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Hurricane Rita Casualty?

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DoctaD

Registered
Joined
Sep 26, 2005
Out community's power went out as a result of Hurricane Rita, and now my computer wont start. The computer (Antec TruPower 430, Abit AI-7, P4 2.4, Corsair XMS ram) was on an APC UPS/Surge Protector when the power was lost, and now it will just begin to power up for about 1sec. then shut down and restart itself and the loop contiunues until switched off. It never even gets to a POST screen. Error codes on the Motherboard report as 0.1...8.3...F.
I've tried various troubleshooting methods such as resetting the CMOS, and removing the battery, Switching the RAM around ( single and double stick variations), etc.
Any suggestions. Is this most likely a PSU problems, or a Mainboard problem?
Is there an easy what to check?

Thanks in advance,
Dean
 
^^^ that was helpful :D

anyways if its the PSU then get a psu tester......basically....or get a paperclip and just jump the psu without plugging it into the mobo

if the psu works, then it prbably is the mobo or cpu, if you have another rig, test everything in that.....thats basically it
 
unplugg the power cord (completely, not just turn the compute off), reset the CMOS...then try.

If that doens't work, take out an reseat all the PCI/AGP/RAM....then try different RAM slots...then maybe try a new PSU.

Some things don't make sense with computers...just trying dump stuff often works
 
**off topic** <------sorry


NO OFFENSE TO 9mm ...... but it seems thats all you do is welcome people to the forums..... YAY i like being welcomed !!! seriously though its nice to see people being nice for once
 
I was about to come in here and bash you for not putting the topic in gd :( BUT NO! YOU HAVE TO BE CLEVER AND PERSONIFY YOUR COMPUTER!

btw Welcome to the forums :p

Try booting with no hardware in whatsoever. If you have another psu, stick that in there to make sure its not a dead psu. I'd say its more than likely your mobo or psu, so test those two first (use another psu with the mobo / start the psu without the mobo)
 
Welcome to the fourms bro!! :cool:

Its probally your psu like everyone else is saying. If you have a spare psu you could swap and try, that might solve your problem. When you push the power button, do the fans move or anything?
 
Thanks for the replies and for the welcome. Sorry I didn't originally post in the GH section. It just seemed as those with the most knowledge and interest in PSUs were in the cooling section.
I will see if I can get hold of another PSU to try. I don't have a specific PSU tester, but do have a Multimeter, if someone would help guide me how to use it to test properly.
And, yes when I push the power button the fans (PSU, Case, and MB fans) all begin to power up, then just quit and then re-start the cycle again. I've swapped the RAM in and out and every-which-way but nothing changes. I've not tried removing other cards yet.

Again, thanks.

Dean
 
DoctaD said:
Error codes on the Motherboard report as 0.1...8.3...F.

What MOBO (i.e. what BIOS)? And just to clarify-is this the order you see these error codes? And are you seeing 01, 83, F or 0, 1, 8, 3, F?

Can I figure you do not hear any system beeps in the one second that it's powering up?
 
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FlailBoy,
I cannot remember which BIOS, but it is an ABIT AI-7 board. And, Yes, that is the order of the error codes - 01, 83, F with a green light initially, and then a beep somewhere in the sequence (I cannot tell you exactly at what point), with a red light, then shut down...restart of the sequence loop.

Dean
 
Another thought is to try with no ram installed at all. If the reboot is happening after the part where the bios checks ram it will beep at you one repeating beep and probably not restart, this would signify a problem with another device plugged in. If it keeps doing the same thing though then the problem is before the bios checks ram/video/other hardware and it's a mobo/PSU problem.

Since you are getting error codes on the screen I'm thinking it has already went through video and ram and is hitting a snag at some other hardware. But I'm dumb ^^.
 
Here's a link to some post code stuff. I think it's the Award BIOS 6.0, but I'm not really sure.

POST codes

bert202 said:
Another thought is to try with no ram installed at all. If the reboot is happening after the part where the bios checks ram it will beep at you one repeating beep and probably not restart, this would signify a problem with another device plugged in. If it keeps doing the same thing though then the problem is before the bios checks ram/video/other hardware and it's a mobo/PSU problem.

Since you are getting error codes on the screen I'm thinking it has already went through video and ram and is hitting a snag at some other hardware. But I'm dumb ^^.

Yeah this is worth a try. The fact that you're geting a beep is a least something. Next time it happens, try to remember where you hear the beep and whether it's long/short or might be several beeps strung together.

The PSU is a possible culprit. If you've got another one, try it. If you don't, try unplugging it from the MOBO header and firing it up disconnected. Then power it down and try plugging it back in to the mobo (I don't know why things like that work-sometimes they just do).

Try unplugging the CPU fan from the board and see if the same thing happens. Then plug it back in and try again (or try a different CPU fan). Obviously if you get the thing to boot don't keep it on any longer than you need to get into BIOS and disable/change the fan speed shutdown.
 
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Why not try the usual?

Reset the APC Unit, Unplug the PSU hit the power button to power it down then flip the switch on the back(This resets the safety inside the unit), take out the CMOS battery and set the Clear CMOS jumper to clear. Do all this wait about 5 mins and set it back to normal and try to power it on.
 
bert202 said:
Another thought is to try with no ram installed at all. If the reboot is happening after the part where the bios checks ram it will beep at you one repeating beep and probably not restart, this would signify a problem with another device plugged in. If it keeps doing the same thing though then the problem is before the bios checks ram/video/other hardware and it's a mobo/PSU problem.

Since you are getting error codes on the screen I'm thinking it has already went through video and ram and is hitting a snag at some other hardware. But I'm dumb ^^.

I've tried with and without the RAM and other cards installed.
I get one single, short beep.
And, I'm not getting to the Video, the codes are reported on a Mainboard LED.
THanks,
Dean
 
FlailBoy said:
Here's a link to some post code stuff. I think it's the Award BIOS 6.0, but I'm not really sure.

POST codes



Yeah this is worth a try. The fact that you're geting a beep is a least something. Next time it happens, try to remember where you hear the beep and whether it's long/short or migh be several beeps strung together.

The PSU is a possible culprit. If you've got another one, try it. If you don't, try unplugging it from the MOBO header and firing it up disconnected. Then power it down and try plugging it back in to the mobo (I don't know why things like that work-sometimes they just do).

Try unplugging the CPU fan from the board and see if the same thing happens. Then plug it back in and try again (or try a different CPU fan). Obviously if you get the thing to boot don't keep it on any longer than you need to get into BIOS and disable/change the fan speed shutdown.

Thanks for the CODE list and suggestions. The beep is a single, short beep.
I took out my PSU and plugged it into my Computer at work, and it seems to power up appropriately, so I think my MB is probably the culprit.
I thinks I will need to upgrade my computer now, so I'm going to do a search re: best upgrade path. I may also post a new thread asking for suggestions about my best options.

Again, thanks so much for your help.

Dean
 
Tebore said:
Why not try the usual?

Reset the APC Unit, Unplug the PSU hit the power button to power it down then flip the switch on the back(This resets the safety inside the unit), take out the CMOS battery and set the Clear CMOS jumper to clear. Do all this wait about 5 mins and set it back to normal and try to power it on.

I testing with straight house current, not going through my APC unit. I've already done all of the CMOS clearing and battery removal/replacement.
THanks for the suggestions, though (see previous posts)

Dean
 
One last thing I haven't seen suggested...

You might have already done this-but have you tried holding down the Ins key as you turn on the power? Keep holding it down until it gets you to BIOS or does the restart thing you describe.

And I sent this over to Abit Intel mobos to see if anyone knew anything there. I really have no more ideas on this one. :shrug:
 
:eek: Ok I dont know much but this sounds similar to the problem I had. On the IC7 Max 3 I currently owned, week ago or so, I did something to it. Anyway, When I turned it on, it would just Come on, spin some fans, light up and look pretty, then shut off, this was just for a split second, the fans really just kind of jittered, and the light came on, then off, basically the time it takes to push the button then release. Tested the switch, it was good, tested psu, it was good obviously it came on. Switched CPUs they were fine, Kind of sounds like a MOBO to me, because I ended up Frying my Board, Id rather Pros respond to me on this one before Poor Doctad assumes this to be true. But im not sure about the APC unit portion, Could it be just restarting it over and over again because thats what It does when the power kills it?? and Can ya turn the APC unit off then try, if it does what happened to me then that might be it. If im an Idiot and should shutup please tell me so, Thanks. Just trying to help. :eek:
 
Flailboy,
Already tried the Insert Key....nothing.

ApocalypseGZ,
The problem is the same whether hooked up to the APC or just straight house current.
The problem you describe, however, sounds the same as mine. I think its probably the MOBO.

Any chance this can be RMA'd to Newegg ( I've had it a while) or am I out of luck?

Dean
 
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