[clug] Any ideas on what to look for to get an old PC running?

Chris Henman henman at pobox.com
Mon Dec 22 00:32:55 GMT 2008


John,
Have you another power supply you can swap with the current one ?   
Sounds a bit like PS failure to me.
By the way, all voltages inside the machina are no more than 12V.  
Unless something has gone drastically wrong with the PS there should be 
no problem with electocution.  It should have blown your house fuse by 
now if there were.  If you are in doubt and have no multimeter at hand 
the safest way to test for high (mains) voltage is to wack the 
microprocessor  heat-sink or some other similar metal object with the 
BACK of your hand.  Make sure you are standing on dry carpet with 
shoes/dry slippers on.  If it is live your reflex action will be to 
throw your hand away from the nasty bit. As an Elec. Eng. I have used 
this method many times, some shocking, and I am still here typing.
Be bold and have a go.  You'll still be here for Xmas !!!
Cheers,
Chris Henman (B. Eng. (Elec.) UNSW, 1969)

jhock wrote:
> Hi Chris,
>
> Thanks for your prompt reply.  When I say "nothing" happened.  This is
> what happened:
>
>      1. No lights,
>      2. No fan,
>      3. no noise,
>      4. No response at all from the computer even when I repeatedly
>         pressed the power switch (it "clicked" on each press),
>      5. The monitor came on with a "No signal" message,
>      6. I swapped the computer power cable with the monitor power cable
>         and 1-5 above repeated.
>
> I hope that explains what I mean by "nothing".  ;--) ( Sorry for the
> frivolous mood, I just started my holidays.) 
>
> John
>
> On Mon, 2008-12-22 at 10:08 +1100, Chris Henman wrote:
>   
>> John,
>>
>> When you say "nothing happened" what exactly did NOT happen ?  Any 
>> lights? Any exhaust fan starting ?  Any "beeps"; they are usually a 
>> message, like Morse code.
>> Have you tried another power cord ?  Monitor OK ?
>> How long has it been out of service?  Have you checked the CMOS battery 
>> if it still uses battery CMOS backup?  Usually a CR 20xx or something.
>>
>> Just a few thoughts I would try.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Chris Henman
>>
>> jhock wrote:
>>     
>>> Hi All,
>>>
>>> Thanks to Ian (I love this list. It's so helpful) I have a power cord
>>> for my old PC (MISI Pentium 4).  I have now unpacked it all from storage
>>> however, when I switched it on nothing happened.  I don't want to spend
>>> too much effort on it because I hope to soon get an Eee PC 10 with LINUX
>>> (Once they are available in Australia) but I thought that I could use
>>> this one as a proxy, print server, game machine for my five year old,
>>> wireless modem firewall or something.  (I prefer to reuse than recycle.
>>> Its more energy saving.)
>>>
>>> I was wondering if anybody has any advice on how to get it to work. EG.
>>> is there likely to be a fuse inside, is there an area which I should
>>> "jiggle" when I open it, is there a good spot to bang it like they do on
>>> TV (Fonze type thoughts here)?  ;--)
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance for any help.
>>>
>>> John
>>>
>>>   
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>>
>>> No virus found in this incoming message.
>>> Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com 
>>> Version: 8.0.176 / Virus Database: 270.9.19/1859 - Release Date: 12/20/2008 2:34 PM
>>>
>>>   
>>>       
>
>   
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com 
> Version: 8.0.176 / Virus Database: 270.9.19/1859 - Release Date: 12/20/2008 2:34 PM
>
>   

-- 

     Christopher Henman

     RedBox microSystems
     ABN 70 946 135 312 

     Phone:    (02) 6161 4640
     Mobile:    0421 597 333
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