- Joined
- 21 Mar 2002
- Messages
- 1,693
Hi guys,
I've just been to have a look at my godson's PC which has stopped working for some reason, but I can't get my head round the problem.
Essentially, when he turns his computer on no signal is sent to the monitor so it remains on standby, and if you turn the monitor off then on it comes up with the usual 'no signal' message.
I tried to boot up with a different monitor, different leads and different plug sockets and still came up with the same problem, so it has to be something in the case that is causing this. I presumed it was his graphics card at first, but he has an integrated graphics chipset so there is no way to check it, and also I can't just add another graphics card because I'd need to set the BIOS to use the new card before it would cut past the (presumably broken) onboard graphics.
Now, here's where it gets even more interesting. He's got a HP Compaq D230 Microtower which is very very quiet, so I didn't notice this at first, but when you press the on switch the fans turn on and the LEDs etc, but then it actually powers down for 2 or 3 seconds, then powers back up and stays on. Strangely, when the button is first pressed, the keyboard lights (Caps, Scroll lock etc) all flash us usual, and then flash again when the computer powers up for the 2nd time, then nothing. They won't work at all, pressing Caps lock etc just does nothing, as if there is no power to them. I even plugged in a MS USB mouse that usually glows, and that showed no sign of life when I booted up the PC. Apparently, the computer has been doing the twice boot thing for a while, though my godson is only 11 so I don't know how reliable that is as at first he claimed it had always done that.
Also worth noting is that the computer doesn't make a single beep when booting up, and when I unplugged the keyboard and mouse is didn't make any error beeps either. There is power to the CD-ROM for certain as I tried to open and close it a few times.
I opened it up to see if I could spot anything out of place but it all seemed ok. I even reset his CMOS to make sure he'd not screwed with his BIOS or anything (I don't think he would tho) but that did no good.
So, does anyone have any suggestions? I'll be handing out reps to anyone that can give any advice. Thanks in advance.
I've just been to have a look at my godson's PC which has stopped working for some reason, but I can't get my head round the problem.
Essentially, when he turns his computer on no signal is sent to the monitor so it remains on standby, and if you turn the monitor off then on it comes up with the usual 'no signal' message.
I tried to boot up with a different monitor, different leads and different plug sockets and still came up with the same problem, so it has to be something in the case that is causing this. I presumed it was his graphics card at first, but he has an integrated graphics chipset so there is no way to check it, and also I can't just add another graphics card because I'd need to set the BIOS to use the new card before it would cut past the (presumably broken) onboard graphics.
Now, here's where it gets even more interesting. He's got a HP Compaq D230 Microtower which is very very quiet, so I didn't notice this at first, but when you press the on switch the fans turn on and the LEDs etc, but then it actually powers down for 2 or 3 seconds, then powers back up and stays on. Strangely, when the button is first pressed, the keyboard lights (Caps, Scroll lock etc) all flash us usual, and then flash again when the computer powers up for the 2nd time, then nothing. They won't work at all, pressing Caps lock etc just does nothing, as if there is no power to them. I even plugged in a MS USB mouse that usually glows, and that showed no sign of life when I booted up the PC. Apparently, the computer has been doing the twice boot thing for a while, though my godson is only 11 so I don't know how reliable that is as at first he claimed it had always done that.
Also worth noting is that the computer doesn't make a single beep when booting up, and when I unplugged the keyboard and mouse is didn't make any error beeps either. There is power to the CD-ROM for certain as I tried to open and close it a few times.
I opened it up to see if I could spot anything out of place but it all seemed ok. I even reset his CMOS to make sure he'd not screwed with his BIOS or anything (I don't think he would tho) but that did no good.
So, does anyone have any suggestions? I'll be handing out reps to anyone that can give any advice. Thanks in advance.