XP system not booting following crsah

[Chriscb]

Hi all,

Self build system running well for about 5 years. Been using an IDE to USB adapter to archive data to external hard for a couple of hours today with out problems. A few hours ago I connected a new drive to archive data to it and catalog the data but the pc didn't recognise it. I repositioned the adapter on the hard drive IDE connector, whilst it was still connected to the USB port, and the PC crashed. (won't do that again!)

Now the system won't reboot. LED power light on the MOBO is on, all the fans and drives power up, but after that - nothing.

Clearly I've shorted or blown something. My question is what.

System is:

P4P800SE, with Win xp pro and 4gb ram.

2 main drives running off the MOBO, 4 further drives running of a PCI board.

ATI graphics card, Matrox video card.

PSU is a Zalman zm400a unit, 380w.


I'd really appreciate any help on this one please.

Thanks.

Regards,

Chriscb.

 

[GhislainG]

Was the USB enclosure still powered up when you connected the IDE cable?

I'd try to disconnect the PC and/or power off the PSU. Then try it again. If something blew in the PC, then it should probably be the motherboard.

 

[Chriscb]

Hi GhislainG,

Thanks for the reply.

It wasn't an enclosure, it was a USB-IDE cable with an external power supply, but yes it was still powered up and connected to the PC via the USB port. Stupid I know!

Is there anyway of nailing the exact cause - any test I can carry out on the MOBO?

Do you think it maybe the PSU?

Once more, thanks for your input.

Regards,

Chriscb.

 

[GhislainG]

It's possible that the PSU is blown (relatively easy to determine by swapping it or having it tested), but I'd suspect the most likely cause is a dead motherboard. Start with the standard troubleshooting procedure, i.e., disconnect all non-necessary peripherals like hard disks, add-on cards, etc. You might be lucky and find a PCI card or something else that's causing the issue.

 

[Chriscb]

Thanks for that. I'll start the testing Friday and follow the procedure as outlined elsewhere. I'll post here later Friday or Monday with the results. May help someone else!

Thanks.

 

[Chriscb]

Ok - results are in.

Taking out each pci board in turn results in no change in the beeping status.

Testing the PSU gives me, starting from pin 1: +3.48 +3.48 G +5.24 G +5.24 G P +5.29 +12.19 +3.48 -12.31 G P G G G -5.14 +5.24 +5.24.

Four pin mobo power is +12.19, power to drives is red +5.23, yellow +12.20. All tested free - ie not under load.

My take is that the PSU isn't the culprit. Looks like I'm in the market for a new MOBO!

Thanks for your help.

Regards,

Chriscb.

 

[GhislainG]

I agree.