Computer wont start - help please!

Tusky

I recently moved house and when I set up my pc it wouldnt start. There was a loud clicking noise and all of the lights on the front were flashing. Weirdly enough, when I moved the tower out of the desk the problem seemed to stop and the computer would start up as normal. This led me to believe that it was possibly a loose wiring issue ?

Anyway, today the pc wouldnt start. I opened it up and the clicking noise appears to be coming from the floppy drive (didnt even know I had one). Ive tried sticking all wires in firmly. I also tried disconnected the power to the floppy drive. This stops the noise but the computer still wont start.

Any ideas ? Ive a thesis due in a month so really need to resolve this...

corkcomp

Tusky wrote: »

I recently moved house and when I set up my pc it wouldnt start. There was a loud clicking noise and all of the lights on the front were flashing. Weirdly enough, when I moved the tower out of the desk the problem seemed to stop and the computer would start up as normal. This led me to believe that it was possibly a loose wiring issue ?

Anyway, today the pc wouldnt start. I opened it up and the clicking noise appears to be coming from the floppy drive (didnt even know I had one). Ive tried sticking all wires in firmly. I also tried disconnected the power to the floppy drive. This stops the noise but the computer still wont start.

Any ideas ? Ive a thesis due in a month so really need to resolve this...

it sounds like the hard disk tbh.. are you sure you didnt disconnect this rather than fdd?

Webmonkey

Try taking out the RAM and re seating it. Do the same with the graphics card if it's not an onboard one. As for the clicking sound, that's a little odd. Assuming it's from the floppy drive then that's okay. You could take the cable from the floppy drive as well to remove that as a source of the problem. Also don't just remove the power from floppy. Remove the IDE cable as well from the mainboard.

Let's hope it's not the hard drive clicking but if this was the case your computer would still start.

Tusky

Webmonkey wrote: »

Try taking out the RAM and re seating it. Do the same with the graphics card if it's not an onboard one. As for the clicking sound, that's a little odd. Assuming it's from the floppy drive then that's okay. You could take the cable from the floppy drive as well to remove that as a source of the problem. Also don't just remove the power from floppy. Remove the IDE cable as well from the mainboard.

Let's hope it's not the hard drive clicking but if this was the case your computer would still start.

I actually did disconnect the IDE cable along with the power cable, should have mentioned this. Will try the RAM and the graphics card. Really hope its not the harddisk. Seeing as the clicking stopped when I disconnected the floppy, surely that rules out the harddisk ?

Should also add - the monitor wont come off standby so cant go into safe mode or anything.

corkcomp wrote: »

it sounds like the hard disk tbh.. are you sure you didnt disconnect this rather than fdd?

ah balls, really ? I'm positive It was the floppy disk power cable that I removed.

Webmonkey

Tusky wrote: »

I actually did disconnect the IDE cable along with the power cable, should have mentioned this. Will try the RAM and the graphics card. Really hope its not the harddisk. Seeing as the clicking stopped when I disconnected the floppy, surely that rules out the harddisk ?

Should also add - the monitor wont come off standby so cant go into safe mode or anything.



ah balls, really ? I'm positive It was the floppy disk power cable that I removed.

Do you hear any POST beep codes? - Some boards have a display with the code on it. I'd put my bets on the fact that it's RAM that's not seated properly. This happens quite a lot on computer moves. Especially since it worked and stopped working and worked again. Must be something lose.

Tusky

Webmonkey wrote: »

Do you hear any POST beep codes? - Some boards have a display with the code on it. I'd put my bets on the fact that it's RAM that's not seated properly. This happens quite a lot on computer moves. Especially since it worked and stopped working and worked again. Must be something lose.

No, theres no BIOS beeps. I just tried reseating the RAM but no joy

[edit] heres a video of the clicking noise. Im 99% sure its coming from the floppy drive. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIrVE1JyKqQ

Webmonkey

Tusky wrote: »

No, theres no BIOS beeps. I just tried reseating the RAM but no joy

[edit] heres a video of the clicking noise. Im 99% sure its coming from the floppy drive. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIrVE1JyKqQ

What is actually happening. Is the board even getting power? - do you see lights when you attempt to start. Remove all PCI cards etc too just incase and if you've a graphics card remove this and re seat.

JonathanAnon

Tusky wrote: »

[edit] heres a video of the clicking noise. Im 99% sure its coming from the floppy drive. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIrVE1JyKqQ

Good idea to upload the video btw. That clicking noise sounds like the noise that happens when one of the cables is hitting off the processor fan imo.

Firstly, plug out the floppy drive, both power and data. It's non essential, and we need to find out for sure if it's causing the noise.. Personally I would remove the floppy drive altogether.. Also plug out that USB device and any other USB devices before booting (depending on the BIOS, the pc may try to boot to it).

corkcomp

at this point I would try reseating everything - all pci(e) cards.. all cables, the processor, the ram and all connectors on the motherboard.. I dont think that clicking is from the HDD.. either a faulty fan or something stuck in the fan as mentioned..

edit: this can happen (blank screen, not the clicking) if you let external USB devices connected !!

Anchises

i would disconnect all drives/cables
I would remove all plugin cards(except).
essentially boot with only RAM and video card.

Do you get anything on screen ?
you may need to run CMOS setup !

you could also disconnect the CMOS battery for afew seconds to reset it.

Have you bent a pin on the video connector ?

Noise does sound like a cable / fan collison

if puzzled you could use the old trick of holding a long screwdriver to the body of the flopppy/harddrive - other end to your ear. Can you hear it coming from the drive ?

a.

Tusky

first of all, cheers for all the replies.

So I tried the screwdriver technique and the noise is definitely coming from the floppy. I disconnected all wires to the floppy and the noise stopped. Then I tried to start up the computer but the disc drive started making funny noises, possibly trying to boot from here ?

Anyway, I disconnected all USB devices and started up again. This time the bios made weird beeping noises (it usually makes 1). Beeping 3 times, then a pause, then two times. I turned it off, reconnected all USB devices and started up again and it worked! However, I have a feeling this is just a quick fix and the problem will come back again. Thoughts ?

Anchises

Good about the floppy. Leave it disconnected completely.

The Hard Drive making noise is not a good thing

Try youtube search for Hard Drive 'click of death'

If that's the noise , you're going to be in trouble soon. A new drive may be needed. It is normally intermittent but gets worse as time goes on. Gives you time to backup.

On the issue of beeps: If I knew what model of motherboard you had , then possibly I could direct you to a site with details of beep codes.
This is the (Power On Self Test) POST . The beeps tell you what's wrong

Look at: http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm

It might be normal to get a single beep on startup in your case ?
But multiple beeps usually mean a problem.

What do you means by all USB devices ? I assume external items ?

Advise: Backup, Backup, Backup

A.

Tusky

Arg, that was a typo. Its actually the CD drive thats making the noise, not the hard disc drive.

JonathanAnon

Tusky wrote: »

Arg, that was a typo. Its actually the CD drive thats making the noise, not the hard disc drive.

I think you're focussing too much on this.. Can you just remove the CD drive (or floppy drive whichever it is) completely from the PC and begin the troubleshooting again..

squod

Tusky wrote: »

first of all, cheers for all the replies.

So I tried the screwdriver technique and the noise is definitely coming from the floppy. I disconnected all wires to the floppy and the noise stopped. Then I tried to start up the computer but the disc drive started making funny noises, possibly trying to boot from here ?

Anyway, I disconnected all USB devices and started up again. This time the bios made weird beeping noises (it usually makes 1). Beeping 3 times, then a pause, then two times. I turned it off, reconnected all USB devices and started up again and it worked! However, I have a feeling this is just a quick fix and the problem will come back again. Thoughts ?

Back up dvd. Immediately.

Anchises

I would go with JonathanAnon's advice

If the CD is making noise - it could be that there is a dud CD/DVD in the drive.
Tell me you have no cd/dvd in the drive

If your cd drive is suspect , you'de better backup to USB I suppose rather then to DVD, but DO IT NOW !

If your BIOS is set incorrectly, i supose it could be trying to boot from the CD , but normally it will, carry on and try the next boot device, if it finds no system to boot from. Confirm the BIOS boot sequence is rational.

To be honest, I'm not sure what it would do if it found a damaged DVD/CD disk while trying to boot from the DVD/CD drive... In some cases it might just freeze ? or rattle erratically until you switch off ?

Keep in mind, it happened when you moved the PC....usually means something came loose. Did anybody drop it while moving ?

BACKUP ! Do it Now !
A.

corkcomp

getting back to basics - remove the cd and floppy drives and all external usb devices and see if the computer boots? tbh the noise I heard in the youtube vid doesnt sound like anything other than a faulty fan or a cable catching on the fan.. if your bios beeps you have some other problem like faulty memory dimm possibly..

Tusky

Hey guys. So the pc had been running fine ever since I removed the floppy drive. Last night I shut it down and unplugged (I dont normally do this) - today it wont start. The monitor doesnt come off standby and there are no bios noises. This has me worried. Any ideas ?

Ive tried booting with the ram removed - still no bios noise. Does that mean its the processor that is gone ?

JonathanAnon

Tusky wrote: »

Hey guys. So the pc had been running fine ever since I removed the floppy drive. Last night I shut it down and unplugged (I dont normally do this) - today it wont start.

Trying to remember where we were with this... It sounds like there is an intermittent fault with some part of the hardware, most likely either board/processor or Power Supply.. I think the fact it came up when you unplugged the floppy drive may just be coincidental....

You're back to the same advice at the start.. Try and break the system down in to the smallest number number items required to boot.... i.e. PSU / board / processor / video (which is probably on board anyway). Plug out any hard drives, floppy drives, CD drives, PCI/PCIE/AGP cards... reseat the cables in to the board and try to reboot.. If you dont get to the POST screen then the fault lies with one of the core components..

Tusky

JonathanAnon wrote: »

Trying to remember where we were with this... It sounds like there is an intermittent fault with some part of the hardware, most likely either board/processor or Power Supply.. I think the fact it came up when you unplugged the floppy drive may just be coincidental....

You're back to the same advice at the start.. Try and break the system down in to the smallest number number items required to boot.... i.e. PSU / board / processor / video (which is probably on board anyway). Plug out any hard drives, floppy drives, CD drives, PCI/PCIE/AGP cards... reseat the cables in to the board and try to reboot.. If you dont get to the POST screen then the fault lies with one of the core components..

**** - I may just take it to a repair place as I really need the use of the pc for the forthcoming weeks and I wouldnt be confident doing the aforementioned things. hmm.