Trip to taiwan turned sour...

X

x y u

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 21, 2000
Messages
294
Just bought a brand new computer in the states and i was very happy with it. A64 3500+, MSI neo4 platinum mobo, 512mb corsair pc3500, nvidia 6800GT vid card.

Ran great for the 5 days i had it up and running. Well i packed it up and put it on the plane w/ a fragile sticker on it. I had all my PCI cards out of it, and RAM / HD's.

I arrive to taiwan, put everything back together and fire it up. Sounds great, all the lights clicked on, i can hear the HD's rev up however when i look at the screen i get nothing. The monitor makes the static noise like its going to click on but it stays in standby. I don't get a post screen, i can hear no beeps, Everything sounds ok, i just can't see anything.

Does anyone know what could have caused this? I've tried reseeding everything, I took out my cpu / HSF, i've tried booting up w/ nothing but the vid card and CPU/RAM in and it does the same thing.

Am i missing something simple here? i hope so. What would cause me not to see anything on the screen, not even the post menu :( pleeease help as i need this computer for my online schooling and finding a job in taiwan ^_^
 
I would check to make sure the monitor isn't dead. Try another monitor that you know works.
 
I've found that the "fragile" sticker only makes delivery/airline workers treat packages worse - just my experiences though. Since everything sounds and looks normal (except for the view on your monitor) I would think that the problem either lies with your video card or your monitor. I would suspect the video card first just because it's more sensitive than a monitor, unless the monitor *really* got tossed around. If you have a spare card laying around you can try that, otherwise I don't know what else you can do. You could take it to some sort of computer repair shop, and mabey you can even look for a job there while you're at it ;) . Good luck.

blackcode
 
Nah, i know the monitor works because its hooked up to my g/f's brothers computer right now (what i'm typing this message on) Besides, if it were the monitor it should load up to windows still right? It doesn't do any kind of post beep or anything.
 
hehe well i didnt take the monitor on the plane with me, that would be far too much of a hastle, besides they only allow 2 luggage, and i do need clothes :p

The video card was with me on my carry on wrapped in a static-proof baggy. Unfortunately my mobo/vid card is PCIe which is not as common and which i could not switch easily to test it out.

The vid cards light comes on normal though.

Any other suggestions, i'm sure its not the monitor. Has anyone ever heard of monitors not working going through the DVI / analog converters, as my vid card offers duel DVI inputs so i have to use a converter to use the monitor, I did the same at home but it worked fine, maybe certain monitors dont work through these converters?

EVEN so,,i dont think that's the case or i would still hear the post beep even if the monitor was not working correctly. I know the problem lies w/in the computer
 
is it possible that in taiwan they use a different power standard than here in the states (or wherever you are from)?

i know if you go over ot europe you have to have a some kind of special adapters, right?
 
x y u said:
hehe well i didnt take the monitor on the plane with me, that would be far too much of a hastle, besides they only allow 2 luggage, and i do need clothes :p

The video card was with me on my carry on wrapped in a static-proof baggy. Unfortunately my mobo/vid card is PCIe which is not as common and which i could not switch easily to test it out.

The vid cards light comes on normal though.

Any other suggestions, i'm sure its not the monitor. Has anyone ever heard of monitors not working going through the DVI / analog converters, as my vid card offers duel DVI inputs so i have to use a converter to use the monitor, I did the same at home but it worked fine, maybe certain monitors dont work through these converters?

EVEN so,,i dont think that's the case or i would still hear the post beep even if the monitor was not working correctly. I know the problem lies w/in the computer
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take it all apart and put it back together slowly.
 
Nah, here in taiwan they use the same as the states , i've checked it out, and i have brought my old computer here and it has worked just fine.

Pellmaster said:
is it possible that in taiwan they use a different power standard than here in the states (or wherever you are from)?

i know if you go over ot europe you have to have a some kind of special adapters, right?
Click to expand...
 
Jason711 said:
take it all apart and put it back together slowly.
Click to expand...


Hehe as i read this, it is exactly what i'm doing. I've just taken the mobo tray out of the case and i will put the CPU back in. I'lll tell yoyu how it goes. I'm just curious what part usually causes not to have a post at all, or even vid. I know the vid card but could the CPU also be the problem? I just got this off newegg not too long ago, i hope they dont have a problem with me shipping it all the way from taiwan if i need to replace something.
 
I've just found that my mobo is missing a screw to hold it to the tray, i've heard this may affect something, does anyone know? i dont really see how it could heh. I'm just getting desperate now
 
Jason711 said:
take it all apart and put it back together slowly.
Click to expand...

Well i've just put it together super slowly, making sure everything was in snug and perfect. I prayed all the way to the room as i carried the computer to its would-be location, plugged everything in slowly, still praying that it would work, closed my eyes and hit the power switch.....and i got the same results.

Hard drives boot up, lights turn on, led's flash, but alas nothing turns up on the screen.

Anyone else have any other possibilities/ suggestions?
 
Correct, i have reset my CMOS, there is a button the mainboard that does it. I have not tried removing the battery but i dont think that will make a difference.

I really wish i had a spare PCIe vid card laying around but i dont. :(
 
Troubleshooting 101: reducing the number of variables to a minimum.

Instead of trying to make the entire system work at once, strip it down to the minimum number of components and try to get that working first.

- place the mainboard on a non-conductive surface;
- install the CPU (and HSF);
- attach a keyboard;
- reset the CMOS;
- hook up the PSU;
- turn on the system (short front I/O-header's PWR_SW for a second);

Assuming there's an onboard or external PC speaker, you should now hear the mainboard complain about missing RAM. Look up the beep codes for this mainboard's BIOS and confirm.
Install the RAM (one stick, in slot 1) and turn the system on again. It should now complain about the missing videocard. Confirm and install videocard.

You should now be able to get into the BIOS.
 
Ok, i've tried removing everything, i only have the PSU and the CPU / HSF in. ( i didn't take out the mobo from the case, does this matter?) and i turned it on, and i get no beeps, no errors complaining that there is no vid card / ram etc.

Would this mean i likely have a bad CPU?
 
Another quick question, if i threw out my retail box in the states, will newegg still take back the CPU? I just bought it last week.
 
x y u said:
i didn't take out the mobo from the case, does this matter?
Click to expand...
Yes, it does. The case is another variable; for all you know it might be shorting out the mainboard.
[..] i turned it on, and i get no beeps, no errors complaining that there is no vid card / ram etc.

Would this mean i likely have a bad CPU?
Click to expand...
Did you follow the exact procedure as described above?

If so, try another CPU in this system. If it works now, the CPU was probably the culprit.
 
You said your card has dual DVI on a GeForce 6800GT. Is it an XFX card by any chance? My buddy had one that died on him after a weeks use. He checked XFX's forums and found out that there were a bunch of cards that did the same thing. Seemed like a bad batch of cards went out. I don't know if that will help you or not.
 
Repeat after me, never, ever, trust anything expensive, or fragile to airline shipping.

In you're first post it doesn't say if the cpu was pulled when you sent it. If it wasn't and you left the heat sink on, chances are the weight of the heatsink damaged the socket, the cpu, or the motherboard while the "throwers" were handling it.
 
x y u said:
Correct, i have reset my CMOS, there is a button the mainboard that does it. I have not tried removing the battery but i dont think that will make a difference.

I really wish i had a spare PCIe vid card laying around but i dont. :(
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always try everything... remove the battery and short the leads with some wire. :D
 
i didn't take out the CPU, I dont' have another 939 pin cpu laying around though to test this out. I might be able to find somewhere in taiwan where they may have one laying around but i'm not the greatest chinese speaker so this might be difficult.

Yeah i was not smart leaving the cpu in the case while i checked it in. So now it could be the mobo too? argg so many variables, i hate this.

Does anyone know off the top of their head if i need the original box to replace my CPU when ordering through newegg?

I just hope to get this sorted out very soon because I need this computer.

I think i'm just going to RMA my cpu and hope that it's that.
 
No error beeps hmmm , have you checked the condition of the video cable? what about the cable interface on the card?

And finaly did you try to boot right to safe mode incase your video resolution is too much for the screen to display? that can result ina no beep black screen dude

Try booting into vga mode by holding down teh shift key on boot up
 
x y u said:
I've just found that my mobo is missing a screw to hold it to the tray, i've heard this may affect something, does anyone know? i dont really see how it could heh. I'm just getting desperate now
Click to expand...
Nah, that wouldnt matter, if you had a way to hold it in there with only one screw youd still be fine. The screws dont matter...just there to hold the mobo in place. Hope you find out whats wrong, though. Good luck.
 
x y u said:
Nah, here in taiwan they use the same as the states , i've checked it out, and i have brought my old computer here and it has worked just fine.
Click to expand...


ARE YOU 100% SURE.
 
defakto said:
Repeat after me, never, ever, trust anything expensive, or fragile to airline shipping...
Click to expand...
Then how would you ship your expensive and/or fragile stuff if it happens that you have to go abroad to some remote location on the planet? taking a ship? UPS?
 
Even if its not the same, i'm using Taiwanese cables on a Taiwanese PSU. I would therefore have the correct voltage either way.

No i'm not 100% sure but every single electrical device i've ever owned works here, my razor, my cell phone charger.

I just checked on my g/f's brothers laptop AC and it says UL listed. Does this mean its the same?

I have not tried booting into VGA mode but I just set the resolution on this monitor to 1600x1200 just fine, i was running 800 on a 15" LCD back in the states so that shouldn't be the problem, i'll give it a shot anyway and let you know how it goes. Thanks for the help. *crosses fingers*
 
what are you doing down there anyway? If it's just a jaunt, wait until you come back...
 
Sounds like the proc was either damaged in the socket, or got hit by a nice jolt of ESD. Either way, its toast.
 
I just had a similar issue when I initially hooked up the rig in the sig. It turned out the board didn't like the memory in slots 1 and 3 if you only have two sticks of RAM. They actually needed to be in 2 and 4 to run dual channel. The machine posted fine after I made the switch.
 
If you still haven't taken your motherbaord out and placed it on a non-conductive surface, I'd suggest doing that.

As another person in this thread said, the case could be causing a short. Since you put it on a plane, it may have been bumped or jostled so that it's making contact with the motherboard somewhere. I'd remove the motherboard from the tray and place the mobo on a foam pad and then try running the computer.
 
if you havent already sorted this out, i had exactly the same problem

after transporting the computer on the plane, i got to my destination, set it all up, pushed the button and the same thing happened

even when i set it all up on the static free surface, with the ram out, i still didnt get any beeps

turned out that my mobo was dead, got a new one, problem solved

this might not be the case for you though

just my 2 cents
 
Yeah i have not sorted this out yet. For those who said UPS or shipping the computer over to taiwan i checked that and the prices are about the same as my plane ticket so that's not really an option heh.

I've taken the computer out and tested it on on the static bag that came with teh mobo and i'm getting the same thing so i definately have a bad part somewhere. Now it's just finding out if its my motherboard or if its my processor or both. I really wish i had some spare parts lying around but I dont know where i can find someone who just conveniently has a 939 pin processor and/or mobo.

THen there's the fact of how am i going to get these replaced now that i'm in taiwan. I know newegg doesn't do international, and i dont have my boxes anymore i'm sure my grandpa unfortunately threw them out already. Am i stuck w/ a dead comptuer i just spent buko dollars on. I'll have to contact newegg and see if i can just box this up and they can ship it to my home in america and haev someone in america ship the cpu / mobo together. That would not cost so much.
 
Oh for those who are curious, My girlfriend lives in taiwan (She's taiwanese) and I'm here taking classes and teaching English to make money. I really like it here, except for the pollution. Everyone's really nice, I live right downtown in the 3rd largest city in taiwan. I have my own motorcycle for transportation and its easy to park since its so crowded here.

You would think computer parts would be cheap here since a lot of it is made and produced here but that doesn't seem to be the case. I mean there are tons of electronics shops with floors and floors of things to buy, i can just find it cheaper in america. Maybe i dont know where to shop here but its hard not to find the retail cost.
 
You're probably better off replace the board and processor, shitty option. Might, MIGHT be able to RmA it directly to manufacturer if you word things right.

If you're going to ship anything like a computer via airlines, you pull everything off the board, processor, ram, especially processor and heatsink these days. A big heatsink getting slammed around can do alot of damn, unless it's bolted directly to teh case like some intel boards do. Amd, probably cracked something on teh motherboard and/or processor.
 
defakto said:
You're probably better off replace the board and processor, shitty option. Might, MIGHT be able to RmA it directly to manufacturer if you word things right.

If you're going to ship anything like a computer via airlines, you pull everything off the board, processor, ram, especially processor and heatsink these days. A big heatsink getting slammed around can do alot of damn, unless it's bolted directly to teh case like some intel boards do. Amd, probably cracked something on teh motherboard and/or processor.
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Why wont newegg just take it back, it hasn't been more than a week and a half maybe 2 weeks. It said i get a warrenty on these badboys.
 
My RMA has been approved online through newegg, i checked both the processor and the motherboard. Now lets just hope they accept it in their non native box. I wonder how much this lovely shipping is going to be from taiwan. wish me luck! this is going to take far longer than i had hoped :(
 
This is the deal - for Newegg, after seven days, you can't return any processors, even swap to the exact same model. In other words, your purchase becomes final. I know for sure Intel and AMD both have a three-year warrenty on their chips so you might consider dealing with them.
Have you checked your mobo for bent pins and such? If you don't have spare parts sitting around, it's really hard to to do cross-exam and pinpoint which is the culprit. Are there any computer shops or stores around where you live? You may need to check them out for help ...

EDIT: I didn't read your latest post while typing. well, if not in its original package, the part will probably be charged for restocking. Anyway, as long as they take them back ....GL
 
x y u said:
I've taken the computer out and tested it on on the static bag that came with teh mobo and i'm getting the same thing so i definately have a bad part somewhere. Now it's just finding out if its my motherboard or if its my processor or both. I really wish i had some spare parts lying around but I dont know where i can find someone who just conveniently has a 939 pin processor and/or mobo.
Click to expand...

Just for future refrence, static bags are electrically condcutive. Another thing to remember is how a static bag auctually works. An electrical charge only exists on the outer surface of a product such as a static bag so placeing hardware on top of them running or not is not the best idea.
 
Frosty_axe said:
Just for future refrence, static bags are electrically condcutive. Another thing to remember is how a static bag auctually works. An electrical charge only exists on the outer surface of a product such as a static bag so placeing hardware on top of them running or not is not the best idea.
Click to expand...


Ah thanks, I only tried it once so hopefully no damage there. What do you suggest using if i do not have a foam pad laying around? I have a rubbery seat cushion i wonder if that'd be safer.

Anyway, i did not know that they have a 7 day no replacement on the CPU, lets hope its the motherboard then. It did say approved however, and I did have the CPU on the list of things to be RMA'd. *crosses fingers*

There are TONS of computer shops near me. the only problem is the lack of knowing chinese. When my gf gets home I'll ask her to come along. She really does not know how to translate computer terms into chinese (she's computer illiterate) so we'll see how that goes. Should be fun.
 
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