Topic awaiting preservation: What the hell happened to my computer? (Page 1 of 1)

Lately my computer has been acting up a lot. Like, completely freezing and locking up with and the only way to turn it off is to hold the power switch down for 5 seconds until it powers off.

Well I woke up this morning, monitor says no signal. This usually means that my tower is turned off. Well I looked down at my tower and that light on the power button was glowing. Well instead of glowing green and being fully functional, it was glowing yellow and not working at all. I tried holding it down to power off, no use, it stayed yellow. I unplugged my tower and it went off, but then when I plug it back in and press the power button, back to yellow. Nothing turned on, my monitor still said no signal.

I'm scared that my computer has finally bit the dust, please give me some kind of hope for otherwise.

Yellow?! Now *that's* unusual. What kind of computer do you have?

From the fact that the monitor receives no signal, I'd try reinserting/replacing the graphics card.

Well, first of all, we have to determine what the yellow LED means - so what computer have you got? If you bought it ready-made, then the make/model - if you built it yourself, then the make/model of the mainboard would be ideal.

I'd say the fact that your monitor is seeing no signal is because there is no power to the graphics card, as there is no power running through the system.
Note: There is nothing necessarily wrong with your graphics card!
It would, however, be advisable to check that everything is seated properly. Poorly-seated AGP/PCI cards, or memory can cause both random lockups/reboots, and boot failure.

You could try gently removing and replacing memory and peripheral components, checking for dust or debris. Best to read-up a bit if you are not sure what's what, and take precautions when handling sensitive components - it is quite possible to do cause component damage just poking around an un-plugged system!

I would also investigate overheating as a possibility, but this isn't something we can check without a bootable system or by checking for brazing of the CPU.
Unfortunately though, this could account for the symptoms you've seen - eventually resulting in a burned-out CPU.

The yellow light (I guess, not knowing you mainboard) could signify any boot-critical failure, but I would normally expect a series of beeps (coded to correspond to a specific failure) - therefore, again, it would be extremely helpful to know the make/model of the PC/mainboard.

Importantly - don't panic yet, as these things often turn out to be something simple. See what you can find out about the yellow (amber?) LED on your system, or post the make/model and I'm sure there will be documentation available online.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzz....

Let's see...PS, Mainboard, CPU. Could be any one of those three (since you are not getting any peeping noises, I doubt that it is the Graphics card alone).

Do you have a spare PS you can shotgun with?

I just dug this up -

quote:

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26. There is a yellow LED for W8500 and W8600. What is that for?

Answer: The yellow LED is for temperature alarm (very few motherboard support this). If this yellow LED is ON, this means the temperature inside your case is too high. If your motherboard do not support this feature, you can use this yellow LED for other purpose.

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Might just be temperature, after all.

(Edited by WebShaman on 06-06-2005 23:28)

The make/model is a Dell Deminsion 4400.

The computer is not even starting up at all. I press the power button and nothing comes on except for the yellow light in the power button. There's no fan, no noises, nothing kicking in, just the yellow light coming on.

edit: After visiting dell's site and looking up the dimension 4400, the 'yellow' light i was speaking of is classified by dell as 'amber'. Looking on their website under power problems I see 'Check the power light' under trouble shoot and it has described my situation perfectly.

"If the power light is solid amber, the computer is receiving electrical power, but an internal power problem may exist?call Dell for technical assistance. See "Contacting Dell" in the Dell Owner's Manual for the correct number to call."

Any help?

(Edited by InSiDeR on 06-07-2005 05:11)

PS or Mainboard.

Did you already check for loose wires?

Got a spare Power Supply laying around? Swap it out, and see.

This is, of course, assuming that he can open the computer up without voiding his warranty to check such things, or if only an authorised Dell technician can open it.


Justice 4 Pat Richard

Ahhh... good point ^ .

If you still have a warranty, get it back to the dealer. Would have been nice to get your data off it first, but you might as well just write it off.

BTW - the PDF version of the Dell Dimension 4400 User Manual can be found here for anybody's reference.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzz....

It's the power supply, gotta get a new one this weekend.

*grins*

Happened to me, as well, last week.

Thankfully, a good PS doesn't cost all that much these days.

Glad to see it was just the PS.

I have no comment on your PS... one thing though...

quote:

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White Hawk said:

BTW - the PDF version of the Dell Dimension 4400 User Manual can be found here for anybody's reference.

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Templar go confuse!

Argh! I have no idea how that happened - somehow, my linky was blank! :confused

Oh well. Here is a better link anyway, including information on POST codes (beeps), etc.

Glad you found your problem - but don't just assume that the standard overall power rating (ie- 450W / 500W) is a guarantee of anything. It is better to check the output on each rail for a power supply to be sure that it is up to spec. Most (if not all) PSUs should have a sticker detailing the output ratings.

And I really would suggest checking online reviews of an PSU you are thinking of buying before you part with your readies. I know at least three people who have been conned into buying supposedly high-rated power supplies for a pittance, only to end up with the cost of replacing the parts it fried.

The PSU is not the place to skimp on quality.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzz....

I bought this power supply for my rig back when I built my system. Absolutly no problems and certainly enough power for any configuration.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104934

Of course since you have a Pre-Built Dell the compatability may be hampered. Search NewEgg.com for a replacement, Prices are out of this world

(Edited by Xcessive Force on 06-10-2005 16:21)