Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: Serenity on February 21, 2007, 12:47:41 AM
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In a fit of PMS induced rage, my mum made the foolish error of not only removing the plug that provided power to my desktop monitor (not sure what type) but also, having remembered my saying that if you remove certain things from the tower, removed a card from my HP Pavilion 500 tower. Now, both of these have been replaced, the seem to have been replaced properly, (I have removed both in the past for various reasons, and have replaced them now the same way I did in the past) but this time, the computer doesnt work. All the parts are there, the computer turns on just fine, but when the moniter is connected to the tower, when I press the power button on the moniter, the light goes green, and then, after about 5 seconds, goes amber, as it does when the tower is off. When I unplug the moniter from the tower, thr light remains green, and a message comes on saying to check the connection to the tower. I can provide pictures in a day or two of the inside of the tower, so you all can tell me if anything has somehow slipped past me, is missing, or is replaced improperly, but for now all I can give you is the description. I called HP's help line, and since this is quite an old computer, they said it was too obsolete for them to help me. (Apparently once a computer is 5 years old information on it is as hard to find as the city of Atlantis). So, does anyone have any ideas? I really want to get back in the air on Aces High, and be able to charge my i-Pod. Until I get this up, all I have is my laptop which is even older than the desktop and refuses to support an i-Pod even to charge it. Thank you very much in advance!
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Hey serenity,
start with the easy things first. Make sure you have power on the plug where you plugged the comp in, check if the powersupply is switched on. Check if the disks /fans spin when you hit the power button.
Check if the monitor is plugged into the correct video output, some boards have an old onboard video connector as well which will remain dark when a card is in the comp.
Check if the card is plugged into the correct slot and fully seated, sometimes the cover lid on the back side doesnt slide in place correctly and the card isnt fully plugged in.
You should have a small speaker connected to the motherboard, if you disconnected it to get rid of the beeping connect it again and listen if it beeps when you switch on the computer.
Check on your motherboard which brand and model it is, its printed on it somewhere.
Also tell us which card was removed? The video Card?
If you manage to take a nice photo and put it online that would also help in the diagnosis, but i think youll find the trouble when you go through the list. If not, then accuse your mom of destroying the comp and tell her to buy you a new one, eaven better :).
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lol Schutt. If this dont work and she DOESNT buy another, well, it gonna be a FUN 3 years for her...
But...
Card is in right, im not sure which it is. I THINK it was video, but its in the right spot and all the way in.
Both moniter and tower are receiving power
all fans spin in the tower
I did not disconnect the speaker, the beeping came because the card was not replaced. When I put the card back in, that problem went away.
The moniter is plugged into the right spot.
theres lots of numbers on the board, but I cannotfind the one you are looking for. The sticker on the back of the twoer says:
HP Pavilion 500
HW BOM: 101 SW BOM: NA70
System Number: P8562A
Any of that help?
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Bumped because im still f***ed by this little problem...
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If you can find the reset bios jumper on the motherboard, try moving it to reset for a few seconds and then back to the original position, and reboot.
When you tried to boot without the vid card installed, it may have fubared the bios and it could be looking to initialize a pci slot vid card instead of the actual vid card.
Anyhow, try a bios reset.
If the mobo has on-board video, you could try plugging the monitor into that first.
Also, check to see if the video card has to be plugged into the power supply internally. If so, make sure it's plugged in.
Other than that, you could try pretty much taking everything out and putting bits back in one at a time, starting with cpu, memory, and vid card all by themselves...
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Originally posted by eagl
If you can find the reset bios jumper on the motherboard, try moving it to reset for a few seconds and then back to the original position, and reboot.
When you tried to boot without the vid card installed, it may have fubared the bios and it could be looking to initialize a pci slot vid card instead of the actual vid card.
Anyhow, try a bios reset.
If the mobo has on-board video, you could try plugging the monitor into that first.
Also, check to see if the video card has to be plugged into the power supply internally. If so, make sure it's plugged in.
Other than that, you could try pretty much taking everything out and putting bits back in one at a time, starting with cpu, memory, and vid card all by themselves...
I have no idea what you just said. But I think you are right about rebooting. What would this reboot switch look like? And ive spent about 13 hours now taking things out and putting them back in. So, ill look for that switch and im 99% sure this inboard vid hookup thing is not included on my board. This is a 2002 computer, so...
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Finding the bios reset jumper is not something I can explain in this forum, and randomly resetting jumpers and pushing/pulling things inside the computer isn't likely to do anything but kill it.
Basically you're going to have to either learn more about how computers are built (hint - google is your friend), you're going to have to find someone to come over and fix it for you (or pay them to look at it), or you'll always be at the mercy of other people who can fuxor your computer by looking at it wrong.
It sounds like your computer is in need of some major work, either serious geek troubleshooting if you're lucky enough to find a skilled computer repair technician who cares enough to try to fix it without simply swapping parts, or a fairly expensive rebuild if it's either the video card or motherboard that's ruined. Either way, you can expect it to not be cheap.
You're going to be at the mercy of your Mom's assistance until you learn more about computers as well as how to keep her from getting so upset that she rips apart your computer. I suggest doing exactly whatever she tells you to do until you move out of the house and working/saving so you can buy your own computer.
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Pretty easy to tell which card is which by what plugs into it from the outside of the case ;)
Personally I'd put my money on your mom toasting the Vid card when she yanked it out.
Easy way to check this is see if you know anyone with a spare old one and pop that in.
I have an old AGP Nvidia 128 meg card I could give you but given the distance. You can probably dig one up for testing purposes long before it ever arrived.
remember for testing purposes it doesnt have to be a top flight card. It just has to be able to work in your PC.
Anyway. before you start trying to move jumpers around. Particularly if you dont know which is which.
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I know a TINY bit about computers, my cousin taught me some before he moved. I asked what it looked like because I didnt see ANY switches in there. The interesting thing is that nothing plugs directly into this card. In fact, now that I am looking real close at it, it looks more like RAM. In fact, I dont think I HAVE a REAL video card. The slot that SHOULD hold one (If I am remembering this right) is empty and always has been. Is there any particular part of the motherboard this switch might be near?+
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OK.. memory is a very "small" card.. about an inch wide and several inches long.
The video card will be about 4 inches wide and 6-8 inches long with one side being metal that sits into an open slot in the computer case. Also on the metal side is the connector for the monitor. If the monitor plugs into the computer directly, then it is on-board video - built into the motherboard.
This "reset switch" we keep referring to isn't an actual switch.. it's a jumper... a very small piece of plastic with metal inside that slips over the little pins sticking out of the motherboard in places. Every motherboard has it's "bios reset" jumper in a different place, so it would be impossible to tell you where to look for it. Also if you change the wrong jumper you're going to break something.
I'm going to put this as nicely as possible. It doesn't seem like you are knowledgeable or experienced enough to mess with this any further without damaging something. Your options are to either get Mom to fix this for you (so you'd better start kissing some serious butt), pay someone to fix it for you, OR do some research on your own and learn how it all works. If nothing else search for jumpers and learn what each component in the computer actually is. If you can't tell the difference between a stick of RAM and a video card, I don't think there's much we're going to be able to do with helping you out, although believe me we DO want to help.
Good luck.
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Thanks trigger. And my mum cant fix it. She knows even less about this than me. And im 100% sure now, its RAM she removed. I took a closer lookat it. The moniter plugs directly into the rear of the tower, and that plug is plugged directly into the motherboard under another plug labled 'Serial'. Now, quick question. If I remember correctly, my cousin told me that the vid card will be plugged into a brown slot with 2 sections. That is it is a regular slat, but with a small spot filled in dividing the plug part in two. Ive found this slot, and like I said, it is now, and has always been empty. Ill try googling for this switch.
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http://www.buildyourown.org.uk/pc-building/
Maybe that will help?
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If she messed with the ram it may be that the ram isn't correctly seated. It sometimes takes quite a lot of force to get the ram all the way in the slot.
So turn the computer off and try to wiggle the ram deeper into its slot. Before you start pushing it make sure it's seated the right way around. There's a notch inside the ram slot which aligns the ram and it can go in only one way. It is, however, possible to insert ram the wrong way if you try REAL hard. It won't work though. If the computer refuses to start even after reseating the ram it's likely that she gave an ESD to the ram while removing it, killing it.
That means shopping time.
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Originally posted by MrRiplEy[H]
If she messed with the ram it may be that the ram isn't correctly seated. It sometimes takes quite a lot of force to get the ram all the way in the slot.
So turn the computer off and try to wiggle the ram deeper into its slot. Before you start pushing it make sure it's seated the right way around. There's a notch inside the ram slot which aligns the ram and it can go in only one way. It is, however, possible to insert ram the wrong way if you try REAL hard. It won't work though. If the computer refuses to start even after reseating the ram it's likely that she gave an ESD to the ram while removing it, killing it.
That means shopping time.
On this computer, when the RAM is all the way in, it locks itself in. Its locked in tight. Shopping time I guess...
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Ahhh... don't be too sure...
I had to open my sister's Dell not long ago to write something down. While in there I popped out one of her DDR2 sticks (hey I'm a geek, I was looking at the labels and numbers on it!). Put it back in... BEEEEEEEEEP system won't start. I was reinstalling windows at the time and thought I'd screwed something up, til I went back in and checked the ram (on a hunch). The locks had engaged but it was NOT fully inserted. I took it out and reinserted it, and felt it go in further than it had when I removed it in the first place.
Next thing it boots fine.
Also, if you have 4 RAM slots and only 2 sticks, you usually have to fill the slots closest to the back of the case first. Some mobos give errors if you fill slot 3 and leave slot 0 empty.
EDIT: Digital camera pics would help a lot, if you have one.
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Wait a sec... you say the monitor's plugged in next to the serial port? That's not coming from a video card. Unless you got a funky system that has integrated video that works with AH (99.9999% don't!) then you're missing a video card. The monitor should plug directly into the back of the video card.
Def need pictures.
Best bet, however, is to reset the CMOS, and I wouldn't suggest doing that without some... er... "research" first.
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I only have two ram slots and one is full. Yes, it plugs directly into the tower, to the left of the serial plug. I have not added ANY aftermarket parts to this. Im still trying to get digital photos, but its not easy. I cant get my camera to work with this laptop. This laptop is REALLY old, and chewed up by viruses. (I didnt do that, I got this second-hand) If I cannot get you digital photos tonight, I should be able to get them tomorrow. I want to thank you all for this help. I am currently suffering from 'AH withdrawl'. I cannot read/see/think anything involcing world war two without slippin into fits of depression, loss, and nostalgia ;)
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Okay then let's start over...
Originally posted by Serenity
In a fit of PMS induced rage, my mum made the foolish error of not only removing the plug that provided power to my desktop monitor (not sure what type) but also, having remembered my saying that if you remove certain things from the tower, removed a card from my HP Pavilion 500 tower.
Okay, first off if it plugged into the wall, and the part that went into the monitor was squared-off but with 2 angled corners, then it was a standard power cord. If it wasn't, please describe it.
Now, both of these have been replaced, the seem to have been replaced properly, (I have removed both in the past for various reasons, and have replaced them now the same way I did in the past) but this time, the computer doesnt work.
[/B]
Are you sure? Have they been put back the same way? The monitor's power cord should be in properly if it powers on. The card (we're assuming it's the RAM) might not be. Please take the RAM out and try putting it into the other RAM slot as a test.
All the parts are there, the computer turns on just fine, but when the moniter is connected to the tower, when I press the power button on the moniter, the light goes green, and then, after about 5 seconds, goes amber, as it does when the tower is off.
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Is the computer sitting there, or is it in fact booting up? Is the HD led light on the tower blinking? Can you hear the HD accessing, as it loads Windows? The problem could be the monitor, or it could be that nothing's actually happening when you turn your PC on.
[SNIP the rest]
If the only thing she did was yank the RAM, and now you have problems, I'd guess that the RAM isn't seated properly, or is giving errors of some sort.
Does it beep (3 beeps, pause, 4 beeps, or any pattern) when you start it up? Upon re-reading this entire thread I think your RAM is just unseated.
When you put the RAM in, don't just wait til the plastic latches pop inward. Gently but firmly push in the outer edges in. Wiggle it a little if you need to. Make sure it goes in all the way to the stops.
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bump
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By "Im not sure what kind" I meant the monitor. Its a standard cord.
Second, ive tried putting the RAM in both slots. Nothing.
Yes, it does boot up. HDs whir, it does its normal beeps, and everything.
Ive pushed the RAM all the way in. Hopefully I can upload pictures for you tomorrow night.
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Originally posted by Serenity
By "Im not sure what kind" I meant the monitor. Its a standard cord.
Second, ive tried putting the RAM in both slots. Nothing.
Yes, it does boot up. HDs whir, it does its normal beeps, and everything.
Ive pushed the RAM all the way in. Hopefully I can upload pictures for you tomorrow night.
It beeps, thats good. Please describe the beeps. There are long, short and combinations of that.
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Short. 3 I beleive, just as the manual says there should be... (I found the "manual", but it has been utterly useless in helping me.)
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If its Award BIOS or AMI BIOS, i suppose it is Award but you can see in your "useless" manual,
that says that its a memory failiure (see below). So either you damaged the memory with the removing and putting in or you didnt put it in correctly.
Something else, is this your motherboard (http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf-JAVA/Doc/images/c00424133.jpg)?
AMI (American Megatrends International) BIOS Beep Codes.
AMI BIOS uses beeps of the same length and pitch. The error is displayed as a number of beeps. For example, 4 beeps indicated a timer failure.
BEEP CODE MEANING POSSIBLE CAUSE
1 Beep (No video) Memory refresh failure Bad memory
2 Beeps Memory parity error Bad memory
3 Beeps Base 64K mem failure Bad memory
4 Beeps Timer not operational Bad motherboard
5 Beeps Processor error Bad processor
6 Beeps 8042 Gate A20 failure Bad CPU or Motherboard
7 Beeps Processor exception Bad processor
8 Beeps Video memory error Bad video card or memory
9 Beeps ROM checksum error Bad BIOS
10 Beeps CMOS checksum error Bad motherboard
11 Beeps Cache memory bad Bad CPU or motherboard
Award BIOS Beep Codes
Award BIOS uses beeps of varying duration. A long beep will typically last for 2 seconds while a short beep will last only 1 second. Award BIOS also uses beeps of different frequency to indicate critical errors. If an Award BIOS detects that the CPU is overheating it may play a high pitched repeating beep while the computer is running.
BEEP CODE MEANING POSSIBLE CAUSE
1 Long, 2 Short Video adapter failure Bad video adapter
Repeating (Endless loop) Memory error Bad memory or bad connection
1 Long, 3 Short Video adapter failure Bad video adapter or memory
High freq. beeps (while running) CPU is overheating CPU fan failure
Repeating High, Low beeps CPU failure Bad processor
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Yep it is indeed possible to force the ram 'upside down' in the slot _and_ lock the slots in place. If the ram doesn't have heatspreaders it's flexible enough.
I'm not telling why I'm 100% sure about this.. :mad: :D
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Oh, Ripley... You didn't...?
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My manual says those 3 short beeps indicate the computer is starting up normally.
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Originally posted by Krusty
Oh, Ripley... You didn't...?
Indeed I did. The slots were incredibly tight in that mobo so using the 'normal' force for that mobo they actually went in also upside down.
No harm done though, everything worked normally when reinserted.
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If the memory is in question. Try booting with just one stick at a time
unless both sticks are bad. the machine should boot with just 1 stick.
Just seems like the logical course of action
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One other thing, As it seems you have removed and replaced the memory on a number of occassions it is possible that one or other got damaged by a static discharge or even physically damaged in some way.
Drediock's suggestion to try with just one memory card in is a good one. Use the manual to check which slot to use with just one in place. If that fails swap the memory card for the other one and try again.
The odds of both cards being damaged are low so if it is a memory issue your PC should start with one or the other memory in place. If it works you have found the problem is one of the memory cards.
Just why have you removed the memory in the past ? - If they are the same ones as before when it worked, then no problem, but if you have somehow mixed different types of memory that may be a problem. i.e. different speeds and sizes.
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Originally posted by Blagard
One other thing, As it seems you have removed and replaced the memory on a number of occassions it is possible that one or other got damaged by a static discharge or even physically damaged in some way.
Drediock's suggestion to try with just one memory card in is a good one. Use the manual to check which slot to use with just one in place. If that fails swap the memory card for the other one and try again.
The odds of both cards being damaged are low so if it is a memory issue your PC should start with one or the other memory in place. If it works you have found the problem is one of the memory cards.
Just why have you removed the memory in the past ? - If they are the same ones as before when it worked, then no problem, but if you have somehow mixed different types of memory that may be a problem. i.e. different speeds and sizes.
Ive got 2 slots, but just one card. And the reason I have removed them in the past is because my cousin was going to upgrade my computer for christmas and wanted to know the serial numbers off of several things to make sure he could find something compatable. (I coulda just told him, but he wanted to impress me by guessing the type from SN). Its the same card. He never got around to it, so like I said, I have never changed anything in this one. Oh, and yeah, I had something of a busy weekend, so uploading some pictures slipped my mind. Im sorry. I hope to have them up this weekend though.
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No offence but
Is it just me or does it seem that every time someone comes up with a possible solution, serenity comes up with a new problem?
Forget it, trash it and tell your mother she has to buy you a new one.
After 5 years your due anyway ;)
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Originally posted by DREDIOCK
No offence but
Is it just me or does it seem that every time someone comes up with a possible solution, serenity comes up with a new problem?
Forget it, trash it and tell your mother she has to buy you a new one.
After 5 years your due anyway ;)
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Originally posted by DREDIOCK
No offence but
Is it just me or does it seem that every time someone comes up with a possible solution, serenity comes up with a new problem?
Forget it, trash it and tell your mother she has to buy you a new one.
After 5 years your due anyway ;)
Nope, I just have to keep clarifing the number of parts ;)
And trust me, im trying, but knowing my mum, it will be at least 6 months if ever, and it will, alas, sadly be a Mac it seems, unless I can get her to remove her head from her rear before then.
<------ SEVERELY dislikes Macs.