Computer doesn't boot up at all.

Xeniczone

I have dumped most of my old computers because I replaced them all with macs. When I got a playstation 2 internet adapter I needed a bridge and the cheap solution I could think of is to use some of my old parts and a computer to run one.

I hooked everything up right and I checked over and over again to make sure it is ok. I pluged it in and it doesn't turn on, no power at all.

I started messing with the battery I took it out for a while and unplugged to powersupply from the motherboard to make sure none of the compasitors would provide power to try to see if the bios would reset if that was the problem.

When I plugged it back in and I didn't have the battery in I tried again it didn't work. I put the battery and all the sudden it turn on. but the VGA card didn't work and all it seemed to do was spin the cpu fan.

i have tried 3 different powersupplys. One is rated at 90watts (the origanal) another was 200watts and the final one was rated at 400watts.

Their is nothing wrong with the power button I have checked that with a volt meter to make sure then when you push it, it makes a connection.

Here are the specs for the computer so I could set it up as a bridge:
Pentium 3 @ 933mhz
128mhz
2gig hard drive
w/e powersupply works

Does anybody know the problem or a cheap way to fix it. I looked at new motherboards but some require special made powersupplys from the company that made it or they are kind of exspensive for out of date tech.

Kelvin

have you tried clearing the CMOS and turning the power back on? Just make sure you don't do that when you power is on.

ocalhoun

So lemme sum this up here:
When you turn it on, the fans spin, but nothing else, right?

Some things we could use to help you fix it:
Do the lights on the front come on at all? Which ones? Blinking or steady?
Does the hard drive spin up? (The noise you hear when you turn a computer on)
Does anything at all show up on the screen? Anything?
Does the monitor blink or change it's LED when you boot up the computer?
Does it make any unusual beeps?
Is the CPU fan plugged into the motherboard or directly to the PSU?

From your description, it seems that the PSU is fine, and that all the components (assuming you plugged them all in) have power.

What I'd suggest given the information I have:
(Move on to the next step when it dosn't fix anything)
1- Try a new video card (preferably a borrowed one)
2- Try a new monitor
3- If you have more than one memory card, remove each one in turn and try to run it with only the other one.
4- Try some memory you know is good.
5- Try a known good CPU
6- Try a different motherboard.

This is assuming, of course, that you havn't done something moronic like forget to plug in the monitor. (Of course you havn't, right? You're too smart for that. (better check anyway though, while nobody's looking)).

Xeniczone

Some things we could use to help you fix it:

ocalhoun

Do you by any chance have a Compaq?
This might be a malfunction of sleep mode (something that Compaq's seem to often have.)

From what you've told me, I suspect the motherboard of being bad. The CPU is another possibility, but bad memory should cause beeps. (Just to be safe, see what happens if you take the memory out of the system and try to turn it on.)

Jaan

What OS are you trying to run on it?

Xeniczone

It doesn't have an operating system on it right now but I was going to put linux. It is going to be used a bridge but it linux has driver issue like ndiswrapper wont work or something I will install XP on it.

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