Name: Dragon306 Date: April 6, 2006 at 07:17:58 Pacific Subject: Dell has quit for no reason! ? OS: XP Pro CPU/Ram: 400/192 Model/Manufacturer: Dell Optiplex GX1
Comment:
one of my "stock" computers (the ones i refurbish then sell) has simply died for noe reason. i found someone to buy it so i pull it out of my storage closet to plug it in and make sure it still works. good thing. i get no response whatsoever. check plugs and stuff, no good. open it up and unplug then replug the power connector to motherboard. then i get a response, it physically powers on. HDD and fans spin up, etc. but i get absolutely no electronic response. no POST, no beeps, nothing. i disconnect the only card, a 56k modem, and try again. still no. okay so what is the deal im thinking. disconnect all IDE/FDD cables, all power to everything but the motherboard, reseat the CPU and RAM, etc. no good. so i think okay maybe PSU. i go and pull one from one pf my other Dell Optiplex GX1s (i have five at the moment), and try it. still i get no POST or beeps or anything. however, the 'reset' button appears to work because when the CD-ROM had power to it, and i would press reset, the CD-ROM would begin blinking once again (as when it first receives power, looking for a CD)
the very last thing i did was defrag it (as with every one of my "stock" machines when i am "finished" with them, meaning after i install windows afresh, ms office, ccleaner, test the network cards modems sound cards and stuff to make sure it is all working). then when it was finished defragging i shut it down unplug it and put it away in my storage closet with the rest of them. this particular one was finished, uh... about 4 months ago? something like that.
so what the heck is going on here last time i use it it works this time it is simply dead for no reason???
HP Vectra VL400 1.0ghz Pentium 3 512mb PC133 SDRAM 120gb 7200rpm 8mb cache WD1200JB hard drive ATI Radeon 9200 128mb AGP video card
-Dell Optiplex GX1 -400mhz Intel Pentium II -192mb PC100 SDRAM -13gb 7200rpm hard drive -integrated 4mb ATI 3D graphics -integrated 10/100 Ethernet network -PCI 56k modem -40x CD-ROM -MS Win XP Pro, MS Office, CCleaner, AVG Free, Ad-Aware SE Personal = all software
HP Vectra VL400 1.0ghz Pentium 3 512mb PC133 SDRAM 120gb 7200rpm 8mb cache WD1200JB hard drive ATI Radeon 9200 128mb AGP video card
PCs don't die for no reason. Tear it down to the minimum, power supply, and motherboard. See if you get any beeps. If you do, start adding hardware. If you don't, you got the problem narrowed down.
that is what i was down to at the end! no response whatsoever
mobo just died for no reason i guess cause like i said i already used new RAM and PSU, and even a differant CPU (a 350mhz not 400mhz, mind but the thing automatically recognizes em anyway)
HP Vectra VL400 1.0ghz Pentium 3 512mb PC133 SDRAM 120gb 7200rpm 8mb cache WD1200JB hard drive ATI Radeon 9200 128mb AGP video card
disconnect the harddrive and any floppy/optic drives as well and leave in only one stick of ram. If you still get no post beeps, and you've tried a known good cpu then the motherboard has failed. Only other suggestion I'd have would be use the reset jumper or take out the cmos battery for a minute and replace it.
I used to have a signature but it disappeared and I just couldn't be bothered writing another so please feel free to ingore this.
OKAY I SOLVED THE PROBLEM thanx for the help guys but in this case it was none of those things. a stupid screw had come loose from somewhere, rolled underneith the motherboard, got itself lodged between the motherboard and the case, and was shorting the motherboard out. reomve screw, POST and Windows and all good. isnt that the way it always is? very last thing you'd expect turns out to be the problem.
anyway, thanx for trying to help ya'll
HP Vectra VL400 1.0ghz Pentium 3 512mb PC133 SDRAM 120gb 7200rpm 8mb cache WD1200JB hard drive ATI Radeon 9200 128mb AGP video card
Screws in computers don't come loose as there is little vibration. It was either not tightened sufficiently in the first place or it was a spare screw that had been dropped inside the machine while it was being worked on.
