Help! I killed a PC

cumulusjames

cumulusjames

cumulusjames

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17 Nov 2010
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184
Well thre I was doing some ameture servicing on my sisters PC, it had become slow and bogged down and was filthy inside. So I wiped the drive and reinstalled the software and it improoved 2005. Then I decided to clean inside. I used an airduster to blow all the dust out but where she is a smoker the fans were caked in filt. So I removed these and cleaned them with a toothbrush. I then pur them back and re attached them to the mother board. The only trouble is there are 3 x 3 pin slots and I forgot which fan plugs into which slot. Suffice to say it will not start up at all now. I have tried plugging the 2 fans into the 3 slots in every possible combination, I do it one wan and one fan seems to work, another way and the other works, but never both together and the system will not start up at all! I wonderd if I had damaged the fans in cleaning so I bought new ones and tried again. I can't fathom it out.

Any ideas?
 
the system should boot regardless of whether fans are installedplugged into different sockets (unless its the cpu fan, but even so it should power on, albeit briefly). Check the mobo isnt shorting out on the case.
 
cumulusjames said:
Thanks! did it but still no joy :(
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Some things that come to mind for no power or movement in the case when you fire her up.

Firstly, look up the model of the motherboard from the manufacturers website and pull up the manual in pdf.

1) Check the power cable that runs from the case's power switch to the very small pins to the motherboard. You need the manual to know which two pins this little cable sits on and jumpers.

2) Next thing try unplugging the 20 / 24 pin ATX power cable from the motherboard for a few seconds then reseat it firmly.

For me, these are the two primary reasons your computer won't boot or show any sings of life when firing her up.

The other thing to check is the CPU 4 pin power connector is firmly connected, try reseating that one too.

Let me know what happens


Edit: The motherboard manual will show you what needs to be jumpered, especially the cable that runs from the CPU fan to the mainboard.

What's happening exactly right now when you fire her up?
 
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jm240 said:
Some things that come to mind for no power or movement in the case when you fire her up.

Firstly, look up the model of the motherboard from the manufacturers website and pull up the manual in pdf.

1) Check the power cable that runs from the case's power switch to the very small pins to the motherboard. You need the manual to know which two pins this little cable sits on and jumpers.

2) Next thing try unplugging the 20 / 24 pin ATX power cable from the motherboard for a few seconds then reseat it firmly.

For me, these are the two primary reasons your computer won't boot or show any sings of life when firing her up.

The other thing to check is the CPU 4 pin power connector is firmly connected, try reseating that one too.

Let me know what happens


Edit: The motherboard manual will show you what needs to be jumpered, especially the cable that runs from the CPU fan to the mainboard.

What's happening exactly right now when you fire her up?
Click to expand...

Thanks tried that still no luck. I think I will just have to replace the motherboard. I saw a couple of things about replacing bios chips on otehr forums but to be honest its £10 for the bios chip and £24 for a whole motherboard on ebay.
 
cumulusjames said:
Thanks tried that still no luck. I think I will just have to replace the motherboard. I saw a couple of things about replacing bios chips on otehr forums but to be honest its £10 for the bios chip and £24 for a whole motherboard on ebay.
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Ok sorry you're opting for that method. But as the previous poster mentioned the PC should beep a number of times if something is not quite right. Depending on the duration and intervals of these beeps they will signal a fault for something specific i.e. cpu, mainboard etc.

It's worth getting a power supply unit tester from a well known electronic store if you're getting into maintenance and or system building as this can immediately identify and/or exclude a faulty power supply unit as your culprit; as they are fairly hard to identify sometimes.

Good luck
 
jm240 said:
Ok sorry you're opting for that method. But as the previous poster mentioned the PC should beep a number of times if something is not quite right. Depending on the duration and intervals of these beeps they will signal a fault for something specific i.e. cpu, mainboard etc.

It's worth getting a power supply unit tester from a well known electronic store if you're getting into maintenance and or system building as this can immediately identify and/or exclude a faulty power supply unit as your culprit; as they are fairly hard to identify sometimes.

Good luck
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Hi thanks for your message. I have not bought a motherboard yet, so anything is worth a try at this point. The pc does have some form of speaker inside it, for example it beeps when starting up. However I have not noticed any beeps since it died. I was wondering if I had damaged the CPU when cleaning the fan.
 
Is it still plugged into monitor? Keyboard and mouse in?

At least with monitor on you could see if the BIOS reports an error....

I suspect that something has been loosened

1) CPU power plugged in?
2) Jumpers for case pulled out?
3) Take out RAM, then put back securely.
4) See if you can get to the BIOS screen? If so check if boot set to optical drive?
5) Lights staying on mobo?
6) Take out video card and try another spare...or just reseat, with power dongles attached if you have sockets..
7) Check hard drive power and cable plugged in.
8) Visually inspect components for burn marks, for example motherboard.
9) Is the CPU fan power cable plugged in? That will cause system to shut down..

Basically methoically check the components are all seated correctly...and if possible check parts in another PC to see what component "may" be faulty.

I know a gentleman who bought a new motherboard, turns out it was him RAM playing up after he put a new CPU on the board, the board worked fine....

Cheers

Von
 
So you removed all the fans, then put them back on, right? Did you clean off all the old thermal paste and reapply new paste? If not you could have a poor connection with the CPU fan and immediate overheating and shutdown. You need to make sure the fans are plugged in the correct plugs (CPU fan should be labeled something like CPU_FAN) because maybe the mobo refuses to boot if it doesn't detect the fan spinning.
 
It is things like this that knock your confidence a bit, I was all ready to build my fist pc because I thought it was all modular with stuf just plugging into the motherboard. Now I am realising it is more complex than I thought. I should buy how too book really.
 
Check the internet; there are probably more than a million "how to" guides they will offer quick over views; then if you have issues with specif things you will simply have to use forums
 
SoildSnake said:
Check the internet; there are probably more than a million "how to" guides they will offer quick over views; then if you have issues with specif things you will simply have to use forums
Click to expand...

Thanks. The problem is I dont know what the specific thing is. If I could find the problem I would google how to fix it. I am thinking it is something serios because you guys know pretty much everything between you and none of you can diagnose it, well not from my descriptions anyhow. I'll have a last play with it tomorrow. But I cant even get to the boot screen.
 
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