Hungs @ Mom's PC

[Dehcbad25]

while I was on vacation something happened to my mother's computer. I had it prepared the night before my flight, so I didn't make a burn test to it.
The UV lights have died. But that is not important.
My mother says that the computer made such a burnt smell that she felt it from the living room (2 rooms away from the computer)
My guess is that it probably is the CPU. I didn't see anything wrong with it, except that it hungs (sometimes at boot even)
I am suspicious that maybe a cable got stuck in the CPU fan and that fried the CPU (it happened to me once).
Any suggestion??
How could I test it?

[Big Booger]

Well to test it take the CPU out, and install it in a working system??

It could be the motherboard, PSU, CPU, etc... burnt smell makes me think a diode or something exploded...

I'd take the components out one by one and test them in a working system with similiar specs... and narrow it down.

Alternatively if you have a Best Buy nearby, run down there, and take the tower.. They can test it for you and hook you up with the parts to fix it. :D They work quick and I think the fee is very reasonable... not really sure as the last time I went there was like 4 years ago or something like that..

[Stripe]

I would open the case and see if you can see any scorch marks. If not, then remove the components one by one. More than likely it's the CPU. It works on boot because its nice and cool from sitting there but once it starts heating up, that's when it locks up the pc....

[SupaStar]

I agree with stripe and the others on this one. See if you can see any burn marks and smell each component to see if you can get a wiff of fried silicon ;)

[Dehcbad25]

well, believe me from experience. This is the second time that this happens to me. When the CPU heat up and smell like burned (This happened in 2 Athlon XP) it won't leave scortch marks. It smells strong, but no marks (with the heatsink on).
Not being there when it happened I am 70% sure that is the CPU since this is so evident. The lights control also burnt. That is what makes me wonder. Also, the mother could have some damage from the stress.
Unfortunately I don't have a similar system to test it out, unless I use the CPU from my server (eMachines) which I would like to avoid, since it has warranty.

[Big Booger]

rund it down to your local PC shop, compusa, bestbuy etc...
:D

[Dehcbad25]

PC Costed 300$ a repair will be around the 100$ It is not worth it :p
Plus, that is what I am here for, to try to fix it :D

[FastGame]

Plus, that is what I am here for, to try to fix it :D
lol, I was waiting for your response :p I think BB was busy that day and thinking of a way to stimulate the economy.

I think you should pull it all apart and see what burned, you should be able to see a burned spot somewhere ? if the cpu burned I would think it wouldn't even post let alone hang at boot. When something burns so bad you can smell it from other rooms thats kinda bad, never know what elese could have been affected and might get expensive replacing parts....

Go on eBay and buy one of those COMPAQ Presario's for around $100-$150, I just bought one for $125 that is mint condition, it has DVD, CD-R/RW, 20gig HD, 256mb ram and 900mhz PIII. It runs perfect and man is it quiet :)

[Dehcbad25]

900Mhz? This was a 2.6 GHz. My mom would just kill me if I suggest that :p
Plus, it is only 2 weeks old.
Haven't had time today to check the CPU since I was cleaning appartment (single's life)
I will try to do it tomorrow morning before going to work (if I wake up early)

[FastGame]

900Mhz? This was a 2.6 GHz. My mom would just kill me if I suggest that :p
Tell her it was my idea :p http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4120605271&category=51136
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2797330771&category=51136
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2797310951&category=51137

[Big Booger]

Let them test it. I never said a word about repair :B

[Dehcbad25]

She will still kill me. Do you realize those computer cost as much as she paid for this one??
Then the total price for the computer will be 600$ :p
Anyhow, as I said, it was the CPU. I tested it with another CPU and it is running. Now I just need a CPU for it

[FastGame]

Guess you should make sure the heat sink is on better next time ;)

Hey I here there's a CPU give away :D go sign up could be you mom's lucky day!

[Dehcbad25]

It wasn't the heatsink bad put.
The UV lights failed (shorted out) so the controller got hot, the adhesive failed, it fell, what that happened it moved the cables inside and the floppy disk power cable went into the fan.
This is a guess, because the cable wasn't in the fan, but it was really close. I guess the moved the PC and the cable got unstuck.

[FastGame]

WoW your mom has UV lights in her PC :cool: my mom has a UV light but its in the bathroom, I think she uses it to sanitize her dentures.

[Dehcbad25]

HADDDDDDD, not has.
The cables to go set was exactly the same as the cables alone, so it was a great deal. I kind of made her a monster, because she nows likes cool PC parts :p
Her case is a Dragon style (chieftec maker) with glossy paint. Unfortunately is white, so it looks like the refrigerator ;) But still cooler (in double sense) that the normal beige Case :D
Most of the parts were TigerDirect from a sale

[cash_site]

Gee this was quite unfornuate, like a freak accident. First this fails, then the next and so on until it burns the CPU :eek: Well glad at least you sorted and found the cause, might be worthwhile putting in some sort of fan protector, at least to try and stop cables falling in. Try the warranty issue, else you might have to find an old Chip.

[Dehcbad25]

well, I am a pretty neat person. In my PC I have special cable ties that use velcro. I was going to use mine cable ties for my mom, but I finished it in a hurry (I had the flight the next day) and I still had some stuff to finish. I like everything tied or better yet, hidden. I run most of the cables behind the HDD cages, Power supply and Motherboard. Just a few cables lose, and one of those few was the culprit.

[Dehcbad25]

2 days running and no crash. Got it back up no problem. Well, I was kind of wondering the CPU went bad, since I had the same problem and mine just kept on going (after it cool off a day :p)
It seems that the hungs actually disturbed the OS (Fedora) Video card didn't seat well the first time I got it to run, thought reseating it made it work and then it freezed up. Now I think probably the drivers for the printer went bad, since it is the only change (I haven't hook up the printer) and my mother told me that after she had the problem (burnt) the printer worked funny.
Well I will try to see how I can re-install the drivers. Thanks guys :D

[cash_site]

Well good to hear that at least the PC is running. Are you using the 'burnt' cpu or your one? Sometimes if the computer doesnt shut down correctly etc then the OS state can get corrputed. Usually drivers etc. Give it a go :D

[Dehcbad25]

I was using mine.
For my mother I had running for 2 days Tux Racer, and a CD. Also, the screensaver will come up (3D screensaver)
When I put the CPU in my machine I run a burn test from Sisoft Sandra 2004.
I always thought that AMD Athlon Xp were tough. Now I now it by experince (twice ;))