.

 

[paulmd]

What a day

Took me three attempts writing this reply, Hopefully someone will
appreciate my reply.

So I decided to take my computer to work. Had a spray duster handy and
gave it a quick blast. Tried turning it on and still the same issue;
the LEDs would appear but not fanning up. Changed the Ram for some
spare DDR. Checked the connections again, Not messing around really but
plugged it in again and Fizzzzzzz... BANG. Was bright as a firework.
Lasted a good 5 seconds. The power pack blew up.
http://www.embers-online.co.uk/public/powerpack.jpg

EEK. I would question the viability of the motherboard. Those pins are
gone.

It was clearly a short, Maybe internal to the power supply, or maybe
caused by a loose piece of metal in an unlucky spot. Mis seated ram has
been known to go up in smoke spectacularly, but nothing like THIS...

THOROUGHLY check the case before putting a new motherboard in.

Replaced it with working one I had in the office, and tried to switch
it on.. Nothing happened.

The Wolverhampton Computer Market is on every Tuesday, so I'm going to
pop down and pickup a cheap and cheerful motherboard and power pack. I
can test the hard drive to make sure it has not blown, My colleague
says that it would be very unlikely any of the drives to have blown as
it would need to have spun up.

Should I be worried about using the same processor/Ram if this was
damaged in the blowout of the power pack maybe they could cause damage
to the new motherboard? On the other hand, Wouldn't like to buy a new
AMD Athlon 3200 for nothing... Suggestions please.

The only way to know which parts survived is to test. Look for burnt
pins, that sort of thing before plugging anything in.

Here's the thing: bad ram really can cause a motherboard to go bad.
Though it's rare enough to be relatively safe to check.

I would bet the processor is fine. They're pretty hard to kill.

 

[tommylux]

Actually found the receipt before I went to the computer market, It had
9 days left on the 12 month warranty. Was brought from a market but he
wasn't there. Took it to his shop and he was certain it was just the
power pack (just pretended to be dumb and told him it doesn't switch
on). He plugged in a nice looking power pack and tried the same things
I did.

For some reason the processor fan started to spin... Very slowly,
despite not pressing the power switch. It still didn't fan up or any
sign of life.. No LEDs on the case or nothing when pressing the power
switch.

Because I was acting dumb, he tried to sound technical and said he
needs to test all the devices and could take up to 14 days to order old
motherboard to test the DDR ram and Athlon socket 754. I know the board
is a year old, But are there no more 754s knocking around? He has
assured us he will fix it and make us happy. Making it someone else's
problem.