OT: PC Problem

[Bruce Callaway]

Hi all, I added a new wifi card to my DAW PC and that all worked well. I then powered down the PC, added the removed side cover that slides all the way along the case and it caught on some cables. The only one that appeared to be effected was a SAT drive cable that I easily replaced however since then the PC shows the following symptoms when powered up:
- The CD and DVD drives lights are on constantly
- The power led is on
- The hard drive activity led is hard on
- No on screen indication as if the PC was not switched on that is, no startup bios messages. I checked the monitor and it is OK
- The led on the mainboard is active

I have removed all the power cables and reconnected them but the situation does not change. Does anyone have any idea of what could cause this weird behaviour? Perhaps the mainboard has died.

Thanks in advance

[Gary Ray]

Bruce,

From your description, I would guess that communication from the hard drive to the mother board has been interrupted. There appears to be power to all of the drives ie CD, DVD and HD. And the mother board seems to have power. I would check very carefully all of the cables you mention that were caught when closing up the box. It may not be damage readily visible. Some of those ribbon cables are not designed for much physical stress.

I would not be inclined to say that it is mother board failure that coincides with this new install.

Good Luck,
Gary

[Bud Johnson]

I have removed all the power cables and reconnected them but the situation does not change. Does anyone have any idea of what could cause this weird behaviour? Perhaps the mainboard has died.

Thanks in advance

I have a case from Blade that looks way cool, but the clearance for the
sata cables is none. I have to remove the side and reseat the cables and gingerly re-slide the side back on. Sometimes several times. (I have been known to leave it off for lighter sessions, but that disrupts the cooling
process )
Try booting with the side off after carefully checking your connections. Are the symptoms still there?
Otherwise could your wifi card be polling your system?
I doubt it's your mainboard.
Bud Johnson

[Warren]

Try disconecting each device one by one, then restarting to isolate the problem. Ribbon cables can be easily damaged, but not look as though they are. Also when a ribbon cable is reversed it act much the same way.

All the best

[Bruce Callaway]

Thanks guys. I shall try new cables. I have already reseated the PCI devices and video card with no change. Very perplexing...

[mako]

G'day Bruce - do you get a system beep when you first start up?
Beep = POST - power on self test.

If not - remove all your PCI cards and disconnect everything from the main board apart from power and CPU (yes, remove RAM).

This gives you the m/b at its most basic - if you don't get a system beep now, it's probably dead.

If you do - start connecting everything up again, one at a time, testing after each one.

RAM first, then HD's and DVD - at this point you should have system startup.

If yes - then continue installing PCI cards one at a time.
If no - possibly corrupted boot sector on C drive or drive faulty (or lead).

Good luck

mako

[Bruce Callaway]

Thanks mako, no beep with everything removed. I think the m/board is dead.

[Bud Johnson]

Thanks mako, no beep with everything removed. I think the m/board is dead.
So much for what I know:p
But...
I don't think a dead mobo yields a functioning computer. (maybe a dying one)
((I'm king of the been wrong B4s))
Before tossing it, you might try resetting all the defaults. If that's no help, perhaps flashing it. (I flash mine all the time, but thats another story)
If that doesn't work, then perhaps a good swift kick in the A..............C connector.
Sorry it's not working right.
Were the symptoms mentioned in your initial post inhibiting your work, or just a sign of impending doom.
Bud Johnson

[UpTilDawn]

Maybe this is silly and I don't know what I'm talking about, but last year I had my recording rig konk out on me because the battery on the MB died. Actually, it turned out to be a crappy hold down clip. Have you tried a new battery?

DanT

[Bruce Callaway]

Were the symptoms mentioned in your initial post inhibiting your work, or just a sign of impending doom.
Bud Johnson Hi Bud, the symptoms mean no go, the PC wont even boot into the initial BIOS screen.

In response to Dan, I haven't tried a new battery but will now. I tried removing the battery overnight to see if the BIOS would reset but no change so it may need replacing.

Thanks all...

[Bob L]

Many times a bad power supply can cause these symtoms... try another supply from another machine if you have one... or a new supply is not very expensive... it may save the day... just had an example of this on a machine two weeks ago.

Bob L

[Bruce Callaway]

Many times a bad power supply can cause these symtoms... try another supply from another machine if you have one... or a new supply is not very expensive... it may save the day... just had an example of this on a machine two weeks ago.

Bob L
Good advice Bob, I will try that first before I launch on a mission to build a new DAW. Luckily I am building a new studio right now so have a couple of weeks to recover.

Thanks again

[Cary B. Cornett]

Many times a bad power supply can cause these symtoms... try another supply from another machine if you have one... or a new supply is not very expensive... it may save the day... just had an example of this on a machine two weeks ago.

Bob L I had a supply fail in my web machine (originally built as a SAW DAW, now two "generations" back), and picked up a used "surplus" supply locally for about $10, and it is working fine. First time I had such a failure, so it was a bit confusing at first.:eek:

[Bruce Callaway]

I had a supply fail in my web machine (originally built as a SAW DAW, now two "generations" back), and picked up a used "surplus" supply locally for about $10, and it is working fine. First time I had such a failure, so it was a bit confusing at first.:eek:Well I hope that works for me, I just ordered a Seasonic S12 Energy Plus supply to replace the existing supply which is 7-8 years old (sounds like a possible suspect to me). This is a weird problem that does not allow you to do any system diagnostics.

[Bob L]

Good luck.

Bob L

[Bruce Callaway]

I got the new power supply, connected it and it has the same symptoms so it appears that the motherboard is the problem as I have isolated everything else.

Now to build a new DAW, it seems that the Intel 6600 is the best value CPU at present. I need a m/board with 4 PCI slots, does anyone have any recommendations. I would prefer to stay away from VIA chipsets as the Layla24s would not work with the last m/board I tried with VIA chipsets.

Cheers

[Pedro Itriago]

Maybe you sparked the BIOS?

Before giving up, I would try and flash the BIOS. I recently did this on an Intel mobo, and the BIOS updates and instuctions on how to do it were on the Intel website. Flashing is a process that requires moving a BIOS jumper on the mobo causing a boot up to floppy or CD-ROM with BIOS .exe on board.

As it turned out, it was a misdiagnosis, but along the way I got everything working again.

FWIW, my symtoms were similar to yours nad led me to believe it was a bad PS, and when that didn't work, a bad mobo. My diagnosis was incorrect on both counts.

Mark

Also, try resetting the bios. Most bios have a 3 pin connector somewherre on the motherboard (look at the mobo's manual). E.g. shorting pins 1 and 2 is for normal operation and briefly shorting pins 2 and 3 resets the bios to its default values. Try this one first and if it fails, try what Mark wrote and re-flash the bios.

[Pedro Itriago]

That's a very good advice. In most mobo's if the video card is not properly sitting in it's slot, it mimics as if the mobo is dead.

[Bruce Callaway]

I tried clearing the CMOS and no change. I don't think this motherboard has a flash BIOS jumper as it is not identified in the manual.

The symptoms are that the PC goes into a loop at startup where it appears to constantly access the IDE drives (CD and DVD). Once started, it can only be turned off at the mains power. There is no output from the graphics card. FYI, it doesn't appear to be working normally from the LED indications. It was a perfectly working system for three years that has just stopped.

Thanks for the suggestions. I wonder if the IDE cable has gone U/S causing the loop as it cannot detect these drives.

[ambler]

It was a perfectly working system for three years that has just stopped.

Three years is plenty of time for a batch of substandard electrlytic capacitors to crap out. Have a look at the tops of the capacitors around the CPU socket and see if the tops are bulging. If they are then the motherboard is toast. This happens relatively often in these days of ultra cheap components.

Mark

[AcousticGlue]

The only way to be sure it is bad m/b or power supply is to unhook everything and plug it in. If light comes on m/b, good sign. If not, bad sign. thengo to video card then hard drive. Start out with as little of RAM you can and try different sticks in different slots. No PCI devices to begin with.

[John Hernandez]

Aw, get a new m/b, Bruce. Sometimes it just ain't worth the hassle...
:D

Blessings,

[Bruce Callaway]

Thanks all. I think a new m/bd may be easier all round. FYI, the faulty one is a Gigabyte GA-K8NS Ultra 939. I have tried removing all devices off the m/bd to see if I could locate the problem but no luck. I may give a try again.

[Pedro Itriago]

At this point, I'm almost sure you pulled a KFC on the mobo.

[Pedro Itriago]

Exclusive!

Bruce's Motherboard. Fries and all!

http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/resources/2006/10/dsc03287-thumb.jpg

[John Hernandez]

Exclusive!

Bruce's Motherboard. Fries and all!

http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/resources/2006/10/dsc03287-thumb.jpg
pass the salt...

[Bruce Callaway]

Hehehe.......now that's funny :) with chips, that's Aussie for french fries, as well;)

[jazzboxmaker]

Bruce, Maybe the drive controller- if you sliced into the cable & shorted +_5v to data. Also, if the cable pulled out you should check the MB at the IDE connector. You could have bent a pin then mashed it flat reseating the cable. I have an older Giga K8NS Pro that was hit by lightning thru the network cable frying the onboard Gigalan and my Matrox G550 2 years ago & it's still working so I'd say the Giga boards are pretty tuff. If you can get into the bios you can try booting from the 2nd channel or SATA if your board has it.
Good luck!

Maybe time for a board tho-sorry

[Bruce Callaway]

Thanks I will check these. Unfortunately, I cant get anywhere near the BIOS. By the way, I am leaning towards an Intel 6850 CPU, anyone used these for SAW.

Cheers