[MMike]

For real it seems too....

Now it just won't power up and the hard drive won't turn. I turned the power supply off an on. The fan will run for anywhere from 1 to 10 seconds and then just stop.

Taking to a PC repair shop after work.

How the HELL did DRB get into my house???

 

[binary visions]

Sounds like a bad power supply.

That'll teach you to get sketchy "deals" - shoulda just bought your own . At least then you might have a warranty for your troubles... or at least a legitimate Windows license.

 

[MMike]

Yeah....Ive had powersupplies go out before. But then it was just toally dead. Now if I switch the pwr supp off and on, the little pilot light in my mouse comes on, and like I said, the fan will run for a little while. I guess it's not totally dead....just mostly dead.

Maybe a nice new machine loaded with Vista is in order!

I'm just praying it's not the hardrive itself.

 

[DRB]

The wolverines are much smarter than you think.

 

[valve bouncer]

 

[MMike]

That was hurtful

 

[binary visions]

Yeah....Ive had powersupplies go out before. But then it was just toally dead. Now if I switch the pwr supp off and on, the little pilot light in my mouse comes on, and like I said, the fan will run for a little while. I guess it's not totally dead....just mostly dead.

My last dead power supply had the same symptoms. Cycling the power on the power supply would allow me to get a small jolt of power into the system that allows the fans to spin for a second, but it would cut off really quickly.

 

[valve bouncer]

That was hurtful

Mate I just thank Wallace H Christ nothing has gone wrong with any of my computers cos I wouldn't have a bloody clue what to do. I only come to this forum to remind me how dumb I am. I understand about 6.8% of what is written here.

 

[binary visions]

I wouldn't have a bloody clue what to do.

You can barter for dildo-wielding advice.

 

[valve bouncer]

You can barter for dildo-wielding advice.

Mate the sum total of my advice comes to;
Bend over
Breathe in
Don't forget the KY.

 

[Secret Squirrel]

Mate the sum total of my advice comes to;
Bend over
Breathe in
Don't forget the KY.

Seems to me, that that should be very sage advice for most anything.

 

[Quo Fan]

I have seen, when power supplies fail, they also take out the motherboard, CPU and memory, though not necessarily all or any.

 

[MMike]

Turns out it's the motherboard.

I watched while he tested everything. Pwr supply was good, CPU was good....pulled all the cards out one at a time, the RAM...everything. But it's the motherboard.

So now 3 questions: Could I have zapped it when I installed my new network adapter? and if so, how come it worked fine for several days before dying?

And lastly, I took the machine to a little place just down the street. He only uses ECS motherboards. Are they decent? He has to get me a special one becuase my grpahics card is AGP, and he only has PCI in stock. I wouldn't mind changing my graphics card actually....but not today.

 

[DRB]

I think you should stick to an etch-a-sketch.

 

[MMike]

I think you should stick to an etch-a-sketch.

Oh yeah? Well I think you should stick to a slinky!

NO, I don't know what that means. Just shut up.

 

[DRB]

Oh yeah? Well I think you should stick to a slinky!

NO, I don't know what that means. Just shut up.

Guess what?

My computer works.

 

[MMike]

Guess what! I had sex with your wife!

 

[DRB]

Guess what! I had sex with your wife!

At least one of us did.

 

[MMike]

So anyway.....back to my motherboard question..........

 

[binary visions]

ECS makes pretty cheap motherboards (they've been a strictly budget brand until recently), and their quality control is a little sketchy in my experience. I guess if you've got the guy local it's not so bad, since if it dies, you can go bitch at him instead of having to disassemble the computer yourself, send it in, and reassemble it or pay to have it reassembled.

 

[MMike]

Mmmmm.....should I try to get a different brand?

If you're saying "up until recently", the were low end....how recent? I'm guessing he has to order an older model to accommodate my AGP graphics card.

 

[DRB]

Dell.com called and said quit being a cheap bastard and buy a new computer.

 

[binary visions]

Dell.com called and said quit being a cheap bastard and buy a new computer.

Seriously, how much is this guy planning on charging you for a new motherboard? And then to build your system? And then you'll probably end up spending a bunch of time while the operating system whines and complains that you have a whole bunch of new devices recognized (new chipset, all new onboard hardware like ethernet, sound etc.), and it may or may not work properly.

Not to say it might not be worth it to replace the motherboard, but computers are so cheap that they're practically a disposable commodity now. For $450 you could get a really decent new machine from Dell. Just depends on how old the computer is, might be worth thinking about.

The ECS motherboard will probably be fine for the useful life of the computer assuming there are no problems with it out of the box.

 

[MMike]

Guy just called me....

1) He's getting me an ASUS motherboard
2) It's $105 CDN, installed. (No OS reinstallation)...so as I got the computer for free....I can't complain I guess. It's less than two years old.....or just about 2 years old anyway.

I'm still curious about the failure itself though. I know that there is potential for static build-up and all that. Could I have killed the motherboard when I installed my new network card? And if so, why was it such a gradual demise?

Seems unlikely that this episode happened so close to my other disaster.....

 

[DRB]

How long before "Computer's dead again AGAIN" appears?

 

[Westy]

Guy just called me....

1) He's getting me an ASUS motherboard
2) It's $105 CDN, installed. (No OS reinstallation)...so as I got the computer for free....I can't complain I guess. It's less than two years old.....or just about 2 years old anyway.

I'm still curious about the failure itself though. I know that there is potential for static build-up and all that. Could I have killed the motherboard when I installed my new network card? And if so, why was it such a gradual demise?

Seems unlikely that this episode happened so close to my other disaster.....

Tin whiskers. Crystalline structures must also hate you.

 

[H8R]

Guy just called me....

1) He's getting me an ASUS motherboard
2) It's $105 CDN, installed. (No OS reinstallation)...so as I got the computer for free....I can't complain I guess. It's less than two years old.....or just about 2 years old anyway.

I'm still curious about the failure itself though. I know that there is potential for static build-up and all that. Could I have killed the motherboard when I installed my new network card? And if so, why was it such a gradual demise?

Seems unlikely that this episode happened so close to my other disaster.....

It's REALLY easy to pop one in yourself. Seriously.

Mobos are dirt cheap.

 

[binary visions]

I'm going to laugh my butt off if it turns out to be your power supply and not the motherboard at all. I know you said he tested it but it really sounds like a PSU failure, did he try plugging another PSU into the computer and seeing if it boots properly?

Price sounds fine, go for it. I can think of a couple problems that might have caused a failure, but it's probably just a coincidence. Did the guy inspect the motherboard for burned spots or any other apparent physical problems?

 

[Westy]

I'm going to laugh my butt off if it turns out to be your power supply and not the motherboard at all. I know you said he tested it but it really sounds like a PSU failure, did he try plugging another PSU into the computer and seeing if it boots properly?

Price sounds fine, go for it. I can think of a couple problems that might have caused a failure, but it's probably just a coincidence. Did the guy inspect the motherboard for burned spots or any other apparent physical problems?

It will be even funnier if nothing is wrong and the CPU heat sink just came loose.

 

[MMike]

I'm going to laugh my butt off if it turns out to be your power supply and not the motherboard at all. I know you said he tested it but it really sounds like a PSU failure, did he try plugging another PSU into the computer and seeing if it boots properly?

Price sounds fine, go for it. I can think of a couple problems that might have caused a failure, but it's probably just a coincidence. Did the guy inspect the motherboard for burned spots or any other apparent physical problems?

Actually he did plug in a brand new PSU and it didn't work. He did it in front of me.

When I left it with him (after he did all of the obvious tests), he said that it was down to one of two things: Either somehow the mobo was grounding out to the casing of the tower...highly unlikely, but possible. Or the mobo was dead. That was not something he could test right away. He called me at home about an hour later and told that it was in fact the mobo.

 

[Quo Fan]

Just a coincidence that your mobo died when it did. ASUS make a decent to good mobo. Personally, I like Intel mobo's, but I know others who swear by their ASUS boards. I've used them in the past with no problems.

If you are running XP, you may run into a problem. XP doesn't like changes. I've found, that any more than 2 changes in hardware in a single boot sequence, and the OS freaks. Changing the mobo is a whole lot more than 2. You may be looking at a complete re-install of your OS.

 

[MMike]

Just a coincidence that your mobo died when it did. ASUS make a decent to good mobo. Personally, I like Intel mobo's, but I know others who swear by their ASUS boards. I've used them in the past with no problems.

If you are running XP, you may run into a problem. XP doesn't like changes. I've found, that any more than 2 changes in hardware in a single boot sequence, and the OS freaks. Changing the mobo is a whole lot more than 2. You may be looking at a complete re-install of your OS.

Yeah I'm sort of counting on that.....(and as we JUST did that last week, I'm pretty sure we can deal with it). Just major pain in the ass because my (legal) copy of XP is pre-SP2...so it took a couple of hours to reload all of the security upgrades.

The guy at the store said that because an ASUS is being swapped for another ASUS, I MIGHT get lucky and not have to reinstall....

 

[DRB]

Yeah I'm sort of counting on that.....(and as we JUST did that last week, I'm pretty sure we can deal with it). Just major pain in the ass because my (legal) copy of XP is pre-SP2...so it took a couple of hours to reload all of the security upgrades.

The guy at the store said that because an ASUS is being swapped for another ASUS, I MIGHT get lucky and not have to reinstall....

You lucky? Does your magic 8 ball have nothing but the "outlook is not good"?

 

[H8R]

. Just major pain in the ass because my (legal) copy of XP is pre-SP2...so it took a couple of hours to reload all of the security upgrades.

Slipstream that disc yo.

 

[binary visions]

Have you not been reading the threads?

May as well tell him he needs to solder his own video card

 

[Kornphlake]

Yeah I'm sort of counting on that.....(and as we JUST did that last week, I'm pretty sure we can deal with it). Just major pain in the ass because my (legal) copy of XP is pre-SP2...so it took a couple of hours to reload all of the security upgrades.

The guy at the store said that because an ASUS is being swapped for another ASUS, I MIGHT get lucky and not have to reinstall....

It's more important that the chipset is the same than the brand name on the motherboard. All the integrated perhiperials are related to the chipset more so than the mobo and that is what plays havoc with XP. Things change so fast you might have a hard time finding the same chipset as the one you got 2 years ago.

 

[MMike]

Have you not been reading the threads?

May as well tell him he needs to solder his own video card

If I didn't know better, I'd say you're mocking me....

 

[H8R]

If I didn't know better, I'd say you're mocking me....

VB's standard voice is locked in "mock" mode.

 

[DRB]

If I didn't know better, I'd say you're mocking me....

I bet all your shoes use velcro straps.

 

[H8R]

BTW - my rule of thumb:

New mobo, clean install of the OS. Always.


Less headaches and that fresh install smell.