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Jeffrey Makiel
07-03-2009, 11:17 PM
My Dell PC computer is completely dead. When I push the start button, nothing happens at all. No boot up at all. Not even a sound.

Just before this happened, I got a black screen with white text saying that the computer will restart in 24 seconds. It was an endless loop. I turned it off, and that was the end.

I'm guessing that the power supply is OK because it still powers a little green LED on the motherboard when it is plugged in.

Also, all the capacitors on the motherboard look fine (not bulged or leaking).

What would cause a computer to become stone dead?

-Jeff :)

James Harrison
07-03-2009, 11:52 PM
The green light may be on on the motherboard but still missing a voltage from the powersupply. You need to unplug the powersupply and check the voltages.

Stephen Tashiro
07-04-2009, 3:20 AM
Does the fan on the power supply turn when you press the power button?

Chuck Wintle
07-04-2009, 3:28 AM
yup, sounds like the power supply.

Jeffrey Makiel
07-04-2009, 8:52 AM
The power supply is dead quiet. No difference whether it is plugged in or not. No fan noise. Not warm to the touch.

How do you check the voltage from the power supply? There is a large harness coming from the power supply consisting of multiple wires in every color. Do I just randomly check pairs for voltage?

-Jeff :)

Chuck Wintle
07-04-2009, 9:03 AM
The power supply is dead quiet. No difference whether it is plugged in or not. No fan noise. Not warm to the touch.

How do you check the voltage from the power supply? There is a large harness coming from the power supply consisting of multiple wires in every color. Do I just randomly check pairs for voltage?

-Jeff :)

does the fan turn at all? How old is the computer? Can you get hold of another power supply to try in the computer?

Joe Pelonio
07-04-2009, 9:49 AM
That happened to a Dell I have a month after the warranty expired. I went to Fry's and got a new power supply for $29 and it's been fine since.

Dustin Lane
07-04-2009, 11:40 AM
Could also be the video card isn't seated properly. When I was swapping cases, the new case didn't seat the video cards very well and I had a very similar problem where my PC wouldn't even POST. Fans would still power up though.

You could try flipping the 115v/230v switch on the power supply from 115v to 230v then back to 115v. Some power supplies have an internal circuit breaker type dealy hooked up with that. That has helped me in the past.

Also could make sure RAM is seated. That might cause a similar issue with no apparent boot up.

Art Mulder
07-04-2009, 12:22 PM
First thing to try is the power supply.

paul cottingham
07-04-2009, 12:53 PM
Loose ram or loose video card will also cause the symptoms you describe. In my experience, if the power supply is dead, it likely damaged other stuff when it died. You may get it running, but I wouldn't trust it.

Jerome Hanby
07-04-2009, 1:37 PM
Last half dozen or so computers I've fixed have all been power supplies. Almost universally, the power supplies in modern PCs are crap. Spend a little more (about $70) and get an Antec that supplies at least 25 amps on the 5v and 3.3v lines. Or just cut to the chase, www to new egg and get an Antec 500 Watt Earth Watts power supply. You are going to think it's more supply than you need, but you will be dodging all kinds of problems. It's money well spent.

Frank Hagan
07-04-2009, 5:00 PM
You can check the power with a meter ... blacks are usually grounds, yellow is +12v and red is +5v on the 4 pin connectors. Some computers may use some non-standard leads; Compaq used to 15 years ago, anyway.


Pin Wire Color Signal 1 Yellow +12v, 2 Black Ground, 3 Black Ground, 4 Red +5v
There's more for the normal wire harness at http://www.computerhope.com/help/ps.htm

I recently had the same type of problem happen when I tried to use an adapter to connect a harddrive to a system I built for a HTPC (low end -- pics and music only). It uses 40 pin IDE drives and I was attempting to install a SATA drive using a SATA to IDE adapter. Without the jumper on the right pins for "slave", the system acted like there was a problem with the power supply ... the fan didn't even come on. Very strange. When I removed the SATA drive and adapter, the system booted back up.

Jeffrey Makiel
07-04-2009, 9:02 PM
I just ordered a new power supply via NewPowerSupply.com. They had the exact drop-in replacement for about $40 shipped.

I tried the red toggle thingy near the power plug. No dice.

I also check everything on the motherboard (memory, graphics card, sound card, network card, etc.). Everything seemed tight.

We shall see...

Thanks for the input,
-Jeff :)

paul cottingham
07-04-2009, 9:45 PM
I concur about the antec power supply. they are all we use in our new computers, for over 5 yearsnow and almost 0 trouble with them.

Cliff Rohrabacher
07-06-2009, 12:17 PM
That's dead as a doornail.

Nails on old school doors were hammered over from both sides so they were "dead"

Mike Henderson
07-06-2009, 12:55 PM
That's interesting to know. I always wondered where that saying came from.

Mike

Eric Larsen
07-06-2009, 9:03 PM
+1 new power supply.

Often it's cheaper to buy a whole new case, and put the guts into that.

Dan Mages
07-06-2009, 9:06 PM
Too bad you already ordered your new power supply. I highly reccomend the units sold by PC Power and Cooling. I have had a few of them and have never had a problem.

Dan

Michael Pyron
07-06-2009, 9:49 PM
odds are very high its the PSU...

other problems mentioned here will still allow the machine to power up and one will hear a series of beeps which will indicate which item is keeping the machine from POSTing...

David G Baker
07-06-2009, 11:53 PM
Dan M,
I agree, PC Power and Cooling sells some very good products, not cheap, but good.

Don Abele
07-07-2009, 9:07 PM
That's dead as a doornail.

Nails on old school doors were hammered over from both sides so they were "dead"


I read this thread because I'm a computer geek and thought I might contribute something (like saying that it sounds like you need a new power supply).

Instead, I learned a bit of odd trivia that's always made me wonder where the expression came from.

Thanks Cliff.

Be well,

Doc

EDIT: Staying off topic (sorry Jeff) - why were they hammered over from both sides?

Mike Henderson
07-07-2009, 10:38 PM
EDIT: Staying off topic (sorry Jeff) - why were they hammered over from both sides?

Here (http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-dea1.htm)'s one thing I found on the web.

It apparently goes back a long ways. Below copied from a web site:

++++++++++++++++++++++
This is old - at least 14th century. There's a reference to it in print in 1350:

"For but ich haue bote of mi bale I am ded as dorenail."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Mike

Jeffrey Makiel
07-13-2009, 6:53 AM
Well, I installed a new power supply. It breathed a little bit of life into the computer, but its still won't boot.

Now a get a black screen with white text stating: RV370 P/N 113-A62801-104 BIOS. I immediately get this screen with no further response or chance of entering BIOS or Windows.

Has anyone else experienced this message? A google search had limited info suggesting the memory or CPU may be shot?

-Jeff :)

Don Abele
07-13-2009, 11:36 AM
Jeff, I did a search and found that problem listed many times. In one instance it indicated a bad video card (the P/N number was the part number on the video card). In another it was bad memory. And in a couple more it was a bad processor.

So while I know that doesn't help, it appears that when your power supply went out, it took something else with it. It would be nice (and easy) if you had spares you could swap in and out to check the components. I keep old stuff on hand just for this.

I've been building my own systems for about 15 years now and I know how frustrating trouble shooting can be. Best of luck with it.

Be well,

Doc

Chuck Wintle
07-13-2009, 12:02 PM
Well, I installed a new power supply. It breathed a little bit of life into the computer, but its still won't boot.

Now a get a black screen with white text stating: RV370 P/N 113-A62801-104 BIOS. I immediately get this screen with no further response or chance of entering BIOS or Windows.

Has anyone else experienced this message? A google search had limited info suggesting the memory or CPU may be shot?

-Jeff :)

try disconnecting the various cables to the MB to try and isolate the problem. Start with the DVD or cd drives, the hard drive and see if it boots. You can remove the video card and, when you boot, you should get hear an audible error from the motherboard.

If you get it to boot further than just the first bit see if you can go into the BIOS.