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Computer won't turn on; strange grinding noise before it died. *UPDATE* Bought new power supply, wor

MisterSrMisterSr Member UncommonPosts: 928

I turn on my computer this morning, it had a strange blinking light, and all the sudden this deep grinding noise is coming from it. I try to turn it off from the front button but it won't go, so I have to go to the power supply and turn it off from there. I am assuming it was the power supply itself that was the source, but I don't know. Anyways my computer is pretty much dead, I am still getting a green light but that's about it... Any help would be great, thanks. 

Okay, so I thought I had solved it by getting a new power supply but now my computer won't even turn on. It worked for 4 hours, I played FFXIV, and now it won't come on. Do I just need a more powerful PS? Possibly 700 or 750 watts? I dunno, could someone help me?

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Comments

  • KyleranKyleran Member LegendaryPosts: 43,975

    You forgot to feed the hamster! image

    Sounds like a power supply issue to me from what you described.

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  • KokomoblKokomobl Member UncommonPosts: 153

    Well I pressume via having the green light still turn on / off you still have power through the PSU < I am not a technician though>

     

    One think that happened to me was I accidently  bumped into my tower once and it made a grinding noise later to find out one of the Wires "Since my shits all over the place" from the PSU got caught up in the fan on the CPU and ripped it while getting stuck in the fan.

  • sloebersloeber Member UncommonPosts: 504

    ICT support guy here :p

    from what i hear,  you stil have a green light and it wont boot anymore your HD is prolly broken.

    the "rattling" was prolly the HD heads that are broken.

    btw.....dont think this is a hardware forum tough :p

     

    just messin with ya.....hope you get it fixed soon.

  • MisterSrMisterSr Member UncommonPosts: 928

    Yeah, I do believe it's an issue with the power supply. My computer wouldn't turn off from the system or front button so we were having to turn it off from the switch on the power supply. I believe that caused the supplies failure, but I could be wrong. That is a best case scenario because that means we sourced the problem, if it's NOT the power supply then that means it's something vital to the system, like the motherboard. From what I read it could be blown capacitors on the motherboard causing the grinding, but the computer would still turn on, it would just be kinky. It's not turning on at all. 

  • MorgarenMorgaren Member UncommonPosts: 397

    If you are comfortable doing this one way to test your power supply is disconnect te power to your motherboard (the 24 pin one) and there will be one green wire, use somethign to jump from the green to a black wire (I normally use a staple), which will more than likely be next to it and turn your system on, if your power supply fan comes on it could still be the Power supply, but if it doesn't then it is definately the power supply.

  • MisterSrMisterSr Member UncommonPosts: 928

    Originally posted by sloeber

    ICT support guy here :p

    from what i hear,  you stil have a green light and it wont boot anymore your HD is prolly broken.

    the "rattling" was prolly the HD heads that are broken.

    btw.....dont think this is a hardware forum tough :p

     

    just messin with ya.....hope you get it fixed soon.

    Thanks, do you think it could of hurt other components of my computer? 

  • WreckoniingWreckoniing Member UncommonPosts: 279

    its definately your power supply bud :)

  • MorgarenMorgaren Member UncommonPosts: 397

    Originally posted by MisterSr

    Originally posted by sloeber

    ICT support guy here :p

    from what i hear,  you stil have a green light and it wont boot anymore your HD is prolly broken.

    the "rattling" was prolly the HD heads that are broken.

    btw.....dont think this is a hardware forum tough :p

     

    just messin with ya.....hope you get it fixed soon.

    Thanks, do you think it could of hurt other components of my computer? 

     thats true too, do you here a beep or anything when you turn your pc on, your motherboard will normally have a beep code for not detecting a HDD

  • WreckoniingWreckoniing Member UncommonPosts: 279

    i disagree with the Hd being broken as it wouldnt completely shut you off.

  • unbound55unbound55 Member UncommonPosts: 325

    Since you have a green light, the power supply is at least partially functional (likely completely functional).

     

    As someone pointed out earlier, one of the wire could have been caught in a fan...which, if true, means that a component is not getting power (which could definitely include your motherboard).

     

    You'll need to open your case up and inspect the wires coming from your power supply to all the components (take your time and be thorough).  If no wires have been cut, you'll need to replace your power supply.  A decent one is about $100 at a local store (wide variance in cost...some specials may have it down to $50 or so)...you'll want to make sure the power is equivalent (or more) than what you are replacing.

     

    If the wires are cut, depending on which component was affected, you may be able to use a different set of wires from the power supply if the connector matches.  If the wires to the motherboard were cut, you probably need to replace the power supply anyways (no spares for that connector).

     

    BTW, capacitors don't grind when they die.  Worst case they will pop, but usually die with no noise at all.

  • AzugaAzuga Member Posts: 11

    First of all when u power up ur computer does it make any noyse i mean does the cooler for ur power supply works or not.

    if not stick your nose in the back of ur computer (where the air evacuation from the power supply is) and if it smells as it was burn its clear u need a new power supply.

    if your cooler spins its bad. open ur computer and see if the lights on your mainboard are active. if they are ur CPU is bye bye if they arent ur main board is fried.

    cpu are hard to burn buyt if something got in the way of the cooler its posible.

    Usually is the power supply but ...

  • sloebersloeber Member UncommonPosts: 504

    Originally posted by MisterSr

    Originally posted by sloeber

    ICT support guy here :p

    from what i hear,  you stil have a green light and it wont boot anymore your HD is prolly broken.

    the "rattling" was prolly the HD heads that are broken.

    btw.....dont think this is a hardware forum tough :p

     

    just messin with ya.....hope you get it fixed soon.

    Thanks, do you think it could of hurt other components of my computer? 

     nah.....if its the disk you dont have to worry.

    But like some others sayd it could be about anything tbh.

    Do you have a spare disk to test it with??

  • deadhopedeadhope Member Posts: 52

    To be honest, i experienced it and it's most probably the power supply that went yay *poof*

  • goldenkeygoldenkey Member UncommonPosts: 98

    The noise is the power supply fan failing one of the most common causes of PS failure BTW. when the fan goes the PS over heats and you loose one of the key voltages this is why the computer will not post.

  • MisterSrMisterSr Member UncommonPosts: 928

    Originally posted by sloeber

    Originally posted by MisterSr


    Originally posted by sloeber

    ICT support guy here :p

    from what i hear,  you stil have a green light and it wont boot anymore your HD is prolly broken.

    the "rattling" was prolly the HD heads that are broken.

    btw.....dont think this is a hardware forum tough :p

     

    just messin with ya.....hope you get it fixed soon.

    Thanks, do you think it could of hurt other components of my computer? 

     nah.....if its the disk you dont have to worry.

    But like some others sayd it could be about anything tbh.

    Do you have a spare disk to test it with??

    No, and to an earlier poster I don't think my board got fried because of overheat, I have seven fans and the box tells me the internal temperature, which often sits at 27-31 degrees Celsius. 

  • TheDarkrayneTheDarkrayne Member EpicPosts: 5,297

    You should use a voltage tester to test your power supply before going out and buying new components...

     

    My power supply went once, the light was still active so don't assume it works because of that. Testing the voltage sorted my head out!

    I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
  • sloebersloeber Member UncommonPosts: 504

    Originally posted by MisterSr

    Originally posted by sloeber

    Originally posted by MisterSr

    Originally posted by sloeber

    ICT support guy here :p

    from what i hear,  you stil have a green light and it wont boot anymore your HD is prolly broken.

    the "rattling" was prolly the HD heads that are broken.

    btw.....dont think this is a hardware forum tough :p

     

    just messin with ya.....hope you get it fixed soon.

    Thanks, do you think it could of hurt other components of my computer? 

     nah.....if its the disk you dont have to worry.

    But like some others sayd it could be about anything tbh.

    Do you have a spare disk to test it with??

    No, and to an earlier poster I don't think my board got fried because of overheat, I have seven fans and the box tells me the internal temperature, which often sits at 27-31 degrees Celsius. 

     so getting into the BIOS isnt a problem it seems.....this means there is nothing wrong with the PSU or the motherboard.

    Can you check if the BIOS still registers the HD in there??

    Sometimes the disk is still active in BIOS but not accesable none the less. (so dont just toss it out yet)

    I normaly test it with a SATA (or IDE) to usb convertor to test if the problem isnt your MBR (master boot record).

    oh....rule number one (very often forgotten tough) are all the wires still connected right??

  • AramathAramath Member Posts: 161

    It could be any number of things.  The only moving part in the power supply is the fan, which could make a grinding noise if the ball bearing inside goes bad.  Any of the fans could do this.  Also, the hard drive could make this noise, which is bad.  It could be a bearing or it could be a drive head hitting the disk platter.  Either way, the drive is shot if this is the case.  As suggested by others, I would get a voltage meter and check the output on the power supply.  If you are not getting correct output from the supply, you can fry components really quickly.

  • MisterSrMisterSr Member UncommonPosts: 928

    Originally posted by sloeber

    Originally posted by MisterSr


    Originally posted by sloeber


    Originally posted by MisterSr


    Originally posted by sloeber

    ICT support guy here :p

    from what i hear,  you stil have a green light and it wont boot anymore your HD is prolly broken.

    the "rattling" was prolly the HD heads that are broken.

    btw.....dont think this is a hardware forum tough :p

     

    just messin with ya.....hope you get it fixed soon.

    Thanks, do you think it could of hurt other components of my computer? 

     nah.....if its the disk you dont have to worry.

    But like some others sayd it could be about anything tbh.

    Do you have a spare disk to test it with??

    No, and to an earlier poster I don't think my board got fried because of overheat, I have seven fans and the box tells me the internal temperature, which often sits at 27-31 degrees Celsius. 

     so getting into the BIOS isnt a problem it seems.....this means there is nothing wrong with the PSU or the motherboard.

    Can you check if the BIOS still registers the HD in there??

    Sometimes the disk is still active in BIOS but not accesable none the less. (so dont just toss it out yet)

    I normaly test it with a SATA (or IDE) to usb convertor to test if the problem isnt your MBR (master boot record).

    oh....rule number one (very often forgotten tough) are all the wires still connected right??

    We don't get to BIOS anymore, we don't get nothing. The computer just remains off, the machine doesn't come on. 

  • MisterSrMisterSr Member UncommonPosts: 928

    Originally posted by Aramath

    It could be any number of things.  The only moving part in the power supply is the fan, which could make a grinding noise if the ball bearing inside goes bad.  Any of the fans could do this.  Also, the hard drive could make this noise, which is bad.  It could be a bearing or it could be a drive head hitting the disk platter.  Either way, the drive is shot if this is the case.  As suggested by others, I would get a voltage meter and check the output on the power supply.  If you are not getting correct output from the supply, you can fry components really quickly.

    Why is it bad if the hard drive does this, there really was no info on there that I cared about besides FFXIV which can be easily replaced. Or does this signal something worse for the computer?  Plus I've never seen a CPU not start up cause the hard drive was shot. It should at least turn on, whether it would register with the monitor to show anything I wouldn't know. 

  • Panther2103Panther2103 Member EpicPosts: 5,777

    Well if the hard drive is the part making that noise, and your computer wont start. Then it would have to be somewhat bad. Probably would just need a new hard drive.

  • FizbaneFizbane Member UncommonPosts: 6

    A Hard disk would not stop a computer from completing post.

    Do the lights come on?

    Do the fans Spin up?

    If its a Retail PC such as DELL,HP, etc  they generally have diagnostics lights to help troubleshoot.

  • MisterSrMisterSr Member UncommonPosts: 928

    Originally posted by Fizbane

    A Hard disk would not stop a computer from completing post.

    Do the lights come on?

    Do the fans Spin up?

    If its a Retail PC such as DELL,HP, etc  they generally have diagnostics lights to help troubleshoot.

    It's a custom PC pretty much, nothing comes on except the one green light saying power is hooked up to it. Everything else remain 'dormant'. 

  • ProdudeProdude Member Posts: 353

    Buck up and take it to a Computer shop.

    Most shops will diagnose it for nothing or a small fee $10-$25 and  give you options to repair.

  • HyodohHyodoh Member Posts: 4

    Hey man, 

    IMO it kind of sounds like a hard drive if it was a grinding noise. But what you should do, if you haven't already is unplug your PC and open the case and look inside for cut wires by the PS or any other fan. Because like posted above, your computer could've been bumped at some time and a wire got moved and then chopped up by a fan. 

    But I did have a hard drive fail on me this past summer and my computer didn't turn on, I did get an error though. But if you have a custom built pc you should know your way around your computer fairly well and should check out any and everything and try to narrow down the culprit.

    If you can't tell from that well, just turn on your computer plugged in with the case off and see if you get any activity from the PS/HDD (I know it may not be the smartest thing but you can tell easier what's struggling to run). 

    image

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