Computer froze and now doesn't even boot.

[biggles1000]

I was busy copying the latest Diggnation episode to my iPod with DiskAid and some music on in the background (with WMP). Suddenly, everything on the screen freezes, but the music keeps playing until the end of the track. Rather concerned, I tried to start task manager, nothing happened. I held down the power button, didn't switch off. So I unplug the power cable, plug it back in and the PSU fan and heatsink fan start up (I hadn't pressed the power button), very loudly but nothing else happens. No visual output at all. Then the BIOS beeps (after about 20 seconds of fans) 'beeee beep beep' and then the fans just carry on. I unplug it again, then remove the HDDs and the DVD drive. Try again, nothing but fans and the same beep. I then remove the graphics card and plug it in. Same, but no beeps. I then switch the graphics card, replace the BIOS battery and plug it in. The fans don't automatically start this time, but when I press the power button, they do. I then remove the RAM. Same result again.
Any ideas on what is wrong with it? This is my primary computer and the next best computer I have is an immovable HP ZV5000 laptop with just 512MB RAM and a dodgy HDD, so it is pretty essential that this works again :S
I built it myself out of parts from eBay etc. about a year ago but only got it working about two months ago.
Any help is greatly appreciated

 

[WebMattR]

Try reseating the video card/memory.

If that doesn't work:
I would try unplugging your machine from power, holding down the power button for a minute, then plugging it back in.

 

[biggles1000]

Just done all three to no avail :'(
Still nothing but the fans whirring.

 

[biggles1000]

I've just been reading some other peoples similar (but not identical) issues on other forums and the end answer for them was a shorted motherboard. I'm praying this isn't a possibility here?!? :S

 

[biggles1000]

just spent an hour removing my only other functioning PSU from a dead PC and tested it in this. Still just fans :'(
I'm going to try my spare celeron d in it tomorrow, but i doubt it'll work :/

 

[HILLBILLY]

I've just been reading some other peoples similar (but not identical) issues on other forums and the end answer for them was a shorted motherboard. I'm praying this isn't a possibility here?!? :S

It sounds like a possibility. You said you've tried a PSU from a different system and you've tried reseating the video card and RAM but hadn't solved the problem, so obviously these are not the issue here. When you go to swap out the processors, check the back of the motherboard for any places it could short. To do that, first disconnect the video card and the cables (power, fans, SATA, USB, power and reset), then disconnect the motherboard from the case and check that there are no stand-offs in the wrong place (there should be only be enough stand-offs for the holes in the motherboard and they should line up perfectly) or a piece of the case where it shouldn't be.

 

[biggles1000]

ok, will do.
I'll report back in a few hours once I've done it.

 

[biggles1000]

right, motherboard is currently out of the case. I looked on the underneath of it and couldnt see anything that ooked wrong (but i'm not sure quite what to see). I swapped the processor, connected all critical cables and plugged the power cable in. There was the typical 'just recieved power' noise, but when I pressed the power button, there was a quick, deep sounding 'vrrt' and nothing else happened. I swapped in the old processor, same again. :S

 

[biggles1000]

after some fiddling about with it, i seem to have managed to get it back to the nothing but fans state (this happens with either processor in). any suggestions?

 

[Shootist]

after some fiddling about with it, i seem to have managed to get it back to the nothing but fans state (this happens with either processor in). any suggestions?

Well it sounds like it's time for a new motherboard, PSU, CPU, whole system.

Really from the sounds of it your system is dead and nothing you do to it is going to bring it back.

 

[biggles1000]

ah :/
well, I guess i'll just have to accept that it's dead :/
any ideas why it just froze like that?

 

[Shootist]

ah :/
well, I guess i'll just have to accept that it's dead :/
any ideas why it just froze like that?

Yeah because it died. It was still getting power to some of the components, like the video card, so it just kept the last image displaying. Once it got shut down completely the part/s that had totally failed stopped it from powering back up.
Since the fans are running there is power to the board and the board is feeding that power to the fan connectors but as far as it actually powering the board that isn't happening.

Have you tried a different power supply. I don't think it will help.

 

[biggles1000]

yeah, i tried a different power supply yesterday and the same happened :/
thanks for clearing it up

 

[WebMattR]

Before we throw the horse out with the bath water...

Let's try a few things.
Firstly, disconnect everything from your motherboard (ram, hard drives, cd drives, video card and all cards that you plug in), and plug in just the psu, and power the machine on. Try starting it with just the CPU installed and the power supply plugged in. That'll truly tell us if it's a dead motherboard (no beep codes = no effort to find devices = dead), or a malfunctioning device.

 

[biggles1000]

okay, just tried it with everything disconnected, just the two power connectors to the mobo and the front panel power switch connector - still just the fans
Also tried with everything disconnected and with the different processor, still just fans
I couldn't visually see anything that looked wrong on the board. Might a multimeter be able to confirm the suspicions?

 

[Shootist]

okay, just tried it with everything disconnected, just the two power connectors to the mobo and the front panel power switch connector - still just the fans
Also tried with everything disconnected and with the different processor, still just fans
I couldn't visually see anything that looked wrong on the board. Might a multimeter be able to confirm the suspicions?

Maybe if you know your way around the motherboard circuits.

Really I know what the manufacturers do with boards like this. They throw them away.
These board are made on a machine, component placement, soldering the whole works. They can produce 5-10-15-100 boards in the time it would take them to just troubleshoot the problem. Then even more time to maybe fix it, if it could be fixed.

So what if you find something. That is if you know what to look for.

If the board is still under warranty RMA it. If not buy one that will take all your current parts.

 

[biggles1000]

well it's from a 2005 fujitsu siemens, so i guess any warranty expired
thanks for the idea of getting a new mobo that supports my current parts - i hadn't considered that, but i guess it would tide me over better than my laptop would until i have enough to build my dream computer.

 

[Shootist]

Yeah I know what you mean by Dream Computer.
But the only problem with that is what the dream is today will change in a day/week/month.

I just built a new system about 1.5 months ago and I've already changed HDD, put in a SSD, and more RAM, up to the MAX of my board (16GBs), and I'm looking at at the supposed new chipsets coming out soon.

Good luck with everything.

 

[biggles1000]

yeah, I agree with it being outdated quickly. Before I changed anything in this coumputer, it and it's 512MB of RAM were considered a top of the range media computer
The times changed quickly then, and they are speeding up. SSDs are getting bigger and bigger, HDDs are now at 3TB, the amount of RAM one stick can now hold makes me amazed...
With my dream computer, I want it to be able to have more than 24GB of RAM, which most mobos can't handle and would probably be insane. But, i'm fed up with really slow computers and I want to build a machine that I will seriously struggle pushing to the limit.
I twould be nice if motherboard processor compatability was more standard :/
Thanks for the good luck, I also wish you luck with your current build and any future builds/alterations

 

[WebMattR]

Sorry that didn't help.

Well, if you can live with the laptop for two or three months, buy a nice motherboard with this paycheck, and then buy a nice CPU with the next one, and do so until you've all the parts you need.