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Old January 7th 05, 08:45 PM
Eddie B.
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"HammerToe" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 11:40:20 +0000 (UTC), "Eddie B."
wrote:

I would appreciate suggestions about a problem I am having.

The PC is based around a GA7N400 Pro mainboard with an Athlon XP2700 cpu.
It
has been used for about 2 years. Now, it sometimes won't boot (not
displaying anything on the screen at all), or when booted, will crash some
time later, usually when simply idling (i.e. not actually accepting key
strokes or mouse input). When it crashes, it keeps the cpu cooling fan
(and
chipset fan, and case fans) running. After a crash, it definitely won't
reboot, but "sulks" for a few hours or a day or so!

I suspected originally that it was a video card problem, especially as its
cooler was choked with dust, but the cleaned-up Ti4600 (4X) card works
fine
in another PC, and the problem PC exhibits the same (no boot) behaviour
with
a different card. I have put the hard drive into a different PC as a
"slave", and run a virus check and other diagnostics on it. The problem PC
won't display the pre-boot screen without a hdd present either. (i.e. I
think I have eliminated hdd and video card as the root of the problem. Am
I
right to eliminate the psu, on the grounds that it keeps the fans spinning
after a crash?

It may be my imagination, but the problem seems to have occurred after a
Linksys 54g wireless network card was installed - although taking it out
hasn't cured the problem.

It seems to me that the problem must lie either with the mainboard or the
cpu. Can anyone suggest how I might resolve which it is, please (and why
that would give rise to the symptoms experienced)? I'm reluctant to
dismantle a working PC to provide a spare cpu or mainboard, so the obvious
solution (try the cpu on a different mainboard, try a different mainboard
with the XP2700) has to be a last resort.

TIA

Eddie

Complete spec:

GA7N400 Pro mainboard
Athlon XP2700 (333)
512Mb generic RAM (1 stick)
fdd
hdd IBM/Hitachi 120 Gb
PNY GF Ti4600 (4X)
LiteOn DVD CDRW combo
400W psu
Windows XP Pro
Creative SB Live Platinum (with the front panel etc)
Linksys 54g network card


1. I don't think you can conclusively eliminate the Power Supply
simply because the fans keep running (different/different power
demands on PS from CPU and MB). Try another PS.

2. I doubt VERY much it's the CPU. They TEND to go 'all-or-nothing'..

3. Eliminate the PS, Video card and *Memory* by trying different parts
if possible. (At least TRY unseating and reseating the memory if you
don't have extra and/or try diff. DIMM slots.

4. Make sure you try safest BIOS settings.

5. Try getting to a DOS prompt with just the MEM, Video Card and
Floppy installed. NO HD.

6. If NONE of the above helps, then I suspect you have a MB that's
gone bad... Prob. capacitors drying out with age/falling out of spec.

Good Luck. Please post your results.


Initial results:

Well, it isn't the power supply. I bought another, and installed it. The
system won't power up, although the psu, cpu and case fans spin up. I was
seduced into believing it was a psu problem, because the previous psu was a
Q-TEC (!) - the gold 400W - and the consensus appears to be that Q-TEC psu's
are dud. I'm having a trawl round for another cpu to try, or another m/b.

Shall I go for an alternative m/b because cpus tend to go 'all-or-nothing',
and this went gradually? Or just because I can get a m/b cheaper than a cpu?