Member Avatar for jg68911p

Hi,

I'm hoping this can be diagnosed without specs because the computer came custom designed, and I don't have the specs handy anywhere. The only way I could possibly list them all is if the computer would actually boot up. But that's why I'm here.

Last night, I turned off my computer and went to bed, everything was normal. Then I woke up this morning and tried to power it back on, but it won't boot, and this is all that happens:

1) The CPU fan comes on and stays on.
2) The hard drive light comes on immediately, but then stays solid. No BIOS, nothing at all. Just a blank screen. The computer will stay like this for as long as it's powered on.
3) Keyboard lights come on and stay on.
4) Checked all the motherboard connections, hard drive connection, everything is normal.
5) Computer gives off a weird odor now, like the smell of permanent marker.
5) Computer stays in this idle state with the hard drive light solid until I get sick of looking at it and I turn it back off.

One thing---last night before I shut down the computer, I disconnected my mouse while still running the OS (Windows XP). I then shut down the computer without plugging it back in, and as luck would have it, the mouse was taken from my desk, and I don't know where it is. How likely is it that this is the cause of the entire problem?

Because really, I've had similar experience like this before where the BIOS wouldn't even load, just sat there at a black screen, and a friend of mine said it was probably the BIOS itself or the hard drive, but definitely something with the hardware itself.

Thoughts? Everything is on that computer. I don't know what I'm going to do if the hard drive is shot. I'm desperate for help.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by dbell
Member Avatar for jg68911p

Operating system - Win XP
Laptop or Desktop - Desktop
If name brand - Brand and Model # - Custom
Type of Mouse (USB/PS2/Wireless) - PS2
Type of Keyboard (USB/PS2/Wireless) - PS2
Amount of memory - 1 GB
Motherboard model (if known) - PC CHIPS: M871G - SOCKET 754 - FSB 800mhz - SIS 760GX/964 CHIPSET - 64 BIT SUPPORT
Video card (PCI/PCI-E/AGP) or Integrated Video (if known) - Integrated

Member Avatar for jg68911p

Tried unplugging the hard drive and then switching on the power...

1) hard drive light still stays solid 2) nothing appears on the screen still


and power button on the monitor doesn't even turn green like it usually does when the computer is powered on

Member Avatar for jbennet

pull out and reinstall the CMOS battery and try again

Member Avatar for jg68911p

It doesnt even get that far.

Another guy on another forum said that the smell was from a blown capacitator on the mobo or something wrong with the power supply...I think this is a hardware problem because of the smell.

If that were the problem, shouldn't I at least be seeing SOMETHING on the monitor?

Member Avatar for jbennet

if it was a blown capacitator (which was going to be my next suggestion, if the battery didnt work) your pc is usually stone dead. Look on the mobo and see if you can see any leaking sludge (dont do this if its udner wararnty as opening it may invalidate it)

Member Avatar for jg68911p

it's stone dead as far as i can tell. ill check for sludge

Member Avatar for dbell

You seemingly have a power problem issue since the smell from your machine. This unfortunately will direct you to inside the unit. If you feel comfortable going inside remove the cover and then inspect for the source of the burning smell. Candidates are power supply and CPU. If the voltage from the power supply dropped the RAM would malfunction and the hard drive would not load up properly. This may be a start!

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