Lightning strike and now computer not working ...

[djxput]

My parents live in the states and they had a lightning strike near them which fried many electronics in the house.

Ive tried to diagnosis the computer problem via whats app but not sure ... Its my parents and they are 70ish so you can imagine trying to get them to tear open the computer etc ...

This is what I know:
- Its a fairly old pc that I built - not quite sure the MB its a varient of the DFI lanparty p35, has a ati 6950 gpu and a antec powersupply.
- The case fans come on when the power comes on, the cpu fan, the psu fan comes on the gpu fan.
- Nothing shows on the monitor and they bought a new one because their cable guy said it could be the monitor. Meaning there isnt a signal coming from the computer to the monitor.
- There are 2 lights on the MB both appear normal; a dram power led and a standby power led
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/451662/Dfi-Lanparty-Dk-P35-Series.html?page=15#manual
This is just a general manual for the MB again not sure the exact one.
- I have 2 drives connected to the computer one SSD and a storage hhd.

Again nothing shows on the screen when powered but the fans spin up and the lights go on. I dont think the montior has any error code indicators or beeps.

I had my step dad take out the GPU to see if he can get it tested somewhere if its more complicated then that ie the cpu, ram or mb got fried they are probably better off buying a different one.

any suggestions?
thanks

 

[djxput]

After a big power surge the PSU would be the first thing to suspect. Testing with a known working one is the only way to definitively rule that out.

ahh ok so even if the psu fan spins up and the led lights on come the mb you still suspect the psu?

 

[djxput]

PSU has a lot of voltage rails, etc. it is possible say 12V is working fine but the 3.3V output got fried - possibly even it dying "saved" the rest of the PSU, etc.

ok thanks Ill see if I can get them to try a different one ... ya I didnt think it would be the psu since all the fans spin up the cpu fan gpu and the lights but nothing on the screen etc ie no output.

 

[djxput]

Absolutely. It’s the first part the power spike will have gone through and as others have said not all faults will result in it being completely dead. It’s also easy to test so a good thing to rule out first.

easy to test as in need a new psu? to test to see if system works? or?

 

[djxput]

Parents took it too a pc repair place, I havnt talked to the guy yet. But he told them it wasnt the psu it was the mb (not sure how he knows it is the mb and not the cpu or memory). I think he told them he tested 2 different powersupplies and didnt get a power on... Ill call him to check.

 

[djxput]

This is a good reminder to unplug expensive electrical equipment during a thunder storm!
I don't usually bother, but I think I will now.

My parents lost most of their electronics in the house, stove, large tv, small tv, microwave, computer, possibly the monitor, nightlight and some others ... I think they said the lighting hit a bird feeder outside their house (was basically a metal pole with a bird feeder at the top, and it was suggested their are wires under the ground where the bird feeder is located and the lightning bounced to the wires somehow.

Its funny my step dad is a bit paranoid and he used to unplug stuff and make us go in the basement where there was bad thunderstorms in the states (lived in wisconsin so tornadoes arnt that high of a risk), but as written he didnt do that this time around he was watching tv and watched his tv blow up.

 

[djxput]

Wow, that's bad!
I hope they are insured?

ya but I dont know if they are going to turn it in; I think they think it will raise the rates too much?

 

[djxput]

I just thought Id post this update for those that are curious ...

Just got back from the states - bought a similar chipset motherboard for my parents - theirs was a old dfi lanparty p35 mb bought a gigabyte p35 type motherboard. I was a bit concerned that the mb wasnt the problem or the only problem.
I also tried to boot up before doing this.

I havnt replaced a mb in a system for probably 5-8 years let alone one this old. Id like to say it was a breeze - but it wasnt.
Hang ups were:

- I tried to do a replace without cleaning/applying new thermal paste (forgot mine). The system wouldnt work and I realized that 90c was too hot for the cpu and it was auto shutting down. Not sure if it was just the thermal paste or maybe the fan wasnt contacting the cpu well enough? ... So bought new thermal paste and put the fan back in (actually had a Really hard time - original cpu fan with those push pin things and I broke one in the process. Id say it took me almost 2 hours to get this sucker connected.

- Even after this I couldnt boot the system; and I found out I need to disconnect one of the drives (for some reason it was trying to boot from the wrong drive even thou in the bios I told it not too?

- ok so I could finally boot up the system but I wasnt getting a internet connection (thought that either the ethernet port was damaged with the storm or the cable or the modem/router. Again its been awhile since Ive had to mess with stuff like this and a system this old. Tried different cables (check fine), my parents had 2 routers that were similar (expensive) finally after like 4 hours I figured out that the new router that they had the wifi signal worked but the ethernet ports did not; was suggested via their technical support that the lighting might have fried that but left the wifi network intact? ... So my mom eventually decided to get a new router/modem (again expensive) (Most things are much cheaper in the states but 2 things are not ... cell phone service and cable internet service (they make you pay a rental fee to rent their modems let alone charge perhaps double what we pay here perhaps even more) - I told her we could have gone cheaper with a wireless modem in the desktop. Tested this new router; and volia' ethernet worked and the wifi also. I had to enter the routers setting and reconfirm things before it worked for some reason (the average joe would not have known to do this and to be honest I didnt either until being frustrated and trying various things. ie the setup directions did not say to do this.

- So once the net was working I proceeded to install new catalyst drivers (6950 radeon), and a chipset driver ... and finally a audio driver ...

Everything worked out ... computer up and running well; and to be honest better then it was since I installed MS office on there also.

So CPU and ram was fine and so was everything else but the MB.

Funny parents still didnt want to send to insurance - the states is like that. They get you to buy insurance then they really dissuade you from filing a claim and suggest even if you do your premiums will sky rocket. Probably 20 things got destroyed in the process; even their blender, nightlight etc ...

Least I didnt have to make them buy a 'new' computer - they dont use it for much. And next time I upgrade Ill give them my current system anyways ...

(I was sort of at a disadvantage since I didnt have much in the terms of parts or tools to work with). But the tech they took the system too at least diagnosed it right.

 

[djxput]

Glad to hear you got it sorted for them. If all they use the PC for is browsing the net / email, then wouldn't it be better for them to get an iPad / Tablet?

ya Mom actually wants to get a laptop for that but step dad still likes his desktop; he likes to fool around with autocad even thou he is retired now (architect).