The Unthinkable Devastation Is Over!

El Scumbago · Post by **El Scumbago** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 8:08 pm

It mostly affects me though. Something went terribly wrong with my comp. I push the magic 'on' button and according to the LEDs, it's operating normally and reads the HDD just fine, but the screen remains blank.
The fans are working, the cables are ok, and the screen doesn't show a freakin' thing.
It has happened to me again, but after 5-6 reboots everything was back to normal. This time, nothing.

I've been planning to get a new comp for 6 months now but kept spending my cash here and there, so I'm in no position to walk into the local store and throw 1500 euros for a best-of-the-rest system. The last thing that remains to try is dis-assembing (sp?) and cleaning the comp from the several thick layers of dust that cover every chipset and cable and reassembling it.

If that doesn't work out, I'll be useless to the project until I get a new machine.

Post by **ko2fan** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 8:18 pm

You sure its a problem with the PC?

If all thats wrong is the screen then check the monitor cable, video card, and the monitor.

I had the same problem and replacing the monitor cable fixed it.

--
garfield

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 8:22 pm

hit the monitor on the back (where the conection things are). if that fails, hit it harder*. this method has solved most of my monitor problems in the past

*caution: hitting monitor too hard may cause further problems. Lady Nerevar is not responsible for injuries to computer or person involved.

El Scumbago · Post by **El Scumbago** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 8:22 pm

How can you replace the monitor cable? I thougth it is one with the monitor. Besides, I don't think it's a monitor problem either. If the cable didn't work, there would naturally be a message on the screen saying "no signal". And the monitor seems to work well. There's no obvious reason for the opposite to happen.
The only thing that would make sense is the VGA issue, but considering it's only 12-18 months old, I don't think so.

Hit it? How come I didn't think of that? You're right, japanese stuff are often fixed with a good slap (being that it's a Sony Trinitron).

Post by **ko2fan** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 8:50 pm

I mean the VGA/DVI cable from video card to the monitor.

Its possible it could be the video card itself, but then it wouldn't be outputting a signal to the monitor.

If the BIOS doesnt do any beeping, then it sounds like it isnt a PC hardware problem.

I would first use a different monitor cable, then try with another monitor, then try with different RAM.

--
garfield

CleverClothe · Post by **CleverClothe** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 9:45 pm

You can have a card/cable problem and still not get a no signal message. My card's analog connector was damaged and rarely sends out the green signal. So I am using the digital connector.

El Scumbago · Post by **El Scumbago** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 10:10 pm

It seems then that there're plenty of possible solutions. Thanks guys and girl, I'll try these and report on the situation.

Morden · Post by **Morden** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:56 am

I had the same problem E_S. My computer would boot up properly if i tried rebooting it couple times... but one day the rebooting no longer worked. I thought it was the video card at first, but it turned out that I needed a new motherboard.

I should also mention that this happened to another computer in my house at the exact same time. My best guess is that a nasty wind storm is to blame. It knocked down a bunch of powerlines in our neighborhood... flickering the lights in our house until they cut out completely.

Morgoth · Post by **Morgoth** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 3:58 am

Alright, since we're on the subject of ouching computers, anybody happen to know what this means?:

I turn on my 1-year-old comp one day, only to discover that it won't get past the HDD check beep. The beep just continues in a long, unbroken tone, stops, and starts again. I replace the HDD, thinking that it's the obvious solution, only to have it continue doing the same thing. I then hit the monitor and every other part of the computer many times to no avail.

Any ideas?

Post by **ko2fan** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 7:05 am

Read your motherboard manual, it should tell you what the beep means.

--
garfield

Nomadic1 · Post by **Nomadic1** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:38 pm

It sounds kinda like what happened to my computer last year (or was it the year before... it's funny that I've lost track of it). After a blackout, my computer just refused to work. It ended up being a busted power.

Eraser · Post by **Eraser** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 1:22 pm

Dust is a PCs worst enemy. I had something very similar happen years ago, where the comp started after several reboots, and switching the surge protector/power strip switch a few times. Turned out to be the power supply. If it starts up, but you don't even get a bios screen, then its probably display related.

You're better off trying to diagnose exactly what causes the problem, and replacing only that for cost effectiveness.

Does your mobo have an onboard video? If it does, remove the videocard and switch to onboard video and see if it runs.

At my home, we have 3 up and running computers, two nearly identical, so for hardware problems we can swap parts until we nail just what it is. Unfortunately most people don't have that luxury.

If its not the videocard, it may be the monitor. If the videocard has TV-Out, try using that with a regular TV if there isn't any way to hook up a different monitor.

The good news though, is that it isn't the hard drive causing the problem. If it were, you'd get a bios screen at least and windows would refuse to boot. So the likelyhood of loosing data is slim to none.

El Scumbago · Post by **El Scumbago** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 4:50 pm

No, the HDD is higly unlikely to cause the problem. However, my PC has been open (without side covers, that is) for about 2 years, and dust has covered everything, no matter how often I clean it.
Everything points to the VGA though, and since there's no graphics chip on the mobo, I gave it for extensive cleaning and testing to a guy in the neighborhood. In 24 hrs, I'll now how much doomed my beloved PC is :/

sapien · Post by **sapien** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 7:01 am

i think you all should invest in surge protectors by the sounds of things !

and yes that logn beep is either your motherboard or something to do with the jumpers on your HDD

Morgoth · Post by **Morgoth** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 12:56 pm

We deduced that it must be the motherboard. Luckily, this means that all my art and save files and personal. mod are safe on the old HDD. It's going to be sent to the shop for repair this week.

But enough about that. Let me tell you about the new, 250 gig HDD, 3.2 dual core, 2 gig RAM, Radeon x900, PC with Vista I got yesterday!

(Yes, it's true. It was $499 at Walmart, minus the video card and extra gig of ram. Awesome replacement.)

El Scumbago · Post by **El Scumbago** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 2:07 am

Well, if you can't do it yourself but can afford 100 bucks for a full check and service as well as dust removal (it had formed a crust over the m/b), all's fine. In other words, I'm back.

El Scumbago · Post by **El Scumbago** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 9:41 pm

The 100 bucks I gave proved a waste, as my comp denies once again to perform several tasks. A few minutes ago I opened the box and punched through the VGA and the m/b.
I can't and don't want to describe how I feel, I'm just letting you know that my productive participation is over for good. At least until I can afford the best fucking system of the market.

NexUmMonastica · Post by **NexUmMonastica** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 7:05 am

my advice is: dont buy a brand PC. find someone who can or has built a premium machine and pay them the money instead. the thousands you'd spend on an alienware or a high-end dell could buy you a handbuilt computer that was twice as powerful. I found a 2500 dollar monitor for 900 on craigslist.com, and i can run quake4, doom3, OB, Crysis, with little problems.

look around and ask around, you will probably find a better deal before you have the moolah to chunk out on a factory PC.

El Scumbago · Post by **El Scumbago** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 1:05 pm

I never buy pre-made, brand PCs, always chose the parts and put them together myself. This baby lasted 3 years, but the invulnerable layer of dust that covered all of its components (yeah, I left the hatches open 24/7) may be responsible for the mess. That, and the amount of smoke in the room.

Jelle · Post by **Jelle** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 8:39 pm

El Scumbago wrote:I never buy pre-made, brand PCs, always chose the parts and put them together myself. This baby lasted 3 years, but the invulnerable layer of dust that covered all of its components (yeah, I left the hatches open 24/7) may be responsible for the mess. That, and the amount of smoke in the room.

so your computer actually choked?

Nomadic1 · Post by **Nomadic1** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 9:20 pm

That or he is a four-pack-a-day chain smoker.

El Scumbago · Post by **El Scumbago** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 6:39 pm

I don't smoke more than a pack per day, but since the PC was 'naked' and next to the ashtray, I suppose it could be affected in some way. But the dust and heat in it were more than enough. Anyway, the good news is that I've got the cash for a new and slightly uber comp(yay for henna tatoos!) but I think it may be best to wait until the 8-core processors make it to the shops' shelves. I was told that their release will take place sometime around christmas. Anybody heard of that?

Nomadic1 · Post by **Nomadic1** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 9:28 pm

I was being a little silly

The ashtray would have done some of the damage for sure, though.

I don't know much about computers, but it has been recommended to me time and time again to not buy things when they first hit the shelves - bugs, glitches, faults, incompatibilites and all that might take a few months to be found and fixed, and the stuff will only get cheaper. Maybe you could buy a good, reasonably priced, processor now and then buy a new one later?

NexUmMonastica · Post by **NexUmMonastica** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 9:57 pm

and whatever you do... dont get Win Vista* !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Microsoft went evil this time...

Thrignar Fraxix · Post by **Thrignar Fraxix** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 11:11 pm

NexUmMonastica wrote:this time...

lol

Razorwing · Post by **Razorwing** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 2:01 am

About a week ago my PC crashed hard. When I rebooted it I was greeted by a BIOS message saying "blah blah CHIP Fan too slow or not working blah". (I wrote the exact message down but I don't have the note any longer)

Now, I'm the kind of guy who's technical computer skills ends at adding a new RAM card, so I was convinced my computer was broken and I was going to have to send it in to the internet store to get it fixed. But I decided to have a look-see inside the casing and sure enough, the dust had piled up since I last cleaned it back in January. So I pulled out a brush that I got together with my electric razor some years back and gently cleaned the fans and other not-too-sensitive areas and blew air on the sensitive parts to chase out the miniature dust bunnies.

I turned it back and lo and behold it's working again. Not only that, but the fans are more silent than they've been in a year, so the system feels as good as new. Seems to me that cleaning out dust on a regular basis is important to keep one's computer running for more than half a year at a time.

El Scumbago · Post by **El Scumbago** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 4:15 pm

Yes, I've been told that cleaning it is a must-do. However, I never cleaned it!
And I totally agree with you Nomadic. Buying something when it's all-fresh will only make you a very, very displeased beta-tester of that product, which is the reason I'll not buy an 8-core as soon as they come out. And I'll certainly not install Vista, at least not before I see the first service pack released and listen to the opinion of other Vista-users.

But guys, may I mention something that's been annoying me? I keep reading and hearing stuff about how much Microsoft sucks, and Microsoft's evil, and Microsoft this and Microsoft that, etc. Don't we all use Windows as our primary OS? In fact, most of us only work on this OS. On top of that, isn't it the most user-friendly OS in the market? Yes, I know the Linux guys have lately tried to simplify theirs, but Windows still remains more easy and flexible and provides a vast variety of choices and means to configurate it. Accusing Microsoft for all sorts of things when you use their programms every day is hypocritical, to say the least. This is of course nothing but my subjective opinion, but don't you think there's some truth in it?

Nomadic1 · Post by **Nomadic1** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 10:33 pm

Microsoft is evil, and so is so much about it. Take for example the Bill Gates Foundation (name (?)) which is the world's largest charity. Sounds good, and they spend billions on helping bring the world out of poverty. But if you look more carefully you'll find that most of the money of the charity doesn't go to helping the poor - it is actually invested in other companies. Most of those companies don't give a fuck about poor people. I'm talking sweat shops, underpaying factories in the 3rd World, mining companies which in some cases destroy large areas (look at that mud volcano in Indonesia for an example), corporate farms, companies that bribe dictators and deal in blood diamonds/oil/gold/etc., etc.

Microsoft is also very anti-competitive, and it actively tries to destroy all other products which come onto the market which challenge its market share. I mean, look at all the litigation and threat of it from America to China to try and stop people using Linux. They even said they'd sue the central bank of a country if they used Linux instead of Windows (the bank told them to get fucked and they did, but still)

Windows is also the buggiest and most insecure of all the OSs you can get.

El Scumbago · Post by **El Scumbago** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 12:50 am

I'm aware of these and some more, but what big company doesn't do these? Coca-Cola buried several local competitors, using rather questionable tactics, and I'm sure this isn't the only place where they did so.

The fact is that Microsoft is supported by us, and then by other companies. If we all decide to forget about gaming and modding and everything and turn to Linux -for example- then every 3rd party developer will do the same. But as long as we don't make that move, I believe we don't have the right to speak of the evil they do, because the actual source of that evil is us. And yes, I blame myself as well as everyone who's using Windows like I do.

Nomadic1 · Post by **Nomadic1** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:04 am

I'll switch to Linux when it becomes feasible to do so. At the moment there isn't enough reason to do so, despite the overpriced crap that is Windows, because support for games in Linux and other key programs I use just isn't there yet. But it is slowly changing. The only difference between Microsoft and other evil companies is that M$ basically has complete domination. I reserve my right to criticise

El Scumbago · Post by **El Scumbago** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:18 am

There was a time when I believed I could switch to Linux without a problem (it was before I got Morrowind though). The fact that Epic supported that OS by releasing UT for Linux users was a great move, but as long as MS dominates, I'm unsure they'll do the same with UT3. Games like these are a huge support.

Jedak · Post by **Jedak** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 7:47 am

and whatever you do... dont get Win Vista* !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have Windows Vista and its GREAT!!! *Spits on ground* Do you wan't a piece of me? huh!?

XP was evil in the beggining. But then it became compatible with everything. SO. WILL. VISTA!!!! *roars*

EDIT: I accidentaly spat on my computer, woke up the neighbours and didn't read the whole thread. I didn't know what I was up against. *raises hands and white flag*

El Scumbago · Post by **El Scumbago** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:02 pm

What's that place where white flag means "fire at will"?

Nomadic1 · Post by **Nomadic1** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 10:57 pm

The battlefield. People these days are to brave to accept the surrender of enemies.

Jedak · Post by **Jedak** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 6:20 am

Too brave? You mean 'bloodthirsty' not brave.

Sorry guys, I feel so stupid...

El Scumbago · Post by **El Scumbago** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 12:23 am

This thread is -hopefully- about to run out of purpose. Tomorrow I'll go comp-shopping and wish that it calculates all my troubles away.

El Scumbago · Post by **El Scumbago** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 9:41 pm

New system has arrived. Here's the specs:

Intel 6600 Quad-core, 2.4 Ghz.
3 Gigs of 800 Mb DDR2.
Albatron 8800GTX.

Oblivion's requirements are a joke now, as should be landscaping/region-making.

Post by **Haplo** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 9:42 pm

I dunno, 2.4 GHz is kind of low.

El Scumbago · Post by **El Scumbago** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 9:51 pm

It was either this (250 euros) or the next one (800 euros). It's quad core, that's their usual clocking. Remember that the multicore processors base their power on their ability of multitasking, not clocking as they used to. It's a beast, I can assure you

Post by **Haplo** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 10:19 pm

Ah. I missed the quad-core. X-P Indeed it is a beast!