Tuesday, February 22, 2005
HARDWARE :: Why The F&@# Won't My PC Start Up?!
We've all experienced it at one time or another. Sit down to your trusty PC, hit the power button, and everything spins up, but nothing else happens. Or worse yet, nothing happens at all. Or worst of all, it's already running, and suddenly everything shuts down with a rude and quite spiteful pop from the speakers as the screen goes blank and the drives and fans spin down.
It's scary, it's frustrating, and dammit, it's just not fair! Well fear not, here's an easy-to-understand guide to help you get started with troubleshooting the problem. We'll approach the problem from the three different ways you could experience it.
Everything's roses, and then POP
This is the most scary failure most users experience, because it's not just a simple error popping up on the screen, where it might be possible to recover and continue as if it never happened. One minute you are working on your machine, happy as a clam, and the next minute, *pop*, it's all gone. The screen is suddenly off, the speakers click, and everything just generally goes away without so much as a "kiss my butt". The first thing you should do at this point is remember to NOT PANIC. This type of failure seems pretty dramatic, but more than likely, everything's fine, and will require a fairly simple procedure to repair.
1) Look around the room at other electrical devices. Are they still working? Could the power have gone out in the room? In the whole house? If it's off in just your room, it's probably just a tripped breaker. If you have 3 power strips plugged into each other, and all the outlets are full, that's probably the issue. Spread out the power plugs a bit. Plug a power strip into separate outlets around the room, and if you need more in one location, get a bigger power strip with more outlets available. If your rig tripped the breaker, that's a pretty serious indicator that you could cause a fire if you continue with things as they are.
If power is out throughout the house, then DUH, it's probably due to failed electrical service to your house. Call a neighbor and check on their power. Chances are that they are in the dark too.
On another note, take note of what happened just before the system went down. Did power go low for a moment (brownout)? If so, get thine posterior with your PC to the nearest computer shop. Brownouts are the #1 killer of power supplies. After the Great US Blackout of 2003, computer repair stores' workloads went through the roof with power supply replacements. Sometimes whole systems had been nailed by the brownout immediately preceding the final loss of power. Brownouts are the best reason to turn up your nose at all the pretty surge protectors, and go with a nice UPS (uninterruptable power supply) unit instead. These units not only provide beautiful, reliable surge supression, they also fill in the "missing" power during a brownout, thereby saving your computer's keister. You can get a good UPS from APC for as little as $49.99.
2) Check the power strip the computer itself is plugged into.
It's possible the surge protector (you ARE using a surge protector and not just a power strip, right?) is doing its job and cut out when it got a jolt through the house's power lines.
It's also important to remember that unless you paid stupid amounts of money for a really nice surge protector, you should replace them every couple of years. They DO wear out, and can start tripping out for seemingly no good reason. The reason is that the surge detection element in the protector can get worn down from carrying power, and can start getting oversensitive, detecting even the slightest variation in power, and tripping out when there really wasn't any threat.
If you did buy a nice, higher-end surge protector, congratulations, it just saved you some serious trouble. Wait a few minutes before resetting the surge protector, just to be certain that all the spikes have made their way through the electrical system. After that, it should be safe to turn off the power supply on the computer (or unplug it altogether if you don't have a power switch on the power supply itself), and reset the surge protector. Bring your system back up and watch it closely for any ill effects.
Incidentally, it's not all that unreasonable to believe that the stupid cat just walked on the surge protector's power switch, turning it off. Unless you don't have a cat, in which case you should be giving the dog the old fish eye. Stupid dog.
3) Is the computer itself doing anything weird?
"Weird" could mean anything out of the ordinary such as:
- Both power and HDD access lights always on, even though the system is completely offline
- Nothing happens when you hit the power button
- The power light comes on for a moment, then goes back off
In all of these cases, it usually indicates that your computer's power supply has just taken a dump on you. Shuffled off the mortal coil. Pushing up daisies. Dead. In this case, it's probably no big thing, unless, that is, you happen to be lucky enough to have one of those Dell, Compaq, HP or Gateway computers that uses a proprietary design for the power supply. For the rest of you, it's a little easier. In either case, get your butt (and your computer) to your local mom and pop computer store and see if they can help you. If you know what time it is on the street, (and in your pc's case), then shamble, strut and otherwise hightail it to your local computer parts supply store for a replacement. You bigbox (Dell, Compaq etc) folks might want to take your computer to the store for a double-check on the power supply design anyhow. Some are open to easy swaps, others are a royal pain. Power supplies range in price from $19.99 to $119.99 and up. I suggest you dig deep and buy the best you can afford, unless you enjoyed the shock of your system giving you the finger in such a glorious fashion, and look forward to experiencing it again. Soon.
4) Was there a nice *pop* and burning smell from the computer itself?
Yep, definitely the power supply. This isn't all that uncommon with some of today's cheapie computers and cases, unfortunately. It usually isn't fatal to the guts of your machine, but I recommend having it checked out thoroughly anyhow. You can never be too careful with your (expensive) baby.
Just hit the power button and...wtf?
Uh oh. The damned thing worked just last night. What happened? Okay, so you sit down, hit the power button on your computer, expecting it to make some whirring noises and beep happily before getting down to brass tacks and setting to the task of booting up. But nothing happened at all. No pretty lights. No reassuring whirring. Not even a freaking happy little beep! Here's what you need to check:
1) Is power working in the room? The house? The surge protector?
Read through the above situation to work through possible causes with house and surge protector power.
2) Does switching the PC power supply off/on have any effect?
Sometimes a PC's power supply can get a little skittish and trip out, thinking it got too hot inside. Resetting it like this can sometimes get it up and happy again. It's also possible that if you have a cheap and/or old surge protector (or worse yet, just a simple power strip) the computer might have gotten kicked in the crotch with a power spike, and killed the power supply (and possibly worse). Take the poor system to your local computer store for a diagnostic check. You could just replace the power supply, but in this case, you could have more damage than that on your hands. A power surge can not only kill a power supply, it can sometimes go right past it and nail the other internal components as well. Have your machine professionally checked out, so that way, if anything's going to blow afterward, it happens right there where the replacement parts are sold.
3). Did you hear a *pop* and smell something burning the first time you hit the button?
Damn. Extremely bad timing, but this, again, is usually nothing more than the power supply telling you where to stick it as it proceeds to go all nuclear on your butt. Not usually fatal to the computer, but semi-violent power supply deaths such as this have the capability to kill other important (and potentially more expensive) things inside the case. Have the PC checked out for additional damage, and see about a new power supply. Again, buy the best you can afford to avoid dealing with this situation again within the system's foreseeable future.
Power on... are you on yet?
This situation can be confusing. You turn the computer on, and you get the effect you've come to expect: pretty lights, whirring and... wait, where's the beep? Where's all the gibberish on the screen while it counts the megabytes of memory I put in there? What does "No VGA signal found" mean on the screen? Uh oh. This is potentially more serious than a simple power supply failure. This situation could also go like so: power on, pretty lights, whirring noise then everything shuts right back down. We'll go over potential causes.
1) Power supply
Yes, that power supply could be getting ready to get all medieval on you. Some power supplies can get weak as they get older, or more specifically, the thermal relay that protects the power supply from overheating gets weaker, making it more sensitive. Sometimes a power supply gets delusional in its old age, thinking its getting too hot when it really isn't but shutting down anyway. A power spike or brownout can also cause the power supply to get flaky like this. In this case, replacing the power supply should be all that's needed.
2) Motherboard
Oh crap, now it's getting technical. Well, actually, it's not all that bad. At least, not as far as you can take it while sitting in your room with your poor PC all opened up on the floor. Unless you have a lab full of electronics testing equipment, replacement parts, and the know-how to use it all, the best you can do in this case is a visual inspection. Look at the tops of all those little tower-thingies sticking up from the motherboard. Those are capacitors, and the tops of them should be as flat as day-old beer. If you see any that are bulging or cracked on top, the motherboard is toast. There's nothing you can do about it, except to replace the motherboard. It happens sometimes, thanks to the global push for cheaper technology. Your only potential saving grace is the warranty on the motherboard, IF it's still under warranty.
Also check for burns or scorching on any of the power connectors leading to the motherboard. If you see anything unusual, take the PC to a repair shop. Burned plugs are signs of possible deeper damage.
Bad board. BAD board!
3) Processor
Absolutely no way to test this possibility, other than to replace the processor with another compatible chip. The only way you can identify a bad proc is to pull it out of the machine, and look for burn marks. If you see any, you can usually relax, secure in the knowledge that you just found the problem. Overclocking nerds see this problem more often than any of them will admit.
Mmm mmm mmm... Toasty!
4) Storage drives
This includes optical drives, as well as hard drives, floppies and Zip drives. Sometimes a drive can fail so badly inside, that they send weird power fluxes back up to the power supply. When this happens, the power supply never sees the "power good" signal that it normally waits for from the motherboard before it lets everything fire up completely. To test for this, unplug ALL of your drives, then plug in the main boot drive, and turn the system on. If it boots, turn off the computer and plug in the next hard drive, and repeat the process until you find the offending piece of crap... I mean hardware. If you find a drive that's causing this problem, whatever you do, DO NOT think that it will ever go away on its own and suddenly work again. You could end up with a cute little teeny tiny FREAKING FLAME OF FIRE spouting from the board of the hard drive. This can also drive your power supply over the edge, putting you right back at square one. *sigh*
Look, my hard drive's on f.. OH MY GOD!!
It's scary, it's frustrating, and dammit, it's just not fair! Well fear not, here's an easy-to-understand guide to help you get started with troubleshooting the problem. We'll approach the problem from the three different ways you could experience it.
Everything's roses, and then POP
This is the most scary failure most users experience, because it's not just a simple error popping up on the screen, where it might be possible to recover and continue as if it never happened. One minute you are working on your machine, happy as a clam, and the next minute, *pop*, it's all gone. The screen is suddenly off, the speakers click, and everything just generally goes away without so much as a "kiss my butt". The first thing you should do at this point is remember to NOT PANIC. This type of failure seems pretty dramatic, but more than likely, everything's fine, and will require a fairly simple procedure to repair.
1) Look around the room at other electrical devices. Are they still working? Could the power have gone out in the room? In the whole house? If it's off in just your room, it's probably just a tripped breaker. If you have 3 power strips plugged into each other, and all the outlets are full, that's probably the issue. Spread out the power plugs a bit. Plug a power strip into separate outlets around the room, and if you need more in one location, get a bigger power strip with more outlets available. If your rig tripped the breaker, that's a pretty serious indicator that you could cause a fire if you continue with things as they are.
If power is out throughout the house, then DUH, it's probably due to failed electrical service to your house. Call a neighbor and check on their power. Chances are that they are in the dark too.
On another note, take note of what happened just before the system went down. Did power go low for a moment (brownout)? If so, get thine posterior with your PC to the nearest computer shop. Brownouts are the #1 killer of power supplies. After the Great US Blackout of 2003, computer repair stores' workloads went through the roof with power supply replacements. Sometimes whole systems had been nailed by the brownout immediately preceding the final loss of power. Brownouts are the best reason to turn up your nose at all the pretty surge protectors, and go with a nice UPS (uninterruptable power supply) unit instead. These units not only provide beautiful, reliable surge supression, they also fill in the "missing" power during a brownout, thereby saving your computer's keister. You can get a good UPS from APC for as little as $49.99.
2) Check the power strip the computer itself is plugged into.
It's possible the surge protector (you ARE using a surge protector and not just a power strip, right?) is doing its job and cut out when it got a jolt through the house's power lines.
It's also important to remember that unless you paid stupid amounts of money for a really nice surge protector, you should replace them every couple of years. They DO wear out, and can start tripping out for seemingly no good reason. The reason is that the surge detection element in the protector can get worn down from carrying power, and can start getting oversensitive, detecting even the slightest variation in power, and tripping out when there really wasn't any threat.
If you did buy a nice, higher-end surge protector, congratulations, it just saved you some serious trouble. Wait a few minutes before resetting the surge protector, just to be certain that all the spikes have made their way through the electrical system. After that, it should be safe to turn off the power supply on the computer (or unplug it altogether if you don't have a power switch on the power supply itself), and reset the surge protector. Bring your system back up and watch it closely for any ill effects.
Incidentally, it's not all that unreasonable to believe that the stupid cat just walked on the surge protector's power switch, turning it off. Unless you don't have a cat, in which case you should be giving the dog the old fish eye. Stupid dog.
3) Is the computer itself doing anything weird?
"Weird" could mean anything out of the ordinary such as:
- Both power and HDD access lights always on, even though the system is completely offline
- Nothing happens when you hit the power button
- The power light comes on for a moment, then goes back off
In all of these cases, it usually indicates that your computer's power supply has just taken a dump on you. Shuffled off the mortal coil. Pushing up daisies. Dead. In this case, it's probably no big thing, unless, that is, you happen to be lucky enough to have one of those Dell, Compaq, HP or Gateway computers that uses a proprietary design for the power supply. For the rest of you, it's a little easier. In either case, get your butt (and your computer) to your local mom and pop computer store and see if they can help you. If you know what time it is on the street, (and in your pc's case), then shamble, strut and otherwise hightail it to your local computer parts supply store for a replacement. You bigbox (Dell, Compaq etc) folks might want to take your computer to the store for a double-check on the power supply design anyhow. Some are open to easy swaps, others are a royal pain. Power supplies range in price from $19.99 to $119.99 and up. I suggest you dig deep and buy the best you can afford, unless you enjoyed the shock of your system giving you the finger in such a glorious fashion, and look forward to experiencing it again. Soon.
4) Was there a nice *pop* and burning smell from the computer itself?
Yep, definitely the power supply. This isn't all that uncommon with some of today's cheapie computers and cases, unfortunately. It usually isn't fatal to the guts of your machine, but I recommend having it checked out thoroughly anyhow. You can never be too careful with your (expensive) baby.
Just hit the power button and...wtf?
Uh oh. The damned thing worked just last night. What happened? Okay, so you sit down, hit the power button on your computer, expecting it to make some whirring noises and beep happily before getting down to brass tacks and setting to the task of booting up. But nothing happened at all. No pretty lights. No reassuring whirring. Not even a freaking happy little beep! Here's what you need to check:
1)
2) Does switching the PC power supply off/on have any effect?
Sometimes a PC's power supply can get a little skittish and trip out, thinking it got too hot inside. Resetting it like this can sometimes get it up and happy again. It's also possible that if you have a cheap and/or old surge protector (or worse yet, just a simple power strip) the computer might have gotten kicked in the crotch with a power spike, and killed the power supply (and possibly worse). Take the poor system to your local computer store for a diagnostic check. You could just replace the power supply, but in this case, you could have more damage than that on your hands. A power surge can not only kill a power supply, it can sometimes go right past it and nail the other internal components as well. Have your machine professionally checked out, so that way, if anything's going to blow afterward, it happens right there where the replacement parts are sold.
3). Did you hear a *pop* and smell something burning the first time you hit the button?
Damn. Extremely bad timing, but this, again, is usually nothing more than the power supply telling you where to stick it as it proceeds to go all nuclear on your butt. Not usually fatal to the computer, but semi-violent power supply deaths such as this have the capability to kill other important (and potentially more expensive) things inside the case. Have the PC checked out for additional damage, and see about a new power supply. Again, buy the best you can afford to avoid dealing with this situation again within the system's foreseeable future.
Power on... are you on yet?
This situation can be confusing. You turn the computer on, and you get the effect you've come to expect: pretty lights, whirring and... wait, where's the beep? Where's all the gibberish on the screen while it counts the megabytes of memory I put in there? What does "No VGA signal found" mean on the screen? Uh oh. This is potentially more serious than a simple power supply failure. This situation could also go like so: power on, pretty lights, whirring noise then everything shuts right back down. We'll go over potential causes.
1) Power supply
Yes, that power supply could be getting ready to get all medieval on you. Some power supplies can get weak as they get older, or more specifically, the thermal relay that protects the power supply from overheating gets weaker, making it more sensitive. Sometimes a power supply gets delusional in its old age, thinking its getting too hot when it really isn't but shutting down anyway. A power spike or brownout can also cause the power supply to get flaky like this. In this case, replacing the power supply should be all that's needed.
2) Motherboard
Oh crap, now it's getting technical. Well, actually, it's not all that bad. At least, not as far as you can take it while sitting in your room with your poor PC all opened up on the floor. Unless you have a lab full of electronics testing equipment, replacement parts, and the know-how to use it all, the best you can do in this case is a visual inspection. Look at the tops of all those little tower-thingies sticking up from the motherboard. Those are capacitors, and the tops of them should be as flat as day-old beer. If you see any that are bulging or cracked on top, the motherboard is toast. There's nothing you can do about it, except to replace the motherboard. It happens sometimes, thanks to the global push for cheaper technology. Your only potential saving grace is the warranty on the motherboard, IF it's still under warranty.
Also check for burns or scorching on any of the power connectors leading to the motherboard. If you see anything unusual, take the PC to a repair shop. Burned plugs are signs of possible deeper damage.
Bad board. BAD board!
Absolutely no way to test this possibility, other than to replace the processor with another compatible chip. The only way you can identify a bad proc is to pull it out of the machine, and look for burn marks. If you see any, you can usually relax, secure in the knowledge that you just found the problem. Overclocking nerds see this problem more often than any of them will admit.
Mmm mmm mmm... Toasty!
4) Storage drives
This includes optical drives, as well as hard drives, floppies and Zip drives. Sometimes a drive can fail so badly inside, that they send weird power fluxes back up to the power supply. When this happens, the power supply never sees the "power good" signal that it normally waits for from the motherboard before it lets everything fire up completely. To test for this, unplug ALL of your drives, then plug in the main boot drive, and turn the system on. If it boots, turn off the computer and plug in the next hard drive, and repeat the process until you find the offending piece of crap... I mean hardware. If you find a drive that's causing this problem, whatever you do, DO NOT think that it will ever go away on its own and suddenly work again. You could end up with a cute little teeny tiny FREAKING FLAME OF FIRE spouting from the board of the hard drive. This can also drive your power supply over the edge, putting you right back at square one. *sigh*
Look, my hard drive's on f.. OH MY GOD!!
In the end, unless you've dealt with these sorts of things before, you're going to be better off getting your system checked out by a professional. Best Buy and CompUSA are okay, but, as I have been saying, your local mom and pop shop will be a better gig, because the folks working there are more likely to be in business because they like doing it, and know what they're talking about. Their service rates are usually cheaper too. Call around, and don't wuss out on asking about their service fees. It's worth it to get your baby humming away happily under your desk, no?
Deadweasel is often everywhere, while being nowhere.
Deadweasel is often everywhere, while being nowhere.
Comments:
<< Home
Actually, I spent a good deal of time thinking my verbage over before I committed it to the web. Patrick overreacts, and I won't go into any details about how every time I start ONE stupid bittorrent at home, it's guaranteed that without fail, within five minutes I will be getting a call from Patrick about how slow the network got all of a sudden.
That dude works on the home machines from remote if he's given even an eighth of a chance! :)
Post a Comment
That dude works on the home machines from remote if he's given even an eighth of a chance! :)
<< Home
