computermaineack
New Member
hey guys...I was trying to get an old computer to start up so I could use it, but it was having some issues, and I don't know what's wrong. Here is the situation:
When I built this comp (the one in my sig) in June, I pulled a lot of things out of my old comp, a 2004 Dell Dimension 2400. I pulled the two 512mb sticks of ram i had, all the harddrives (the OEM 40gb, a 160gb, and 60gb), and the optical drive. When I reassembled it to try to use it, I put in a 128mb stick of ram that I found that was the original that came with the computer, the OEM 40gb drive that came with the computer as well, and the dvd player that came with the computer (a different drive than I was using, though). When everything was plugged in, I pressed the power button, and the computer started up....then three seconds later stopped. Before stopping, I did hear POST codes...a long beep, then short beep quickly following. A another maybe three seconds after it stopped, it started again, and again I heard the long beep/short beep POST code, and then another five seconds later there was another code...two long beeps.
Now, here's the problem. I don't get a picture on my monitor. The screen is all black with the power light blinking, like when the computer is in standby or something like that. If I pulled out the cable a little bit, I got the "Check Signal Connection" dialog, so I defineately know that the monitor was securely plugged into the computer. I doubled checked that the RAM was securely installed, and moved it over a socket. I made sure that the IDE connectors were firmly installed, and I also moved the IDE connection on the board over a socket, but I sitll have the same problems.
I have some theories as to why it's not working....I was thinking maybe PSU (would explain starting up and stopping) or the video processor, which is integrated into the motherboard. But I don't know why any of these would have just randomly stopped working...since June it's sat next to my bed...nothing was done to it that I can think of that would have caused problems....in fact, nothing was done to it at all since June.
Sorry for such a long post, but thanks for your help.
computermaineack
When I built this comp (the one in my sig) in June, I pulled a lot of things out of my old comp, a 2004 Dell Dimension 2400. I pulled the two 512mb sticks of ram i had, all the harddrives (the OEM 40gb, a 160gb, and 60gb), and the optical drive. When I reassembled it to try to use it, I put in a 128mb stick of ram that I found that was the original that came with the computer, the OEM 40gb drive that came with the computer as well, and the dvd player that came with the computer (a different drive than I was using, though). When everything was plugged in, I pressed the power button, and the computer started up....then three seconds later stopped. Before stopping, I did hear POST codes...a long beep, then short beep quickly following. A another maybe three seconds after it stopped, it started again, and again I heard the long beep/short beep POST code, and then another five seconds later there was another code...two long beeps.
Now, here's the problem. I don't get a picture on my monitor. The screen is all black with the power light blinking, like when the computer is in standby or something like that. If I pulled out the cable a little bit, I got the "Check Signal Connection" dialog, so I defineately know that the monitor was securely plugged into the computer. I doubled checked that the RAM was securely installed, and moved it over a socket. I made sure that the IDE connectors were firmly installed, and I also moved the IDE connection on the board over a socket, but I sitll have the same problems.
I have some theories as to why it's not working....I was thinking maybe PSU (would explain starting up and stopping) or the video processor, which is integrated into the motherboard. But I don't know why any of these would have just randomly stopped working...since June it's sat next to my bed...nothing was done to it that I can think of that would have caused problems....in fact, nothing was done to it at all since June.
Sorry for such a long post, but thanks for your help.
computermaineack
