My computer won't turn on... how do I figure out the problem?

O

oregon

Active Member
I have now purchased a new power supply, case, and motherboard. I'm using my old hard drive, and my old optical drives as well as a Pentium D I acquired. It won't turn on though, and I'm pretty sure I've wired everything correctly. I know my drives work, but I don't know about everything else

So how do I isolate the problem? I have a feeling the new stuff is in working condition, I think the problem may be the processor since I was given it. How would you test the CPU to see if it's working? What about testing the power supply and case?
 
oregon said:
I have now purchased a new power supply, case, and motherboard. I'm using my old hard drive, and my old optical drives as well as a Pentium D I acquired. It won't turn on though, and I'm pretty sure I've wired everything correctly. I know my drives work, but I don't know about everything else

So how do I isolate the problem? I have a feeling the new stuff is in working condition, I think the problem may be the processor since I was given it. How would you test the CPU to see if it's working? What about testing the power supply and case?
Click to expand...

test the case???
 
Double check all of your connections. Look on the back of the PSU and make sure the switch is set to 'on' Recheck your front panel connectors as well and make sure they are hooked up to the right MoBo pins.

Check back here afterwards and let us know.

(And you mentioned every major PC component except RAM - you do have RAM inserted right? Please don't take offence!)
 
Oh yeah, I got new RAM as well... I'm pretty sure it is in right, I read my motherboard manual about installing RAM. But this is my first time so I'm not sure. Basically I just opened up the white clips, then pressed the RAM in till they closed. It seemed to click in place.

I'm not really sure about the front panel connectors. On each of lead, there are two wires, a colored one and a white one. I'm pretty sure the white lead is the negative one, so I hooked all the white wires up to the - pin. Is this right?
 
oregon said:
Oh yeah, I got new RAM as well... I'm pretty sure it is in right, I read my motherboard manual about installing RAM. But this is my first time so I'm not sure. Basically I just opened up the white clips, then pressed the RAM in till they closed. It seemed to click in place.

I'm not really sure about the front panel connectors. On each of lead, there are two wires, a colored one and a white one. I'm pretty sure the white lead is the negative one, so I hooked all the white wires up to the - pin. Is this right?
Click to expand...

Your Front Panel connectors will have caps on them that tell what each wire (or two wires) does. Your MoBo manual will have a close up of the Front Panel pins somewhere in it to show what each pin controls. Make sure the wires are on the correct pins.
 
Yeah, I'm pretty sure I did connect them correctly. At this point, I believe I have faulty components, so I want to figure out the problem before sending in rebates and buying new stuff.
 
How dextrous are you? You could try the paper clip method of turning on to vaerify it sin't a crappy Front Panel wire. un bend a paper clip so you have a small loop at one end. Look at the MoBo diagram to determine where the Power Switch wire would go, then press the paper clip down on those two pins. If it turns on, crappy wiring, if not, bigger issue.

Do you have another CPU and/or MoBo to test both? If you have another CPU, try it in the system you have. If you have another MoBo, try your CPU in that board.

If you don't have a spare CPU/Board, unplug everything, remove RAM, unplug the HDD, GPU, DVD, etc. from the MoBo connectors, then reset CMOS (look in your MoBo manual). After that, plug in just the 20/24 pin MoBo cord, the 4-pin CPU cord, and one stick of RAM. Power up your PSU, then try turning on again.

Report back with results, or lack thereof.
 
Tried the paper click thing, didn't work. Tried unplugging stuff, didn't work either. Does this rule anything out? If the CPU were faulty, would this stuff happen? Would anything turn on?

I have a friend who builds computers, I will see if I can borrow some of his parts to test. Hopefully he will help me.
 
well, the CPU is needed to POST, but the computer will turn on even with a faulty one. At this point, the CPU cannot be blamed - you'd have to wait until the system would turn on, but nothing POSTing. Not saying it's not the CPU as you think it is, it's just too early to tell.

Having all the info up to this point, I would try a different PSU first. Perhaps the one you received was faulty. This will (usually) be the easiest component to remove and swap with another known-working one. If the system still does not power up with a known-to-be-working CPU, then I would test the MoBo in the same way; swap with a known working one.

While troubleshooting, you don't need your HDD or optical drives attached. so long as everything is working, you can POST with a PSU, MoBo, 1 stick RAM, and your CPU (and HSF).

BTW, Pentium D represent, yo! Keep us posted on how things go.
 
the POST is the beep the computer *should* make when it beeps, and the length/amount of beeps indicates any or no errors..i believe.
 
Hmm... so computer won't do this if the CPU is faulty. Would anything else happen though if only the CPU was faulty?
 
oregon said:
Hmm... so computer won't do this if the CPU is faulty. Would anything else happen though if only the CPU was faulty?
Click to expand...

Depending in the age of the MoBo/CPU, it would turn on, but there would be a blank screen, and either no sound at all, or a really offensive to listen to beep.
 
Well... looks like the Penitum D lives on. I did what you recommended. I disconnected all the components except for the RAM CPU cable, and ATX, then tested with a power supply from an HP computer. It turned on. Then I hooked everything up to the other power supply and hooked up my monitor, and stuff showed up on the screen, even Windows stuff. It didn't boot all the way, but I'm assuming that's because I have so many new parts and I need to work out drivers and bootorder stuff.

I also tested my Antec PS with another working computer, and it wouldn't turn on. So I think the power supply is the bad component. Does this make sense even though it's brand new?

So, it seems everything else is working except the PS. Since I just bought it, should I RMA it with newegg, or should I try and get Antec to replace it?

And lastly... I bought it as a combo deal from newegg along with my Antec 900 case. There's a rebate for each. Does anyone have experience with Newegg exchanges? I read that you can't return rebate items, and if you return an item from a combo deal, you have to return both items. So if I wanted to exchange this power supply for a new one, would I have to send both the power supply and the case back? And would I have to pay the shipping? And would my rebates be invalidated?
 
I would, but I contacted them and there's an issue with the rebates. I think I will RMA with Antec because then I can still get the rebate.
 
No, but they have some rule about not offering returns on items with rebates submitted. I also chatted with a sales rep and she confirmed I would have to RMA with Antec if I wanted to send in the rebate (I haven't sent it in yet).
 
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