Mike said:
HD is a Seagate 40GB ATA internal drive (model # ST340014A). I'm replacing a
failed Seagate (same model). Put it in a working PC, saw it in Disk Manager
and formatted it in NTFS. Once that was complete, the word "Healthy" was
seen in DM.
Plugged it into the old PC so I could boot to CD and reinstall the OS, but I
see no messages on the monitor. The video on/off light just slowly blinks
on and off like it's not getting a signal. Checked all the cables and they
seem to be firmly seated. The HD spins up, but it's not as loud/active as I
expect it to be. Plus, when I try a Ctrl-Alt-Delete after awhile, I hear
two sharp noises/beeps from the HD.
I'm not a HW guy at all, so don't know what the significance of this is, if
any.
If none, any suiggestions on what to try next?
When you start a functional computer, the first thing you should see
is the BIOS startup screen. The BIOS runs, before the OS starts to boot.
If the machine has a full screen logo, it may cover the screen until the
OS starts to boot. If the BIOS doesn't use a logo (graphic) to cover the
screen, then you should see text messages of the progress the BIOS is making.
For example, the BIOS does a quick memory test, before starting to boot
the OS from the hard drive.
Even if the hard drive was defective, you should still see the startup
messages of the BIOS. That is because, the processor, memory, and BIOS
chip are still functional, and can talk to the video card and write
stuff on the screen. The only thing a broken hard drive would prevent,
would be disk detection, and booting.
If you aren't seeing any video on the screen at all, then something
else has happened.
Try disconnecting the hard drive, and power up the machine again,
and see if the BIOS screen shows up. It should complain about
not being able to find something to boot with. But at least you
should be seeing a BIOS screen of some sort.
If the computer is working, after a fashion, you can do something
like pull the RAM sticks (with the power off and the cord unplugged).
When you power up the computer, the computer speaker should emit a
beep pattern, indicating it has detected no RAM present. The fact
that it can beep (but not show any video), tells you the processor
is working, and some of the BIOS code got executed.
By removing hardware from the machine, you can simplify the setup.
And the results of the various test cases, can tell you something
about the function of the machine.
When I build a new computer, I run all those test cases. I start
with an empty motherboard, and power supply, and check that the
power button starts up the power supply. I add the processor, and
the case speaker, and verify that the speaker beeps the "missing
RAM pattern". I add RAM, and listen for the "missing video card"
beep pattern. Add a video card, and see a text message on the screen
that the keyboard (and/or mouse) are missing. Add keyboard and mouse,
and see a message that there is no hard drive to boot from.
You can go through that whole sequence of adding stuff, and tell
from the results, whether your hardware is working or not. If
any test case returns contrary results, a hardware swap is the
fastest way to resolve what is busted.
Right now, it sounds like motherboard or power supply, but time
will tell.
Some computers have notorious failure modes. For example, there is
one prebuilt computer, that when the power supply fails, it
damages the motherboard. Sort of a double whammy for the user.
If you mention the brand and model of computer, sometimes a
respondent can tell you what to expect from it.
Paul
