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No display, no power to usb devices

Discussion in 'Tech Support' started by wrath, 26 Nov 2007.

  1. wrath

    wrath What's a Dremel?

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    Hey,

    I built a computer about three months ago (late august) with the following parts.

    Asus P5K Deluxe/Wi-Fi App (BIOS version 0404)
    Intel Q6600 (no overclocking)
    Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme heatsink, Scythe S-Flex SFF21
    EVGA 8800 GTX
    2GB Corsair Dominator PC8500 (2x1GB)
    2x Western Digital Raptor 150GB in Raid 1
    2x Western Digital SE16 750GB
    2x Lite-on LH-20A1H
    Antec P182 Performance One
    Seasonic S12 Energy Plus 650

    It worked great for a while, running XP Pro SP2 (32-bit) under moderately heavy use. It was pretty much consistently running; I'd restart it only for software reasons. Other than that, it was always on (mostly).

    About a week ago, I turned it off to go home for thanksgiving. When I came back yesterday, reconnected the power, and hit the power button, all the hardware started whirring (the power l.e.d. on the motherboard lit up, the hard drives started spinning, the fans (case fans, fans over the memory, power supply fans, and the gtx's fans) turned on) but nothing plugged in to the case did anything. No picture on the monitor, no lights on the keyboard or mouse, no sound through the speakers. I do have an external hard drive, a WD MyBook 250 GB (which is plugged in, not powered via USB); it spun up as if the computer were turning on normally, but then went in to its power-saving mode, and eventually powered down.

    After pressing the power button, the power light on the front comes on and stays on; the hard drive activity light comes on for about three to four seconds then turns off and stays off. (no flickering like it ususally does when booting properly).

    I've tried everything I can think of. I restarted at least a dozen times - exact same result each time. I gave the computer a thorough going over with air duster; no fan is clogged or blocked, and everything is running cool. I tried removing everything except the monitor and power cables (no usb, speakers, ethernet, or wireless) and nothing changed. I've tried using different usb ports and using the other DVI output on the videocard - nothing. I've opened up the case, and double-checked all the connections; everything is tight, all the power cables are in, all connections are snug.

    I'm not sure exactly what BIOS version I have; since I can't get any image, I can't check. I do know that I flashed the most recent version in early september, and haven't changed since then.

    I'm out of ideas; any suggestions? By the way, this is my first 'tech support' post; if there's some other info I should have given, please tell me.



    Wrath
     
  2. wrath

    wrath What's a Dremel?

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    I forgot to mention, both optical drives are powered - or at least, they'll open and close normally. WHen I put a disk in, they light up properly and start to spin.

    Don't know if it's relevant or not.
     
  3. wsurritte

    wsurritte What's a Dremel?

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    try clearing your CMOS.
    (using the jumper or these steps: 1.) Remove CMOS Battery 2.) Unplug power and let it set for a few minutes 3.)replace battery and power up.)
     
  4. wrath

    wrath What's a Dremel?

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    Can I ask why?

    Clearing the CMOS takes a lot of effort - the battery is covered by the graphics card, and I can't get to the graphics card without removing some hard drives. I'll do it, if you're pretty sure it'll help, but getting them all in there took about half an hour last time, and I'm also worried about damaging the card through excessive handling.
     
  5. wrath

    wrath What's a Dremel?

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    Decided to try it anyway. Removed the video card, as well as all SATA cables and the floppy cable (since they were in the way). Took out the battery, set the jumpers to clear the CMOS RTC RAM data, waited five minutes, put everything back together. No change - system still turns on, hard drives spin up, fans turn on, but no display. I'm currently trying again, having removed the battery and power cord, and hit the power button several times while grounding the power supply. I'll leave it like this overnight, and see if it helps.

    Any other ideas?
     
  6. danskmacabre

    danskmacabre What's a Dremel?

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    Have you got a spare PSU or borrow one from a friend?
    If so, try replacing the PSU first.

    I built a system a couple of months back and the PC would crash when playing games. I tried all sorts of things.
    In the end I changed the PSU, turns out even though it was brand new and windows would basically run, the PSU was not providing anywhere near the power it was rated to provide.
    Witht eh new PSU everything ran perfectly.

    Failing that, you could remove all the parts off your Mobo and boot it up bit by bit checking the error codes via beeps or whatever lights you have on your Mobo.
    Then add the parts one by one, checking the bootup sequence.
    Eventually you should find what the problem is, unless your Mobo is fragged I guess.

    some time back I had a power surge which fried my whole system (yeah I had a power surge protector, but it didn't work), bummer, hope it isn't that.
     
  7. wrath

    wrath What's a Dremel?

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    Solved. Turns out one of the sticks of memory croaked. Took it out, computer started right up. Just to be sure, I tried both sticks in different slots; one stick always worked, the other never did. I don't know what would cause one stick of memory to die - especially since I wasn't even using the computer at the time. I guess I'll try to RMA it now, if it's not too late.
     
  8. ViperThunder

    ViperThunder What's a Dremel?

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    same problem here

    a friend's comp doesn't work anymore-- it turns on, lights up, fans kick on, but the Mouse[usb], keyboard[usb], and monitor do not seem to work.

    the monitor light just remains yellow. the keyboard lights up for a split second when i plug it in but thats all. no response from the mouse either.
    no beeps from the mobo. the comp appears to boot up fine.

    i have tried what wrath did by removing the RAM and still have the same problem...

    setup as follows:
    windows vista ultimate
    corsair xms2 extreme 2x 1GB in dual channel
    geforce 8800gts
    intel core 2 quad q6600
    850W antec power supply


    any help would be appreciated... im wondering if i should i just take it to a repair shop to find out what is wrong, because with the parts i have, i dont want to risk messing anything up.
     

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