help please

Woden

A while back i reported some weird noises when my p.c was running sometimes, i meant to look into it but never got around to it. Today when i turned it on it sounded worse then i ever heard previously so i turned it off straight away and opened her up. Thought initially it my be the hsf unit on the processor which was pretty dusty so i removed the fan and cleaned around it and put it back on (the hsf unit was a little loose and moved around a bit i though perhaps due to contact with the thermal paste? ) anywho went to start up the computer and nothing, the hsf fan spun up and then spun down, a blower spun up and then spun down and a red l.e.d flashed on the motherboard, i was terrorified i had broken the fan so pulled the plug to stop the c.p.u from overheating however after numerous attempts and checking cables etc. nothing was happening and i think i've realised its the p.s.u which spins up slightly and then stops and looks like nothing else is getting power?

So basically at the moment i'm wondering is it just the power supply thats gone? could i have ****ed the processor when i was at it? and if it is just the power supply can it be quickly and cheaply replaced?
i'm running fujitsu siemens 850mhz pentium 3.

at the moment i have transferred my modem to a 133mhz pentium with 16mb ram and prayed to god i could get it online.

help please

data

Ruu_Old

try the power unit from that older pentium ur using, just hook it up to the board and main hard drive, it'll tell u then if the psu is the problem or not. it wont do any harm to try.
The cheapest one u can get is a 350W at 35.29 EUR incl. VAT, tho its P4 and Socket A, look here hope it helps pal

Woden

thanks ruu i'm not entirely comfortable with changing a p.s.u but i'll give it a shot probably on thursday evening due to exams (couldn't have happened at a worse time to be honest hence my stressed out post earlier). My major concern with purchasing a new power supply is will it fit in my case? i've no idea whether mine is ATX or AT or what ever that means? should that cheaper p.s.u be o.k for an o.e.m box?

Ruu_Old

ATX is the standard these days for cases, changed motherboards around so they could fit in more things, cards full length, etc. Almost all manufacturers use ATX, anyway is it under waranty? doubtful but maybe u should try and get an O.E.M replacement from Fujistu Siemens, shouldnt be much for a PSU. Ur PC should fit any of those. Even give Peats a buzz and ask them about it, they should be able to tell u what one fits a P3 Good luck

Woden

tried to put in the power supply from the old pentium but the connectors where different, only realised this after i had pulled the p.c apart breaking god only knows what components ah well, i'll probably pick up a cheap p.s.u soon, hopefully i can return it if i find out it is not the p.s.u.

boogie man

I had a very similar problem recently - My HSF started making a tremendous noise, so I got a replacement, installed it and hey presto - nothing. It seemed like there was no power getting to anything - no fans, LEDs, etc. I got a replacement PSU. No joy. Got a new motherboard - no joy (I thought I had accidently shorted it out by applying a jumper in the wrong place). Got a new CPU and it worked. Turns out I damaged the CPU when changing the HSF (microscopic chip off one corner). The bummer was the old CPU was only around a month old!
That was a Athlon chip which are nortorius for being easily damaged. So if I were you, I'd make sure you know what the problem is before you start buying replacement parts. I had to learn the hard way and I'm still paying back the cash for it

Good luck with your problem!
Boog.

Woden

i'm hearing you boogie man, thats why i don't want to pick up a psu unless i can return it, yous don't happend to have a spare pentium 3 power supply lying round for testing do ya's?

much obliged

data

boogie man

I do have a 300w PSU but I don't know if its suitable for your machine, mine was an AMD athlon 1800+ based machine with ATX case. I'll check it out later when I get home, or if any one else knows off hand if it'll be ok for you machine...let us know!

I'll get back to you on it.
(It will be a lend though as I need it as a back up )

Boog.

madmoe

I was getting a bit frightened there reading that!! I'm just after taking the fan off my heatsink there the other evening, was covered with dust and ****, thankfully nothing has gone wrong with processor yet (touch wood), is this what you guys were doing when and ye had problems afterwards?

SouperComputer

i doubt you blew the CPU Data, PIII's are pretty surdy.

is thrre any life out of the machine? If teh board boots ok (it will be fine with just a HS for a while) maybe hard-wire it into a molex

If the psu fan moves slightly, then it is "probably" okay

also, the other things to try are:

reset CMOS & remove n replace the ATX power from your mobo.

[edit] i have a few slot 1 chips lying around if you wanna try one, I work in town, maybe that suits, maybe not! [/edit]

boogie man

Originally posted by madmoe
I was getting a bit frightened there reading that!! I'm just after taking the fan off my heatsink there the other evening, was covered with dust and ****, thankfully nothing has gone wrong with processor yet (touch wood), is this what you guys were doing when and ye had problems afterwards?

There was something badly wrong with my HSF - it sounded like it was going to explode! Started with a low rumbling and built up to a very high pitched whining which must have driven all the dogs in my area nuts Definately not dust anyway.

I sure your CPU is fine though, as SouperComputer says "PIII's are pretty sturdy" (I hope you have a PIII )

Dataisgod: I checked my spare PSU and I don't have a clue if its suitable. It came with my ATX case is all I know.

Boog.

Woden

thanks souper computer thats good to know about the pentium 3's.

slot 1 processor you say are they pentium 3's i'm not really familiar with them i have to say?

Boogie man my p.s.u has dimensions 12cm * 10cm *6cm don't know if this helps also the main motherboard connector is 4cm long and consist of two rows of ten pins. that would be great if i could get a lend, in exams til next wednesday and heading to new york for a week on sunday after that but would be indebted to you if i could sort something out

souper i was hearing some bad noises from my machine, for a while and then when i turned it on the other day it sounded even worse so i say i would give it a clean inside, after removing the fan off the hsf and cleaning the computer wouldn't start up again, the power supply just spins starts slightly and then stops? do you know what this could indicate? also the hsf unit moves slightly if touched is this normal? current my box sitting devoid of cables, graphics, sound, modem, ram, hdd and my cd-rw it looks so lonely.

on the other hand this p 133 just got upgraded to windows 98 and has never been as happy. Souper if it turns out to be the processor i will probably need to take one off you hands.

Its not the end of the world though as i'm working abroad from july and when i come back i planned to do a major system upgrade anyway.

thanks

data

Occidental

data,

I had a neighbour who blew a power supply on a Fujitsu-Siemens box a few weeks ago in much the same manner(lights, fan, no action). PSU was a 150W Yuan Kee(I jest you not), of the same dimensions you mentioned. Tried another ATX PSU on it and it worked fine.

Big problem in the end was a finding a replacement PSU. As it is a non-standard size I ended up having to get him a 180W PSU replacement from DABS. PSU cost about £20, but about £25 for the shipping, so it cost him about €65 in the end.

Woden

occidental thanks for the info, how do these power supplies just go?

ok well if i can get a lend off boogie man and test and hopefully if its just the psu i don't mind paying €60 to get it fixed up. Just something you might know off hand, there was three screws requied to thank my psu out, say one in the top right, bottom right and middle left is this standard for a psu or is this going to cause problems also?

boogie man

Hey Data,

just mesured mine up: 15cm x 14cm x 8.5cm = bad luck!
the motherboard connector is right.

You can still borrow it if you like but if won't fit in your wee case! :eek:

Boog.

Woden

cheers boogie man i think i will hook up with you at some stage if that would be o.k i could test with yours and then if i find its just the power supply i think i can pick up a mATX power supply that can fit my wee case alternatively if it was the power supply to save me the hassle what aboue just buying a cheap new case with a power supply al ready in it?

boogie man

PM sent Data.

Occidental

Data,

Identical size and three screws in the same place. Replacement supply I used was this. The fan may stick out more than on your current PSU, but it fits okay.

Woden

Jesus occidental thats almost identical to whats sitting on my desk just a slightly better model with more power (mines only 145W is seems) thanks a bunch

Woden

ok just to let people know whats going on and see if i could get a few suggestions, eh first thanks to boogieman who supplied me with two psu's for testing.

Right put the first psu into the machine with just the hdd a stick of ram and the cpu/hsf again the red light on the m/b turned on and the hsf spun up then stopped and nothing happend also the psu fan didn't start turning. This seemed to contradict to me that the psu was the problem as thats two that didn't work (tried the second one later to find the same thing so thats three). i transferred the 20gb hdd to this p 133mhz machine in which it was detected but didn't boot up as this hdd has xp on it and i presume this computer was just way too below the min spec of xp.

this seemed to show to me the hdd wasn't the problem, so this indicates to me it must be the processor or the motherboard?

So does the fact that the red light comes on and the hsf spin up mean the m/b is getting power and that it is not the motherboard at fault?

also when i pull the power plug the red light stays on for a few seconds is this just due to a capacitor in the psu discharging or something?

i then decided it may be something to do with the processor, eventually got the hsf off to look at it but i just realised how close the hsf is to the cpu and that recently i had been able to move the hsf slightly so i am wondering is it possible i damaged the top of the cpu (the dies or something is it?) and could this be causing the problem as it looks a little scraped or something?

i took some pictures which i posted up but this computer has no usb so if i get to someones with my camera i'll get the picture of the cpu on the web.

souper computer if you did have a replacement cpu i would be interested however i'm afraid to install it myself and i'm not even sure that it is the cpu which is the problem

any suggestion anyone? (presuming you bothered to read all that )

thanks

data

boogie man

Bad luck Data! My next bet would be to try a different CPU.

Good luck with it

Boog.

CombatCow

Dataisgod

also when i pull the power plug the red light stays on for a few seconds is this just due to a capacitor in the psu discharging or something

Yeah thats just power left in the mobo,plug out the pc and press the power switch w few times to drain it.

if your not confident replacing the cpu then your probably not gonna do this,strip you computer,take out the mobo and put it on a table with the psu and cpu+hsf connected and try turning it on.im thinking that your case is shorting the power to the mobo,it could be touching a metal part of your case or a screw could be loose some where ( has happened ).

Is the fan on the heatsink a 3pin connector ? ,try it in a different fan header,also the fan might not be spinning fast nuff,so the pc shuts down,in some cases ( depending on the mobo )

Thats all i can think of this early in the morning,good luck.
CombatCow

Woden

hi folks i can take the motherboard out no probs thats fine and i can test it, just not confident at replacing a cpu as think i may have damaged it already by messing with the hsf, hitting it off the die or something, physically placing the cpu wasn't a problem (easier then i though just slips in) but getting the heat sink on and the metal strip was difficult and i felt i was putting a lot of pressure and a good bit of movement on the cpu which i didn't think was healthy

the hsf itself has four screws which attach it to the heat sink, perhaps the hsf fan is banjaxed and the board is doing some form of emergency shutdown not sure though the board is a fujitsu siemens D1188 (piece of crap) don't think it would be worth my while trying to purchase a new pentium 3 if it was a problem though as i can get a new msi m-atx m/b and cheap duron processor off komplett for about 100 in which i would probably have a better computer then i had previously (providing i could install it).

i'm off away for a week on sunday so i probably wouldn't get a chance to test it til i get back, perhaps i can get my hands on a coppermine pentium at some stage and i will let you's know how i get on.

cheers

data

Woden

hi managed to get the picture of my processor off my camera and onto the computer so if yous could take a look and maybe you can tell by looking at it whether it is damaged or not

thanks

data