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Troubleshooting PC

dukebound85

dukebound85

macrumors Core
Original poster
Jul 17, 2005
19,131
4,110
5045 feet above sea level
Wasn't sure what forum this best fit so bear with me.

I built a PC 4 years ago and had recently given it to my younger brother. Anyways, last night, he was browing youtube and whatnot and then told me that the monitor went into power saving mode

I thought, simple, just the vga cable got loose and sure enough, it was. But that did not fix the problem. In fact, I can not even get the pc to post

All components seem to get power and what not. I reset the CMOS, as well as reseated the ram.

Also tried booting with f8 for safe mode but didn't seem to do anything.

Anything I should check?

Thanks
 
Funkatronic

Funkatronic

macrumors 6502
Jan 5, 2010
396
20
Pune, India
Try a different power supply, it seems that the components might be getting power, but not enough of it. And if the PSU is 4 years old, it might be dying.
 
soloer

soloer

macrumors 6502a
Sep 27, 2004
879
197
Omaha
Are there any diagnostic lights on the motherboard that might indicate what the issue is? Any beep patterns when the machine tries to post?
 
dukebound85

dukebound85

macrumors Core
Original poster
Jul 17, 2005
19,131
4,110
5045 feet above sea level
Funkatronic said:
Try a different power supply, it seems that the components might be getting power, but not enough of it. And if the PSU is 4 years old, it might be dying.
Click to expand...

True, could be that


miles01110 said:
Does the monitor work?
Click to expand...

Yea, the monitor works

yg17 said:
Could be the video card, do you have a spare one you can throw in there to test?
Click to expand...

Could be that too but don't have a spare one to throw in

SumoHamster said:
Are there any diagnostic lights on the motherboard that might indicate what the issue is? Any beep patterns when the machine tries to post?
Click to expand...

Not that I can see. I can't hear any beeps as well. Usually I hear some as it boots up
 
C

cuestakid

macrumors 68000
Jun 14, 2006
1,775
44
San Fran
couple thoughts-

1. If you open the case, do you see any lights on the board itself?

2. If you try to boot, do the fans move? It may be being posting because the fans can't spin

3. Is the video on-board or separate card? You could try switching to the other one.
 
dukebound85

dukebound85

macrumors Core
Original poster
Jul 17, 2005
19,131
4,110
5045 feet above sea level
cuestakid said:
couple thoughts-

1. If you open the case, do you see any lights on the board itself?

2. If you try to boot, do the fans move? It may be being posting because the fans can't spin

3. Is the video on-board or separate card? You could try switching to the other one.
Click to expand...


1) Haven'y noticed any ever?

2) All of the fans activate (gpu, cpu, psu, case fans)

3) VC is an 8800gt 512. Sadly don't have a spare but the fans turn on for it
mobilehaathi said:
Hmmm, if it won't POST, I'd look into swapping out the PSU as mentioned above.
Click to expand...

If only I had a spare PSU lol

such a pain!
 
soloer

soloer

macrumors 6502a
Sep 27, 2004
879
197
Omaha
Just for the heck of it, what happens if you try removing the RAM and then turning on the computer? If you don't hear any beeps or anything then, I'd start to suspect the motherboard. Definitely not the easiest problem to troubleshoot as it could be several different things.

Nobody I know that builds their own PC likes to take it in anywhere, but is there anywhere around you can take it in to? Ideally, the place you take it to would have plenty of spare parts around to test things out.
 
velocityg4

velocityg4

macrumors 604
Dec 19, 2004
7,329
4,717
Georgia
I'd start by trying to POST with just motherboard, CPU, one RAM chip and the PSU connected. Every other card (including GPU) and cable disconnected. If it does a POST beep add each part one at a time and try booting to isolate the problem. If not remove the RAM chip and try another one in another slot.

If there is still no reaction beyond the spinning fans you at least isolated the problem to the Motherboard, PSU or CPU. If it isn't the PSU and you have no spare motherboards compatible with the CPU to test with I would just replace the Motherboard, CPU and RAM. Since new replacements of old generation parts are usually a huge ripoff and have compatibility problems. Compared to new current generation components.

SumoHamster said:
Just for the heck of it, what happens if you try removing the RAM and then turning on the computer? If you don't hear any beeps or anything then, I'd start to suspect the motherboard. Definitely not the easiest problem to troubleshoot as it could be several different things.

Nobody I know that builds their own PC likes to take it in anywhere, but is there anywhere around you can take it in to? Ideally, the place you take it to would have plenty of spare parts around to test things out.
Click to expand...

This all depends on the manufacturer. When the RAM is removed, not seated properly or faulty some will beep, others fans spin like crazy and some just do nothing.
 
C

cuestakid

macrumors 68000
Jun 14, 2006
1,775
44
San Fran
velocityg4 said:
I'd start by trying to POST with just motherboard, CPU, one RAM chip and the PSU connected. Every other card (including GPU) and cable disconnected. If it does a POST beep add each part one at a time and try booting to isolate the problem. If not remove the RAM chip and try another one in another slot.

If there is still no reaction beyond the spinning fans you at least isolated the problem to the Motherboard, PSU or CPU. If it isn't the PSU and you have no spare motherboards compatible with the CPU to test with I would just replace the Motherboard, CPU and RAM. Since new replacements of old generation parts are usually a huge ripoff and have compatibility problems. Compared to new current generation components.



This all depends on the manufacturer. When the RAM is removed, not seated properly or faulty some will beep, others fans spin like crazy and some just do nothing.
Click to expand...

well said-
@ dukebound85

there should be some kind of indicator on the board that it is getting power. If you really never ever saw any I would check the manuals for your board and see where they indicate lights should be-there must be a way to know if the board has power or not
 
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