Strange problem with HDD

CBizzle · 07-03-2005, 06:44 AM

My friend is building a copmuter for the first time, and has bought a new case, mother board, CPU, and video card. The rest is all from his older Dell that he used to have, but I doubled checked, and everything is compatible, so I don't think this is the issue... The first problem, he was building this by himself, not knowing 100% what to do, so he wired everything up and tried to start it up. Nothing was displayed on the monitor, and he could no do anything to make it work. After this he called me, and asked me to have a look at it. Suprisingly, everything was hooked up properly, and everythign seemed fine, but still nothing on the screen... Think it was the video card, I swapped video cards with the one I am using now, and still nothing. So I thought maybe its the motherboard? Turns out he did buy a cheap one, so he returned, and bought another, which I helped pick out so I know all is compatible. Still nothing on the screen, so I begin to think something else is wrong, and I find out that the hard drive is not starting up. Everything else (lights, fans, etc.) has power and is working... But the hard drive makes no noise, and does not spin. Thinking the hard drive is damaged, I swap it with another I had laying around (this could be the problem because this one may also be damaged) but still it does not spin. Then he tells me, he thought by increasing the Voltage, from 115 to 230, he would make his copmuter better, so I figure he has messed this up, and I swap out the PSU, still nothing. We have tried everything to get this to work and it just won't... Would anyone know how else to fix it? Also I switched the jumpers on the HDD several times, from master to slave to CS to open.... nothing works. Please anyon who would have any ideas it'd be much appreciated.

Edit: Sorry for not including specs, but I figured I typed enough... All I know is it was a Dell Desktop computer, and the only thing he's taking from the Dell is his HDD... as for all the new components, if need be I can post them too.

**jancz3rt** · 07-03-2005, 11:01 AM

What wattage does the PSU have? Rather than just that info though, could you post some detailed info about it (wattage is not everything by far)? Have you tried swapping the memory (RAM). Are you sure that you placed it in the slots correctly? Did you connect all the power connectors to the motherboard? I think we will need more information about the hardware your friend has in order to be able to solve it.

JAN

CBizzle · 07-03-2005, 09:33 PM

Yes I'm sure everything was in properly, I checked many times. I didn't swap out the RAM but he has a Centec 512 that he had in it (not the ebst, but should work) and two days ago all these parts worked other than the mobo/CPU. I'm not sure what his PSU is, I know he has a Viper case by MGE (I think) and whatever comes with that he has, but when I put mine in it still didnt work. Mine is a 420 watt @ 28A and has worked fine on 3 computers that I've used it with. The motherboard is a Soyo, intel S478 with a 200 bus (same as CPU's) and supoprts up to PC 3200, his centec is a 3200. The video card is a Radeon 9250 PCI. The HDD is a WD 80 gigs, the one I tried to swap it with was a WD 20 gigs, both have worked perfectly fine in the recent past.... I don't know what other it could possibly be.

Another thing I forgot to mention before, he has an LCD read out on th front of his case... It displays temp, if the comp is working. HDD, time elapsed since comp was turned on and something else, I don't rememeber... But the temp reads an error, and does not stop beeping. And it has the HDD lit up, I don't know if that means it reads one, if one has power, an IDE cable is plugged into IDE1.... But that's what happens... again no ideas here, so any help would be aprreciated

07-03-2005, 06:44 AM	#1 (permalink)
CBizzle Bronze Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati Age: 20 Posts: 70	Strange problem with HDD My friend is building a copmuter for the first time, and has bought a new case, mother board, CPU, and video card. The rest is all from his older Dell that he used to have, but I doubled checked, and everything is compatible, so I don't think this is the issue... The first problem, he was building this by himself, not knowing 100% what to do, so he wired everything up and tried to start it up. Nothing was displayed on the monitor, and he could no do anything to make it work. After this he called me, and asked me to have a look at it. Suprisingly, everything was hooked up properly, and everythign seemed fine, but still nothing on the screen... Think it was the video card, I swapped video cards with the one I am using now, and still nothing. So I thought maybe its the motherboard? Turns out he did buy a cheap one, so he returned, and bought another, which I helped pick out so I know all is compatible. Still nothing on the screen, so I begin to think something else is wrong, and I find out that the hard drive is not starting up. Everything else (lights, fans, etc.) has power and is working... But the hard drive makes no noise, and does not spin. Thinking the hard drive is damaged, I swap it with another I had laying around (this could be the problem because this one may also be damaged) but still it does not spin. Then he tells me, he thought by increasing the Voltage, from 115 to 230, he would make his copmuter better, so I figure he has messed this up, and I swap out the PSU, still nothing. We have tried everything to get this to work and it just won't... Would anyone know how else to fix it? Also I switched the jumpers on the HDD several times, from master to slave to CS to open.... nothing works. Please anyon who would have any ideas it'd be much appreciated. Edit: Sorry for not including specs, but I figured I typed enough... All I know is it was a Dell Desktop computer, and the only thing he's taking from the Dell is his HDD... as for all the new components, if need be I can post them too. __________________ AMD Athlon 64 3500+ ClawHammer ABIT AV8 (K8T800 Pro) 1 gig Kingston valure RAM (2x512) ATI Xtasy 9600 256MB SB Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro 80 GB Seagate HDD X-Dreamer II case Zalman 7700-Cu 120mm CPU fan Last edited by CBizzle; 07-03-2005 at 06:48 AM.

07-03-2005, 11:01 AM	#2 (permalink)
jancz3rt Moderator - F@H Guru Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Czech Republic Age: 24 Posts: 4,023	Hmmm What wattage does the PSU have? Rather than just that info though, could you post some detailed info about it (wattage is not everything by far)? Have you tried swapping the memory (RAM). Are you sure that you placed it in the slots correctly? Did you connect all the power connectors to the motherboard? I think we will need more information about the hardware your friend has in order to be able to solve it. JAN __________________ A64 3700+ @ 2.65Ghz ::: 7300GT @ 600/1500 ::: 2GB RAM @ 440Mhz www.CZ3RT.com ::: FOLDING FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND ::: F@H Team 44358

07-03-2005, 09:33 PM	#3 (permalink)
CBizzle Bronze Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati Age: 20 Posts: 70	Yes I'm sure everything was in properly, I checked many times. I didn't swap out the RAM but he has a Centec 512 that he had in it (not the ebst, but should work) and two days ago all these parts worked other than the mobo/CPU. I'm not sure what his PSU is, I know he has a Viper case by MGE (I think) and whatever comes with that he has, but when I put mine in it still didnt work. Mine is a 420 watt @ 28A and has worked fine on 3 computers that I've used it with. The motherboard is a Soyo, intel S478 with a 200 bus (same as CPU's) and supoprts up to PC 3200, his centec is a 3200. The video card is a Radeon 9250 PCI. The HDD is a WD 80 gigs, the one I tried to swap it with was a WD 20 gigs, both have worked perfectly fine in the recent past.... I don't know what other it could possibly be. Another thing I forgot to mention before, he has an LCD read out on th front of his case... It displays temp, if the comp is working. HDD, time elapsed since comp was turned on and something else, I don't rememeber... But the temp reads an error, and does not stop beeping. And it has the HDD lit up, I don't know if that means it reads one, if one has power, an IDE cable is plugged into IDE1.... But that's what happens... again no ideas here, so any help would be aprreciated __________________ AMD Athlon 64 3500+ ClawHammer ABIT AV8 (K8T800 Pro) 1 gig Kingston valure RAM (2x512) ATI Xtasy 9600 256MB SB Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro 80 GB Seagate HDD X-Dreamer II case Zalman 7700-Cu 120mm CPU fan

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