Computer won't boot up

[daedality]

Okay, so... Last night I was on my computer when it suddenly shut down. I didn't think much of it, figured I'd have to fiddle with my voltages a bit, no big deal. This morning I plugged in my DVD Drive's ribbon cable and molex (I had it previously not plugged in because I didn't need it at the moment and I had just finished putting everything back together), and it wouldn't work... I had to leave before I could diagnose the problem and I just got back a couple of hours ago and I've spent the last few hours trying to figure out this problem... Because when I came back, it wouldn't start at all. I'd hit the button and NOTHING. After fiddling with everything I could possibly think of, I have it booting up to... The asus screen and just barely beyond. My HDD isn't being recognized. In BIOS, under SATA1 it's not being recognized, and ... I'm just stumped.

[k0rn_h0li0]

first. check cables and unplug the power cord to the psu and put it back in and see if it turns on. if that doesn't work check your jumpers and all of that and get back to me. strange how your thing doesn't turn on and see if you can reset cmos if that solves the problem

[daedality]

Done that tons of times, did it again once more just to make sure after you told me that. Anyway, an interesting development has taken place - The PSU won't run when the hard drive is plugged in. :shrug: And to make sure of this, I have the ATX connector jumped with a paperclip... flip on the on switch, powers up. Plug in the hard drive, immediately down.

[k0rn_h0li0]

LOL paperclip with connector. so if your hdd is plugged in your psu won't work so nothing will turn on. did you try swapping other hdd's and seeing if it will load up with the psu? if not then psu sucks! your not supposed to turn on the psu and then plug in the hdd of course you should know that. not enough sufficient power to motherboard and hdd?

[daedality]

I doubt that it's insufficient power to the motherboard & HDD, the system has been running fine up until this point in time. Plus, everything else I had plugged in such as fans and my pump I unplugged in order to rule this out. And yes, a really old maxtor that I had laying around boots up with it... Well, not quite. It's not reading it properly because of my SATA configuration (or so I figure, I didn't look too far into it because I was only concerned in seeing if it would start at all).

Is it possible that I shorted out my HDD? I just recently painted the inside of my case and I have a custom HDD mounting rack... But... I don't see that as a real probable possibility.

[YanBooth]

hmm i feel your pain. setup in sig was running fine last night, restarts and all. turned it off last night, and this morning NOTHING. no lights on mobo that are usually on even if its turned off.. i tried different power cables, and thats not the problem. anyhow dont mean to hijack.. damn computers. i guess i gotta try testing the psu to see if there is any power.
good luck
-yan

[daedality]

hmm i feel your pain. setup in sig was running fine last night, restarts and all. turned it off last night, and this morning NOTHING. no lights on mobo that are usually on even if its turned off.. i tried different power cables, and thats not the problem. anyhow dont mean to hijack.. damn computers. i guess i gotta try testing the psu to see if there is any power.
good luck
-yan

Bah, I hate it when stuff like this happens. ><;

Anybody else have any ideas? Seems like I haven't had a whole lot of people trying to help me with this one 'cept Korn.

[YanBooth]

So it is actually booting up for you? You may have tried this, but you can try removing the CMOS battery for a few minutes I believe, and that should reset the CMOS. It sounds like a faulty motherboard if it will run, but not properly, is everything dust free?
I have verified my PSU works with a paper clip like korn suggested, but when I plug it into the computer it won't start.
Why can't computers just work?

[k0rn_h0li0]

we pretty much tried every possible way. it could be the motherboard. so i'm guessing the hdd works with other computers but not the one your currently working with. this happened with my p4p800 where the motherboard kept resetting the hdd. i hate it so badly i don't even try anymore. RMA THAT :banana::banana::banana::banana:

[daedality]

we pretty much tried every possible way. it could be the motherboard. so i'm guessing the hdd works with other computers but not the one your currently working with. this happened with my p4p800 where the motherboard kept resetting the hdd. i hate it so badly i don't even try anymore. RMA THAT :banana::banana::banana::banana:

Actually, I took the HDD downstairs and I plugged it into my other build. Didn't work on that computer either, I think I have a faulty drive. I'm gonna RMA it to seagate. =/

[StealthyFish]

Actually, I took the HDD downstairs and I plugged it into my other build. Didn't work on that computer either, I think I have a faulty drive. I'm gonna RMA it to seagate. =/

a little off topic, but I had a hard drive fail on me after not using my system for a weekend too. Really random death. I just booted up and got BSODs and found out it had bad sectors.... even though it wasn't turned on during the weekend and worked fine before that......................... ...................

[daedality]

Pretty weird. Had you done anything to the computer other than turning it on before that weekend? Like, the last time you used it?

If not, then. I guess these sort of things kind've happen. =/ It really sucks, though.

New question, now! Anybody know a way for me to retrieve my data, or at least wipe the hard drive? I'm not sending it back with personal information on it, it's not worth it. =/

[StealthyFish]

Pretty weird. Had you done anything to the computer other than turning it on before that weekend? Like, the last time you used it?

If not, then. I guess these sort of things kind've happen. =/ It really sucks, though.

New question, now! Anybody know a way for me to retrieve my data, or at least wipe the hard drive? I'm not sending it back with personal information on it, it's not worth it. =/

gotta back up all that pr0n huh? lol. I've heard of freezing hard drives? Never done it myself, so I can't really give you an account as to whether it works or not. Seagate can back up your files for you if you request it, but that might cost money (as these things usually do). Otherwise, I don't think there's a way to retrieve the data. I couldn't retrieve the data on my dead drive, i just had to RMA. Btw, I didn't do anything weird, didn't even tweak my computer before the hard drive failed on me.

[YanBooth]

Two years ago I had a crappy Dell laptop, and in an instance of computer-rage the hard drive somehow got broken, anyhow, I popped the hard drive in the freezer, an hour and a Economics class later I came back and put it in the laptop, and booted it up in safe mode, got some important work documents onto another drive, and it died on me for good.
This was a laptop drive, and the freezer may not have been freezing, but it seemed to work for me. Someone bug the mythbusters to test this little myth.

[k0rn_h0li0]

well if its broken then just let them have it cause your computer won't be able to do anything cause its not being detected and your can't format it also so just let them have it smash it HAHA i kid. try safe mode if that doesn't work just send it back or like tell them its confidential or something LOL