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PC not booting M'board or Power Supply?

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by gammada 1 view

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My VAIO PC suddenly went black while working on Photoshop. After that the monitor shut itself off --no video signal- and the PC lit the memory card reader LED as if stuck without having any card inside. Power button didn't respond so I had to unplug the machine entirely.

After that, all subsequent attempts to boot up the machine bring the same results: Fans go full blast, HD read LED goes lit, power LED also comes on but there seems to be no HD starting and there is no power on either the keyboard (PS2) or the mouse (USB) and no video signal coming out. The machine did this previously but it always got back to work with a switch off/ on technique.

Any ideas as to what is happening here?

12 replies

by mjd420nova

It does sound like a power supply failure, as the hard drive doesn't spin up. The hard drive may have developed a fault that is holding the power supply down, try isolating by removing the hard drive, that should allow you to see the start up screen.

by bhagat_singh

After removing Hard Disk as well the same problem is there. It still not getting on. No Video Signals, no lights on key board and mouse.

by jim_p

If removing the hard drive fails to resolve your problem, start removing other devices such as CD-ROMs, add on cards, etc. Do you have a spare power supply laying around?

Kind Regards,
Jim

by gammada

With or without HD connected the result is the same. BTW I just noticed a green LED on the mainboard that remains lit even when the machine is turned off.

Please mjd420nova tell me that I do have a power supply failure indeed!

by gammada

Jim_P: No I don't have other power supplies with the 24-pin connector. Do you think it will be possible to connect the 24-pin power supply to a 20-pin machine to see if it works there?

by stefanrp97

There are adapters to change the power cable from a 20 to 24 pin. If it is already a 24, there might be a way to disconnect 4 pins from one side of the connector. My last power supply I bought had that feature. It sounds to me like your problem could be the motherboard or processor if the power supply swap yields the same results.

by thechas

The green LED on the motherboard lets you know that the 5 volt standby power is present and that it is unsafe to remove parts from the motherboard.

I suspect that you have a CPU or mainboard failure.

If you have a local small computer repair shop or store nearby, they should be able to test your power supply for you.

Chas

by jim_p

Yes you can plug a 24 pin connecter into a 20pin socket (It's keyed, so you can't mess it up :) ). But if the motherboard has a 24pin socket then it needs the extra power, which as mentioned here on this question you can get a 20 to 24 pin adapter.

Regards,
Jim

by jim_p

Another to add, I can just vaguely remember, you can also plug a 20 pin power supply into your 24 pin motherboard, they are keyed so you can't get it wrong. This would be good just to test, then further down the track you can either buy your adapter or buy a power supply that has the 24 pin connecter.

Cheers,
Jim

by jim_p

Well CPUs hardly die, so it maybe your motherboard, just have to think can you still buy a motherboard to suit your current ram, CPU, or should you bite the bullet and go for an upgrade.

Regards,
Jim

by gammada

Power supply discarded as possible fault. Took it to a VAIO center and they say it's either the motherboard or the processor ($400 or $700 repair on their shop).

Anyone knows a way to check which one is it?

Somebody at the shop claimed that it is a common failure among P4 HT machines, anybody can confirm this?

Should I replace the faulty part or get a whole upgrade (processor + mboard + memory?) ?

by chimabenz

i changed t he rams, the power supply but still my system wont boot. if i try switching it on the keyboard blinks but never comes on. i am getting frustrated. what do i do to?

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