Hi,

Wondering if anyone has had a similar problem to mine. I had a perfectly fine and working PC based on an Asus K8V Delux mobo, AMD 64 3200 and 1Gb of memory etc etc

Now, I purchased a 2.5" USB drive to act as a portable backup unit. Which I plugged into the USB port. The 2.5" is a mains 5v powered unit.

When I plugged the unit I noticed that light for the CD and DVD came on the without the PC even being on. Now, the PC refuses to switch on and there seems to be no sign of life at all!

Has anyone had this problem or a similar one that they can provide some guidance?

Regs


Anil

I have the same problem. I just got a usb flash drive and i plug it in and now my computer does not boot.

I have no idea of what the problem could be. maybe you can follow these steps.

1) check if the green power led on your mobo is lit up.

2) if your mobo is getting power. unplug your pc. remove the battery.

3)insert the battery again, giver you pc power and try booting up.

4) make sure the usb devices is not pluged in.

5) check the Asus Website for a updated version of the Bios.

6) update the bios, hopefuly Asus fixed the problem if its a bios related prob.

7)if ur pc boots up. connect other usb devices. see if you ge the same prob. if you dont. then the prob is with you usb hard drive or flash drive in the other case.

this is what i would do. give it
a go. you never know. it may just work.

here is what i have done
i reset the cmos
unplug everything (no beep code)
removed the memory (no beep code)
unplug all internal drives (no noise expect fans)
tryied to flash bios (nothing)
tried differnet montiors (no display)
tried the monitor in a working computer (display)
all usb is removed
tried to plug in a usb to see if it would power up (nope)
tried to boot off a live version of linux (nothing)

i have called alienware and centon both say it not our problem.
i think it is centon flash memory that destory my bios
i am going to call asus my motherboard to see if they have a solution
will write back

seems to me your mobo is :dead: . i mean the mere fact that ur dvd and cd rom leds were burning and the pc wasnt even turned on. some how they got current.
well. have you tested your cd and dvd drive to see if its still working.
you may want to check. maybe your pc got spiked.

is your mobo still under warranty. if so just send it back to whom you bought it from. dont tell the ppl that sold you the mobo that you connected a usb drive and every thing lit up like a chrismas tree. then they will tell its not their problem.

just tell them its not booting up. you have know idea why. let them sort it out. if it is still under warranty. normaly mobo's come with a minimum of 2 years warranty. they will replace it. they send it to the wholesaler, who inturn gives them a new board. then the wholesaler will send it to the manufacturer.


take the usb device to the retailer that sold you the device and ask them to test it on their pc. o, and tell them what happen to yours. and if they refuse to test it. then atleast they must swap it.


Good Luck :grinthumb

i had the computer on a ups so it should not have got a surge but i will call the motherboard (ASUS) to see what they will do.

i talked to asus
they had me remove the cpu to see if it would beep then (nope)
i have a 350 watt power supply and they said the motherboard requires 500 watts so they said to buy a new 500 watt and see if that fixes it if not they i can return it
the only question i have is that why would alienware give me a power supply that does not met the min requirements for the computer

500 watt power suppy. WOW.
doesnt make sense to me.
Would you mind if i asked you to post your Pc's specs.
I would like to see why your pc is so power hungry.

thanks

I doubt very much that your mobo requires a 500 watt PSU. I would guess that they mean your system as a whole requires a 500 watt PSU. Alienware normally puts in a very good PSU that is more than adequate (at least according to their website) so have you added a lot of hardware to your PC since purchasing it? If not then go to a site that will quantify your power needs and if the stock system is at or above that number then contact Alienware and ask WTFO.

My computer
2 80 GB SATA Hard drives
1 GB Memory 3 sticks DDR
DVD Drive
Floppy Drive
sound blaster Audidgy
Asus k8v Motherboard
2.8GHZ HT P4
350 watt Power supply

Derbykidd - You've left out the video card. Here is a link that will give you a rough idea of your power needs by plugging in your system specs. http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/Power_Supply_Calculator.php?cmd=INTEL

I plugged a 9800XT in there just because it would seem to be in-line with your specs and the maximum power needed is 345 watts. That is with everything turning and burning simultaneously, so it very well may be your PSU if the installed unit is of poor quality and isn't really producing 350 watts continuously.

Try the below and se if you can get your system to boot:
You are going to have to do a barebones setup and test each component. This will read a lot harder than it actually is. The initial procedure takes only around 10-15 minutes. The follow on troubleshooting may take a lot longer though. Also, please do not skip steps. Do everything in order and as listed or your troubleshooting will be flawed.

Caution: Please remember that turning a PC off does not mean there is no power going through it. Modern systems maintain a trickle of power to keep the standby functions running. You either have to turn off the switch on the Power Supply Unit (PSU) itself or unplug the system from the wall. Unplugging is best. If you have a LED on the mobo that is lighted all the time. make sure it is out before proceeding. Also, be aware of static. Make sure you wear and ESD strap or discharge yourself on a steel part of the case before touching anything inside.

First, unplug the PC from the wall and then open it up. Disconnect all the drives (floppy, CDROM, DVD etc.)from the motherboard (mobo) and also disconnect your Hard Drive(s) from the mobo. Do not leave the hard drives connected. The system will boot into BIOS just fine with no hard drive attached. Unplug the power from all those drives you disconnected from the mobo. Remember to disconnect the front panel firewire and/or USB ports.

Next, remove all the RAM, except for one stick, from the mobo. Some mobos are very picky about where the RAM needs to be placed so make sure the one stick of RAM is in the correct slot as per your manual.

Now you are stripped down to a barebones system. The PSU, the mobo itself, 1 stick of RAM, the CPU/HSF and video card. Reset your CMOS/BIOS while the system is stripped down, unplugged and open. You do this by removing the battery and then moving a jumper near the battery around. Usually there are a set of three pins with two covered by a jumper. You move the jumper from pins 1&2 to pins 2&3 and let it set for a few minutes then reset the jumper to pins 1&2 and replace the battery. CMOS and BIOS will be back at default settings after doing this.

Now check that everything is seated correctly, both the 4 pin and 20 or 24 pin power is connected and secure and if so then plug the PC back into the wall and make sure that any LEDs that should be lighted on the mobo are lighted. If all is still well then turn it on. Hopefully she boots right back into BIOS.

If you get back into BIOS you can start troubleshooting by turning the PC off and unplugging it and reconnecting peripherals one at a time. The idea here is to connect and reboot until something hangs your system up This presumably is the bad piece of gear.

If you cant get into BIOS and have the same problem as before then you know it is either the PSU, the RAM, the CPU, the mobo itself or the video card. Change out each these until you get into BIOS. I would start at the PSU as it is usually the guilty party in a situation like this and is also easy to change in and out you are down to just 2 plugs now remember). Next up would be the video card and/or RAM and if still no luck then things get hard as you now have to consider either the CPU or the mobo.

Good luck and happy hunting.

the video card is just intergated (i didn't upgrade it)
it is late so i will try your sugguest tomorrow becuase i have bad luck at night
floppy drive on fire with plastic shooting out the back

you only need to switch the clear cmos jumper (while psu unplugged) and switch it back OR remove battery for a few seconds (while psu unplugged) It's not necessary to do both, as they accomplish the same thing AAIK.

I have removd only the battery and not cleared the CMOS. Doing both hurts nothing and ensures a cleared CMOS. You don't even have to do all of the above but it is a good guide to troubleshooting.