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Messerschmitt

By Messerschmitt
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Messerschmitt

Messerschmitt

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Posted (edited)

Hello.

Today I had a bad experience with my faithfull but yet 5+ year old computer

When I turned it on, nothing came on the screen. The fan was just working.

I shut it off.

Second, nothing came on the screen again but this time the HDD led was flikering .

I shut it off. I started disconnect my LCD digital cable from the computer while turned off and I seen no signal came up, once I hook it up back, it went to standby again, so video card seemed to be working.

I turned the computer again, it booted, but the CMOS and frequency of RAM and CPU were messed. Instead of 133/133 it was 100/100. The internal clock and date was also messed up showing year 2001.

Saved and exit, but it didn't rebot, just went ahead and booted OS and afterwords screen remain blank.

I shut it off.

Turned the computer again, did the same changes in BIOS for CMOS and frequncy (first time seems it didn't save), this time it reboots again to take effect of change, and boots up normaly.

Anyone has any idea what was/is going to be the problem? Can it be ram?

Don't have a second computer so if it fails i'm pretty much by myself with no other pieces to swap and try.

Edited by Messerschmitt
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jcarle

jcarle

Posted
Posted
run memtest if you think its the ram. hopefully the psu isnt going bad.

Why do you even speak?

Hello.

Today I had a bad experience with my faithfull but yet 5+ year old computer

When I turned it on, nothing came on the screen. The fan was just working.

I shut it off.

Second, nothing came on the screen again but this time the HDD led was flikering .

I shut it off. I started disconnect my LCD digital cable from the computer while turned off and I seen no signal came up, once I hook it up back, it went to standby again, so video card seemed to be working.

I turned the computer again, it booted, but the CMOS and frequency of RAM and CPU were messed. Instead of 133/133 it was 100/100. The internal clock and date was also messed up showing year 2001.

Saved and exit, but it didn't rebot, just went ahead and booted OS and afterwords screen remain blank.

I shut it off.

Turned the computer again, did the same changes in BIOS for CMOS and frequncy (first time seems it didn't save), this time it reboots again to take effect of change, and boots up normaly.

Anyone has any idea what was/is going to be the problem? Can it be ram?

Don't have a second computer so if it fails i'm pretty much by myself with no other pieces to swap and try.

Can you give us details on the hardware you have? Power supply, motherboard, processor, memory, hard drive, etc?

Typically when a computer reboots and cannot keep the proper FSB speeds, there is usually an issue with the processor itself. Though this is not necessarily the case. There are a number of things that must be checked. One of the most common oversights which can cause a multitude of problems is congested fans. Open up your case and take a good look at your CPU fan, make sure it's completely free of dust. To clean it, if necessary, simply blow on it, use a dry paint brush or use a can of dry compressed air.

There are a number of other things to verify as well, however without knowing what your specific hardware is, it's hard to know where to go.

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Messerschmitt

Messerschmitt

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What I have is

XP Athlon 1600+, Sis735 motherboard (most likely), 256 x 2 RAM 266mhz (slight chance it might be 133mhz), Gf 4 Ti 4400, SB Live, 350 Powersupply, 80 GB and 120 GB Western Digital Caviar. A 12x CD-RW Rom LG, and 16x DVD-RW Rom Pioneer (single newest piece \o/, bought it summer 2006). My case is an ATEC, with plenty of room inside (that motherboard is frikin big for normal cases). Got 2 Fans in the case, CPU usualy stays at 46 degree's. Very true it is very dusty inside, but considering I started the computer after around 9 hours, heat shouldn't be a problem.

I have no problems what so ever during prolongue normal operations.

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jcarle

jcarle

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You may also be victim of the capacitor plague. Make sure you clean the interior of your computer so that it's dust free and then visually and thoroughly inspect your motherboard's capacitors.

Also, even if you spend hours without running into any issue even with your computer full of dust, it does not mean that it is not a cause of the issue. Dust is never good for a computer.

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Messerschmitt

Messerschmitt

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Actualy I did run into a problem.

While I was listening to winamp and posting here yesterday night, it just froze, with the sound repeating the last 0.5 second (you know how it ususaly happens in games).

Interesting thing is that I pushed the start button, and I didn't kept it for 5 seconds to shut down immidiately, I let it go afterwards, and computer came back to life, but started to close applications and then shut down the windows as it would do if you go to start - shutdown.

Afterwards agian, I cannot make it start. Right now i'm writing from work. It just starts, but the monitor stays blank, I can only see fans are working and HDD LED just stays on. It won't even boot into bios. It's like the monitor isn't even pluged (but I did tried again, and when disconnecting the monitor it says no signal, after connecting it again, monitor is functioning).

Once I get home today I will disesemble it, clean it all and re-assemble again. Also will check for capacitors and other to make sure they aren't blown up.

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nmX.Memnoch

nmX.Memnoch

Posted
Posted (edited)
It could be the CMOS battery (the one that looks like a coin), at least on older computers it does that when it needs to be replaced.

5+ years...the battery would be my first guess as well...especially since the mention of the date having been reset. It's also pretty much the cheapest component to replace. :)

Edited by nmX.Memnoch
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nitroshift

nitroshift

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i faced this problem before.

all i did was to remove the motherboard RAM + CMOS Battery for about 5 minutes

and put them again.

the PC went OK.

... that shows that the CMOS battery is the first thing to check.

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Messerschmitt

Messerschmitt

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I removed the CMOS battery and will try to get a new one. I don't want to just re-plug the old one because it's a b***h to take it off, risking to actualy break the plastic teeth's which hold it.

But my real dilema is, can a simple little battery screw up your hole computer by not even booting the BIOS? I would expect that every time the date on your computer and some other items such as frequncy to allways reset, but not no starting at all.

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Messerschmitt

Messerschmitt

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It is the CMOS Battery.

I didn't had a chance to buy a new battery so I just put back the old one.

It booted, but it gave me again the same errors and this time I actualy took time to read them. "CMOS Battery Low, CMOS Frequncy Problem". So yea, I need to get a new battery. I needed to restart it 3 times to make windows to start loading.

One last question. If I leave the computer running, is it true that the battery will recharge for a small ammount?

In the end, thanks to you all who took the time and give me advices and pointers. Luckly my system components are still beating.

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