Pc Failure, not booting

jackthenipper

peter999 wrote: »

Now I'm not sure about the speaker.

I thought/assumed there were was a small speaker on inside front of case, & thought the bunch of wires to front of case (to on/reset switches/LEDs) included wires for this speaker.
Now I don't think there are wires for speaker, so speaker could not have been connected.

No, external speaker is not connected into rear of M/B.

Maybe I need to check speaker connection & beep situation again.

I have tried 2 replacement Socket A/462 M/Bs.

1st M/B is same model I already have (doesn't have onboard graphics)
2nd M/B has onboard graphics.

peter999

Ye, i would definately check the speaker situation on the mobo or even add in an external to the rear of the mobo to check for beeps.

When you tried the mobo with onboard graphics did you get anything on screen or just no signal?
Was this mobo pulled from a working machine? or bought in good faith as working?

Ferris

i had a similar problem, where the pc would occasionally spin up, but not show any video output, or attempt to POST, but it would sound as though it were on. the rest of the time it would *almost* spin up, but fail (the best way to describe it is like trying to start an old car on a cold day!). all components worked ok when tested elsewhere. in the end i bagged a PSU from freecycle and that sorted the problem instantly. i don't know much about pc power, but i guess the PSU was providing a low level of power to the motherboard sometimes, but not enough to initiate the boot process. all very odd, especially as the failed PSU was a fairly new replacement for one that had failed about a year before...

but then as you've already tried swapping the PSU i guess it's not a great deal of help. sorry

spakkker

Ferris- this is a very common scenario and why I would always suspect the psu

peter999

Ferris wrote: »

i had a similar problem, where the pc would occasionally spin up, but not show any video output, or attempt to POST, but it would sound as though it were on. the rest of the time it would *almost* spin up, but fail (the best way to describe it is like trying to start an old car on a cold day!). all components worked ok when tested elsewhere. in the end i bagged a PSU from freecycle and that sorted the problem instantly. i don't know much about pc power, but i guess the PSU was providing a low level of power to the motherboard sometimes, but not enough to initiate the boot process. all very odd, especially as the failed PSU was a fairly new replacement for one that had failed about a year before...

but then as you've already tried swapping the PSU i guess it's not a great deal of help. sorry

I've tried two other PSU's, no change.

peter999

jackthenipper

I also swapped my psu for a working 500watt psu but still the same fault.

Any change when you attached a speaker Peter999?

peter999

jackthenipper wrote: »

Any change when you attached a speaker Peter999?

I haven't tried that yet.

The faulty Pc is elsewhere, so will try that in next few weeks.

I got a couple of boot diagnostic cards off ebay, so they may give more information.

peter999

jackthenipper

peter999 wrote: »

I haven't tried that yet.

The faulty Pc is elsewhere, so will try that in next few weeks.

I got a couple of boot diagnostic cards off ebay, so they may give more information.

peter999

Ye possibly, let me know how you get on with that. PM me if you like.

I still haven't solved my computer problem yet either, i spoke to a guy in a comp shop who said he would test it for £20 tell me what the fault is, i'm not going to bother with that as i know what the fault is, it wont boot up :rolleyes:. I have now eliminated all components by testing in another system, so i think the mobo is at fault but £45 for a new mobo & thats the same spec as i have now!!!:eek:

I have managed to get another system just now but it's just not the same as my own system Doesn't seem to do what my one would.

peter999

jackthenipper wrote: »

...so i think the mobo is at fault but £45 for a new mobo & thats the same spec as i have now!!!:eek:

Can't you find same or similiar cheap M/B on ebay ??

I know it could be pot luck, but may be worth a try.

peter999

============================================================
Finally made progress.

Bought a motherboard/cpu bundle off ebay, tested that was working.

Then went through the other cpu's/motherboards I bought earlier to work out what was going on.

I think I fried the earlier cpu's I tried because I did not clip the heat siink down.

Earlier I was just putting the heat sink on top of cpu assuming it was touching the cpu. I didn't realise the rubber spacers on the cpu stop the heatsink touching the chip. I also didn't realise the heatsink has a ridge, so can only fit one way.
I wasn't clipping the heatsink down.

I thought that as I was only powering up for short periods (10, 20, 30 sec) this setup would be ok.

Few people have said AMD Athlon cpu's can fry in seconds.

But as heatsink was not in contact withn cpu chip, these short periods were probably long enough to fry many of the chips I tried earlier.

Going through the 2nd batch of cpu's I bought off ebat, all of them worked, so I have to asume most of 1st batch of cpu's worked & that I fried them.

Of the motherboards I bought 2 motherboards didn't work, the motherboards which were listed as tested & working were all ok.

So I think most of items I bought were ok & that ebay is reliable.

jackthenipper

Hi Peter999, how did you get on with the diagnostic cards?

peter999

jackthenipper wrote: »

Hi Peter999, how did you get on with the diagnostic cards?

Still haven't tried, maybe in next few days.

peter999