[psi42]

A friend of mine put some more RAM in his computer.
After that, it did not start. At all. No power light, fan, sounds, anything. Even with the new RAM out it still does not work. Am I right in assuming that even if the motherboard got fried somehow the power supply should still turn on? Is it possible that a disconnected cable somewhere could cause thing to do this? Any suggestions? The computer in question is a Compaq >:( 5204...

Any help would be very much appreciated.
~psi42

[tototu]

I stumped myself for 4 hours once by creating two problems for myself. The first one wa that my ATX power supply came loose from the motherboard while I was jamming my fingers in there. After that solution, I found a rocker switch on my power supply that got turned off. Do the basics. Make sure everythingthing is properly plugged and grounded and that no breakers are tripped ;D ;D ;D

[fredg]

HI,
As the first answer suggests, go back into the computer and check ALL connections, be sure they are not loose or left unconnected.

There is a "rare" possibility that something was "fried", but not likely. Most computer technicians touch the side of the computer case to discharge any electrostatic charge before touching anything inside,
Or, they wear a write strap, clipped to the case, or work on an anti-static mat.

Probably, something was left unplugged.
Fredg

[psi42]

Sorry it took me so long to reply... was gone for a few days...

I've been checking connections but haven't found anything (yet). :) Will keep looking.

Where can I find the switches on the power supply? I have looked but all I see is the on/off switch on the back of the power supply.

What sort of thing could cause it not to start. Would it have to be a cord going to the motherboard or to the on/off switch or could it be anywhere?

Thanks for your help. I'll keep trying :)

~psi42

EDIT: There is an unconnected power cable, but I am SURE it was unconnected when I first opened the case. I can't find anywhere it shoudl plug in. Is it supposed to be unconnected?

[greywahya]

:) Any opne who has a solution for this problem please let me know as well. I have been working on a compaq 5200 with like probem

[DylanFogle]

First thing first. I believe he said that the friend added memory and then the system wouldn't start. First thing take that memory out and try again. If that doesn't work, then try each memory card independently in each memory slot until it either a. Works or b. Doesn't. Then try removing each pci card one at a time until the same a or b happens. If nothing then disconnect all ide and floppy ribbon cables and power connections to drives. If you still don't have any movement from fans or booting then your down to motherboard with/without video card, processor and power supply. So if it gets to this point and you still have nothing then you need to swap parts, try another power supply first, then if you can get other cpu and motherboard try those. If it does start at any point in that process, then add parts back one at a time until something stops working.
Wow how to troubleshoot P.O.S.T. And its only my first day. I hope that helps someone. And let me know if you think we could add anything to this.

[psi42]

:) Any opne who has a solution for this problem please let me know as well. I have been working on a compaq 5200 with like probem

Good to know I'm not alone ;D


Okay... I've decided to just take everything out of the case and try everything one at a time.

The problem is... and I know this sounds stupid... I can't get the hard drive or CD-ROM to unplug. The power cables going to these drives are just stuck or something. How much force is required to remove these cables? I don't want to break anything :) . Considering the force needed to insert the RAM--I'm used to those nice connectors on the back of the computer that require almost no force to unplug a cable--I'm not sure if the cables are stuck or if I just need to use pliers... :)

[chirag_vp]

[QUOTE]A friend of mine put some more RAM in his computer.
After that, it did not start.

[psi42]

I don't know how, but SOMEHOW I got it to work!

It's a miracle. I'm not sure exactly how I fixed it, but here is what I did from the time I last tried to start it and the time it actually started:

*Tried to unplug power cable to hard drive. No luck... I gave up when I felt I had lost enough skin on my thumb
*Unplugged power to CD-ROM. This time it wasn't stuck
*Plugged CD-ROM back in :)
*Put modem back in (I had taken it out to see if it was the problem)
*Unplugged one of the cables going from the power supply to the motherboard. Couldn't get the other one out, so I gave up.
*Moved RAM from the first slot to the third (this was probably it)

I was really about to give up, and I just decided to try the power switch one last time... and it worked! It even booted up... I'm going to have to find a spare monitor somewhere...


I just have one last question:

Are those cables supposed to require so much force to remove? Seems kind of stupid that I have to spend ten minutes to unplug one cable. Of course, after I got it out and plugged it back in again, I could unplug it easily.


Thanks again for all your help!
~psi42

[psi42]

Well, I just spent a few hours knocking my head against the wall (metaphorically! For all you brain health experts ;D), as I have finally uncovered the twisted reason for this whole wretched course of events.

To make a long story short, after its little episode, this computer was running "normally" (much better now that it's sans MS windows), until I got my hands on some old PC133 SDRAM. Well, I thought, I could just throw said SDRAM into this old thing. (The stick of RAM that started this whole thing, a 256MB PC133 stick, is now lying comfortably inside another computer.)

So I popped the case, manoevered out the floppy drive (it's amazing how close they put it to the PSU), and replaced the OEM 64MB PC100 stick with two 128MB sticks of PC133. Manoevered Mr. Floppy back in and turned on the power.

And then it was like the whole old story again. The fans came on, but there was no signal to the monitor, and it did not boot.

I put the old 64MB stick back in, and voilà, the computer came back to life.

And then the horrible truth dawned on me: Not only does this mobo not take PC133, it also will not give any beep error codes at all, which was what threw me the first time round, when I knew even less about what I was doing.


Let's go back in time, however many years ago I started this little thread... Wow, it was only one year. Amazing.


Here is what happened, with a little commentary.

Perceived: Put 256MB of RAM into the computer, replacing the original 64MB stick.
Actual: Replaced PC100 RAM with PC133, which, unlike a lot of OLDER boards, it will not accept.

Observed: Turned on the power. Fans came on, but no signal to the monitor.
Perceived: Whoops! It is fried.
Actual: It barfs on PC133, and won't even tell you about it.

Observed: Popped case again. Replaced new RAM with old. Tried to power on. No power. To quote my original eloquent statement: "Computer does not start AT ALL!"
Perceived: It really is fried.
Actual: Somehow the original RAM stick did not get in the slot all the way, which isn't surprising considering the nature of the case. You have to remove the floppy bay to get to the RAM slots, and you have to remove the PSU to get the floppy bay out because they are so close together. The 5.25 bay is not removable, so you have to remove the motherboard panel (I'm not kidding) to add an optical drive. At the time, I didn't know the floppy drive was removable, so how I got the first stick in correctly is beyond me...
Anyway, the improperly inserted stick screwed up the board, so it wouldn't start.

Observed: Made a half-hearted attempt to remove motherboard panel, because I didn't know how to get the floppy bay out. Got the panel out enough to better access the slots, and reseated the RAM for the upteenth time.
Perceived: It's fried.
Actual: It finally went in properly this time. System booted.
Perceived: "It's a miracle"


And so on...

]
Are those cables supposed to require so much force to remove? Seems kind of stupid that I have to spend ten minutes to unplug one cable. Of course, after I got it out and plugged it back in again, I could unplug it easily.

Um... No comment.




The moral of the story, ladies and gentlemen, is that you have to push those DIMM sticks in REALLY HARD to get them in the slot.


~psi42