Hi Phillipe,

If I understand you right:

1. You had a system that was working, but it had poor specs, and you wanted to upgrade it.
2. A friend gave you more hardware so you could upgrade.
3. You mixed and matched the parts together to build a better system, but you couldn't get it to work (did it even power up?)
4. You re-built the system with the old config, and now it no longer works either?

This unfortunately can still be a number of issues that would be diificult to limit down without some replacement hardware for diagnostics. Also, if you are not familiar with ESD (Electro Static Discharge), then simply touching one of your components may have 'blown' it. Especially if its memory or a CPU.

[For those of you who are familiar with ESD, I have seen some people who can lick a stick of memory while walking across a carpet, and I have seen others who can't even move a piece of memory through thin air without blowing a chip unless they are grounded - its a very personalized thing :eek: ]

The best thing I can say is you need to start with bare minimum components and get them working one at a time. You have to start with a working MoBo, CPU and memory [and the PC speaker connected so you don't have to worry about Video at first].

Get those three things going... Just the bare minimum. Make sure the power supply initializes, and the fans run, and that the system continues to run (not much help if an AT power-based system, but very critical in ATX powered boxes.)

Then add the video card until you get one working. Unfortunately, sometimes its a cascade effect you would never guess....

I know of someone who just last week was unfortunate enough to blow his Power Supply. Fried and everything, complete with black smoke, the smell of ozone and flashing lights. Well, it took him TWO days to diagnose the issue, and not without my help. But though the CPU and memory apparently survived the power hit when the MoBo fried.... the AGP Video Card did not - but we had NO idea at first... because the video card powered up on the bus, and gave him video and configured the new drivers. Problem was.... he could not add another single card to his new Mobo (no Network... no sound.... no nothing) until we finally decided to remove the Video card on a whim (apparently, it was corrupting the onboard MoBo power when plugged in, so nothing else could sync on the PCI bus).

Just an example of how difficult it can be to identify bad hardware. And like I said, even just moving a component through the air (in the right conditions), can fry a component.

I will presume you verified that the monitor cable is plugged in tightly and the card is seated firmly. The next thing I would try is an alternate PCI Video card until found one that works - just to confirm which part is giving me the problem. I know I have extra PCI vids lying around, but don't know if that helps you.

Hope the rest of the info is useful, and good luck!

First of all, thanks for the long clear intresting respond.

yes indeed , that is right.
and yes, it did power up, but after .... 5 seconds or something : the system would just freeze, no option left except resetting > and having the same problem over and over.

yeah, maybe this happent to me i dont know... i wasnt familiar with esd..

when i took the old MoBo out of the case and there wasnt any cable inserted in it, i dusted it of because there were really....... big packs of dust on the Mobo, so i took of the dust with my fingers (maybe it went wrong here? )
and i also cleaned the cpu fan because there was alot of dust in it, when i start my computer now it sounds better. i put it back in the way it was.

yeah i know, and everything was running like u say.
the new system, it just freezes after .. 5 - 15 seconds
and the old system (like it is now... i putted back in my old poor bad MoBo) runs perfectly... but my monitor just doesnt start up.

the cable is plugged in good, and i dont hav a card so it cant be loose or seated firmly...
(you forgot about that? or am i just being dumb and missing ur point?)

well yeah i was thinking the same thing but i dont have any pci video cards...



i was thinking.... maybe my computerscreen is just broken? not working anymore...

so i wanted to try the computer screen of this computer (its my dads) to test it on my own computer (the one with the poor specs)

but my dad wont let me ... he says no way i dont want the same happening to mine...
btw, i am only 15y/o so i dont have lots of money to buy a new MoBo or computerscreen or whatever...


I'm looking forward to hear from you again!

Thanks again !


Greeetz,


Philippe

Hi Phillipe,

Well, usually monitor screens are the last things to go. I would be very surprised if its your monitor. An orange or yellow light on the monitor indicates that it is powering on, but not getting a signal from the computer. If the monitor light is green, and you're not getting anything on the screen, then it may be possible its your monitor that has gone bad.

And yes, my apologies, I did forget you mentioned the old MoBo had an on-board video card.

Not sure what else to tell you except to ask some friends if they have any PCI video cards lying around that you can borrow for diagnostics, just until you can verify which parts are not working. Because if you can not get any video card to work, you may unfortunately have blown your MoBo when you dusted it. If not, maybe you can find a $5 or $10 video card on eBay.

Also, do you get any 'beep' codes from the system when you power it on? Those can be very helpful, but you'll need to look up what they mean depending on who made your MoBo.

Good Luck Phillipe.

i am sorry if i confused you,
but all i want on this moment, is getting my old mobo and computer to work.

i dont care about that free mobo and video card anymore, i just want my previous setup back, with the poor onboard video chip and 1400+ amd ...

so just to be clear :

my computerscreen has one colour ligh -green- and it blinks when in standby, and is full green when my computer is on.

after trying that new free mobo , and putting back in my old mobo ; this happens ;

when i press the power button of my computer, all the fans turn, my harddisks start up, and i recognise the sound of my computer starting up. believe me, ive heard that many times.
so my computer starts up normally, like always.
but my computerscreen stays behind. normally : when i press power on my computer, then my computerscreen starts up automaticly and the light is green.
but now, if i press power , my computer starts up as always, and the monitor light goes green for 5 - 7 seconds,the screen stays black... i hear a very silent 'tick' and he goes back to standy, with the green light blinkin (normal)

oh yea, btw the 'tick' is normal, i hear it every time that i turn my screen off or when my computer starts up ...

i dont get it and i'l try to get that pci video card..

i dont think this has anything to do with it, but a month or something ago there was a leak in my window, and there got water into my computer screen... i plugged it out, and left it alone for 1 day, and when i plugged it back in, it was working perfect like nothing happend. i dont think this has anything to do with it, because there wasnt anything wrong before i tried that free Mobo...

anyway thanks again for ur help and ur answers.


many greets,


philippe

Yes, Phillipe, the tick is ok on the monitor. The flashing green state you are referring to is the same as the orange state I referred to. As I said, I doubt it is the monitor...

Unfortunately, it seems that one of your original components has been damaged. What you need to do is figure out which one so you can replace just the one faulty component.

My guess is that your Mobo got fried. Again, do you hear any beep codes? These are critical in diagnosing system issues when you do not get any video initialization during BIOS boot.

All systems, if a speaker is connected, will beep once at boot-up to indicate that everything has initialized correctly prior to booting the O/S, regardless of whether or not your power supply gets an ok signal to stay powered on. If there is a problem on-board the MoBo, the system will issue a series of audible 'beeps' to indicate the failed component. The sequence of beeps is used to determine the diagnostic code. Three long beeps for example, indicates a bad video interface on most systems. These codes can significantly help you detemine what is wrong with your config.

A fried mobo can continue to send a shorted 'ok' signal to a power supply, and the system will not shut down, while your drives and other components initialize independently and sound normal. But the truth is in this case, the MoBo has failed to initialize the BIOS and nothing will boot nor will the video port send any output signal - that may be why your monitor is returning to standby mode.

Your next step is to....

get/listen for a beep code....

get a PCI video card... (and hope ONLY the video chip on the MoBo was damaged, and nothing else [possible, but unlikely])...

I hate to say it Phillipe, but between the apparent failure of the on-board video and what you mentioned about the dust removal, I think you will need to salvage what you can from both sets of equipment, and possibly come up with some money to afford some replacement hardware.

ok ive got an update:

my friend said ok sorry that free Mobo wasnt working properly i think, here is an other one.
the one i have now, is hes old MoBo. its a 1100 mhz , with agp port, onboard audio.

ok so now i have a new setup ... forgot all the previous bullshit.


specs :

1.1 ghz (amd athlon)
190 +- mb ram
40+20 gb hdd
cdr+cdrw
video card 64 mb



so, i replaced my old fried poor spec- MoBo by that new better 1.1ghz Mobo with the agp port.

and first, after i set up the bios and everything;he cant find windows.
thats ok, i said to myself. so i put in the winxp cd, to 'repair' it.
i boot from that cdrom and it says ; To auto repair windows installation press F2
so i press f2 and it says : please put in ur windows auto repair 3.5" disk.
i dont have that disk so tried to get into an other menu from the windows installation disk.
i reboot, and boot from winxp - cd.
when the cd is starting : i get an error code with really weird text in it.

it says something with hangtrap or something... i will note it later when i try again.

i was thinking... maybe its coincidence, i'l try again. so i tried again. and again. maybe 10 times. nothing worked.

but now , more bad news.

suddenly my monitor doesnt want to start up AGAIN.
i was extra-carefull because of the esd and all.. i didnt touch anything , and even if i did it wouldnt be because of that because it was working !! and SUDDENLY my monitor wasnt starting up.


why is it that every time i try a MoBo , after a few rebootings my monitor is dead?

i REALLY hope that 64mb video card isnt fried also, that would be reallllly shitty and also VERY weird.


greets,



philippe

elohir can u please help me i dont know what to do..

Hi Phillipe,

Well, from what I can tell at the point, I can think of two possibilities at the moment...

1. Your monitor is/has indeed gone bad, and is being inconsistent about its symptoms ( I HATE these kind of hardware errors); or

2. One of your components is not just bad, but sending out bad power signals that are incrementally overloading other components as you connect them. This is also a really lousy situation, but I have been there before, and actually know someone else currently in the same predicament. In this case, it is usually the power supply that is sending out random spike to other devices.

Unfortunately, that is the best I can tell you Phillipe without having access to other hardware. Your components need to be tested, and you may actually have a power issue in your home.... and now that I think about it.... is everything grounded (3-prong plugs AND outlets) that you are connecting (and I mean ALL devices). And do you have a UPS?

Not sure I will be able to help much more Phillipe, but let me know what else you find out, and I will see what I can do.

Elohir

I'm relatively new to posting on this board, so I hope that I'm at all beneficial.

There are a few questions I have, forgive me if you've already covered it and I missed it. From what I'm gathering, if you just turn your computer on and leave it alone, the screen turns off in 5-7 seconds. However, you apparently are able to keep it on longer if you are able to get into WinXP CD repair. Forgive me for saying this since I mean no offense, but I'm also assuming that since you're 15, you probably have a few basic things to learn about troubleshooting computers.

The question I had, is when you say you hear the sound of your computer starting up, do you mean the startup music of Windows, or just ticks and beeps from your computer?

If it's just clicks and beeps from your computer, the first thing I would check to see is if your two hard drives are setup correctly on MASTER/SLAVE (you have a 40 GB and a 20 GB?). You may have just gotten the hard drives mixed around. The hard drive that has Windows on it usually should be on the MASTER setting and should be in the middle port on your IDE ribbon. The other should be on the SLAVE setting and on the end of the ribbon. The ribbon for the hard drives is usually IDE1 on the motherboard.

If you actually are able to hear the Windows music and whatever that indicates that Windows has started up and it's blank, the first thing I would check then, is if you are able to get into safe mode without the monitor going blank. To do this, when you're computer is starting up, continually tap on the F8 key until a menu comes up. In the menu will be an option to get into safe mode.

If you can get into safe mode without any problems, that indicates to me that it's a driver problem or video card setting. You'll want to see if Windows is still trying to use the "new" video card or any of it's software even though it's no longer installed. Go into CONTROL PANEL -> SYSTEM -> HARDWARE -> DEVICE MANAGER. Is there a "!" under "Display adapters" or is the "new" video card still listed? If so, disable the "new" video card &/or reinstall the one you're using, whichever is appropriate. Also, go into CONTROL PANEL -> DISPLAY -> SETTINGS. Some of the new video cards have multiple displays. Make sure you're using your monitor as the "primary" display.

Unfortunately, if you can't get into safe mode without the monitor going blank, I'm running out of options. I would try to reinstall Windows from scratch (make sure you delete and create the partition, and don't just overwrite Windows) and hopefully that would work. I would certainly troubleshoot this more before saying that it's "hardware gone bad", unless of course, it's obvious. I would definitely check to see if your dad's monitor works, and I would tell him with all confidence that his monitor is in no danger or risk of being ruined just from trying it on your computer.

Well, I hope something I said helps in fixing your problem. I'll be back to check. Certainly, if you get further or find a solution, please post back here to let us all know.