Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: CP5670 on August 09, 2002, 11:08:57 pm
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Looks like something is wrong with my main computer. My brother said that he was restarting the computer in the morning after a game kept giving illegal operation errors (thinking restarting would fix it), and the monitor simply would not display anything then and there was simply the usual blank screen. The monitor power light is also a yellowish color instead of a usual green when turned on, which usually indicates that it is in standby mode, but I have disabled all the standby stuff on my computer long ago. I would have thought that my brother had something to do with it, but I have had a very similar experience a few years ago with a another computer, when the monitor just stopped displaying things for no reason and gave the yellow light.
I happened to have an extra monitor and tried hooking that one up instead but it gave the same results. The monitor had to be completely replaced last time, but another monitor worked fine then; this time it seems that multiple monitors are not working, so it probably has nothing to do with that. I really hope there is nothing wrong with the hard drive on the computer itself since I have tons of stuff on there that I cannot afford to lose, but the computer seems to be fine otherwise (it does not seem to be loading up windows, but if the HD was messed up it would still display stuff); it just will not show any image, so it could be something to do with the video card.
I am not quite sure when I will be able to get the computer back up; I suppose I should try calling the Hypersonic (the manufacturer) tech support guys since this stuff is still covered by the one-year warranty (just barely; it expires three weeks from today), but I need to wait until Monday to do that. I might be able to check here every now and then (using my dad's work computer), but I can only access this at certain times and the 56k connection is really annoying after having used a cable line for many months. :p Anyway, I will see you guys in a few days. (hopefully)
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check your connections, if they're all good, then turn it off completely (not the monitor, but the comp), and leave it off for a good 5 minutes before turning it back on again. See if it even boots, if it doesnt, something's fried.
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yeah, I tried to leave it off for several hours today before checking it and changed all the connections in several different ways, but it still seems to be screwed up.
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Vid card could have gotten knocked loose.. or ram, or CPU, or an IDE cable.. they could be attached enough so it doesnt give an error sound, but loose enough not to work... pop the case open and make sure everything is properly seated...
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ya, what thorn said, and if that doesnt yield results, try plugging the monitor into the regular standard monitor slot instead of the 3daccel card slot.
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do you hear the normal loading sounds
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ya, what thorn said, and if that doesnt yield results, try plugging the monitor into the regular standard monitor slot instead of the 3daccel card slot.
I didn't even know such a thing existed on the motherboard; anyway, I will give that a try tomorrow morning.
Vid card could have gotten knocked loose.. or ram, or CPU, or an IDE cable.. they could be attached enough so it doesnt give an error sound, but loose enough not to work... pop the case open and make sure everything is properly seated...
Yeah, I have not really checked inside the machine; perhaps something has indeed come loose in there, but from my brother's account it was working perfectly fine until he rebooted, at which point it didn't even load into windows.
do you hear the normal loading sounds
I should have mentioned this; I hear the normal beeping sound that always comes up when starting up the system, but it is followed by two other strange-sounding beeps that are much lower in pitch. I have no idea what that means, but perhaps it is an indication that there is no monitor connected? There are none of the usual hard drive clicking/CD spinning/etc. sounds after that, so I do not think it is even starting up correctly. (no idea what might cause this though)
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2 possiblities come to mind:
A) Internal connection problem
B) very very nasty virus
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Originally posted by LtNarol
2 possiblities come to mind:
A) Internal connection problem
B) very very nasty virus
The virus makes since considering all the game crashes...i'll got a friend who's cousin is a master at writing thoes nukes, I'll ask him ASAP.
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that doesn't sound like a happy sound
find a boot disk
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heh, a counter nuke that loads from a floppy would be very handy, but for now, lets pray this is only a bad connection somewhere inside.
If it was a very nasty virus, chances are very good it came in through the game itself, by way of modded maps or missions; or even just plain slipped in through ports used by the game.
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Thanks for the suggestions so far; it is greatly appreciated.
I think my brother was testing some custom map he had made and trying to get the bugs out, so the game was just dropping to windows when there was a script bug or something like that. (this was for UT, and UEd2 tends to mess up after the game crashes unless windows is reloaded for some reason)
I have a boot disk but it isn't of much use at the moment since I cannot see what I am doing. ;)
Also, one last thing I should note is that I did not notice any of the weird beeps or the lack of the normal loading sounds when the normal monitor was originally connected, and it seemed to be loading to windows perfectly fine. (although I gave little thought to the noises at the time and cannot remember 100%, since my attention was on the monitor) They only started to come up after I disconnected that and put in the other monitor, and they persisted after I plugged the first one back in.
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I hope you got an awesome firewall on that cable connection. Call me paranoid but I think that *everybody* should use a firewall program. Just in case you're wondering: I got ZoneAlarm Pro(God I love warez);7 ...
NOTE: Just thought of a new title for myself: Warezhouse #6
(yes, yes, I know warez are frowned upon, but what can I say, I'm broke.)
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Maybe your brother got pissed at it, and gave it a good kick/punch/headbutt ?
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I had the same as you CP it was on my old pc. I got a crash so i restared it and my monitor went on standyby mode and the boot sounds where all messed up. It seems that it was a virus ( i think it wsas the tjernobiel virus. ) every time i pressed reset or power button it reflashed/deleted the bios some how.
But thats for the worst. try to take out your Ram modules and put them back in. So it gets rid of any unremoved junk.
Or reset the bios by taking out the battery. And check the vid card also.
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I have had problems too which were something like that, for me that helped to change the place where the computer gets the power (sorry, I don't know what are those called in english what are in the wall and you get power from them...).
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I've had this exact same problem. The only solution was a new motherboard - everything else failed. Although it's not all bad, I got a shiny new Athlon 1.4 Ghz into the boot ^_^
Okay, let's see. Time for a lesson on computer beeping. If your computer has an Award BIOS, then:
"One long, two short = Video failure. The chipset can't make heads or tails out of the display. It could be absent."
I'm assuming you have an Award BIOS, since no other common type uses "one long, two short" as error checking.
My conclusion: Leave it. Wait until Monday and send it off under warranty. Be sure not to do anything that may void the warranty beforehand.
Oh, and if anyone actually managed to fix a problem like this without changing the motherboard, I'd like to know - I've got enough spare parts to build myself a second PC if only the old motherboard worked.
EDIT: Redfang also has a point. I've had occasions where I was decidedly lacking in power, giving the PC its own wall socket helps. It's the simplest thing to try, and won't void your warranty
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Originally posted by Odyssey
EDIT: Redfang also has a point. I've had occasions where I was decidedly lacking in power, giving the PC its own wall socket helps. It's the simplest thing to try, and won't void your warranty
For me it helped to change the place where monitor got power with where the PSU (power supply unit) gets...
I don't know why, but it helped. Actually I've had that problem more than once...
Edit: Computer problems = extremely annoying :no::mad2:
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Originally posted by Redfang
For me it helped to change the place where monitor got power with where the PSU (power supply unit) gets...
I don't know why, but it helped. Actually I've had that problem more than once...
Edit: Computer problems = extremely annoying :no::mad2:
Was one of those places on an extension cable and/or plug splitter? That affects it a lot, my PC is a hungry beast...
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Originally posted by Odyssey
Was one of those places on an extension cable and/or plug splitter? That affects it a lot, my PC is a hungry beast...
My PC shouldn't be too power hungry, it so slow and doesn't have anything...
But the thing (for a lack of english knowledge :p) on the wall has two plugs, in another there is extension cable with plug splitter, and on that plug splitter there are monitor cable, speakers cable, and printer cable. On the another the cable which goes to PSU. But I don't know why that did help, as those both give (99% sure) the same power and I didn't add anything, it just didn't work. And if I'd now change them, they should work as I have changed those sometimes...
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I will try all those things and see if it helps any; I hope my hard disk is okay though...
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My two cents (.25 of 1 american cent) would be to take it in. Unless your a super genius hardware guy, don't mess with a sick pc. Take it to professionals. They should be able to do something for it.
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I had something like this happen to my P200.
I installed the Tie-fighter CD version, and made a boot disc for it, but it didn't work, so in a fit of rage I destroyed the boot disc(stupid I know :doh: ), and I went to turn on the comp, I reset the comp, and...it started up...but...it didn't detect the hard drive.
But, aside thought, have u had any thunderstorms lately?
Maybe it's something to do with your modem getting hit and the strike went to the vid card or something...well, just to tell you, your HD is prolly not coming back. That happened to me, and the HD got fried :mad: I had a whole bunch of stuff on it too, like the latest Half-life update patch!
Well, that's my rant/helpful thought for the day
Cor
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But the HD may be okay. I blew a power supply once. It fried the Mobo and itself, but the rest of it is still working fine. But then again, it could be crispier than burnt bacon, You'll have to see.
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I looked inside the unit and everything appears to be okay; I am not really an expert on these things but I did not notice anything really different from when I last looked at it. I am going to try just waiting until monday and seeing what the tech support guys say.
But, aside thought, have u had any thunderstorms lately?
Yeah, there were a couple of fairly big storms a week ago that made the power go out for a little while, but it was working fine for many days after that.
I can probably get the motherboard and any damaged components replaced as long as the HD is okay; guess I will just have to wait for a while.