[Gllug] pc problem

[Andy Farnsworth]

You have probably done this already, but remove all hardware from the 
system that is not required to POST correctly.  That is, all expansion 
cards (except video of course), all hard drives / CD drives (be sure to 
disconnect power from them as well).  Then try to go in to the bios and 
see if that works.  If it doesn't, I would go buy a new power supply 
(returnable of course) and if that doesn't fix it try the RAM next.  If 
you machine will boot with only one stick of RAM and you have more than 
one, try them one at a time and see what happens (label each stick and 
record the original position of each stick of RAM for reference as you 
remove them).  If you only have one stick of RAM go buy a new one and 
see if that solves it.  Only thing left at that point is Video, CPU, and 
Motherboard.  Video should be easy to check, get a cheap video card or 
borrow one and replace it.  If you end up replacing the Motherboard or 
CPU you might as well buy both while you are at it.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Andy

Panos Savvas wrote:
> Hard to diagnose this i guess:
>
> I had a perfectly good linux install running. However I changed cases 
> and all has gone pear shaped.
>
> All my partitions seem to have disappeared except /home.
> I though never mind... lets re-install.. the important stuff is still 
> safe.
>
> So I removed the disk and used another pc to back up the /home partition.
> Reconnected the drive and loaded the latest ubuntu live cd.
> This loaded happily and I selected to boot into the live environment 
> from the first list of options
> The ubuntu loading bar appeared but then all activity froze after 
> about 2 minutes.
> I rebooted the machine and attempted to enter the bios.
>
> I get as far "prepare to enter bios" and no further. This is very odd 
> and I can't understand. I have rechecked wiring many times.
> There is no new hardware (event the power supply is the same).
>
> If you think hardware details might help I can list them off. I am 
> thinking it has something to do with the graphics card (not sure why, 
> just a gut feeling. hangs seem to happen whenever anything slightly 
> more exciting than black and white text is expected). However wouldn't 
> this preclude any monitor activity?
>
> Even the live cd doesn't load anymore.
>
> Any ideas on how to diagnose this would be appreciated. Although I 
> don't have any spare components to interchange with I might be able to 
> borrow something from friends.
> Could it be something overheating? I have been building pc's for years 
> and am sure everything is correctly attached and cooling is adequate. 
> But this only partial disfunction feels like over heating.
>
>
> Thanks all
>
>

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