Is my P5B-D Dead? Help

[PeterT]

OK. Now I am really confused and upset.

Earlier this week, my P4P800D seems to have died. Discussed in this thread:
http://www.abxzone.com/forums/f41/pr...lp-114221.html

Last night, my P5B-D was working fine. This morning, I turned it on and got no image on the monitor!!!
The power light on the MB and case come on, fans spin, ODD and HDD lights flash and then go off and stay off. No beeps, no lights on the keyboard, no light on my optical mouse. Nothing.
I swapped the vid card and still, nothing. Swapped the keyboard and still, nothing.

It seems like the MB died! How could I have 2 MBs go bad in 1 week!?!?!?!?!? What are the odds!?!?!?!?

The only thing these 2 PCs have on common is that they are both plugged into the same electrical outlet. Through a good (but old) surge suppressor AND a new Tripplite 1000W UPS. I tried bypassing the UPS by plugging the surge suppressor directly into the outlet and still, nothing. I don't think it has anything to do with the outlet, surge suppressor or UPS, because my CUSL2 is plugged into the same 3 and is working fine. I'm typing this on it now. It is the only functioning PC I have left!

Having power lights on the case and MB, but no lights on the keyboard and mouse seems to be a good indication of a bad MB. Is this deduction correct?

I do not want to replace this MB right now!!!

help.

[PeterT]

Bump. A nasty spammer flooded us a few minutes ago and pushed this thread right off the front page. Bump.

[Wingit]

PSU sounds ok, the three remaining factors are cpu, motherboard and ram...do you have any way of testing ram or cpu ?.... process of elimination will tell...

good luck, sounds you're having a bad run of fortune...

[PeterT]

Hi Wingit. Thanks for the input. I don't think bad RAM would result in no signal to the keyboard, mouse and monitor, would it? I'm not sure about the CPU.

[Wingit]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Hi Wingit. Thanks for the input. I don't think bad RAM would result in no signal to the keyboard, mouse and monitor, would it? I'm not sure about the CPU.

Actually, I think bad ram could do that, but I bet you would get a beep (probably a long single one)...with no beeps I'm thinking mobo, though I know you don't want to hear that...I would think a bad cpu would cause a beep of some sort as well. Are you sure there was no power fluctuation or event?

[ctal]

Originally Posted by Wingit

sounds you're having a bad run of fortune...

That's for sure.

I agree that it could be the memory or cpu, as well as the mobo, any of which can prevent the bios from running properly (which in turn could result, among other things, in the usb ports being disabled, which would account for the mouse and keyboard symptoms if they are connected via usb).

But I'm wondering about the "new" ups. How long ago was it put in? What model power supplies do the 3 computers have (the two that failed, and the one that is still working)? Just a guess, but perhaps the power supplies in the two failed computers were not happy with the low quality waveform that I believe inexpensive ups's tend to put out, which is more like a square wave than a sine wave, and perhaps they suffered some damage as a result.

Good luck!

-- Al

[PeterT]

hmm.
Here's the info:

The UPS: I got it at Costco about 1 month ago, to replace the exact same unit that went bad (no power on the battery outlets). That unit lasted for about 1-2 years. That one had replaced another of the same model that had also lasted about 1-2 years. It is 1000VA (500W), not 1000W, as I incorrectly stated above:
Newegg.com - TRIPP LITE SmartPro Digital SMART1000LCD 1000 VA 500 watts 8 Outlets UPS - UPS
I have 2 PCs, monitors, etc, plugged into a surge suppressor, which is plugged into the battery outlet on the UPS, which is then plugged into the wall outlet. This is how I have I have had it set up for many years. No changes have been made to this configuration in at least 4? years, other than the 2 UPS replacements noted above.

The PSUs:
P5B-D - Mushkin 550W, about 1 year old
P4P800D - Antec 350W, about 3? years old
CUSL2 - Sparkle 300W, about 6? years old

The keyboard & mouse: Both are plugged into the PS2 ports, not USB.

Thoughts?

[ctal]

Well, I guess that between the fact that your keyboard & mouse are ps/2, and the diversity of power supply types that you have between the three computers, and your previous ups history, the speculations in my previous post are pretty much ruled out.

Although, fwiw, note that one user comment on the ups, in the NewEgg listing, claimed that it simultaneously blew up two monitors he had connected to it.

It's probably worth running a quick test with the surge suppressor bypassed, even though the other computer works through it.

Other than that, I guess we're back to the mobo, with the ram and cpu as lesser possibilities.

-- Al

[PeterT]

I did try bypassing the surge suppressor. No joy. Forgot to mention that.

I received some of the parts for my daughter's new PC yesterday, including the PSU. I think I will swap the new PSU into the P4P800D case. If it works, then that proves your PSU theory. If it does not, then everything seems to point to both MBs going bad in the same week. Which sux and still leaves me with the same question: How and why would 2 MBs go bad in the same week?!?!?!?!?

[PeterT]

Well Al,
You were right. It's the PSU. I put the new PSU in the P4P800D and it boots up just fine. Memtest, Windows, 3DMark, all run fine.
So, now the question is: Is it the UPS, surge suppressor or something to do with the outlet they are plugged into, that caused both PSUs to go bad all of a sudden? Since the UPS is the only new variable in the mix, I would think that it is the culprit.

Thought's?

Since I already received and opened the parts for my daughter's new PC, I guess she's getting a new one anyway...

[Wingit]

Interesting, I would have laid odds on the Mobo, but good to hear...have you tried it on the P5B rig? I'm still wondering if there was not a power "event" of some sort that caused this...based on ctal's speculation I wonder is there any way to test the UPS for how clean the supplied power is...although you said you had used a similar UPS for some years ?

[ctal]

Wow, so you're saying that the new power supply fixes the problems in both computers?

If so, I agree that a possible root cause could have been a power line transient, such as from a nearby lightning strike. The surge suppressor should have protected against that, but perhaps didn't due to having sacrificed itself protecting against a different event sometime in the past. So I'd definitely replace the surge suppressor. The ups is supposed to provide some degree of surge protection too, but perhaps that also got taken out by a transient in the recent past, or perhaps it wasn't very good protection to begin with.

Apart from that possibility, assuming the power supply replacement resolved the problems in both computers, I'd say that the ups is probably defective in some way, and I wouldn't use it again.

-- Al

[PeterT]

I haven't tried the new PSU in the P5B-D, but since the symptoms were similar in the P4P800D and it solved the problem, I am assuming it would solve it in that one as well.
I have removed the UPS from the loop and will replace the surge suppressor. I also have a whole house surge suppressor in the circuit breaker box. I wonder if I should replace that one as well.

[ctal]

I'm not familiar with surge suppressors that are intended for whole house use, but I'd suggest trying to look up its specs. If they are comparable to those of quality power strip surge suppressors, meaning response times of around 1 to 5 ns, and energy absorption of say a few thousand joules or more, and if it is replaceable without major cost or inconvenience, I'd say replace it. If its response time is significantly slower than that, or if it can't handle that kind of energy, then replacing it would be fairly pointless because it will not do too much good even when working properly.

Regards,
-- Al

[PeterT]

Thanks Al. Very much appreciate all the help.
I put the new PSU in the P4P800D and will use that PC until I can get a replacement (warranty?) for the Mushkin PSU in the P5B-D.
I'm going to get a new surge suppressor strip and UPS (warranty? at Costco) today. I think I'll leave the whole house suppressor alone.