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From: Curious George on 5 Jan 2006 01:33
On 4 Jan 2006 18:31:08 -0800, ericgree(a)enoreo.on.ca wrote:

>Hey George,
>
>it's me Eric.
>(Diff e-mail address)
>
>Oh boy.
>Now I could really use your help!
>
>I'm writing this on my pocket pc!
>
>The disk recovery app was still open (finished using it though) and I
>was trying to open a zip file when my system froze.

You sure you didn't do anything silly like hot plug something you
shouldn't of?

>Couldn't soft-reset. Couldn't hard reset!

So it froze and then remained on?

>The system won't boot now!

Do any fans or HDD's spin when you press the power button?

>It's not reading anything, not even a: drive.

What do you mean? You're not at any OS or OS Prompt - so disks don't
spin up & FDD isn't read at end of POST (that doesn't get a chance to
happen)? Or everything looks fine except no POST?

> I don't get the startup
>beep. Keyboard all lights are on.

Hmm. What about the power LED?

>Monitor light is blinking, that's it.

Monitor light doesn't tell you much.

>Any ideas what I should do next?
>
>:(

Try to inventory the computer a little more. Disconnect all
non-essential peripherals & open the case. Inspect the innards.
Anything loose? When you press the power button are the fans working?
Do HDD's Spin up? Heatsinks still correctly mounted? Blown caps?
Power supply OK? (the keyboard is powered though - so get a multimeter
if nothing else pops out at you) CMOS Battery OK? (Most of the time
this doesn't prohibiting booting but IIRC is can in rare cases & is a
quick/cheap fix)


Frankly I'd start worrying about the motherboard & processor right
now? Start getting either your receipts or wallet ready.


BTW, do you have a properly wired grounded outlet with at least good
surge protection?
From: ericgree on 5 Jan 2006 13:08
No I didn't hotplug anything.
Yes the system froze and remained on.
When I power up I think I hear the HD. I'll have to confirm that.

No OS prompt, no POST. The power light comes on and the HD drive access
light remains on (frozen).

I will inspect the insides as you suggest. Not much choice now. I just
changed the CMOS battery a couple of months ago just in case. It had
been nearly 10 years.

THis same type of situation happened about 6 months to a year ago and
it turned out to be a lose wire inside so maybe.....

Thanks I'll let you know what happens..

Ric

From: Curious George on 5 Jan 2006 14:06
On 5 Jan 2006 10:08:45 -0800, ericgree(a)enoreo.on.ca wrote:

>No I didn't hotplug anything.
>Yes the system froze and remained on.
>When I power up I think I hear the HD. I'll have to confirm that.
>
>No OS prompt, no POST. The power light comes on and the HD drive access
>light remains on (frozen).
>
>I will inspect the insides as you suggest. Not much choice now. I just
>changed the CMOS battery a couple of months ago just in case. It had
>been nearly 10 years.
>
>THis same type of situation happened about 6 months to a year ago and
>it turned out to be a lose wire inside

Which wire? Similar symptoms or _exactly_ the same?

> so maybe.....

Lets hope. While you're at it check the seating of all the cards &
processor. Clean as you go just for the hell of it.

> Thanks I'll let you know what happens..
>
> Ric

From: google3luo359 on 5 Jan 2006 21:15
Hey George,

I'm back in business!!! :) What a big relief!

>>THis same type of situation happened about 6 months to a year ago and
>>it turned out to be a lose wire inside

>Which wire? Similar symptoms or _exactly_ the same?

If I think back I'd say it was probably exactly the same symptoms.
The 'wire' last time was coming from my floppy drive. The ribbon cable.

Same thing happened this time. The last time it was pretty much
completely off.
This time it was loose enough to lose contact.
I'll have to remember this for future reference.

What happens is that my CD-ROMs vibrate so strongly when they run, they
eventually loosen nearby cables.
And my floppy isn't too far away.

Well now it'll be back to the grindstone, trying to recover my files
again.
It's frustrating with that other disk recovery program because all of
the files that have been copied back to c: are there, size, name etc.
you just can't open any of them!

Thanks again!

Eric

From: google3luo359 on 5 Jan 2006 21:25
Hi George,

I'm back in business! What a relief!

It turned out to be a loose connection. Same as last time. Same floppy
drive connector. This time it was just loose. The last time it had come
off altogether.
Problem is that I have two CD-ROMs that vibrate very strongly.
Eventually they loosen neighbouring cables.

Now it's back to my disk recovery problem.

Here's a post from a similar thread that's active now:


On 31 Dec 2005 14:34:17 -0800, grativo(a)aol.com wrote:

>Got the HD enclosure, installed it, worked fine for about 10 minutes,
>then gives me a "delayed write error" message and went dead. The HD is
>recognizable under Devices as a USB external HD...just won't assign a
>drive #. Running XP w/ SP2, HD jumpers set as master. Any help?

Have a look on Google for this very popular, but it seems almost
irresolvable problem.

You could try a powered USB hub is about the best hope I can give you.
<


So it seems that even in WinXP USB drives are a problem.

Eric

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