pc wont power up since installing DVD writer?

Yes I know that sounds weird, its stumpt me,

Basically it was all working fine, had a DVD rom and just bought a writer (LG GSA 4163) so took the rom out and replaced with same IDE cable and power connection.( power off obviously) when powered back on the power light and case fans all work for if 1 second and then nothing?
I can only get it to do this again by turning the power off from the mains sockets and then turning it al back on to get the same.

The PC has all new components I only built it a month or soo ago and its been really stable.

P4 630
gigabyte mobo
2gig RAM
200GB Barracuda SATA
their the main elements anyhow;


When the power does come on for its second I get no HDD spinning up, there’s nothing on the screens, there are no beeps nor does the CPU fan spin (although this could be norm as its a smart fan which only turns on when needed; which is most of the time )

Things ive tried:

Un-pluging all the physical connections (SATA/IDE/Power) and reconnecting.

Removing items one by one to see if it would point to one thing like the burner, the RAM, the HDD

Other then this I don’t know what else to do other then take the PC to a repair shop and get ready to open my wallet.

what do you guys think? Any help would be much appreciated!

regards

Sam

 

maybe you have a shorted wire or something? maybe there's power surges? if not then i think your power suppply might not be up to it.
You should try and get a decent branded name one check out this thread.
http://www.hardwareforums.com/showthread.php?t=5218

 

Strange problem, have you tried using a different power plug and different IDE cable?
Also if you took out the ROM and arent using it i would suggest putting it back in and have the burner as master and the ROM as slave!
Also- never turn the computer off at the wall, if it freezes or wont power off depress the power button on ur PC for 3~5 seconds!
P.S, i like you nickname.

 

Hi thanks for your swift reply,

the powersupply in the machine is actually a Enermax 660w beasty(server)

Surely if I shorted something there would have been a noise or a visual happening? And if I have what could it poss be? the mobo?

thanks for the help tho

sam

 

Hi thank you

I have indeed put the old ROM back in with no avail and also a different IDE cable and power cable, I will try the 2 together and out the ROM as a slave.

As for turning it off from the power, I dont turn the PC off like that, what i meant was that once ive turned it on and got the initial power i.e. fans spinning for a sec and then all going off, if I try and press the power swithc again their is nothing?? so if i turn the power switch on the wall off for say 5 secs and trn it back on then press the pc power i get the same 1 second of power and nothing else.

Thanks very much for your input.

Sam

 

hmm thats really strange, en Enermax 660W damn thats a beast. maybe there is a problem with the motherboard? i mean it could be that a pin somewhere isnt right, suely it cant be the PSU....have you got another one to try it with just to test it?

 

sorry sam, i misunderstood, my bad!
Well i doubt its a short because all modern PSU's have short/overcurrent protection etc.....

 

cheers guys,

Im afraid I havent got another PSU with the same ATX main mobo psu plug, my other machines are older and have a slightly smaller plugs.

yer im really baffled it sort of points to psu considering the power is non consistent, but i wonder if say the mobo has suddently gained a problem its not allowing a full circuit for the power to flow round?? again im really baffeled.

Thanks again tho guys

Sam

 

yeah the PSU is the first thing you think of, but i really dont think it could be a problem with that, although there is a chance it could be but you need another one to test it.
...apart from that it could be the motherboard...maybe the CPU is bad, i mean i really dont know so i'm just throwing up ideas here

 

No worries.
The only things i can suggest is to rebuild ur PC from scratch and while ur at it give it a good clean just for the sake of it,
or take ur PSU to a computer shop (please dont hurt me for saying that) and see if they can test it!
Hope it all works out for you!

 

I know what you mean the psu is a meaty one, and theres no odd smells etc, I even opened it up to look inside but all looks as you would have hoped, clean no burning etc.

Mmmmm Mobo / CPU that scares me I got all the equiptment from Ebuyer so im sure i can send it back if its faulty considering its only 1 month old, but what a pain hey!!!

Thank you Matt Ill def keep you guys posted "When" I find the fault

All the best

Sam

 

Cheers Pelvis, I have pretty much done that today, tell me if I have to say send the Mobo back or even the CPU what would be the best method of getting the CPU out of the mobo, considering the thermal gunk stuff will have gone off like cement?

And yes your right that would be a cheap way of eliminating one part of the equation!

Thanks buddy

Sam

 

yeah i hope its nothing serious.. you could try and check the plug socket/power cord that connects it to the mains, or try it in a surge protector multi-plug to se if there's a power surge in your mains supply...
Hope it all goes well and isnt too serious
Matt

 

are you talking about getting the heatsink off the CPU?

 

the thermal 'gunk' shouldnt have stuck, unless its adhesive, it should just be grease that never dries, what's the name of the stuff used? unless its a pad in which case a high percentage (99%) Isopropyl Alcohol is good (i think thats the name of it) for cleaning it off.

 

Yes the thermal sticky pad that came with the CPU and heatsink, I guess ill have to remove them and ive heard nightmares of them stuck solid, anyway ill cross that bridge when I get there.

I just spoke to a pc shop nearby who suggested its the mobo, he feels that as weve had such hot weather and my machine is used in a studio for music, it does get rather hot and usually has 80% of cpu usuage most of the time???

He thinks it couls possibly be a coincidence that I installed the writer and the mobo had already failed? mmmm ill get in touch with ebuyer and see what they say!

thanks once again, ill def let you guys know what was the cause to this.

All the best

Sam

 

yeah unless you have other parts to test with then i dont think it's going to be too easy, you should also look into a good cooler when you get it sorted (get rid of your stock) one for your CPU, i've said it before, and i'll say it again, ARCTIC COOLING FREEZER (coupled with some arctic silver 5 thermal paste)!!! i have the freezer 4 for intel 478 and my cpu idles at 20-23*C and loads while using F@H at 30*C (and its overclocked from 2.6GHz to 3.12GHz)

 

No problem and good luck to you!
Thanks for letting us know what the cause is when you come back as i would really be interested on finding out what happened!

 

Yes your right I think the standard one is def not up to the strain, ill be looking down this route once i get this sorted
BTW "Excellent site" well impressed with teh speedy response.

Have a great weeked both of you

regards

Sam

 

You to mate and thanks for the Excellent site part!
Oh and im already half way through my weekend