My old computer

M

mavandeh

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Jan 13, 2007
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In September, I built myself a new computer because I was sick of RMAing parts in my old computer all the time when they broke down. Recently I bought another case and power supply for 15 bucks off of slickdeals and I've been trying to get it up and running as a side project of mine. Here's the problem I'm experiencing:

The computer posts just fine. When I boot to Windows XP install cd, the screen should pop up blue. Instead it stays black. No text, just blank black and nothing no matter how long I leave it on.

I've tried swapping out the video card, motherboard, RAM, and CD-ROM drives.
I've RMAed the motherboard
I've tested the main hard drive with SeaTools, it passed both short and long tests.
I've even tried taking the soundcard out as a last ditch effort to make it do something.

The only thing I don't have the capability of testing is the processor. Could it be the processor? That'd be unfortunate if it were. It's the only thing in my box that isn't still under warranty.

I just wanted to get a few opinions before I order a new processor.

Thanks guys!
Mark
 
look like a mobo problem, u might want to update your mobos bios and tweak out the BIOS
 
have you tried the disk on another computer? If you can, try to get a hold on another xp disk, because from the sounds of things it doesn't seem like it would be your hardware.
 
The supply was originally a meager $40 supply (Ultra V series 500W), mail in rebates took it down to $0 shipped. The case came without a PSU and again, mail in rebates took it down to $15 shipped. Slickdeals.net, I'm tellin' you!

Anyway, I've gotten a hold of two other Windows XP CD's and and they both did the same as the previous. I'm in Windows Home Server beta 2, but the only thing I can tell you about it is that it installs and runs on my old machine while Windows XP doesn't.

I have tried running it on the PSU that came out of my new computer (Cooler Master iGreen Power 600W) and it still did the same thing.
 
The PSU should be fine... its a great budget unit that provides good enough power for a low/midrange system. What are the specs of your system?

Have you tried any other OS? Run memtest on the ram overnight. If there are no errors, try another optical drive. Also, try another cable (first for the optical drive, then for the hdd).
 
Haven't tried any of that stuff yet, although I have tried one DIMM of RAM at a time. Didn't seem to help, so maybe both are bad.

I will do this and post how it turns out. Thanks!

My system is as follows:
Asus K8N-E Deluxe
Socket 754 AMD Athlon 64 NewCastle 3200+ @ 2.2gHz
1gb Kingston Hyper-X PC4000
Gigabyte nVidia GeForce 6800 GT

Mark
 
MemTest86 ran for an hour and 45 minutes and failed to find any errors. RAM is good.
 
mavandeh said:
MemTest86 ran for an hour and 45 minutes and failed to find any errors. RAM is good.
Click to expand...

An hour and forty five minutes is not enough time to verify that your ram is good.. as enginurd said let it run overnight.. And you should try booting a Linux live cd as well, that will help determine if it's a media/hardware/software issue....
 
With all that is failing, I would point to the power supply.
 
Eh, I've got a more taxing system being powered by an Ultra 500W V-Series... but you could always try another PSU.

BTW, I've had memtest give errors on the 24th hour of testing, when tweaking my main rig, hehe.
 
enginurd said:
Eh, I've got a more taxing system being powered by an Ultra 500W V-Series... but you could always try another PSU.

BTW, I've had memtest give errors on the 24th hour of testing, when tweaking my main rig, hehe.
Click to expand...

Doesn't matter how much power a PSU is rated at, it matters on the quality of power going into the system. But from everything that is sounds like, it seems to be the power supply.
 
protias said:
Doesn't matter how much power a PSU is rated at, it matters on the quality of power going into the system. But from everything that is sounds like, it seems to be the power supply.
Click to expand...

Right, and the quality of power provided by an Ultra V-Series 500W PSU isn't bad. Its decent. They're good enough for low-mid range systems. Though, I disagree that it sounds like a power issue, I'm not shutting out the possibility; and since he has the ability to swap out that part, he might as well try it if the other suggestions didn't work.

The longer memtest runs, the more stable your system is. If you think you've ruled out the ram, try the other suggestions I made earlier.
 
The refurb motherboard from my newer system arrives tomorrow (it died going to a lan party 100 miles from home). I'll test it with the powersupply from my main machine while I'm replacing the motherboard.

I've decided that if I can't get it to boot an XP disc, I'll try Ubuntu. If not, I'll just leave it as the Microsoft beta OS I'm currently running. It's just frustrating when any of your computers runs an OS that no drivers are out supporting your hardware. :)
 
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