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General discussion

Computer starts up blank screen (no beep)

Nov 24, 2003 9:20PM PST

k, have had computer two years..
Compaq pressario
1.1g athlon proccessor
384 sd ram
250watt power supply
uwave mobo 786 k1

alright, upon startup lights come on, hard drive spins, fan turns on...BUT, no beep, no picture. Checked video card and hard drive in other computer, both fine.

Now thing is it worked then didn't work, then worked. Then it wouldn't work so i took it apart and cleaned. Then it worked. But, alas it does not work again...(time frame about 2 days).

Friends say it's the mobo, but it works sparatically. Please someone help, NEED.

Discussion is locked

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Re:Computer starts up blank screen (no beep)
Nov 24, 2003 9:39PM PST

When faced with a machine that doesn't beep, forget about the video display and work down to a smaller list of parts.

I usually go for the throught of the problem by stripping it down to (unplugging cards and cables) to just the power supply, motherboard, CPU/HSF (HeatSink/Fan) and the speaker. Power up and hope for beeps. No beeps and I'm looking at the 4 possible bad parts.

No memory sticks, not much else in the stripped condition.

While one may state it could be the motherboard, the test has been great to get it down to the point of these four items. The GHz Athlons do have a design problem that move it up higher on the list. This web article along with the VIDEO/MOVIE of what happens when the heatsink falls off, graphically shows the problem -> http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20010917/index.html

Since the Athlon self destructed in under one second, it's a prime suspect.

Bob

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Re:Computer starts up blank screen (no beep)
Nov 25, 2003 7:30AM PST

Could a faulty AGP port on the mobo cause this???

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Could a faulty AGP port on the mobo cause this???
Nov 25, 2003 7:45AM PST

Absolutely. But why is this suspect?

Did you try the strip it down to four parts to see if it beep test?

Bob

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Pretty sure its the hs
Nov 25, 2003 8:54PM PST

Narrowed it down to the heat sink, (played around with it and got it to start up). But, it is still iffy. The heat sink doesn't seem to stay attached, it is clipped to the mobo, but the computer will still freeze occasionally, and usually after I shut it down, it won't start back up.

What could be the problem?

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It IS the heat sink
Nov 25, 2003 9:31PM PST

The thermal pads had kinda melted away so it is time for a new heat sink. Thanks for help be back if it doesn't work Happy

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start up issues
Aug 1, 2006 12:19AM PDT
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(NT) (NT) Probably fixed long ago (2003)
Aug 1, 2006 1:08AM PDT