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HellSavior
Posts: 38/41 |
No, no, no..
You want to go to the hardware monitoring (often named PC Health Status or something of the like) section in the BIOS; in it are numbers, three of them corresponding to +3.3V, +5V, and +12V.
You do NOT need to change any of the values, and you should NOT change any of the values in the BIOS. All you want to do is look in the pc health section to see what your voltage rails are. |
HyperLamer
Posts: 2960/8210 |
Originally posted by Colin
Hm... That ALWAYS happened with my Celeron computer since day 1, but I always just chalked it up to crappy design. (If I turned off my PC with a shut down, I need to wait a minute for the power switch to register being turned on.
Most PCs will do this if you don't let the capacitors discharge (mine included), but it shouldn't take more than a few seconds. (A lot of things do this, actually. Even GBAs.  )
If you're going to try replacing other parts, I suggest that you try to find the problem by removing one device at a time until it works. (Make sure you put them back in of course.) This means everything - CPU, RAM, etc until you get some indication that there are no problems other than whatever you removed not being there. That should tell you what the problem most likely is, but keep trying anyway. If two or more devices seem to be causing the problem, it could be a compatibility issue.
As for your BIOS settings, can you actually set those? You probably shouldn't play around with them, if they're voltage settings for the memory and AGP (graphics card port). |
Darth Coby
Posts: 1054/1371 |
I went into BIOS power management and there were 3 values, 1,5 and 2x 2,5, the latter two were something with dimm and agp voltage. Is that it? |
HellSavior
Posts: 37/41 |
The X800 Pro is most likely your culprit. Try swapping in another video card and I will almost guarantee that your problems will be fixed.
Normal railings? +3.3V, +5V, +12V is all within 10%, the closer to the railings the better. |
Darth Coby
Posts: 1051/1371 |
Hmm, I'll check the power supply, what are normal values or what do I need to look for in the BIOS? Also, I have an x800 Pro too, but I'll first check the power supply, I still have warranty anyway so I'll get the parts replaced for free. |
Colin
Posts: 6245/11302 |
Hm... That ALWAYS happened with my Celeron computer since day 1, but I always just chalked it up to crappy design. (If I turned off my PC with a shut down, I need to wait a minute for the power switch to register being turned on.
Then again, being a Compaq... |
HellSavior
Posts: 35/41 |
There are a multitude of possible problems (and to that extent, solutions) regarding your 'little' annoyance. My past experience with this was a partially malfunctioning X800 Pro (which, I assume, had a bad solder somewhere which would only connect when the graphics card was warm enough); the computer would only boot when it reached a specified temperature (it was around 40C for me). Swapping to another graphics card did the trick.
I suggest you try swapping parts around and see what the culprit is, because quite frankly it's close to impossible to pinpoint what the problem is. However, you can try checking the power supply voltage railings and see if they're at alright levels (you can check this in the BIOS). The three most prevalent issues that can give the same symptoms you describe is a failling CPU (Although highly unlikely since your motherboard should be beeping to alert you of a bad/dying CPU), a poor power supply, or in my case (and an obscure one too!) a dying video card. Memory that is about to go bad (or already is bad) should at least allow you to POST.
It might be at your benefit to purchase a bunch of parts at Fry's (or another store where components can be easily refunded), and try out each part until you find out what is causing your computer's problem.
EDIT: Your hard drives only spin ONCE when you POST, that is to recognize the device. It might be inaudible, as it might be in this case.
EDIT.. again : I sped through this post and didn't fully read the responses. You say that your DVD/CD drives do not work when it is at this state; it is most likely a power supply problem then. You still might want to purchase a power supply at an easily-refundable store just to be on the safe side, however. |
HyperLamer
Posts: 2937/8210 |
That's your biggest hint there... The HDs should start up as soon as there's power to them, regardless if it's connected to anything. Just in case, try it with the IDE cables disconnected, to eliminate the possibility that your CPU is telling them to do something funny.
And BMF, why is your avatar still wearing a Santa hat?  |
BMF98567
Posts: 575/1261 |
It's probably the power supply. A similar thing happened to my computer last year...if I turned it off and left it off for a few hours, it would often take several tries to start it back up again. The fans and hard drives would spin up, but there would be no other activity. Replacing the power supply completely fixed the problem.
You said the hard drive doesn't start when you turn on the power...that would seem to indicate a power supply problem, since hard drives normally spin up regardless of CPU activity. |
Darth Coby
Posts: 1049/1371 |
It's an AMD 64bit 3200+ and I don't have it for very long yet, so I don't really think it's a cpu problem. |
neotransotaku
Posts: 1939/4016 |
For me, it was a CPU thing since I got my new CPU and it put it in and my computer is back again  So yeah, maybe your CPU is now out of date and you can upgrade to a new one |
Darth Coby
Posts: 1047/1371 |
The power light comes on, the HDD doesn't start, DVD Drives don't work and I'm not sure about the fan thing, I'll have a closer look at that tomorrow (it being 12 AM now) |
HyperLamer
Posts: 2923/8210 |
Hmm... Does the power light come on? The HDDs start up? CD-ROM still opens? If they don't, it's probably a power supply problem. Also, if any fans connected to the motherboard won't start, that's another sign. You should probably look at the CPU first though. |
Darth Coby
Posts: 1046/1371 |
But my CPU isn't even one year old :o Yeah, I still have warranty for some 1.5 year or something.
Xkeeper:
It has done this since err.. I don't know, it just started doing it (quite some time ago though, like a month or three)
I also haven't done anything to the computer recently (well, I put in a second HDD to copy some files, but that's all and it was doing this way before anyway) and no, there are no other problems, the computer has crashed once or twice in all the time I had it. |
Tarale
Posts: 1144/2720 |
Hmm... I was going to say motherboard, but then that's what my PC was doing when I first had my upgrade, and so I replaced the motherboard and it worked. But it could be CPU too from the sounds of it...  |
neotransotaku
Posts: 1935/4016 |
Originally posted by Coby
Nope, no beep at all. Nothing works, only the fans start spinning.
Your CPU is on it's way out--that is what happened to mine after having the same stuff happen with my computer. My Athlon 1800 died about three weeks ago. Because I had it for only two years, the three year limited warranty was still valid. So, I called up AMD and they handled the replacement of my CPU from there. So, check to see if your CPU is still under warranty. If so, I suggest you take advantage of it. My Athlon 1800 was upgraded to a Athlon 2200.
Oh yeah, if you want to force turn off a computer without cutting power to the power supply, hold the power-on button for several seconds. |
Xkeeper
Posts: -2684/-863 |
If nothing happens after the successful boot (no problems like strange shutdowns or whathaveyou), that'd be wierd.
How long has it done this?
Have you done anything to the computer recently?
Have there been any other problems recently?
(and as far as I know, it is bad to use that switch on the back of your computer; sort of like constantly flipping a lightbulb on and off, it doesn't like that very much) |
Darth Coby
Posts: 1040/1371 |
Nope, no beep at all. Nothing works, only the fans start spinning. |
HyperLamer
Posts: 2915/8210 |
Sounds like your CPU or RAM might be screwed up. Does it beep at all? |
Darth Coby
Posts: 1038/1371 |
Well, my computer has this booting problem, when I have a cold boot it usually takes around 5-20 retries (hold the button for 7 seconds, wait a little, retry), anyway, I've found that when I try to boot my PC and it doesn't work, then I can press the power switch on the back, wait a little so that when I flip the switch back it continues booting (like 0.2 seconds, any longer will need another push of the button on the front). Anyway, when I do this, once or twice the computer boots. This is way faster, but isn't cutting the power for a short amount of time and then bringing it back bad? Note that the only thing running when my PC doesn't boot are the fans. |
