Computer wont boot

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8d52797c436

264 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#64114 8-Jul-2010 07:43

Hi All,

Woke up this morning and discovered my file server was no longer working. It had dropped off the network which it does occassionally so I rebooted it to try and get it working (it has no screen or keyboard so thats normally the first thing I try).

After the initial reboot it still wasnt on the network so I plugged in a screen and keyboard and saw that it had hung on 'Verifying DMI'. I rebooted again and now it boots for about 5-10 seconds, then it appears like its losing all power, and then attempting to boot again. Its not like its rebooting, I looked in the case and all the lights/fans etc lose power for a second and then everything starts again. I also cant get a video output from it during that time so I cant see if there is an error displayed or anything like that.

Any suggestions? I only just got this thing up and running a few weeks back after 2 hdd failues.

wreck90

780 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#348954 8-Jul-2010 08:47

Mostly likely one of ...

Power supply.
CPU.
Memory
Video card
Motherboard

At a guess I'd say it is either the cpu overheating, otherwise the next culprits to check are the motherboard and power supply .

Is your cpu heat sink installed properly? The cpu can quickly overheat and your pc will shutdown.

Tricky to fix, since you need spare working parts to swap in/out.

I guess, your pc doesn't give any error beeps / codes?

8d52797c436

264 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#348956 8-Jul-2010 08:51

Nah I cant even get anything to show up on the screen to see at what stage its rebooting, but I am thinking CPU or motherboard might be the issue.

The CPU/motherboard have been running fine for the past 2 years or so since I originally built it so the heatsink shouldnt be an issue unless its somehow broken while sitting there. I checked all the fans too and they seem to be running fine. I'm thinking I might just take it into PB tech here in Hamilton and get them to look at it so I hopefully wont be paying for a lot of parts trying to find which one has broken.

vinnieg

2260 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#348962 8-Jul-2010 09:06

Sounds like power supply most probably, have you got any spares?

That or the CPU overheating, those are common symptoms of a CPU overheat, is all the dust out of the heat sink? Might just need some electronics or contact cleaner to blow it through and then clean the rest of the dust off the circuits

I have moved across the ditch. Now residing in Melbourne as a VOIP/Video Technical Trainer/Engineer.

8d52797c436

264 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#348963 8-Jul-2010 09:10

Hmmm I think I might have a spare power supply I could try as a temporary fix sitting in another dead machine of mine (gotta love computers, dont ya?). Thanks for the advice, I'll have a proper look tonight when I get back from work and see if there is any dust etc clogging up the heatsink.