- Joined
- Aug 10, 2003
- Location
- UK
I came home from work to-day to find that my main computer had frozen (black screen, USB mouse light unilluminated, no response from numlock light, etc.). Pressing the "reset" button purported to reset it (drives flushed, etc.), but did not make the computer responsive (no POST beep; the speech error reporting stated "system failed CPU test"). Power cycling had no better effect. Having had this problem once before, and, after having removed all of the expansion cards, solved it by unplugging and later reconnecting the network cable, I did so, but this time to no avail.
Like last time I had this problem, I found that, when I looked inside the computer case, the little green LED that shines when the motherboard is recieving power from the PSU (i.e., when the PSU switch is on) turned off instantly when I turned off the PSU switch, unlike after several seconds while the capacitors discharge as it usually does. This is the exact same symptom as I had before, and, last time, removing the network cable reversed this trend (the light would stay on for a few seconds and then turn off with a little "eeep" sound), and, thereafter, the computer worked.
This time, however, removing the network cable had no effect, nor did removing all of the external cables apart from power, all of the internal expansion cards, the RAM, all cables connected to the motherboard other than the ATX power cable, and, eventually, the CPU. I have looked, and I cannot see any stray objects on the motherboard that might be causing a short circuit. I have blown off as much dust as I can, all to no avail.
I really have no idea what is causing this odd and very disturbing behaviour: I should be extremely grateful for any assistance. My system specifications are:
Asus P4C800E-Deluxe
P4 Northwood [email protected] (250Mhz FSB)
2x OCZ PC3700 Gold RAM (dual-channel, 1:1 FSB, actively cooled)
NVidia GeForce 6800 AGP
2x SATA HDD, 2x PATA CD/DVD devices
Windows XP Pro
Sound card
Digital TV card
Internet connected through external router
Like last time I had this problem, I found that, when I looked inside the computer case, the little green LED that shines when the motherboard is recieving power from the PSU (i.e., when the PSU switch is on) turned off instantly when I turned off the PSU switch, unlike after several seconds while the capacitors discharge as it usually does. This is the exact same symptom as I had before, and, last time, removing the network cable reversed this trend (the light would stay on for a few seconds and then turn off with a little "eeep" sound), and, thereafter, the computer worked.
This time, however, removing the network cable had no effect, nor did removing all of the external cables apart from power, all of the internal expansion cards, the RAM, all cables connected to the motherboard other than the ATX power cable, and, eventually, the CPU. I have looked, and I cannot see any stray objects on the motherboard that might be causing a short circuit. I have blown off as much dust as I can, all to no avail.
I really have no idea what is causing this odd and very disturbing behaviour: I should be extremely grateful for any assistance. My system specifications are:
Asus P4C800E-Deluxe
P4 Northwood [email protected] (250Mhz FSB)
2x OCZ PC3700 Gold RAM (dual-channel, 1:1 FSB, actively cooled)
NVidia GeForce 6800 AGP
2x SATA HDD, 2x PATA CD/DVD devices
Windows XP Pro
Sound card
Digital TV card
Internet connected through external router