Dead, It's ****ing dead.

halfeatenhotdog · 13th January 2007, 11:01 PM

I had just installed a new gfx card with dual monitor support and it worked perfectly. A few hours later it freezes, i restart and is greeted by "bad hardrive", i restart again, and it's dead. I mean dead, the powerlight in the back is not even green. It gets green when i plug out and plug in the cable, but as soon as i turn it on it goes dark and nothing happens.

Sounds like some kind of shortwire, does anyone know how to solve this? Nothing like this has ever happened to me before and i'm absolutely clueless about where to go from here.

bit mangler · 13th January 2007, 11:20 PM

try reseating the card..it happens sometimes

halfeatenhotdog · 13th January 2007, 11:29 PM

I've replaced it back to the one it had before. I've done all the basic stuff, still no power.

Improv · 14th January 2007, 10:10 AM

What's dead? Computer, Graphics card, Monitor?? Powerlight on what? Mac or PC? What's going on?

I'm assuming your computer will not boot with the new graphics card (or old one now). If this is the case, your computer is not dead. I'm still betting on poor seating of the card. Even if you've reseated it 10 times, with graphics cards it will work on the 11th. Try it again.

Also make sure you haven't bumped any other cards out of their sockets. I ruined a remote recording once by not properly screwing in the PCI card of my 2408...

"Why won't this &*$($^@#&*(@#^& thing boot????"

But when do you get the "hard drive failure" message exactly? Maybe you reset bios somehow and it's not reading your drives? We need more details

halfeatenhotdog · 14th January 2007, 12:53 PM

Hahha, accidentaly i also got a 2408, and i didn't properly screw it in, but that's another story. And yes, i'm on pc.

The light on the back, which confirms that the computer is getting juice (and should always be green when there's a powercord inserted), is dark. It gets green when you unplug and plug in the cord again, but as soon as you boot it, it goes dark and nothing happens.

The weird thing for me is that everything DID work perfect, then i got the "bad harddrive", and now it doesn't even start.

I did only change one thing in the bios, that was changing the grafic card from "onboard" to pci. Well, it was always PCI, and i DID use the same slot for the old and the new card... But there's no real way to fix this since it's not even accepting power.

What more info do you need? I really apprichiate this :).

I'm going to try to reseat and screw all the cards back, but is this really it?

7 Hz · 14th January 2007, 01:18 PM

* Unplug EVERYTHING from the motherboard, except the memory and power supply. With just mobo / memory / PSU, try to boot. If LED's come on, and then after a few seconds it starts to beep, then your mobo is still working. If no beep, reset the mobo BIOS (usually a jumper for that, check manual) and try again. Still no LED's / beeps, your mobo is dead, go buy another one.

* If mobo is working, plug things in one at a time. If it has onboard video, use that as a start. Boot again. Hopefully you will see something on the screen when you boot.

* Next put on the HDD, again see if it boots

* Etc one at a time until you have a working computer.

Video cards can short too easily if they aren't seated right. It IS possible to damage your computer doing this, so always be extra sure you have seated it right... look down the edge make sure its even. Some cards / modo's take a good push to seat properly.

BIOS can also get funny and corrupt sometimes with changing settings and esp video cards.

Good luck!

halfeatenhotdog · 14th January 2007, 01:44 PM

Thanks alot! I was hoping i didn't fry the motherboard, but damn, sure looks like it.

7 Hz · 14th January 2007, 04:42 PM

You can even take out the memory and try to boot, just in case you nudged the memory on the install. A mobo sitting on the carpet with nothing plugged in, just the PSU, should beep on attempted boot.

Video cards are tricky these days, there are a number of different standards, some of which use the same mobo connectors. It is possible you tried to use an incompatible video card, and that fried the mobo over time.

As said before, video card connectors are trick and IMHO bad design, they can short too easy.

It is possible it's your PSU rather than your MOBO, but hard to say without being there. Trouble is sometimes one part will fry another part, and subsiquent replacement parts :-/

halfeatenhotdog · 14th January 2007, 10:47 PM

It did work flawless for a few hours, if that's any help.
I'm going to do it tomorrow, but maybe i'll do it backwards.

Does the fact that the green light comes on when you insert the cable (and turns dark when you try to boot it) indicate on anything special?

And it was acutally an older card that was in my old computer, i just wanted to try it out, but i didn't have a screwdriver at the time so i just screwed it in using my fingers.

psycho_monkey · 14th January 2007, 11:34 PM

I'm no electronics whiz...but I understood that some devices (like power supplies) have a kind of built in safety devices that when they trip, have to be reset by disconnecting the electricity supply and reconnecting it.

Which kind of sounds like what your PSU is doing, and therefore points to a short somewhere...personally, my money's on a faulty PSU, but it's only a suggestion...I fully expect to be proved wrong!

halfeatenhotdog · 16th January 2007, 09:12 PM

Turns out it's the power supply AND the motherboard.

It's an older graphics card, i just wanted to try out dual monitors and had an old one lying around, and the new computer is has 1.5v agp, and the gfx card was a 3v one.

Well, i'm getting it fixed for a total of 210 bucks, and they will be done tomorrow.

Sucks that my car broke down so i didn't make it in time to get the real, new card from the shop that night.

Thanks everyone for the help though!

13th January 2007, 11:01 PM	#1
halfeatenhotdog Gear interested Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 11	Dead, It's ing dead. I had just installed a new gfx card with dual monitor support and it worked perfectly. A few hours later it freezes, i restart and is greeted by "bad hardrive", i restart again, and it's dead. I mean dead, the powerlight in the back is not even green. It gets green when i plug out and plug in the cable, but as soon as i turn it on it goes dark and nothing happens. Sounds like some kind of shortwire, does anyone know how to solve this? Nothing like this has ever happened to me before and i'm absolutely clueless about where to go from here.

14th January 2007, 01:18 PM	#6
7 Hz Lives for gear Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 931	* Unplug EVERYTHING from the motherboard, except the memory and power supply. With just mobo / memory / PSU, try to boot. If LED's come on, and then after a few seconds it starts to beep, then your mobo is still working. If no beep, reset the mobo BIOS (usually a jumper for that, check manual) and try again. Still no LED's / beeps, your mobo is dead, go buy another one. * If mobo is working, plug things in one at a time. If it has onboard video, use that as a start. Boot again. Hopefully you will see something on the screen when you boot. * Next put on the HDD, again see if it boots * Etc one at a time until you have a working computer. Video cards can short too easily if they aren't seated right. It IS possible to damage your computer doing this, so always be extra sure you have seated it right... look down the edge make sure its even. Some cards / modo's take a good push to seat properly. BIOS can also get funny and corrupt sometimes with changing settings and esp video cards. Good luck! __________________ "You're going to AMPLIFY this crap?!?!?"

14th January 2007, 04:42 PM	#8
7 Hz Lives for gear Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 931	You can even take out the memory and try to boot, just in case you nudged the memory on the install. A mobo sitting on the carpet with nothing plugged in, just the PSU, should beep on attempted boot. Video cards are tricky these days, there are a number of different standards, some of which use the same mobo connectors. It is possible you tried to use an incompatible video card, and that fried the mobo over time. As said before, video card connectors are trick and IMHO bad design, they can short too easy. It is possible it's your PSU rather than your MOBO, but hard to say without being there. Trouble is sometimes one part will fry another part, and subsiquent replacement parts :-/ __________________ "You're going to AMPLIFY this crap?!?!?"

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13th January 2007, 11:20 PM	#2
bit mangler Gear addict Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Motor City,USA Posts: 406	try reseating the card..it happens sometimes

13th January 2007, 11:29 PM	#3
halfeatenhotdog Gear interested Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 11	I've replaced it back to the one it had before. I've done all the basic stuff, still no power.

14th January 2007, 10:10 AM	#4
Improv Lives for gear Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Philadelphia, PA Posts: 1,366	What's dead? Computer, Graphics card, Monitor?? Powerlight on what? Mac or PC? What's going on? I'm assuming your computer will not boot with the new graphics card (or old one now). If this is the case, your computer is not dead. I'm still betting on poor seating of the card. Even if you've reseated it 10 times, with graphics cards it will work on the 11th. Try it again. Also make sure you haven't bumped any other cards out of their sockets. I ruined a remote recording once by not properly screwing in the PCI card of my 2408... "Why won't this &$($^@#&(@#^& thing boot????" But when do you get the "hard drive failure" message exactly? Maybe you reset bios somehow and it's not reading your drives? We need more details

14th January 2007, 12:53 PM	#5
halfeatenhotdog Gear interested Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 11	Hahha, accidentaly i also got a 2408, and i didn't properly screw it in, but that's another story. And yes, i'm on pc. The light on the back, which confirms that the computer is getting juice (and should always be green when there's a powercord inserted), is dark. It gets green when you unplug and plug in the cord again, but as soon as you boot it, it goes dark and nothing happens. The weird thing for me is that everything DID work perfect, then i got the "bad harddrive", and now it doesn't even start. I did only change one thing in the bios, that was changing the grafic card from "onboard" to pci. Well, it was always PCI, and i DID use the same slot for the old and the new card... But there's no real way to fix this since it's not even accepting power. What more info do you need? I really apprichiate this :). I'm going to try to reseat and screw all the cards back, but is this really it?

14th January 2007, 01:44 PM	#7
halfeatenhotdog Gear interested Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 11	Thanks alot! I was hoping i didn't fry the motherboard, but damn, sure looks like it.

14th January 2007, 10:47 PM	#9
halfeatenhotdog Gear interested Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 11	It did work flawless for a few hours, if that's any help. I'm going to do it tomorrow, but maybe i'll do it backwards. Does the fact that the green light comes on when you insert the cable (and turns dark when you try to boot it) indicate on anything special? And it was acutally an older card that was in my old computer, i just wanted to try it out, but i didn't have a screwdriver at the time so i just screwed it in using my fingers.

14th January 2007, 11:34 PM	#10
psycho_monkey Lives for gear Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: London Posts: 6,766	I'm no electronics whiz...but I understood that some devices (like power supplies) have a kind of built in safety devices that when they trip, have to be reset by disconnecting the electricity supply and reconnecting it. Which kind of sounds like what your PSU is doing, and therefore points to a short somewhere...personally, my money's on a faulty PSU, but it's only a suggestion...I fully expect to be proved wrong!

16th January 2007, 09:12 PM	#11
halfeatenhotdog Gear interested Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 11	Turns out it's the power supply AND the motherboard. It's an older graphics card, i just wanted to try out dual monitors and had an old one lying around, and the new computer is has 1.5v agp, and the gfx card was a 3v one. Well, i'm getting it fixed for a total of 210 bucks, and they will be done tomorrow. Sucks that my car broke down so i didn't make it in time to get the real, new card from the shop that night. Thanks everyone for the help though!