Re: PC Problem on boot up


***** charles wrote:
<nick.a.scott@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1153192583.838685.152800@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Ok here is my very strange problem

I installed Fedora Core 3 a while ago on a computer and it started
having problems.

One can not make a causality statement for these two events.
The installation process did not cause the problems. You prabably
had hardware that was in failing mode anyway. It just happened
to start at that point.

then I moved, so it has been awhile. Here is what
happens now.

:The act of moving a computer can in and of itself start problems
to show up. Parts can be moved around and cause partial shorts
and partial connections and component failures.

When I boot up the pc, the computer sounds like it is firing up but the
monitor stays blank except a small cursor in the upper left. The
monitor does work though. Then after powering up the computer again,
then the screen is blank but with orange light on the monitor. A few
times of this and same thing.

At this point you can determine if you have a monitor problem by
connecting it to another computer that is known good. Usually
when powering up a computer where the monitor light stays an
orange color means that the video signal from the video subsystem
on the computer is not sending out a signal. Most monitors turn
green when it gets a valid video signal. So your computer
has not successfully gone through the boot routine.

Eventually when I power it up the gateway splash screen comes up then
fedora starts to boot up. Then something just gives up and the pc
locks up. When this happens there is a noise coming from inside the
case. When the case is open I cannot figure out if the noise is coming
from the motherboard, the power supply or somewhere else. I kind of
think it is coming from near the processor, but I really can't tell.
It is kind of a whining noise and it stops after a few seconds. The
monitor is locked at wherever the boot sequence was and the computer
and fans are all running fine.

At this point I would try a new/different power supply that is known
good and rated for your system. You always try the cheapest solution
first. Then if no different, disconnect all the devices that are plugged
into
the motherboard except the power supply and the video card (if present)
and the keyboard and the mouse and the cdrom. Put a Knoppix cd in
the cdrom and try to just boot off it, no hard drive. If this works,
suspect the hd. If it doesn't and you have tried to boot with a minimal
config you are down to motherboard, cpu and ram. Swap until the
problem dissappears. I suspect that it will end up being the motherboard.

Each time I boot up, it seems to progress further in the boot sequence
and sometimes in the past it will actually get the OS fully running
before it eventually quits. Today though I could not get the os fully
running.

I get the feeling this is not a Fedora or Linux issue, but the computer
did not have these problems when it ran Windows ME. Please can anyone
help me?

Just because it worked with Windows ME doesn't mean that another OS
caused the problem. Hardware failures just happen. They tend to happen
less with better engineering design but all hardware eventually fails. IBM
used to design the hardware in a computer for a life cycle of 10 years.
Now hardware is designed to just last the warrantee period plus one day.

Please post when you find out the cause.

later,
charles.....


I never meant to suggest that the OS is the cause, it was just
something that had changed.

I looked at the capacitors and some do seem to be swelled at the top.
I do not think it is the power supply though, I might swap it out just
to see.

I know that it would be easier to replace the computer, but it is just
my fooling around computer that I was using to run linux. I do not
really need to replace it, but I would like to have another working
computer here. I might try replacing some of the capacitors to see if
that works. If it does not, then I might just keep the case and
rebuild it.

There was mention of putting in a installer disc, but the problem
happens exactly the same when I try to boot with one of those discs.
I fear it is a motherboard problem and I will have to replace it. Suck.

.

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