dead machine. HELP

[lee551]

so i get back from xmas break and i set up my computer again. when i plugged it in, the power light came on, which isn't normal. when i power it up it sounded normal and everything seemed to be spinning/running, but the display wouldn't come up.

my monitor is really old so i was kinda hoping it had died. no such luck. the tower did the same thing using my roommate's monitor. i unplugged 1 of the 2 hdds and 1 of the 2 cd drives to see if it was having power issues. no different. tried maximum/minimum amount of peripherals plugged in. no change.

when i changed power cords, the tower's light didn't come on and wouldn't even when i powered it up. then it turned itself off and refused to turn on again. then with some more tinkering i have it turning on, but without the light coming on and still no video. when it turned on after dying, i got one solid beep.

emachines
amd athlon xp 2600
512mb ram


psu?

[Virtualbody1234]

Disconnect all unneeded parts for bootup.
Leave only:
PSU
Mobo
CPU
1 stick RAM
Video card

Clear CMOS and try booting up.

[lee551]

Disconnect all unneeded parts for bootup.
Leave only:
PSU
Mobo
CPU
1 stick RAM
Video card

Clear CMOS and try booting up.

just tried this. same thing happened. nothing displayed.

i also just noticed that there is a red LED1 light on next to the RAM on the mobo.

[lynx]

Disconnect all unneeded parts for bootup.
Leave only:
PSU
Mobo
CPU
1 stick RAM
Video card

Clear CMOS and try booting up.

just tried this. same thing happened. nothing displayed.

i also just noticed that there is a red LED1 light on next to the RAM on the mobo.

The red led indicates that standby power is getting to the card, that's the normal state. Do the fans spin when you power up? Assuming that the system has some sort of internal speaker or buzzer, do you get any beeps when you attempt to power it up?

Try removing everything from the mobo (video card, CPU, RAM, keyboard mouse) so that all you've got left is the PSU, the motherboard and the front panel and internal speaker connections.

If the fans don't spin now then something is dragging the PSU down, it could be a faulty PSU or faulty motherboard or both. The only way to go any further is by substitution. My bet at this stage would be the PSU, but that's not always the case.

If the fans spin but you still get no beeps then the motherboard is failing to perform Power On Self Test (POST) but you've narrowed the problem down to two components, PSU or motherboard (or both). Again the only way to go any further is by substitution, but my bet this time would be the motherboard.

All this doesn't mean that there won't be other failed components, but you won't find that out until you've got a working motherboard.

Once you've got to that stage (your motherboard performing POST) you can start adding the other components back until your system is working or one or more of them drags the whole system down again.

[clocker]

eMachines= Bestec PSU.

Chances are, it's the power supply.
If you're lucky (I'd put the odds at 50/50), the motherboard didn't get taken down with it.

[lee551]

The red led indicates that standby power is getting to the card, that's the normal state. Do the fans spin when you power up? Assuming that the system has some sort of internal speaker or buzzer, do you get any beeps when you attempt to power it up?

the fans do spin. i did get one solid beep after i turned it on after it shut itself off, but it hasn't done that again.

i think i will pick up a cheap replacement psu to see if that is the culprit.

[clocker]

i think i will pick up a cheap replacement psu to see if that is the culprit.

A cheap PSU is almost certainly the root cause of the problem to begin with.

And Manker doesn't think Americans appreciate irony...

[lee551]

i think i will pick up a cheap replacement psu to see if that is the culprit.

A cheap PSU is almost certainly the root cause of the problem to begin with.

And Manker doesn't think Americans appreciate irony...

yea, i see the irony there, but i need something to test with. why go blow 100 bones on a psu when i am not close to certain i'll be keeping/needing it. if it is the psu, of course i will go and buy a quality one.

i just tried the new psu and there is no change. i'm pretty sure the board is not POSTing tho, so i'm fearing that could be the only thing left.

[chip19]

I understand your logic, but I have had my entire computer destroyed by a bad (cheap) PSU. The motherboard got whacked, the graphics card got permanently nuts, and even one hard drive died. The moral of the story is to spend the extra cash, as it will be worth it in the end anyway.

And I'm not sure if this is an option for you, but the Best Buy near me lets me return opened items. This way, I can test it and keep it if it works, and bring it back if it doesn't work (no restocking fee if within 30 days).

[lee551]

And I'm not sure if this is an option for you, but the Best Buy near me lets me return opened items. This way, I can test it and keep it if it works, and bring it back if it doesn't work (no restocking fee if within 30 days).

thats what i just did. i made sure i asked about the return policy (30 days). and yes i know that cheap psus are worthless, but right now that's all i needed. if i need one i will deff be sure to get a good one.