Well, poop!

[EvilGrins]

Why swear when I don't have to?

I got home from work Friday night to find my computer dead. It won't turn on. No idea why. Everything's connected right, everything else plugged into the same powerstrip is working fine; nothing was changed on it from when I left.

The damned thing just won't do anything.

Insofar as UT99 is concerned, any and all projects I was working are dead in the water. I can't access them, or even play UT... except in my head which isn't as fun.

This is the first time my computer's been all the way dead since the late 1980's. At most when I've had problems in the recent past I could still access the computer... but maybe not get online.

Now I can't do anything.

So, I'm probably going to become less active in forums for the forseeable future. At the moment (during slow points while at work) I can't really contribute anything other than the occasional laugh and obscure UT lore if someone's got a pertinent question...

...but I'll be back.

Eventually.

[KingJosh]

nooooooooooooo!!!!!!! grins we need you here

Maybe your power supply unit in your PC died... Sometimes lightning strikes or power surges can damage power supply units if you dont have a APC battery backup surge protector. Also maybe you had too much stress on your power supply: example a 400 watt recommended video card on a 300watt power supply. Also sometimes power supply units just randomly burn out. There is a good chance thats the problem if it wont power up at all. You can just use newegg to buy another power supply, but first be sure thats the problem before wasting money

[SC]-[WARTZ_{HoF}]

Get a new power supply would probably fix you up.

[Feralidragon]

Well, it may sound like a stupid question, but, did you check 3 other things:
1 - Some power supplies have a on/off switch on their backs. Have you checked yours?
2 - Some power supplies have a 110V/220V switch (well, nowadays it would be 115V/230V), did you check if yours in the right position? (I guess in US is 110/115V)
3 - Did you try to connect your computer to another power socket in your house? (it may not be the computer to be dead, but the actual point you tried to connect it to)

Either ways, power supplies can indeed stop working from one moment to another due to power surges, specially given that in most cases computers have their power supply connected and working 24/7 (even when the computer is off).

[UT99.org]

Tried your hd to another pc as slave.

May be just a chkdsk X: /f
X is the letter hd

[Dr.Flay]

Desktop PC options in order of desparation.
1: Check the fuse in the plug.
2: Swap lead
3: Listen closely to the PSU and look at your MoBo for any LED activity.
4: Remove RAM, brush the slots and replace RAM.
5: Disconnect all drives

If none of those options work, then it is time to open the Power Supply Unit, and look for any fuses inside there.
If there are none, or are all good, it is time to get a new PSU.
Try and borrow one to test if you can, or hunt for any PC or case that someone is discarding.
It is the time of year many people get upgrades, and soon there will be plenty more to choose from.
The smaller independent computer shops often have lots of part-exchanged hardware, so it is often worth asking what they have.

[Wormbo]

A PC remaining silent can be a PSU or motherboard issue. I'm not entirely sure, but I think a dead CPU could also cause the thing to remain silent. RAM, graphics card or other components should at least cause the motherboard to audibly cry for help via a specific series of beeps.

After excluding all external causes, you should probably first try to access your data by connecting the hdd to another computer. Also, try starting with a few devices connected as possible (ideally just the PSU, motherboard, some RAM and the CPU).

[memsys]

If none of those options work, then it is time to open the Power Supply Unit, and look for any fuses inside there.

I would not recommend doing this as the parts can still hold dangerous charges! Even if the fuse is dead and you would replace it, other parts of the PSU might be damaged.



You said you use a powerstrip, have you tried turning it on when directly connected to a working wall socket? (Can't hurt to check even if it seem to work)

It is likely that either your PSU or motherboard is broken. The easiest way to test would be to borrow a PSU preferably one with a higher wattage then the current one.
If you are going to try another PSU look for signs of damage on the motherboard (preferably with a good flashlight) like physically broken/distorted parts burned/discolored parts and leaking/bulging capacitors.

Also if we had more information about your pc that would help us help you.

The good news is that your hard drive is probably fine and if it is your work can be saved from the digital graveyard.

Anyway, good luck with fixing your computer.

[Feralidragon]

If none of those options work, then it is time to open the Power Supply Unit, and look for any fuses inside there.

I would not recommend doing this as the parts can still hold dangerous charges! Even if the fuse is dead and you would replace it, other parts of the PSU might be damaged

This is very true. Unless you know 100% what you're doing, doing this may prove to be actually fatal, although the capacitors may be dead as well.
In theory capacitors should always be discharged by some specific resistors which are there for that purpose alone, but rule of thumbs is that you should never trust that they're still doing their job.
Plus, if the PC is so old, I think that perhaps buying another by now is not an excluded option (nowadays PCs, specially desktops, can be obtained by very cheap prices and you are still able to get a nice working machine for UT and to check the web, if that's somewhat what you just want to do).

[Carbon]

Dead PSUs are trash...don't go poking around in there.

Are there any fans spinning on power up? Any lights on the mainboard? What are the system specs?

(very) Basic recovery:

Step 1: Canned air...blow it out. All the nooks and crannies...everywhere. See if it boots.
Step 2: Remove RAM sticks, VGA card, blow out slots and re-seat. See if it boots.
Step 3: Remove CPU heatsink and CPU. Clean both re-apply thermal paste. See if it boots.
Step 4: Borrow a PSU and try it. See if it boots.

If none of this works, new mainboard / PSU time. Depending on the age of the system, it may be new everything time unless you can buy old replacements used. I have built 4 systems this year and serviced about 10. In many systems that only required servicing, dust was the culprit and typically a blow out and re-seat does the trick. In one, there was so much dust built up around the CPU under the heatsink, it insulated the CPU, effectively cooking it dead.

A clean system is a long-running system. Dust is a killer and it gets in the darnedest places.

[{D.M.P}DukeofBeduka]

Same thing happened to me a few months ago, turned out to be the power supply.

[Chamberly]

Well I'm starting to be curious... how long does the PSU last? I still have mine since I bought my computer (In Aug. 2007.) Just curious for future reference just in case I need to look up some hardware that are compatible with my PC.

[Feralidragon]

It's hard to say. Just like any component in a PC, a PSU can last forever or die in a single month, it depends a lot in how many surges did it take so far without dying, the status of the capacitors, the overall dust inside and outside, the fan, and the amount of power it's outputting most of the time (which means it also depends on the rest of the hardware), among some other factors.

[EvilGrins]

1 - Some power supplies have a on/off switch on their backs. Have you checked yours?
2 - Some power supplies have a 110V/220V switch (well, nowadays it would be 115V/230V), did you check if yours in the right position? (I guess in US is 110/115V)
3 - Did you try to connect your computer to another power socket in your house? (it may not be the computer to be dead, but the actual point you tried to connect it to)

1. Did check, both settings, that's not it.
2. Yeah, little red switch. also checked.
3. I did not, although everything else plugged into that power-strip is still working. May try that when i get home.

Finally managed to get ahold of my computer guy. First he can swing by to look at it is Thursday, after a quick diagnosis we'll hit Fry's... which is like a 5 minute drive from my place.

nooooooooooooo!!!!!!! grins we need you here

Thank you!

Tried your hd to another pc as slave.
May be just a chkdsk X: /f
X is the letter hd

Hard to do without power... and don't have another working PC to use for that anyway.

Get a new power supply would probably fix you up.

That does seem to be the popular theory.

You said you use a powerstrip, have you tried turning it on when directly connected to a working wall socket?

Tried unplugging it from the wall and then back in. Nada.

Are there any fans spinning on power up? Any lights on the mainboard?

Nothing at all happens when I hit the power button.

[fudgonaut]

Argh that sucks man. Hope you get it sorted out with a minimum of cost/headache!