PC won't boot (and monitor doesn't come on from standby)

backtothefuture · 30 Jan 2008 at 19:04

My PC won't boot all of a sudden.. was working fine in the afternoon and after it went idle in windows(i.e. due to not using it) , it hanged, I switched it off and turned it back on and now it won't boot.... montior doesn't power on from standby either ...

When I turn it on, all the lights etc light up, hard drive whirs, fans turn on but it doesn't go to the boot screen ( the monitor does not come on from standby)... no beeps whatsoever..

Come to think of it, for the last few days it suddenly started hanging on idle (i.e. when not being used in Windows) whereas previously it never used to do that...

Specs are : Athlon XP2500, 1 GB RAM, Abit NF7s mobo (socket A) , 500W PSU , Geforce 6800GT... haven't got any spare parts to try out ..

anyone know what the issue could be?

cheers!
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backtothefuture · 31 Jan 2008 at 03:08

someone off other forums said it may be RAM

Tried it without RAM and no beeps! it seems that it is unaware that there is no RAM!

Dead CPU?

backtothefuture · 31 Jan 2008 at 16:52

i tried disconnecting cd-rom drives and hard drives to see if it could be a power issue but no result

tried removing graphics card.. no result.. (i.e. no warning beeps etc)

I don't have on-board graphics so can't really use that option...

I think final thing for me to try is replacing the CMOS battery to see if that works... (looked at mobo for burst capacitors etc but couldn't see any )

backtothefuture · 1 Feb 2008 at 08:35

update:
ok , tested the CMOS battery and thats ok, so ruled that out

interesting thing happened.. the PC was on and i noticed that I forgot to reconnect the boot drive's power molex ... so I was putting it in, but as soon as it touched the power connectors on the HDD, there was a big blue spark and a POP! .. and the PC switched itself out ...

However, upon pressing the on button again the PC switched back on, and it was business as usual i.e. hard drives whirring, fans on etc etc but still no BEEPs or boot attempt (as before) ..

got me wondering..could it be that the mobo is ok since apparently it had the 'sense' to cut off when the molex sparked ? could it be that the CPU is fried instead?

backtothefuture · 1 Feb 2008 at 10:47

why is that? system still powers on.. it just won't boot (or beep) ..same problem like before...

backtothefuture · 1 Feb 2008 at 13:02

ah, but don't have spare one to try (PSU).. was hoping other tests would eliminate PSU...

backtothefuture · 1 Feb 2008 at 19:21

cheers.. will see if I can buy a budget one for test purposes... if it is the PSU then I can replace it with a proper one..

backtothefuture · 2 Feb 2008 at 08:44

split said:
I agree.
PSU are very sensitive, and power down at the slightest fluctuation.
Luckily its a feature, and they reset after a few seconds.
Ive had the same thing happen on an Enermax when I had a loose pin in a fan connector.
It's easy to test a PSU with a DMM anyway rather than buying new.

not sure how to do that ... should the PSU be plugged in or switched off?

would I be just testing the main connector (that goes on the mobo) or each molex too?

backtothefuture · 2 Feb 2008 at 13:06

3 times with the same board! .. was it a manufacturing fault or something? How comes you stuck with the same board?

backtothefuture · 2 Feb 2008 at 13:10

split said:
Have a look here.
Thats a 20 pin ATX.
24 pin ATX is this.....

You may want to hook something up to it to create a load as well.

cheers!