Tom's Guide | Tom's Hardware | Tom's Games
 |
 |
 |
I'm working on a PC that won't start up. The fans (motherboard and power supply) spin up but there is no video to the monitor. The computer doesn't appear to be doing anything but the HD light stays lit. I don't get any POST beeps.
I've tried disconnecting everything from the motherboard (including IDE cables, memory, and PCI cards) and that eliminates the HD light but everything else behaves as before (just fans spinning). The video is built in so I can't disconnect it. I've kept a monitor connected to it but I never get as much as a flicker. I tested all the voltages on the power supply and everything seems to be OK. I also cleared the CMOS. A few times, the PC has shut off ~30 seconds after I turned it on. Usually, though, the only way to turn it back off is to unplug it since pushing or holding in the power button is useless. I'm guessing the problem is with the CPU or motherboard but thought I should get a second opinion before telling them to ditch the PC.
BTW...It's a ~2 year old eMachine with an Athlon XP 2800CPU.
Any ideas?
Thanks,
Andy
Have you tried it with one stick of ram if it has two take them both out and try one at a time.If it is a single ram stick,hopefully you have a spare you can try.
0 
If anything, it's the power supply. Simply checking the voltages is useless, unless you also have a way of checking amperage?
And you won't get a display without having RAM installed...
0
With all due respect to Jam, I have to disagree about 'checking the voltages is useless'. Normally if the voltages are ok and the circuits beings fed are ok, the amperages will be ok.
Sorry, I do not check for private messages
0
One exception to the above, of course, is if the power supply is severely underpowered for the system. But since this is an Emachine system, I assume that wouldn't be the case.
Sorry, I do not check for private messages
0
I had the exact same problem and did the exact same things you did and in my case the cpu was not seated properly. After I removed it and reseated it, it worked fine.
Ray
0
Try the guides given at http://pcproblems.afraid.org/hardware/hardwareproblems/nodisplay.html
good luck.
0
street1: I have only one stick of 512MB ram in the system. I don't have a spare stick to try.
I've pulled the stick of RAM out along with everything else connected to the motherboard except the CPU (and power supply).
I have tried a second power supply but the symptoms did not change.
The ongoing symptoms are as follows:
-no display on known good monitor
-no POST beeps whatsoever
-sometimes it powers itself off after about 30 seconds
-power button will turn the PC on but not off
-HD light is constantly on if IDE cable is connected even without the HD being connectedI am going to try removing and reseating the CPU as was suggested. My feeling is that the motherboard is bad since I think I should be getting some sort of POST error beeps at the very least even if the CPU is bad. From my experience with working on other PCs, I have been able to get into the BIOS without having anything on the motherboard except the CPU (although both of those components were OK). I have ordered a replacement MOB from NewEgg and will try that first and then replace the CPU second.
If you have any other suggestions, please share them. I'll keep you up-to-date on my progress. Thanks!
0
my mate is having the same problem right now, i am trying to search net to fix it but no luck as yet. his comp is an e machine
0
having the same type of problem with my emachine, while my bro was using it he says the screen just went black. When started up nothing comes on the monitor and only the fans turn on, also no power is going to the keyboard or mouse because neither lights up. I guess I could try reseating the cpu but I really don't see any reason why this would happen...
0
try looking here, i posted my problem here and it sounds like it could be anything at all...... http://forum.pcformat.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=44355
0  |
 |
 |
This post is quite old and has been locked from receiving new replies. Please create a new posting instead.
| Ads by Google |
