Computer won`t boot and has a black screen.

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intem

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Yesterday my other compuer was running smoothly, suddenly the computer restarts by itself and what happened next is that the monitor was black screen and my hard drive LED light is lit on solid along with several irregular beeping sound. So i shut it down and turn it back on after a few minutes, and the problem is still the same it just wont boot normally as you would, one other thing that i forgot to mention is that normally two types of LED lights showing, the hdd light and the power light but my hdd LED light is showing and my power LED light isn't showing that its indicating on.

Today i try turn the computer but its the same, so i took the VGA card out and clean the fan (all fans are working fine when powering on) and also took one of my ram stick out as well as try both hard drives individually so to see which hard drive is dead.

So i would like to know what happens if your hard drive dies that would cause this sort of problem that im experiencing or that it might be the VGA card problem.
Any help would be very very appreciated. Thx in advance
 
Uh...what are your specs (including power supply)? Do you overclock and have you changed anything recently? Are the temperatures okay?
 
sellmesanity said:
Uh...what are your specs (including power supply)? Do you overclock and have you changed anything recently? Are the temperatures okay?
Click to expand...

my spec is intel 865 PE/PE Pro 2.4Ghz
2- 512mb ram
2- 40gig hdd/80 gig respectively Seagate baracuda ATA IV
1- geforce fx5200 128mb ddr
psu - max power output is 350 watts

what it is basically two days ago i was cleaning the fumes and dusts out of my other computer, when i came across cleaning the CPU fan thats attached on to the CPU i was trying to take the fan off and so i could clean the metal (i think its called heat sink im not quite sure what the term is, but its use was to allow heat to go off through those metals) thats below the fan. I couldn't get it off so i was slightly pulling the fan along with the heat sink, and i gave up that. Apart from that i didn't even touch anything untill when my brother was using my other computer yesterday it suddenly restarts by it self and nothing was showing, needless to say that i can see the booting process. However one thing that i saw was strange was that normally the power LED light should be on right? but its not on when this situation happened instead my hdd light is on solid which isn't correct.

Would you think it might be my psu is function incorrectly or something thats causing the power LED to no lit? but the electricity is still flowing through the mother board though when turned on because i can see the LED light on the mother board. I never over clock it and i dont even know how to any way. How do you check the temperature on your pc anyway could you tell me?

thx for replying and am waiting for your next reply.
 
Hi Intem,
If u can enter BIOS setup, it normally has your system temperatures there, altho they can be a bit inaccurate they are better then nothing
cheers
hynesy
 
intem said:
what it is basically two days ago i was cleaning the fumes and dusts out of my other computer, when i came across cleaning the CPU fan thats attached on to the CPU i was trying to take the fan off and so i could clean the metal (i think its called heat sink im not quite sure what the term is, but its use was to allow heat to go off through those metals) thats below the fan. I couldn't get it off so i was slightly pulling the fan along with the heat sink, and i gave up that. Apart from that i didn't even touch anything untill when my brother was using my other computer yesterday it suddenly restarts by it self and nothing was showing, needless to say that i can see the booting process. However one thing that i saw was strange was that normally the power LED light should be on right? but its not on when this situation happened instead my hdd light is on solid which isn't correct.

Would you think it might be my psu is function incorrectly or something thats causing the power LED to no lit? but the electricity is still flowing through the mother board though when turned on because i can see the LED light on the mother board. I never over clock it and i dont even know how to any way. How do you check the temperature on your pc anyway could you tell me?

thx for replying and am waiting for your next reply.
Click to expand...

Motherboards are quite inflexible you could have broke a mobo solder joint by pulling at it or unmounted the CPU or knocked a cable off or something else, you should never ever force or try to force anything and when cleaning use a can of compressed air and a artists brush and that way you wont damage anything.
 
hey dazzer thx for your advice, so what can i do know. I understand below the chip where the cpu is mounted on is actually a cpu socket, so if i could actually get the fan and cpu unmounted and just check whether i did actually broke the soldier joint on the cpu socket. Just one thing, i would like to mention is that i did try force pulling it but i know i've always got to take care when im doing this on computer components. What i saw was that whilst i was pulling it, i see that the area surrounding the cpu was moving slightly upwards like as if you would see when trying to pull something out of a solid flexible surface or board (in this case plastic), so would you think that i did actually accidently broke one of the solder joint?

thx again dazzer for you generous tip, hoping to see you give more info about my issue thx.
 
Not sure if your cpu is the same as mine, but i have instructions on my blog on how to remove a 478 socket Pentium 4 cpu..
 
The BIOS beeps indicate your problem. You can google for your BIOS type and find the beep code meanings.
Are you able to enter the BIOS menu at all? (usually hold DEL key dwn at power up).

I can only guess that it's related to the "messing" around with the CPU HSF a few days before. But it maybe unreleated or related in the sense that you bumped the RAM or graphics card. You said you removed and reinstalled them both though. Maybe try again.

Maybe the PSU died and there is no 5 volts "power good" signal. Many many things.
Try to determine the beep code meanings for your particular BIOS.

Cheers.
 
thx again for your all your kind concerns, i did have a look at my manual but i just dont see theres instruction how to remove it, however there is instruction on how to install it dont know why. With the RAM or the video card, i tried removing one of the possiblities out at a time (ram, vga card, had 2 hdd and try only 1 of them at a time). This whole isolation thing i did, did no good as well, however i still havn't try and listen to the beeps though because i was so impatient back then and i thought those beeps goes any long it might damage any of the hardwares inside the computer so i just physically shut down as soon as see that theres still black screen, don't even mention seen booting process.

Two question would be quite helpful to me after i had a thought of a few possiblities of one of the hardware inside the pc might be the problem.
If one of the cables from the psu (usually theres 4 cables in a group fixed on to a terminator right?) had a loose contact due to what ever reason and its not providing adequate power through the mother board would it cause the computer to not boot?

What would happen if the psu is broken? does it still powers up but the computer just doesn't boot, because in my case, all 3 of my fans still working in good condition (1 psu fan,1fan attached onto the case and 1 fan attached onto the cpu) its just that my power LED light doesnt lit, but my hdd LED lits constantle what does it mean?

thx
 
I wish that I knew a bit more about computers, but if I were you, I would start replacing things. I don't know if you have the financial or technical ability to do so, but I would first start by swapping it with a different processor and videocard and ram and see if it boots up. And I would also inspect it closer for physical damage with a magnifying glass. Actually, before this I would use another computer to look up the amount of beeps and what they mean. Usually if the power light is not on, it is caused by the Power LED being plugged in incorrectly, or accidently pulled from the pin. The power supply seems like it is working fine, being that fans turns on. And you say the only thing you touched was the cpu part? You shoulda just sprayed it with compressed air instead of forcing. I am sorry that I could not be of more help. You might need to take it to a shop, but they will rob you...
 
thx sellmesanity for your advice, i'll ask my cousin how to unmount the cpu fan because he install this computer for my brother so yeh thx again. One last thing where can you buy those compressed air? i heard about them but i've neva seen them before.
 
intem, you can get compressed air at any computer store. Do you have a fry's electronics around there? They even have it at circuit city, comp usa or best buy. sometimes even at videogame stores! Sorry that I could not be of any more help...keep me updated.
 
Usually when you get beeps from the BIOS it's RAM or video card fault.
The BIOS beeps at you to indicate an error it can't display to you, it "knows" it can't use the display to indicate the error.

The PC needs both the RAM and video card to be working for the display to work. It could also be a dead 5Volt output from the PSU. The 12 volt seems ok b/c the fans and HDD motor are working.

If you can't find the definition of the beep codes for your BIOS type, then you'll need to start replacing things one at a time. Order below is a suggestion in order of cost.
1) PSU
2) RAM
3) Video card.

Double check that all cables, especially the mobo main power 20 pin connector and the CPU power plug.

Cheers.
 
kirock said:
Usually when you get beeps from the BIOS it's RAM or video card fault.
The BIOS beeps at you to indicate an error it can't display to you, it "knows" it can't use the display to indicate the error.

The PC needs both the RAM and video card to be working for the display to work. It could also be a dead 5Volt output from the PSU. The 12 volt seems ok b/c the fans and HDD motor are working.

If you can't find the definition of the beep codes for your BIOS type, then you'll need to start replacing things one at a time. Order below is a suggestion in order of cost.
1) PSU
2) RAM
3) Video card.

Double check that all cables, especially the mobo main power 20 pin connector and the CPU power plug.

Cheers.
Click to expand...

thx for yoru generous info's but, could you clarify a bit more clear where does that 5volt output goes to?

with the ram i have no worries about it coz its brand new, my cousin boughted for me a few months ago, so that only leaves the video card and the psu at the moment.
Also with the cpu thay'd solder jointed on to the board, if in any cases that the solder joint came off or something that causes poor contacts, would it cause the power LED light not lit up?

one last thing could anyone tell me what does it mean when hdd LED lits up constantly?

Kirok hoping to see your next post, and thx again :)
 
If I am not mistaken, 5v goes to ram. And if the psu is malfunctioning, the ram isn't getting that power it needs. I dont know about the power LED. I do know that when the Hdd LED lights up, that means that there is a lot of hard drive activity...but yeah this post sucked and was not very helpful...sorry.
 
The 5 Volts supplies most of the electronics of the PC. The 3.3V supplies the RAM and a few other chips and the 12 volt supplies the CPU and fans and HDD motor. Below is a pic of a the PSU connectors for any ATX PSU.

atx-psu-pinouts.gif


The HDD LED being on constantly would suggest the HDD is searching continuously, so some part of it's electronics are not functioning. This would indicate a loss of either the 3.3 or the 5Volt output.

I would suggest swapping out the PSU with any ATX PSU you might have. A friends perhaps? This will tell you if there's a problem with it. BUT it could also be the video card has fried and is now PULLING down one of the voltage outputs! So be swapping in a spare PSU without also a spare video card may lead you to the wrong conclusion.

Sorry I can't be more specific, but trouble-shooting via message brds is difficult. I really hope you can turn on the PC and write down the sequence of beeps . (example: 2 long 1 short, repeat or 3 short and 2 long, repeat, etc.) Then look those up and this will greatly help zero in on your problem.

Cheers.
 
thank you both for the infos, yesterday when i turn on my other computer i see the beeps going, however the beeps seem to be going at different times and lengths in terms of intervals. Does the beeps go on never ending?

I've notice how you both mention about the 5 volt supplies to the ram that might be the the definite or the other slight possiblity is that i broke on of the solder joint by accident when i apply a little bit of force when trying to pulling out the cpu fan so i could clean the heat sink. I'll definetly try another psu.

once again thx sellmesanity and kirok for your kind and generous infos and apologise for having to bother you both taking time and effort to give me support. thx :)
 
Please take note that I say that the 5v is for ram, but he says it is 3.3v. He is probably correct as opposed to me. What kirock is saying is completely logical though, just try to swap out the psu and the videocard at the same time...perhaps that would solve you coming to wrong conclusions about these parts. If it still doesnt work...then yeah, I don't know we would have to trouble shoot and swap some more parts..
 
something i forgot to add to my post was that when i turn on my other computer yesterday, i did hear the beeps, managed to write them down. However, after a while i press the reset button, my computer was fine again, it gave a beep which means everything is ok and boot up process was showing and there was no longer any more black screens which really confused me. After it successfully enters windows for a few minutes it restarts by it self and then there was the black screen again which really confused me. So i was thinking that there might be some cables or something connected on to the terminator became loose for by it self for some reason.
 
you can buy PSU testers for $12 from circuit city. They have voltmeter outputs also. It's a lot cheaper than buying a new PSU when you're not sure the PSU is bad.
 
Probably dead RAM then. You can look up your BIOS beep codes at the manufacture's website (Example Award Bios). Or you can try here: [url =http://www.bioscentral.com]Beepcodes[/url]

Cheers.
 
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