OK Computer Nerds

[DataAve 0]

My Father died on Saturday and he had a P4 computer, which was pretty nice when it ran. It sat around for about a year and he couldn’t figure out what was wrong with it (or he just didn’t care). He was still using a 486-he was a Systems Analyst and I think, the last thing he wanted to do, was to fix this P4.

 

Well, guess who got it? Yep. Anyhow, the hard drive (I’ve tried 3 of them) will not start (spin) unless I pull the P4 chip. I put the chip back in and it stops spinning-but, the light on the hard drive stays lit. Also, the front on/off button does not work when the Chip is in. I take the chip out; the on/off button works fine. The light on the MOBO stays lit at all times.

 

Here is my Wattage Usage:

Component-----Wattage Required

Motherboard---15-30

Low-End CPU---20-50

RAM-----------28

PCI Cards-----5 (2)

Graphics------20-60

Hard Drive----10-30

Optical Drives---10-25 each (2)

 

Seems I am good there. It has a 500 watt power supply and I slapped my meter on it.

 

Anyone have any suggestions?

[qman 0]

Oh Damm man, I'm so sorry to hear that.... My depest Condolences.

 

May god have him in a special place up there.

[DataAve 0]

Thanks bud, we're doing okay. My sister is up there yelling at him.

I got get this thing going.

[DataAve 0]

Just noticed that the CD Burner and DVD Burner also shut down when the Chip is in. I take the chip out and power is back.

[qman 0]

it sounds like it could be 2 things, bad CPU or bad Mainboard, or both.

[scottj 0]

sounds like a bad ground issue with the mainboard.

[DataAve 0]

How can it not be grounded? The board is screwed to the case, all metal.

[scottj 0]

I have had motherboards that just had grounding issues internally. Could be anything from a defective trace or a bad solder joint. I have also seen that "cheap" chassis's can cause poor grounding issues in other related problems.

 

I would be surprised if it was the CPU causing all of the problems you mention. Typcially when a CPU experiences a failure, you will notice "lockups" and stability issues with the entire system integrity. A pentium is designed to allow for multiple gate failures without the user ever even noticing. I have even seen a p4 chip that was missing 16 pins work flawlessly.

 

Hope this helps. Sorry to hear about your father, he will be in my families prayers.

 

Scottj

[Thomas 0]

If the drives aren't spinning up, then you're failing the POST test before it even starts. Do you have another chip to test with? Second, remove the mobo from the chassie and set it up on the desk. Make sure it's grounded and on a nice piece of cardboard. That will let you elimanate the chassis from the list. And I may be over reading this, but are you hot swapping that CPU?

[MrMcauber 0]

I'd be looking at the PSU, especially if I had another to throw in and test, maybe somethings wrong and it cant supply the full 500W or whatever is needed.... Some of the P4 chips are 100W+ on their own, is there a P4 cpu that only takes 20-50W?? Just because the right voltages are present does not mean its capable of pushing out the rated Watts...

 

Another option is to grab a cheap POST Card off Ebay; if you dont know what one of these is then its a small cct board usually with 2 edge connectors, one for an ISA slot, the other for a PCI slot. During a PC POST (Power On Self Test) the BIOS sends a code to the ISA/PCI bus for each test it is doing, this code is displayed on LEDs on the POST Card. By cross referencing the last code before the PC stops against the BIOS documentation you can, a lot of the time - not always, get a pretty good clue as to whats wrong with your PC. These cards are also ideal for those PCs that seem dead because they stop before they put anything on your VDU..

 

Can I be classed as a computer nerd now? I've been called so much worse so many times, PC Nerd kind of sounds nice today

 

MrMcauber

[DataAve 0]

Actually, it looks like one of the capacitors are leaking. Called them up and will repair or replace MoBo.

[cctvron 0]

this same thing was similar with me and an access control panel. Make sure that NO Ribbon cables are tucked behind any part of the board. What was happening on the access control board was this: I had ribbons that were tucked behind the main panel. These ribbons were connected to the Auxilary import board. When I plugged in the auxilary inputs the main panel would power down. Couldn't figure it out forever. The ribbon cables were shorting out from the solder points on the back of the board. When ever we plugged the ribbon cables in power would go back down. Thoroughly inspect your ribbon cables to make sure none are shorting anywhere. Inspect the cables very closely. These cuts or penetrations could be thinner than a hair.

[DataAve 0]

Thanks...but just cheap capacitors. They are all popped out too. There was a rash of bad ones installed and I got em.