Pang needs your help~
 

It looks like Pang's computer has pooped (again)

He has sent me forth to inquire wherever I can regarding his trouble.

While he was at work, he had turned off his computer. Upon returning home from work, he went to turn it on and the power button initially didn't even respond. After playing with it a little bit, he was able to cycle it to boot for maybe 3 seconds, and then it would shut down all by itself again.

He tried to disconnect components like the DVD drive and things, and when he came to removiung the hard drive, the computer reacted normally. Obviously, it couldn't boot normally without the drive, but he was able to get it further than he had BEFORE without the drive in it.

He also tried to replace the hard drive with another hard drive that he had, and that ALSO failed.

So now, he can't do shit without a drive or WITH a drive.

Could anyone direct us to where to look for the problem, or perhaps a way to find the problem through the process of elimination?

(We're thinking this is a power problem. Something happened while he was at work - something with power.)

By the way, the hard drive fails to function as soon as the power pins are connected. He plugs in the serial cable, and its fine. It goes nuts when it gets power.

Have you tried a different channel for the hard drive? Switched cables?

It seems like you've nailed the problem. Try another power supply and see what happens.

If you have to replace the power supply and don't want to spend a lot of cash, look at getting a Fortron Sparkle unit. Reliable AND cheap. Not two things that usually go together.

Pang did try to plug it in for power in different spots, but to no avail. Is that what you mean?

Or are you suggesting switching out the power cable all together?

Also, could you explain "channel" and the switching thereof? He and I are on the phone and we're both kind of wondering. We're not terribly bright. ^_^

Edit: Thank you, Render~ If Blah also thinks this could be the problem, I'll get one on order for him ASAP

I believe he means that he should plug his hard drive to a different serial port on the motherboard.

Yea, that did not work so well. =////

Newegg doesn't carry the Fortron Sparkle (lol) - can you recommend a shop online who is reliable from which I can purchase this sparkly power supply? =D

Just to be certain, you should also check if that hard drive works in another computer.

You're saying that the power plugs work when they're connected to the DVD drive and such, but it fails only with the hard drive?

Okayo~

Pang confirms that this is the case.

Hm. If that drive is confirmed to be working, then I guess the serial cable or serial port / motherboard would be suspect. (It's serial ATA right? Not IDE?)

Actually, he LITERALLY just pulled the drive out of his brother's computer and it turns out the drive is NOT working. "It's complicated," he says.

You see, when he had the drive in HIS computer, the power wouldn't work.

So, he tried to bring it to his brother's computer and while his brother's computer DID in fact start up with it, it would run into a problem when they get Windows going. Windows was all like WHOA WHOA dude, do you want to start in SAFE MODE? Bios recognized the drive perfectly, so what we're thinking is the following:

His brother recently had a drive error when HE got a new mb. He had to do a windows repair to get the drive and the mb working together, so Pang is thinking that this may be the case when he put HIS drive into his brother's computer.

Pang was not able to access the hard drive from his brother's computer - it could be because of the aforementioned lack of a "repair," or because the drive is shot. Pang is pretty sure its just Windows.

And the drive IS IDE.

Well, switching hard drives into totally different computers can be like that. You really can't swap around your boot drive like that. >_>
There is also the issue of whether the jumpers are set properly. If you have two hard drives hooked up, with each of them having jumpers set as "master drive," then there may be issues.
Are they trying to run Pang's drive as the only drive in his brother's computer, or as a secondary(or slave) so that he can just access the data?

Yea, Pang says he set up the swap so that HIS drive was the master on his brother's computer. He didn't mess with the jumpers at all because his drive was the master on his computer, and was swapping it into a master position on his brother's computer.

So I take it he unplugged his brother's drive completely?

Yup. Pulled it out completely and replaced it with his own.

Well, looking at how your describe the reaction (boot in safe mode, etc), things seem to be fine on the hard drive's side.

Pang just needs a new power supply. And I would advise almost anything BUT that Sparkle shit. Do you know what motherboard he has?

Why would he need a new power supply if it's working fine?

Because when the hard drive was exchanged with another, supposedly known working hard drive, they reproduced the problem that they initially had.

Considering that the reaction that Pang's original hard drive had in his brother's system is typical of an attempted swap of that nature, it does not seem reasonable to suspect that it is the hard drive's fault.

However, it might be possible that its the motherboard which is faulty.

Yeah, it's looking more like the motherboard or the IDE cable now.

Just to be extra clear then: when you (Sassafrass) said that the power plugs were "connected to the DVD drive and such," did this mean that the exact same power plug used to connect to the hard drive was connected to the DVD drive, and it worked just fine? Or were you just referring to the power plugs that were originally connected to the DVD drives?

If the former, then yeah, Blah's assessment sounds valid.
If the latter, then try doing the scenario as mentioned, and see what happens.

Correct.

Agree~

This is his current motherboard
It was only purchased 13 months ago, but it IS a cheap mb.

I'll have to order whatever he needs, so if you guys could advise me on anything you know, all input is appreciated.

As far as the PSU goes, he has a Turbolink Model LC-A350ATX. I was looking for a comparable unit, and I came up with this. I am not sure if the power requirements and specs will match up, since I really am not a pro like you guys. ANY advice on this one is WELCOME.

Rat, regarding the cables: Pang says: "I did do what he is asking me - I did." (He's on the phone, so.) "I took both the power plug and the IDE cable out of the hard drive and attached them to the DVD drive, and vice versa." Verbatim. "This also resulted in the system refusing to power on."

So yeah, at this point, the only way to know for sure is to take out the old power supply, and plug in a known working one into Pang's original system.

If the same problem occurs, then we know its the motherboard.

If the system boots up just fine, then we know its the power supply.

=)

As for what brand of power supply to get, if it is that issue, then I wouldn't really know what to advise you to get. =\ I've heard lots of good things about Antec though. I would advise taking into consideration other people's opinions on this matter though.

If its the motherboard, see if it has some warranty shit on it,and if you can take advantage of it. If not, then get another of the same board. Though Foxconn is pretty cheap, I'm pretty sure they are capable of reasonably good hardware. Hell, they make many parts for Apple after all.

Okay, well. He unfortunately does not have a spare power supply and his brother will not allow the dismantling of his computer any further. ^_^

So. Based on this, I will go ahead and give the order for a new power supply. However, I am getting mixed reviews on what is reliable.

Rat, could you suggest something comparable to his current PSU that I could purchase? I know it's a hassle, but I really don't have faith in myself to make that kind of ignorant decision and risk fucking up his shit. =/ (I reeeeeeeeeally appreciate your help, all of you~)

Seasonic are the best PSU's as far as I know. Antec is decent too, and I'd imagine Corsair's PSUs are good too.

Buying cheap crap PSU's/RAM/mobo is the worst things to skimp on. But I kinda doubt his PSU is the issue here.

Not to be confrontational or anything, but could you explain why you think this? =0

Does this mean that, with the hard drive taken out, the DVD drive will work with either power connector or IDE cable? There's four different combinations possible here (power/IDE set A, power/IDE set B, power swapped, IDE swapped).

You need to determine if it's the power plug or the IDE cable that's causing the problem.