Computer problems

[Bizman]

I found the pin on my motherboard to clear the CMOS but there is no jumper sadly.

A screwdriver will do, or a paper clip. A jumper is just a piece of metal connecting two holes into which the pins are supposed to put in. Read your motherboard manual before shortcutting anything, though. There usually are some conditions before clearing the CMOS, like unpowering the computer.

If the local tech is right in his supposing the operating system were corrupted, then you should be able to run anything from a bootable CD. I mean, testing programs should run without errors for hours if needed, and you should even be able to run a live Linux from a CD/DVD. If not, it wouldn't be an OS problem.

[ACE]

I just tried putting my windows 7 disk in.  It went to the same screen loading operating system then shut off again. Last time I tried to hit f12 or whichever boot menu is it shut the computer off.  It wouldn't let me select one.

[Bizman]

We are progressing. Now it should be clear it's not an operating system glitch.

Somehow no one has yet mentioned failing capacitors. They are the tiny can looking things on your motherboard. They shouldn't look swollen or leaking. Unfortunately the other type of caps don't have such visible indicators, but they also last longer.

[ACE]

I will go and look for the capacitors.  When I unscrewed my PSU from the case and pulled it out a little, I saw that it isn't just a simple unplug.  Any idea how to take that out? Im trying my best not to break anything. 

[ACE]

I couldn't find any thing wrong visually with the Mobo Bizman.  


Edit: While reading my mobos manual it didn't say anything about CMOS.  It looked to be only an installation guide.

[ACE]

The company tech support at the place I bought the computer from seem to think its a cooling problem.  Like the liquid cooling is simply not working.  However, I don't know how to tell if that's the case because the lights on the cooling unit are on. 

[Blagard]

While this may not be the manual for your particular board revision you should download a copy of your manual.
In it is a rather nice flow chart of what to check if having problems starting up.

http://download.gigabyte.eu/FileList/Manual/mb_manual_ga-770t-usb3_e.pdf

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I found the pin on my motherboard to clear the CMOS but there is no jumper sadly.

If you replaced the battery then your CMOS is already cleared.

I'm confused here - does your computer boot far enough to start to load the operating system or does it freeze during bios post? If it freezes during post your techie was completely lost trying to blame the OS.

[ACE]

It shuts off either before or right after the bios screen. I took it to the techie I can't mess with it on my own I'm really afraid I will break something.  He thinks the liquid cooling pump isn't working and it shuts off on overload of being too hot.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

It shuts off either before or right after the bios screen. I took it to the techie I can't mess with it on my own I'm really afraid I will break something.  He thinks the liquid cooling pump isn't working and it shuts off on overload of being too hot.

If the cooler has liquid in it and the cooling block actually makes contact with the CPU your computer should run for minutes easily without any pump. Only if the CPU has no cooling at all it may shut down immediately on post. A water block full of room temperature water cools the CPU for a long time. The techie is either yanking your chain to get more money or just doesn't know what he's doing most likely.

[ACE]

Sorry meant to say the guy from ibuypower said that about the cooling pump. He was kind of an ass.  Sounded like he just wanted to go to lunch and not talk.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Sorry meant to say the guy from ibuypower said that about the cooling pump. He was kind of an ass.  Sounded like he just wanted to go to lunch and not talk.

Usually the only situation where a faulty cooling pump may shut down your computer straight at boot is if your motherboard/bios is set to shut down on missing fan and the pump is somehow rigged so that the motherboard can detect the pump as a fan. Some water cooling systems also jerry-rig themselves to the cabling so that they can 'self terminate' if they detect an internal error.

Since you called ibuypower I guess this computer is a ibuypower one? In that case they may have installed a custom bios and/or a safety switch which detects and shuts down the computer if the pump stops running. It has nothing to do with actual heating though.

If its a branded computer things tend to get more complicated, they may have proprietary architectures. If you have a spare PSU and your warranty is expired, try that. If it won't work then contacting ibuypower is maybe next best - they'll sell you a new one most likely

[ACE]

My warranty is expired I believe.  Its been a while since I've bought it.

[Blagard]

Usually the only situation where a faulty cooling pump may shut down your computer straight at boot is if your motherboard/bios is set to shut down on missing fan and the pump is somehow rigged so that the motherboard can detect the pump as a fan. Some water cooling systems also jerry-rig themselves to the cabling so that they can 'self terminate' if they detect an internal error.

If you look at the flow chart for the motherboard startup troubleshooting two issues early on relate to the cooler.

"Check if the CPU cooler is attached to the CPU securely. Is the power connector of the CPU cooler connected to the CPU_FAN header properly?"
The CPU fan must be connected and so with water cooling is this connected to the pump?

Later in the flowchart
"When the computer is turned on, is the CPU cooler running? if No -The power supply, CPU or CPU socket might fail."

It seems to me that given the tool of the manufacturers flow chart, you should at least give it a go

Edit: just to add, there are two manuals for the motherboard. One is a simple installation guide, the other which I linked to is the full manual.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

If you look at the flow chart for the motherboard startup troubleshooting two issues early on relate to the cooler.

"Check if the CPU cooler is attached to the CPU securely. Is the power connector of the CPU cooler connected to the CPU_FAN header properly?"
The CPU fan must be connected and so with water cooling is this connected to the pump?

Later in the flowchart
"When the computer is turned on, is the CPU cooler running? if No -The power supply, CPU or CPU socket might fail."

It seems to me that given the tool of the manufacturers flow chart, you should at least give it a go

Edit: just to add, there are two manuals for the motherboard. One is a simple installation guide, the other which I linked to is the full manual.

This assuming that the bios is set to shut down on a missing fan. On my watercooling system I've disabled the option since the CPU has no fan to monitor. The water cooling will still cool the CPU even if its own fan will stop running. OTOH the water cooler is rigged so that if it fails a self-test it will shut down the computer automatically.

The OP has a branded computer and who knows what they've built in it. If it came from the shop with a water cooler they've for sure built safeties for it. So basically the whole issue might be a failing pump or sensor as the ibuypower guy suggested. He might even know that these pumps start to fail at this age