Katrina got my computer... whats wrong with it?

E

Epsilon

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Mar 12, 2006
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Ok, so I live in Louisiana and after power finally came back on after hurricane katrina i tried to boot my computer (had been attatched to a powerstrip). It seemed to start up but then crashed or something. Now when i turn it on, the beeping alarms starts going off and the computer won't boot.

I built the computer myself about 2 summers ago so there is no warrenty here. I assumed it was my motherboard, but havn't had time to look at it until now. I turned it on this weekend and the light on the motherboard (asua A7s333) is lit up green and the hard drives are spinning up. I don't understand what the alarm means.

I have come up with 3 possibilities.
1. The cpu is dead
2. The power supply is messed up and not producing enough power.
3. There is something wrong with the motherboard but I don't know enough to troubleshoot it.

Any thoughts?
 
Need to referenece the beep codes to your motherboard and find out exactly what the fault is.
 
And if you want a possible quick fix: Reset your CMOS :D. (Find the CMOS jumper, and take it out, wait a minute, and put it back in place)
 
Or you can remove the battery and put it back in for the same effect.
Regardless, you have to find out what those beep codes mean. Write it down (i.e. "1 long beep, 2 short beeps") and reference it in your manual, or the manual on Asus' site... or even paste them here and someone may know what they mean. But you do need to pay attention to those beeps. They will usually tell you the problem component, and with that you know what you need to replace to get it working again.
 
Try reseating all of your components. Did you have to move the system? Was it exposed to moisture, water, etc?

I live in Destrehan & work in New Orleans, luckily none of my computers were damage.
 
The beep is a long beep followed be a pause of the same length, then it repeats. So its just: beep pause beep pause etc. etc.

The computer did not get any damage from moisture or anything as luckily the house itself miraculously took no damage from the trees fallen all around it. However, judging by the marks on the felled trees, the house may or maynot have received a hit from lighting jumping from one of our trees... wouldn't be the first time to happen.

I am at LSU right now, so i had to leave the computer at my parents house during the week. I will be able to try the suggestions all of your suggestions then, I am just trying to get as many different idea as i can before i sit down to it again an begin working.

Thanks for all the advice, and plz keep it coming.
 
You're going to find that the issue lies in the video card or memory. One or more of those components may have bit the dust in your power outage.
 
I truely hope it is neither of video card or the ram... two of the most expensive pieces of the computer. :( 1G Kingston pc 2700 and a Geforce 4 ti4600+ (top of the line when i built the computer)

I might possibly be able to salvage a power supply out of a computer I pieced together from a conglomerate of old computers. Not sure exactly how old it is so it may not have the correct fittings. But i was planning to use that as a last resort as there would be a lot of work involved in testing that.
 
Well... if it is your Graphics card... lol, I dont think you're gonna miss it if you upgrade a little! Even a 6800GS would be a great (and cheap) upgrade these days. Try the PSU. I doubt the ram's at fault as there's lots of things in the way of the Ram to absorb a power surge. I'm guessing the computer was on during Katrina? if it was totally off then power-surge related problems would be even less likley.
 
I wasn't home for a few days prior to katrina, i honestly don't know if the computer was on or not, i would hope someone in my family would have turned it off.

How much would an equivalent or slightly better graphics card cost these days. (The geforce 4 is discontinued from what I can tell.) I don't have much to spend on it if i find that it is indeed the problem.
 
I bet you can find an ATI 9800 Pro for cheap on Ebay or something and it's a really solid card (even better than the GF4). An NVidia 6600gt or a 6800gs is an even better investment if you can get it for a good price.

But I wouldn't buy anything until you've figured out what exactly your problem is. I would certainly consult your manual or your mobo manufacturer's website for the beep codes so that you can figure out exactly what needs to be replaced.
 
Even if your computer wasn't on but your PSU was, your computer can still get damaged by a lightning storm. The beeps... it is most likely your ram being fried/damaged. I doubt its the PSU if you can turn it on. Motherboards usually don't make beeps if the video card is bad, it'll still boot up. I'm not quite sure about the CPU though.
 
I'm pretty sure the series of long beeps is ram. Makes sense too as it is the most likely to get fried from a surge.
 
Ok so it has been a long time since I posted and I just had time to fool with the computer. It was the RAM that was giving me the problem. After that the computer is now running perfectly.

Thanks for the help
 
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