# My computer died...
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-died/91392
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [November 4, 2001, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-died/91392 "2001-11-04T02:51:29Z")
**Posts on this page:** 15
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@randomlyblanks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randomlyblanks)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2001, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-died/91392/1 "2001-11-04T02:51:29Z")
As I was creating a home network, I decided to add my Gateway Pentium 90 to the network. To do this I added an ethernet card and a floppy drive.
To preface this: my floppy drive was being a bitch and on start up I’d get a “diskette A: error” message after which meant I couldn’t use any floppies. I figured I’d do this in one swoop and add the card and replace the drive.
Well, after swapping drives and putting the ethernet card in a spare pci slot my computer turned on fine. Yet a problem became apparent: there was no video display! Instead of a usual 2 beeps as it turns on, I get a series of “Crisis in the Motherboard” beeps then: nothing.
I checked the obvious: another monitor yielded the same result. I can hear the hard drives turning on, but nothing shows up. The video card is a part of the motherboard, but I didn’t change any jumpers or anything. I think it has something to do with the power, because the lights on the ethernet card do nothing, even though it’s hooked up; however, i still hear stuff powering up. The one thing I thought of was there’s a space on my PCI/ISA bus area for a power hookup, but there’s no adapter from the power supply to go to this, and I didn’t disconnect anything.
Any suggestions? I paid $25 for that computer years ago and I don’t want to lose my investment :rolleyes:. Any support would be nice. Thanks
---
### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2001, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-died/91392/2 "2001-11-04T05:09:15Z")
Possibilities:
1: The new NIC card is stepping on the video or a related critical component’s IRQ. Try another PCI slot or try booting without it.
2: You have mis-connected the floppy cable. This will typically cause a floppy error mode but will not prevent booting.
3: Try removing the keyboard and booting and see if you get your video back.
4: Remove and reseat your memory chips.
---
### Author:  [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2001, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-died/91392/3 "2001-11-04T12:36:41Z")
for the most part i’d go with astro’s suggestions…
additionally :
1. try removing the NIC card and the floppy drive ( along with the cable ). If you still get the error beeps it means that you made something come loose while opening up and adding the card.
2. It’s most probably a problem with your RAM chip(s). Try removing and re-inserting the RAM chips ( as astro indicated ) or try getting a friend’s working RAM chips to test with.
3. If this still doesn’t help, try disconnecting all drives and cables to help you identify whether the problem is with a peripheral device or on the mother board.
4. Come back to the board with your observations… 🙂
---
### Author:  [@galt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galt)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2001, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-died/91392/4 "2001-11-04T13:15:39Z")
Although I’m pretty sure this can’t cause your problem, do note that the orientation of the floppy cable is important. Pay attention to how it was plugged in before and make sure to plug it back in that way. The red stripe on one edge of the ribbon should plug in closest to the power connector on the floppy drive. Doing it backwards on most PC’s just causes “floppy light is always on and floppy drive doesn’t work” syndrome.
---
### Author:  [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2001, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-died/91392/5 "2001-11-04T14:42:06Z")
Also note that if you are using those white PCI slots you must first put a card in slot one otherwise you get what you described. put cards in the right order, slot one then two, etc.
disconnect all floppy & HD cables before starting just to check. you should get a bios screen at least.
---
### Author:  [@BoiToi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoiToi)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2001, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-died/91392/6 "2001-11-04T18:24:49Z")
When in doubt, back out. A friend of mine used to admonish “do only one install at a time!” Take the network adapter out. If the system doesn’t work then it’s the floppy installation. Or take the floppy out.
---
### Author:  [@randomlyblanks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randomlyblanks)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2001, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-died/91392/7 "2001-11-05T01:39:00Z")
Well, I’ve tried everything. I’ve unplugged the two hard drives and the floppy drive and taken all of the cards out. I still get nothing aside from a series of 5 beeps and a black screen. I’m positive its not the monitor because a working monitor from another computer works. I’ve tried removing and reseating the RAM chips. I’ve made sure all power connecters are plugged in. Is there _anything_ that can save me now?
---
### Author:  [@randomlyblanks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randomlyblanks)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2001, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-died/91392/8 "2001-11-05T03:42:05Z")
bump
---
### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2001, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-died/91392/9 "2001-11-05T03:57:02Z")
Often there is a jumper on the MB for older systems with onboard video that will allow you to disable the onboard video to install a different video card. Assuming you have also removed and re-seated the memory you might want to try looking at the motherboard and see if there is any component or jumper damaged or knocked out of place (per above) during the install.
Also, you might want to try physically unplugging the machine from the wall or powerstrip and letting it sit for 10 minutes or so then try re-starting it.
---
### Author:  [@galt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galt)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2001, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-died/91392/10 "2001-11-05T08:31:53Z")
Did you change the way **anything** was hooked up? No matter how benign something seems, it can potentially cause a problem. My example: my CPU’s fan was plugged into one of the fan power connectors on the motherboard. I added a hard drive, and the additional cabling made it so it would be convenient if I connected the CPU fan to a different fan power connector (of which there are 5), so I moved it. After much hair-pulling and retracing of steps, I discovered that the reason my machine wouldn’t boot up after that was that the motherboard **required** me to have a fan plugged into that particular connector, otherwise it would shut back down. Grrrrr.
---
### Author:  [@Popup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popup)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2001, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-died/91392/11 "2001-11-05T09:28:54Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by poogas21 \*
> **Instead of a usual 2 beeps as it turns on, I get a series of “Crisis in the Motherboard” beeps then: nothing.**
Those beeps can actually be quite informative!
If you know what BIOS you have, take a look at [PC Hell: BIOS Error Beep Codes](http://www.pchell.com/hardware/beepcodes.shtml). It will help you to decipher for example
> [@](#):
>
> 7 Short Beeps - Your CPU broke overnight. Its no good. Either replace the CPU, or buy another motherboard.
If that doesn’t help, and you’ve tried all the excellent advice already given, Give up!
---
### Author:  [@randomlyblanks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randomlyblanks)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2001, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-died/91392/12 "2001-11-06T00:46:14Z")
Well, I’ve consulted the beep thing. It’s one long followed by three short. This appears to mean Enhanced Graphics Adapter–I don’t have EGA, it’s a VGA. Is there any solution to this problem? I’m getting ready to concede defeat unless somebody jumps in with something soon. Is there anything I should be looking for here, considering I don’t have a graphics card, it’s part of the MB.
---
### Author:  [@LordVor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordVor)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2001, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-died/91392/13 "2001-11-06T01:10:42Z")
Well, first, let’s list what you’ve managed to eliminate with the info you’ve provided us. That may make you feel a bit better:
1. You get the beeps. This means that the cpu is fine, and you have at least some memory. It also means that the power supply isn’t completely toasted.
2. You still get the beeps with the drives unplugged (just from the MB, or from the Power Supply as well?). So it probably wasn’t a drive causing it.
In any case, this isn’t magic. If some configuration worked before, and then you changed something and it didn’t work, and you go back to the working configuration, it should still work. If it doesn’t, something else broke (in this case, probably your integrated graphics). For the sake of completeness, do you have another graphics card that you could throw into the system to see if it works at all?
-LV
---
### Author:  [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2001, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-died/91392/14 "2001-11-06T21:50:30Z")
ok try this for a long shot… but since you’re outta luck anyways, here goes:
sometimes a misconfig’d BIOS can prevent the comp. from booting ( though unlikely if it’s giving you error beeps, yet… ) so open up the comp. and remove the CMOS battery ( this should look like a coin sized silver battery ) short the terminals of the battery holder ( not the battery ) wait a few minutes, then replace the battery and reboot.
this should reset the BIOS settings to default and possibly enable you to boot up ( if a BIOS setting change, such as EGA instead of VGA, is preventing your comp from booting up ), and you can go from there…
also make sure that the monitor cable connected to your vga card ( or onboard vga/agp/whatever ) is not loose.
---
### Author:  [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2001, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-died/91392/15 "2001-11-06T23:30:16Z")
I got this new FIC board. Instead of beeps, it voices what it needs to work. Ironic, but I can’t hear it…
Hey, a new board is cheap. YOu might take all the cards out & disconnect all the cables & start it then. But of course plugged into the monitor & be sure your bios screen if you can get to it states a ega/vga monitor.