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My computer wont start!

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by firefox5000 1 view

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I have HP Pavilion d4180.
Recently i posted here the same topic and was given the advise to take out the grafic card and see if the PC can start. I tried that and it didnt work. The power button enables a bright blue light when the PC is turned on,now it is weak and dies quickly out when i try to power it on.
My PC has external video only meaning no onboard grafic.
Can the d4180 start without the grafic card or is something else broken ie the CPU and soon on.

Motherboard specification;
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00379616&tmp_task=prodinfoCategory&lc=en&dlc=sv&cc=se&lang=sv&product=1124197

7 replies

by cmiller5400

Sounds like your power supply or motherboard is fried... Have you tried a power supply tester to see what the voltages are?

I recently had a power supply that would just light up the power light and nothing else...

by firefox5000

there is a small lamp that whas green when the PC worked fine. It is still green when I attach the power cable to the PC.So maybee the ps is ok?

by cmiller5400

Only an idiot would trust them. :O :D

Test with a power supply tester, or if you are mechanically inclined and know what you are doing, a multimeter will tell you voltages, but it still can not be providing enough amperage to power things up... Be very careful when jumping the PWR ON to the common... Don't want any fried firefox5000... :D

by oh smeg

What many people fail to realize is that because a LED lights up doesn't mean that the PS is actually working.

It just means that the circuit that the LED is connected to is getting some power and has no reference to the Current or actual Voltage actually.

LED's have a Working range between 1.5 to 12 V DC so any Voltage within that range will light the LED but doesn't indicate that the PS is actually producing the necessary Voltage or even any real current.

Most Power Supplies have 3 distinct voltages 12 V DC, 5 V DC and 3 V DC the 12 V DC is used to power things like HDD, Video Cards and so on, The 5 V DC is used to power the lower voltage items like 2.5 Inch HDD and USB Sockets. The 3 V DC is used to power the Logic Circuits so if one of these voltages is missing the Computer isn't going to work but it's quite possible that the LED's in the computer will light up.

The Green LED that you are referring to is most likely the one on the Network Connection telling you that the Network is connected so that can mean anything from a Ethernet Cable to a Switch or Modem is connecting to the Switch or Modem and is getting somewhere between 1.5 to 12 V DC. Also because LED's draw very little power if the current has gone way off and the PS is only producing very little in the way of Amperage the LED's are still going to light up and look as if they are working. But things like Fans and HDD's are unlikely to work in a situation like that.

I would suggest swapping out the PS with a [b]Known Good[/b] one and see if the thing work now but in the mean time you can try unplugging the Power Lead and pressing the On Button for 30 Seconds. This will discharge all of the Capacitors in the system and then plug the Power lead back in and try turning on now.

If the system starts the Electrolytic Capacitors in the PS have or are failing and the PS needs replacing.

Col

by firefox5000

I can mount in on the current motherboard?
The power supply that is present(and fried probably) is on 400 watt and is a Liteon product. Could I use for example a Corsair VX 550W 80+? Or can i use only a specific power supply for the motherboard?

Btw, can a PC start if the fans are not working on the CPU or on the PS? Can ordinary PCI cards(not grafic cards) block the PC from starting if they are defect?

by oh smeg

You can mount any Power Supply in the case and use what power rating you want.

However there are 2 types of Power Supply or at least 2 ways of rating them. The first and cheaper ones are rated to a Peek Value which is a Load that they can supply for short periods of time at startup and so on where there is a large load.

The second type is rated to continuous load so if it says it's a 350W PS it can supply 350 W 100% of the time all day and night without any adverse effects. These are more expensive than the first type and generally speaking are heavier so that's a good guide to what type of PS you have bought.

As for fitting any Corsair PS provided that it will physically fit into the case there will not be a problem though personally I do prefer Antec PS's but that's because I saw the results of a 11KV Transmission line falling onto the Mains and destroying all electrical components in that section of the neighborhood. The computer in question needed a new PS and was working again. Naturally it needed a new Monitor and any other external devices that plugged into the Mains but the actual computer still worked.

It was the only electrical device in the entire area that did, though several feet of flame came out the back and set fire to the curtain it was still a lot better than the Glass Cook Tops which where embedded into the ceilings of several houses or the fires that started from trivial things like Fridges. :D

Just my personal preference though and Corsair PS's should be OK though personally I've never used one.

Col

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