Arg! Computers Kill Me!

[Springheel]

Well, after 5 months of problem-free running, my computer curse has returned.

 

I don't have any clear ideas of what this might be, so I'm looking for suggestions.

 

After returning to my office after an hour or so, I noticed my screen saver was frozen. Nothing responded, so I rebooted.

 

At that point, the monitor stopped responding. It claimed it was not getting any input from the computer. The computer itself was getting power--the fans spin and the LEDs go on, but there is no Post beeping, and the CD drives never get to the point of spinning up.

 

I don't think the monitor is the problem, since I left the computer on for about two minutes or so after starting up, and it never made any noise for opening WinXP (not to mention the no post beeps). So clearly something else is wrong.

 

I've never had a problem that meant that the monitor got no input before--I have no idea how to troubleshoot if I can't see anything at all.

 

Any ideas?

[Domarius]

Woah, no post beeping... man your computer luck sucks.

 

Hm. Just give it a little while of being off and try again.

 

If not - try opening it and pulling out all the cards and memory, dusting everything off, especially the connectors and sockets of the cards and memory, put it all back in firmly and carefully, and try again.

[obscurus]

That has happened to me before - turned out the Motherboard had fried. The circuit that switches on the PSU was working, but that was it. I'd say you're up for some expenses - when my Mobo blew, it took the CPU and RAM with it. Fortunately my hard drives and PCI/AGP cards were all fine...

 

Hope you have better luck

[sparhawk]

Sounds like a hardware problem. Maybe your CPU overheated or such?

You should disconnect all cards and devices from your mainboard and check if it also doesn't beep then. Also check if the fan is spinning. Also probably remove the RAM before you check if it is beeping. If it does you can add one device after the other and check when it stops beeping. If not, then either your CPU or your mainboard is damaged.

[Spitter]

I had the exact same symptoms when I assembled my current PC - turned out the PSU was broken and had fried the motherboard. Thankfully warranty replaced both.

Edited May 29, 2006 by Spitter

[New Horizon]

Yeah, no post beep...eeek. Sounds like it could be the motherboard or the cpu. Do you think your computer might run a bit hot....and do the fans sound alright?

[Springheel]

I have a couple fans in it and they're still spinning--I leave the case open as well, so I don't -think- it was overheating. Letting it sit for a while didn't change anything either, so something more serious is afoot.

 

The mobo is actually pretty new, less than a year old. CPU is older but not excessively old. Those do seem like the two likely culprits though. Man, my computer luck SUCKS lately.

[Domarius]

If you haven't tried dusting it out the way I described - try it. I've "fixed" a lot of computers that way. It's a really common problem. Moreso than anything else mentioned here, depending on where its been sitting and for how long.

[sparhawk]

I have a couple fans in it and they're still spinning--I leave the case open as well, so I don't -think- it was overheating. Letting it sit for a while didn't change anything either, so something more serious is afoot.

 

Depends on how long this while is. I also once had a broken machine and I waited for 20 minutes when it still didn't work. Luckily the next day I tried it again and suddenly everything worked fine again.

Also, letting the case open is not strictly a good idea. The fans are usually placed such that there should be a good flow for the hot air to get rid of it, and the open case could disrupt this flow. I'm not sure if this is really true, because I would find this a bit counterintuitive, but it was a hardware guy who told me that, so I thought I should mention it. I doubt though that this would really be your problem.

 

The mobo is actually pretty new, less than a year old. CPU is older but not excessively old. Those do seem like the two likely culprits though. Man, my computer luck SUCKS lately.

 

Yeah! My last computer I bought, was dead after 20 minutes. When I went back to the store the owner couldn't believe it, because he thought I replaced something. He said, that he never experienced a case where the CPU AND the RAM broke in the same instant in a new machine. I must also say that my impression is that PC parts are becoming more instable. I have parts which are pretty old and still work, but I also had some breakdowns recently with harddiscs and such that I never experienced before.

[sparhawk]

Forgot to mention. What also can help is remove all the cards and replace them. I know I mentioned this in a different context, but the reason also is, that sometimes it can happen that the cards are slighlty shifting in their case and it is enough to stop working. Especially the more modern AGP cards and the RAM can have this problems. I often had the case where simply taking out the card and putting it in again made everything working again.

[Springheel]

If you haven't tried dusting it out the way I described - try it. I've "fixed" a lot of computers that way.

 

I'll give that a shot tonight, Dom. If that doesn't work, I'm shipping it off to someone else.

[Springheel]

Well, it turned out to be the mobo. Took me a week to replace it, got the rig back today and plugged my HD in. Of course, it didn't work. I forgot that XP has a hissy fit when you replace your mobo. So, I popped the CD in and went to try and Repair the installation.

 

Windows can't detect a HD.

 

For some reason, even though I installed XP from this same disk onto this same SATA HD about six months ago, I now have to manually install drivers before Windows will detect it.

 

Of course, I don't have a floppy drive because they're pointless, obselete pieces of technology in every other conceivable circumstance. Except this one.

 

(actually, that's not true, I DO have a floppy drive. But it's a USB one, which, of course, won't work until AFTER Windows is installed, at which point I won't need it).

 

And of course, once I get a new floppy, install it, figure out where the hell to GET the drivers (there are no SATA drivers on the mobo CD for some fucked up reason), make the floppy and install the driver, I'll probably find out that Repairing the installation isn't enough, and I'll have to do a total reinstall of XP, along with two hours of updating afterwards.

 

 

Dammit.

[Unstoppable]

Same shit happend to me. My mom died because it was a few years old and the power supply too. It wasn't regulating power with everything plugged in.

 

What I did was buy the same exact mobo (slightly different model) then the one I use to have. Windows ended up booting fine. I had to reinstall some hardware here and there but the point is I saved the hassle of reinstalling windows. It only cost me 45$ and about a week and a half of patience.

 

I also recommend buying a great power supply. I bought a cheap one off ebay and it died in 2 months. I got this one from Newegg and it's going strong.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?...N82E16817153023

 

Goodluck to ya.

[obscurus]

....My mom died because it was a few years old and the power supply too. It wasn't regulating power with everything plugged in....

 

 

Your poor mother... My condolences. Always a good idea to make sure mom has a good PSU handy

 

ahh typos...

[Springheel]

My God, this is ridiculous.

 

I've spent a good two hours now looking for the sata drivers I need to be able to install XP. There are no SATA drivers on the mobo CD I got, unless you count the two that are listed under linuxdrivers. I've done a search online to find the drivers I need, and although I found the list of files, I can't find anywhere to download them. All the links to them are outdated, and searching the ASUS website gets me nowhere.

 

Does anyone know where I can find and download the following files?

 

Si3112r.inf

Si3112r.mpd

Si3112r.sys

SIISUPP.VXD

SIWinAcc.sys

TxtSetup.oem

 

I can't believe ASUS is releasing SATA mobos without any documentation about how to actually install XP on them.

[New Horizon]

Damn! That absolutely sucks Spring. It's bad enough windows xp makes life a pain in the ass for everyday users, but now you can't even install due to slack mobo manufacturers.

[Springheel]

What really pisses me off is that XP is ALREADY installed on the HD! My last mobo must have had a different chipset that detected SATA drives. They've only been the industry standard for 2 years now, why the hell would ASUS be releasing new mobos with an outdated chipset--AND with no documentation?

 

It boggles my mind to the point that I'm starting to wonder if I'm doing something wrong. I find it totally incomprehensible that they wouldn't address the issue either in the manual or their website.

[greebo]

Does anyone know where I can find and download the following files?

 

Si3112r.inf

Si3112r.mpd

Si3112r.sys

SIISUPP.VXD

SIWinAcc.sys

TxtSetup.oem

Hi Springheel,

 

I have a similar Silicon Image controller on my mainboard, and I always downloaded my drivers from the Silicon Image Website. You may want to look at this (hope this direct linking works):

 

http://www.siliconimage.com/support/suppor...&ctid=2&osid=4&

 

Under "SiI3x12 32-bit Windows SATARAID Driver", a ZIP can be found that contains nearly all of the files above.

 

Besides, I would recommend a fresh install of Windows XP (after backing up your data, of course). Changing core-drivers like RAID drivers did not work very well for me.

[obscurus]

What really pisses me off is that XP is ALREADY installed on the HD! My last mobo must have had a different chipset that detected SATA drives. They've only been the industry standard for 2 years now, why the hell would ASUS be releasing new mobos with an outdated chipset--AND with no documentation?

 

It boggles my mind to the point that I'm starting to wonder if I'm doing something wrong. I find it totally incomprehensible that they wouldn't address the issue either in the manual or their website.

 

What you can do (bear in mind you wil need a functional computer with an internet connection and a CD burner for this), is slipstream a Windows XP install CD so that it already contains SATA drivers - have a look at http://www.maximumpc.com/2005/01/how_to_slipstre.html for an example as to how you could do this. There are a range of tools out there, so a bit of googling with the search terms "slipstream sata drivers win xp" or similar should net you some decent info.

 

http://www.nliteos.com/ have a good utility (free) for download that i've used to create a custom Win XP install CD that sets it up with all of my drivers pre-installed, all of my preferences how I like them, and lets me customise paths like "Program Files" so I can map bits of windows to different partitions, change pathnames (I changed "Program Files" to just "Programs" for example, and I put my "Documents and Settings" as "documents" on a separate drive. Very powerful software, makes reinstalling Windows pretty painless.

[Darkness_Falls]

To throw a little bit of Microsoft cheer into the mix: I like my Windows XP Pro and I can't wait for Windows Vista Really! I haven't had many issues.

[Springheel]

Grrr.

 

It boggles my mind to the point that I'm starting to wonder if I'm doing something wrong.

 

Well, my statement above was a little prophetic.

 

Turns out, the problem was with the BIOS setting. In the manual, the settings for SATA controller are listed as Enabled or Disabled. My Bios, however, had Disabled, Native Mode, and RAID. It was set to RAID by default, and NOTHING in the manual said anything about this setting, so I hadn't changed it. At a loss for other ideas, I tried it on Native Mode, and it detected the drive. Half an hour of repairing XP later, and everything *seems* to be working normally.

 

[New Horizon]

Grrr.

Well, my statement above was a little prophetic.

 

Turns out, the problem was with the BIOS setting. In the manual, the settings for SATA controller are listed as Enabled or Disabled. My Bios, however, had Disabled, Native Mode, and RAID. It was set to RAID by default, and NOTHING in the manual said anything about this setting, so I hadn't changed it. At a loss for other ideas, I tried it on Native Mode, and it detected the drive. Half an hour of repairing XP later, and everything *seems* to be working normally.

 

 

Awesome! Damn, I should have thought of that myself...but I never would have thought that the bios would be set to raid by default.