System died..

[markctpr]

Yesterday morning, I was unable to wake my PC from sleep mode. Thinking something was just frozen, I powered down the system and tried to restart it.

Oddly, on restart, the entire system was dead. Blank screen, no post, no beeps, no nothing. I tried re-seating all the cards and memory and still nothing. I even tried to start the system without any of the cards and got nothing as well. All the fans (including the CPU fan) are working so I assume it is not the power supply. The on/off button on the case works as well.

How can I tell if this is a bad motherboard or a bad CPU?? I don't have extras of either around so there is no easy way to try and swap the CPU to see if that is the problem.

Configuration
ASUS PC400Deluxe
Intel 3.0GHZ
Kingston Memory
Thermaltake power supply


Ideas?

 

[Flinx]

No friends? No friendly neighborhood computer store?

The loving are the daring!

 

[markctpr]

I suppose I'll have to purchase replacement parts to give it a try..

Would you expect an Asus MB to make ANY noises at all if the processor was dead or missing??

 

[Flinx]

No, I don't think so.

<A HREF="http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm " target="_new">http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm </A>
To me that kinda implies that the [2-4]86 and maybe P I's
may have beeped without a processor but with some memory but not the newer stuff. Wouldn't count on the newer generation beeping either.

<A HREF="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=545250#545250" target="_new"> Maybe some help.</A>

<A HREF="http://www.computer123.com/data/tshoot.htm" target="_new">http://www.computer123.com/data/tshoot.htm</A>

The loving are the daring!

 

[Flinx]

I would really try to find someone who might be able to swap some parts with you (for testing).
Otherwise it's starting to look like change a part and pray.

Some more questions:

1) Did anything smell funny (like a burned power supply)?
2) Did you look for a broken, leaking or bloated capacitor on the
motherboard?
<A HREF="http://capman.ionichost.com/#Images " target="_new">http://capman.ionichost.com/#Images </A>

The loving are the daring!

 

[Flinx]

One stick of memory at a time?

The loving are the daring!

 

[markctpr]

Thanks for all the help... I borrowed a CPU from another machine at work and the machine powered right up. Clearly, something fried my new 3.0GHZ chip. Sure hope Intel will replace it.

Sure does seem odd that it would just drop after running non-stop for two months. I checked all the fans and everything seems to be working.

 

[Flinx]

Check your guarantee!!!

The loving are the daring!

 

[sabbath1]

A P4 can NOT fry. No way. It must have just died like that, it happens, but it's very rare that CPU's just die, but rest assured that your new CPU will live long...

Did you overclock it's voltage? Did you smell anything badly in the room when you returned to your computer?


My system: Intel Pentium 4 3.0, 800FSB / TwinMOS 1Gb DDR400 / MSI *argh* / Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro / Antec True Power 550W / 2x Western Digital Raptor / Hercules G.T XP /
SamsungDVD / Lite-On CDRW

 

[kaptainkikote]

Something similar happened to me - I believe that if u take it to a computer store they should be able to first tell u if it is the CPU or the MB, then advice u on what to do. DO NOT start buying parts randomly

good luck

 

[sabbath1]

What CPU did you have? Can't believe there's more than one person who got a defective P4.

My system: Intel Pentium 4 3.0, 800FSB / TwinMOS 1Gb DDR400 / MSI *argh* / Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro / Antec True Power 550W / 2x Western Digital Raptor / Hercules G.T XP /
SamsungDVD / Lite-On CDRW

 

[jurians]

i have a similiar system p4c800 and p4 3.0ht and for me the board just died and asus replaced it. if its the chip like u said intel should be replacing it if u got the retail.

 

[sabbath1]

Have you got a new board that works? Your CPU was not faulty?

My system: Intel Pentium 4 3.0, 800FSB / TwinMOS 1Gb DDR400 / MSI *argh* / Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro / Antec True Power 550W / 2x Western Digital Raptor / Hercules G.T XP /
SamsungDVD / Lite-On CDRW

 

[qquizz]

Oh boy, a no post no video issue. I am a little late in this thread but here are some considerations.

It is possible that your fans will still run and you power supply is still bad. THere are several "rails" or voltage running out to your computer. It's possible only one went bad. Does your current PSU support P4? What brand model and wattage is your PSU (power supply)? Can you try another PSU that supports P4 that is a known good?

It is possible your cmos battery is dead, especially if you noticed some weird stuff upon boot in the last few days/weeks. Reseat your battery. Reset your CMOS (different depending on your motherboard see manual). FYI: Radio Shack can check the battery or just buy a new one for $4 if you suspect the battery.

Reseating the components was a good idea. Next, if the above don't work try bringing your system down to the bare minimum components needed to complete POST. THis would be power, motherboard, cpu, one stick of memory, video card hooked into your monitor. Everything else removed including hard drives, cdroms, modems etc. If it POST's then you know it's one of the components you removed. If no POST put the RAM stick in another slot. If no go put a different stick in the slot. If no go try a different video card that is a known good. If no go it is either your motherboard or cpu or both. If you have access to a different motherboard or cpu try switching out between the two.

It could be any or a combonation of components. Make sure components are properly seated. I suspect the PSU mostly because you said it was in standby and then it wouldnt ever work again. Standby requires certain things to be done by the PSU.



...patiently waiting for 10Ghz processors and immersible virtual reality.

 

[Howard]

I had the same problem and it turns out that I had a friend CPU. (AMD athlon xp 1800+)

 

[Hot_Stack]

Whoa! I had (have) the exact same problem. You may want to have some kind of diagnostics run on the board as I am on my second P4 3.0 and it looks like it's about to die as well (similar symptoms to my last problem). Here is a thread I talked about it in:

<A HREF="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=543338#543338" target="_new">http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=543338#543338</A>

To get sound to come out, you need to plug some speakers into the line-out on the back. The "Voice BIOS" will probably tell you "System Failed CPU Test". It did this on me after 1.5 months of flawless operation. I took the board and proc into my local shop here in Tokyo and they concluded that the chip was bad. Intel replaced it for me and I just got it back.

After installing the new chip, it worked fine for a few hours. I turned it off (power all the way down) and tryed to turn it back on. I got the same dreaded "System Failed CPU Test". I powered off again and turned off the power supply all the way (so the light on the mobo went all the way out). After 30 seconds, I turned everything back on and it was fine, but now every time I turn it off all the way I get the "System Failed CPU Test" message and have to go through a bunch of hoops to get it to work again. I'm almost sure it is about to die again.

While I conceed that it's possible for me to get one P4 that blew itself up, I can't see getting two, so it must be the board (or something else? Anyone with ideas?).

My System
ASUS P4C800
P4 3.0Ghz
2x512 PC3200 RAM (Mosel-vitec)
2x120 GB SATA
ASUS GForce FX5200
Enermax 460W supply