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View Full Version : Please advise (pc problems)


hyerplane
12-13-2002, 03:16 AM
While attempting to plug a pair of headphones into my soundcard I ran into a problem. I have the misfortune of owning a pair of headphones that have long sinced stopped working correctly. When plugged fully in nearly all highs are lost and the sound in general is scratching and rough. I have been able to remedy this in a different computer by removing the plug a bit and tilting it inside the port.

I attempted to do this with my computer and while wiggling it trying to get sound my monitor suddenly went black and the power light indicated no signal, however the computer reamained on. I checked all connections and saw no problem. After unseccesfully trying to alt-ctrl-del I powerd the computer down and then rebooted. It booted normally but would periodically reset itself. After perhaps the 3rd time, I heard a rather loud sound that was almost like a grinding. I assumed it was a hdd and immediatly powerd down as i was rather frightened one was shot. It turns out it was not a hdd but a fan that currently occupied a 5.25 drive bay (an antec one i believe with three little fans in a row). I cleaned out a large amounts of dust from the fan and replaced it. It still made the noise, but as it was not a hdd I decided to let it go and see what happened. During the ram memory check (during POST i believe) the numbers were garbled and some only appearded as a fuzzy checkerboard of blocks. Very few moved, where normally they "scroll" rather fast until the size of ram is reached. I powered down, unplugged the fan, and booted. Was normal and I proceeded to use the computer for 5 or so hours with no irregularities. However, I am concerned about what these events could mean and what role a fan could play in them.

All advise, comments, thoughts, and speculations welcome :)
Thank you.

Deadlus
12-13-2002, 07:37 AM
Seems like your shorted your computer by wiggling your soundcard and suddenly your screen WILL go blank in that case. Your hard drive didn't know what happen that's why you might encounter sudden reboots. Best thing to do WAS to unplug your sound card and then plug it back in. As for the grinning sound, it can come from any fan in your computer. Try to clean the Powersupply, CPU, and GPU fan also. I like to use a vacuum cleaner to do that. It really suck out those nasty dusts. Remember this ppl, when you are wiggling any hardwares its best to shut off your computer first. You can easily accidently wiggle off the PCI Card or memory and short out your computer. Also, it is wise to use a Static strap when touching any hardware.