IT experts wanted

[Jen]

:hi: Hi guys i need some IT help :help: and i know i have come to the best place on the web ;):lol:

My old desktop computer has finally died (i think)
A month ago i bought myself a laptop :thumbsup: woohoooo (love it)
oops anyway my poor old sad computer must have felt let down and has decided not to work no more :help:

I turn it on power supply seems fine fan seems fine makes 3 beeping noises and there is nothing on the screen :eyepop: (nothing at all)
What could it be?:screwy: I need to fix this because all the family use that computer and i get the laptop all to myself :lol: But since the old computer has stopped working they all want to use my laptop :mad2: and i dont want to share it :lol::lol::lol:

Oh its running XP 512meg of ram and one bloody full 80gig hard drive :lol:

Thanks guys any help would be very much appreciated :thumbsup:
Is it time to bury it or is it fixable to go on a little longer LMAO ;)

:help::help::help:

[michaellxv]

Jen,

The 3 beeps will be telling you what has gone wrong but will be specific to the type of PC you have. If you have a manul that came with it that may tell you what 3 beeps means.

Otherwise what is the PC? As much detail as you can. Then we can look it up.

If you have nothing on the monitor then could be one of the following.
- monitor is dead
- video card in the PC is dead
- monitor has simply become unplugged from the PC

Check all the cable connections. Unplug them all and put them back in.

You may be able to connect the monitor to your new laptop to test it.

Michael

[Omaroo]

It depends on what BIOS your machine is running Jen. When first turned on, can you catch one of the following names that will appear within the first few seconds? Watch carefully for an escape key sequence (esc, F2, Del or other) that is shown to you quickly to put your machine into BIOS setup. You should see the BIOS manufacturer named at that point. I'm presuming AMI in your case. If it is, then maybe re-seat (or have someone familiar with the process) memory to see if it clears the problem. If not, try swapping memory modules around. At least it'll indicate a memory problem if the symptom changes.

[Jen]

Hey guys i dont have no manuls for the computer as it was built from scratch :shrug:
I will do the monitor check now i have a spare :thumbsup:

And Chris the computer screen has nothing at all appear on it to even go and check out the bio or go to safe mode :confused2:

I'' be back soon with another update

:thanx::thanx:

[michaellxv]

If you open up the case the BIOS usually has a sticker on it which will identify it. Look for one of the names in Chris's post.

[Screwdriverone]

Hi Jen,

This sounds to me (as I have had this happen a number of times myself) that the video card is faulty or not plugged in properly, or has dust in the slot (probable).

If you know how to take the case off (either the side panel or the whole thing) then do the following.

1) Unplug the power cord from the PC
2) Unscrew the screws holding the case on.
3) Take the case off.
4) Find the Video card (where the monitor plugs in to the main box).
5) Unplug the monitor cable from the back of the video card, you will need to unscrew the two side screws on the cable to unplug it.
6) Unscrew the retaining screw that holds it into the card slot.
7) Firmly grasp the card and pull it out of the slot that it is in. (Make sure you remember where you got it from)
8) Check to see if the card slot has dust or gunk in it and blow it away or use a paint brush to dust it off.
9) Plug the video card back into the slot, make sure that it "clicks" in and the card holder bracket lines up with the screw hole.
10) Screw the card back down with the screw you removed before.
11) Plug the monitor cord back in and lightly tighten the side screws.
12) Plug the power cord back in.
13) Before you put the case back on, turn on the PC and see if it boots up. If it doesn't, then I suspect that the video card is DEAD and you will need to buy a new one. If it DOES boot up, then GREAT!, wait for it to boot up, then shut it down again and put the case back on.

Take the video card with you to the computer shop / Harvey Norman etc. and but a new one that is the same type as the dead one. A similar one should probably be about $20-$60, depending on the type.

I hope this works for you, as I said, I have had a few older PC's with exactly the same problem and if the video card was dead, the PC would boot, cycle its drives and then go beep beep beep, beep beep beep, and there would be NO video display at all. This normally HALTS the boot up sequence and this sounds a lot like what you have.

Good luck, this is a quite simple thing to replace but if the new video card doesn't work, then it might be good to have bought the card from say, Harvey Norman who can refund it if this is not the problem.

Cheers

Chris

[Jen]

Ok i swapped monitors and no change :rolleyes:
Opened up the inside of computer and woah do i need to do a bit of spring cleaning in there :lol: Ok blew out the dust with a make up brush hehe
Checked out the video card and it has a little fan attached to it that no longer spins (its very stiff) pulled that apart cleaned it up but still wont spin :mad2:
Its a GeForce 4 MX440


:hi::hi: Gday Chris ;)

[Screwdriverone]

HI Jen,

If the fan is not spinning then it could be because the card has no power on it because its power supply is faulty. If the fan plugs into the video card itself then if the power on the card is not working, then neither will the fan. It could be that the fan got clogged with dust and stopped, which caused the card to overheat and then it failed.

Have you tried to remove the card, blow out the dust and then replace it? Try that, and if still no joy, I think it might be time to but a new one.

Good luck computer newbie...

Cheers

Chris.

[DavidU]

The broken fan prob cooked the video CPU.
Here is a bargain
http://melbourne.gumtree.com.au/c-Stuff-for-Sale-computers-software-Nvidia-GeForce4-MX440-SE-Tv-out-AGP-64mb-DDR-video-card-W0QQAdIdZ167187139

[Jen]

:thanx::thanx:
Hey thanks Chris yeah the fan plugs in the video card.
I gave it a good clean out but the fan still wont spin so im guessing its time for me to go video card shopping tomorrow :rolleyes:
Thanks guys i knew you would help me your legends cheers :thumbsup::thumbsup:
This place rocks ;)
:D

[Jen]

:hi: gday Dave yeah it sure sounds like a bargin but the picture on the box they are showing says its a GeForce2 MX400 :screwy: that dosnt match their description :question:

[mithrandir]

If it is an AGP card, a new card may not be that cheap, and stocks might be limited.

Jen, you didn't say what the BIOS was. Depending on the BIOS some of them beep before they even put the branding up on screen. See if you can find the motherboard brand (it will be silk screened on the board) and the BIOS brand (it will be printed on the chip and include a name, not just a part number).

You might also be at the cut your losses point. With old systems, once one bit fails others may not be far behind. You can get a complete new system, faster with more memory and disk and a warranty, without monitor for a few hundred $, and copy your files off the old disk. Replacing a CRT monitor with an LCD might reduce the overall power consumption too.

Andrew (when it comes to computer hardware, professional pessimist)

[Jen]

:hi::hi: Hi Andrew well after cleaning up my video card it still wouldnt spin but oh my it wasnt even on for 1 minute and yep the thing was very hot :eyepop:

Ok my Bios is American Megatrends Inc 07.00T04/02/01

Is that what you need :thumbsup:
:thanx:

[supernova1965]

Hi Jen

Thought you might enjoy a funny computer tech story this guy came into a computer repair shop saying that his computer wasn't working and that he had cleaned it out with his vacuum cleaner. The Tech went white and when he opened the case all the capacitors had been knocked off the MainBoard the processor fan ripped off the heatsink really just total destruction the Tech apparently was in tears I am not sure whether they were of laughter or pain.:rofl::rofl::screwy:

[mithrandir]

Chris's list of AMI beep codes points to three beeps being a memory error, but with the fan on the video card not spinning, you might have two issues, or the video might be the root cause.

Your GeForce4 MX 440 is an NVidia AGP 8x card. If you want to stick with one of those you'd probably have to find it 2nd hand. There are other cards that will fit the bill, they just make it a bit more complex because you have to change video drivers.

[Omaroo]

Yes Andrew - I think that the AMI bootstrap processor (BSP) checks base and extended memory ahead of video initialization - hence the 3 beeps pointing to memory. Jen - American Megatrends is "AMI" - therefore I believe that you have a memory problem as described, maybe in addition to others.

It probably doesn't even get to the point of firing up the video logic and monitor which is a lower-order peripheral that is not really even required to run the machine (i.e. headless).

Does anyone have a device initialization order table?

I think that there are two problems here too - and a stuck fan because of dust indicates that you have to clean your machine once in a while Jen! LOL!

[Jen]

:eyepop::eyepop: oh my thats hilarious :rofl::rofl:

[Jen]

Thanks Andrew :thumbsup: But i think i need to check out the amount of beeps again today i thought i heard more than three :screwy::screwy:

If its a memory problem how can i fix that when i cant get in there :shrug::(
Would ebay be the go to get one of those cards or not a good idea ;)

[michaellxv]

Well youv'e gone this far.

If you have more than one memory stick on the PC try booting it up with only one in. If you have faulty memory this will identify which one. It is also a long shot that simply removing and reinserting the memory will give the contacts a bit a clean and cure the problem.

Components for these old machines can still be found but probably not in the mainstream stores. Look for the small independant store that you normally wouldn't go into.

[Jen]

:lol::lol: LOL thanks for that hot tip Chris i will remember that in the future
From now on at daylight savings start/end i will change smoke alarm batteries and spring clean my computer :lol::thumbsup:

[Clayton]

Hi Jen,
I have a brother, a brother in law, and a nephew in Swan Hill that all work in IT (for different employers) I am sure (almost:P) that one of then would be able to give you some help, and may have a suitable replacement part in their "spares box". Probably for nix, but I don't want to presume too much :)
If you wish I can email them to test the waters ;)

[Jen]

:eyepop: cool Clayton that would be awsome ;) its worth a shot :thanx:

[Clayton]

I'm on the case:question::P:thumbsup:

[erick]

And if your vacuum cleaner will do it, try to blow rather than suck! Get it outside and then blast away - you'll move a lot more dust and dirt that way. (And with a lower risk of damaging components, I believe.) And you'll soon know whether the fans are turning since give them a blast of air and you will see them spin up.

[mithrandir]

Or you could take Duncan up on his for sale http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=53265

All you might have to to would be transfer your files. Your disk can be plugged in to the newer box and you'd have two disks.

[White Rabbit]

Have you tried the mother board VGA out? Most mother boards have a vga out put.

[Jen]

:eyepop: a what :question::rolleyes::screwy:
:D

[mithrandir]

A video port on the motherboard, not the one on your video card.



That might be true of newer motherboards with built in video for the low end market. It wasn't the case 2001 when Jen's computer was designed.

[White Rabbit]

Look at the back of you computer and have a look to see if there is another output anywhere that looks like the output that you plug your monitor into.

If your video card is AGP, I have a 250Mb AGP graphics card you can have. Failing that if you need one in a hurry check out www.msy.com.au (http://www.msy.com.au) they still have them. Getting the drivers and installiing them is fairly easy. A new graphics card will boot up and display in 800x600 resoloution (really big blocky text) with no drivers so you will be able to use the computer until you find the driver. It's the drivers that tell the card what it can and cant do. I think from memory if you plug in the new card and do a windows update Microsoft will find the correct driver for you if not surf to the Nvidia site and download it, double click on it and your away.

Let me know if you need the card.
Sandy

[Manav]

I cannot stress enough the importance of regularly cleaning your PC. Most hardware failures occur due to over heating of components because of excessive dust on the heatsink, fan or the hardware itself. Video cards and CPU being the main culprits.

For cleaning using a simple brush (I use a small paint brush) and gently swipe away the dust.