Help! Computer won't boot

spib · 31 Mar 2006 at 08:10

I came to use my pc this morning but it was switched off (was running when I went to bed) and when I press the power button it won't boot. The led on the motherboard is on and my phone is charging via usb so I know it's getting power. However, when I press the power button, the fans all move very slightly and a red led on the montherboard comes on but that's it.

Is it my motherboard or PSU which is at fault here?

PSU: Tagan TG420-UO1 (420W)
Mobo: Abit IC7

Cheers

acharris · 1 Apr 2006 at 00:28

Hi, it could be the mobo, but before you do I would change the PSU out to try a working one, as just because you are getting a LED lit on the Mobo and your phone charging from the USB, don't mean that the PSU has not blown somewhere, probably it is not getting a full 12v from the PSU to power the system up.

Phone charging and mobo LED's use a very low voltage, esp trickle charging so the voltage flowing though the mains lead will still reach those items. As the fans trying to spin and then stop would indicate a brief power supply and then nothing.

Check the PSU first.

Anthony

spib · 4 Apr 2006 at 22:13

Thanks for the reply. I've been away all weekend so I've only just been able to look at this. I tried a different PSU today (crap QTEC 400W) and the PC wouldn't boot with that either. I also tried the Tagan PSU with another PC and it worked fine. This suggests my mobo is dead right? Is there a way to find out what the light on the mobo means? I couldn't find anything in the manual

HangTime · 5 Apr 2006 at 00:59

I've had non-booting PCs due to both faulty motherboards and cpus. Unfortunately it's not always possible to determine which component is at fault.

My first recommendation would be to try different RAM (if possible). Use a single stick and also unplug all unneccessary devices (drives, pci cards etc). Make sure that the cpu fan is spinning up and do a cmos reset.

spib · 5 Apr 2006 at 07:43

I've tried booting it with nothing plugged into it except the cpu, fan and case switches and you can hear what sounds like the fan trying to spin but nothing happens. If I hold the power button in this continues but If I release it, it just turns off again