Newly built pc worked for a few weeks and now it won't boot up. help!

doraemonkerpal

doraemonkerpal

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hey alls,

i had a lot of extra computer components lying around and decided to build a new pc out of it. i had an intel processor, ati 9800 pro, 1 gig of ram, 2 hard drives, soyo mobo, etc and built the computer a little less than a month ago. it was working fine until last week when the screen went black and nothing i did would start the computer.

i thought it was on stand by mode but it wasn't. i rebooted the computer, it would beep once like normal (iirc), it started the booting process and then the blank screen would appear. i had to hold down the "on" button to shut it down. i thought the problem was my old hard drive coupled with my new one so i took the old one out. when i turned my computer on, it actually worked for about 15 minutes, but then the blank screen came up again. has anybody else experienced this?

all the computer components were new except for 1 of the hard drives. i bought them awhile ago but never put the computer together until about a month ago. i would appreciate any advice you alls could give me. thanks in advance!

:lol:
 
you check if the heat sink is pluged in? or the fan on heat sink is spinning? or could be your power supply? otherwise, could be your mobo. i would just take a day, and take all the parts out of that computer and put in another, piece by piece to narrow down the troubled component. hope that helps
 
[quote name='k9homan']you check if the heat sink is pluged in? or the fan on heat sink is spinning? or could be your power supply? otherwise, could be your mobo. i would just take a day, and take all the parts out of that computer and put in another, piece by piece to narrow down the troubled component. hope that helps[/quote]

yea, i was hoping to avoid that hehe. i think that's what i'll end up doing. the power supply works fine and the fans are spinning (i have the side of the case opened right now). i think it's the mobo. what a PITA. oh well, thanks for the suggestions.
 
[quote name='mbstuff']Can you get it to boot into the dos prompt in safe mode? Can you boot it if you use a boot disk?[/quote]
it doesn't even get that far :bomb:

it starts up for like 1 to 2 seconds and then blank screen. the computer is still on though, but the monitor goes blank like it was on energy save mode. it's posessed! :lol:
 
you know, just because a mobo lights up, doesn't necesary means the power supply is workin, i would check with a voltage meter or just plug that onto another computer;
 
I'm thinking its a software issue, but then that damn blank screen has a billion causes. Does the monitor show the bios but then go blank when loading XP?

Thats a software issue. Try loading the PC in safemode and rollingback or uninstall the last app you put on it. My new PC gave me a black screen and after a bit of research I found that Daemon Tools can cause this if you have it automatically remount images on boot. It fucks up the virtual cd driver and then windows craps out.
 
Just because no one has said it, test out that RAM on another computer.... ...I always have trouble with RAM

Seriously, just keep testing everything using your other computer if you want the computer badly :p
 
I say try to test the video card and the motherboard.

I had some bad ram but that didn't stop it from booting. Does the power supply have enough power for everything ? is it good brand?

Just like someone said try testing parts in another computer, part by part or if you don't have one try doing the bare min for boot and start adding things.

Another thing to check if the motherboard is touching the case. That was my problem when I first built one. I got it to boot and install windows but then after nothing but some beeps.

Hope that helps. Best thing would be to test part by part on another computer to rule out each one. I think the MB is touching the case somewhere. DID you use the spacers (forgot what they are called).
 
Check and see if you have a problem with the motherboard grounding to something. I've heard of a them acting like this when someone either put an extra, or not enough standoffs behind the motherboard and the back of it grounded to the tray.
 
Are you using an LCD monitor? Maybe the monitor is messed up. I had 2 different LCD Monitors that would do the same thing on different computers. It would boot up fine, but then the screen would black out after a while, the timer varies. I thought it was a power/outlet issue but it wasn't. When it did black out, if I looked closely I could actually see the desktop.

Try using a different monitor and see if the problem still exists.
 
This sounds exaclty like a program I had before. I belive you have a heat issue. Double check you CPU heatsink is on properly and even if it is then just reapply thermal paste and such and secure it properly.

This is the problem I has with mine, although all fans were spinning it would not work. It would boot up for about 10 seconds and then go to a black screen. If I tried it right after it would be about 5 seconds, if I waited for it to cool down it would be 20 seconds.
 
So, as you may have observed by now, we have no idea whats wrong. :lol:

When you're dealing with PCs you can't just say "it doesn't work." Well, you can, but it earns you a punch to the throat.

So, more info please. :lol:
 
"it doesn't work." HAHA, j/k. ok, i had a similar problem with a dell awhile ago and the problem with that one was the usb port was jacked up. everytime i would plug in something in the usb port, the computer would not boot up at all. i took out my usb mouse and my computer started to work! it lasted for about 7 minutes before the blank screen showed up again :(

in response to some of the questions:

i do have an lcd monitor. i reallllllly hope that's not it b/c it's out of warranty and i would hate to replace it with my gigantor backup crt hehe. i don't think it's the lcd monitor b/c it's still on after the blank screen comes up. the monitor is on but not getting any feedback from the computer b/c it looks like it's in a standby mode (yellow light instead of a green light).

i agree it might be the power supply or the mobo.

i have an antec sonata case with a 380 watt power supply.

i can't get into the bios b/c it only starts up for like 1 or maybe 2 seconds before the black screen comes up :lol:

i will add more thermal paste later this week.

thanks for all the suggestions everybody. i will let you know what i find if i'm able to fix the problem hehe.
 
It's the motherboard. I had the exact same problem because my motherboard died. Does your motherboard make that sound when you turn your computer on? If it doesn't your problem is the motherboard.
 
Its really hard to say without getting to play with it.

The LCD problem is just the light in the LCD dying. You'd still see a faint image- just not backlit.

Power Supply- Maybe. It could be dying and have just enough power to start you up but then kills when you actually try to do anything. To test this you could unplug everything but the basics- CPU & RAM and try to get into the bios.

Software issue- Doesn't sound like it if you cant even get into the bios.

RAM- Maybe, try one stick at a time in each slot.

CPU- Could be loose... who knows, take it out and put it back in.

Motherboard- Given that this is the sorce of a lot of issues due to the large number of components, its a safe bet.

[quote name='doraemonkerpal']"it doesn't work." HAHA, j/k. ok, i had a similar problem with a dell awhile ago and the problem with that one was the usb port was jacked up. everytime i would plug in something in the usb port, the computer would not boot up at all. i took out my usb mouse and my computer started to work! it lasted for about 7 minutes before the blank screen showed up again :(

in response to some of the questions:

i do have an lcd monitor. i reallllllly hope that's not it b/c it's out of warranty and i would hate to replace it with my gigantor backup crt hehe. i don't think it's the lcd monitor b/c it's still on after the blank screen comes up. the monitor is on but not getting any feedback from the computer b/c it looks like it's in a standby mode (yellow light instead of a green light).

i agree it might be the power supply or the mobo.

i have an antec sonata case with a 380 watt power supply.

i can't get into the bios b/c it only starts up for like 1 or maybe 2 seconds before the black screen comes up :lol:

i will add more thermal paste later this week.

thanks for all the suggestions everybody. i will let you know what i find if i'm able to fix the problem hehe.[/quote]
 
I had a problem like this when I built my new computer last year. It turned out to be the motherboard. I sent it back and got a new one and everything worked fine. You might want to try using the video card in another computer, that's what I ended up doing and found that it wasn't my video card, but that it was my motherboard.
 
[quote name='Technique']I had a problem like this when I built my new computer last year. It turned out to be the motherboard. I sent it back and got a new one and everything worked fine. You might want to try using the video card in another computer, that's what I ended up doing and found that it wasn't my video card, but that it was my motherboard.[/QUOTE]

I agree, it's gotta be the mobo, possibly vid card. I've always been wary of Soyo products, as I've known a couple of people who have experienced problems with their mobos. However, this could be a thousand different things. For example, depending on master/slave setup (and mobos with SATA and IDE hookups), a PC won't boot if 2 drives are in (it'll reset the master/slave config) when you flash a bios (thus failing to boot from the drive with Windows on it).

I'd definitely test some components. Being that it has booted up and worked for 15 minutes, it doesn't sound like a software issue to me. Believe it or not, it could also be a USB issue (you'd be surprised how USB conflicts can fuck with anything on a machine). Unplug everything that you can from the USB ports, see if it happens.. if so, swap the mobo out or test the components on other machines. This is going to have to be one of those "test everything one by one to isolate the issue" kinda processes, IMO. Good luck with it man.
 
mobo or vid card imo.

Try reseating the vid card and memory. You might even try to spray on that electrical contact stuff on there, if it's older stuff.
 
I had a hell of a time putting my new comp so i'll take a go


My first build would not boot up as well, I figured out that it was the motherboard at fault, first few times it beeped and booted normally, then suddenly when I turned it on the only things that functioned were the fans. I went through 2 of these same motherboards (ECS) with the same sudden death symptoms until I settled down with an ABIT mobo. I'm guessing in your case, it is the motherboard.


Have you tried resetting the cmos, the power plugs, and trying a different video card? Like another poster said, if you can swap the card out into another pc.
 
hey everybody! sorry for the longgggggggg break hehe. i finally fixed the computer this week. i switched out everything one by one and i found out it was the video card! damn, i was so pissed off b/c the card is a brand new ati 9800 that i bought straight from ati's website! time to call RMA :lol:
 
seen almost the same thing before when power supply was bad. Had a pc repair for client, he said it would take his pc almost 15 minutes and then some times window would actually come up, but until he would just see blank screen . His power suppy was dieing. If I disconnected the harddrive it would boot off of cd or to bios prompt warning of no boot medium. Replace PSU and everything started adn works fine so far.
 
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