After reading over your post several times, my thoughts are that your
problem might have been caused by an AC  power fluctuation that your
computer could not handle. This may have jeopardized your power supply while
damaging other components (onboard video plus ?). The PS then gave up
completely while you were trying to fix the video problem. I just repaired a
computer where the PS went out (power surge ?) and took the motherboard,
keyboard and mouse with it.

A few comments/questions:

Some motherboards require a jumper to be reset when a video card is used in
place of onboard video. Should be noted, if applicable, in your MB manual.
A few seconds after you start up the computer you should get a single short
'beep' indicating success of the initial post. If you are not getting it
now, were you getting it before the current situation began? Could just be a
speaker problem or an indication of something more serious.
Not getting the single beep is an indication of a basic hardware problem.
The fans and the small green LED on the MB can be on even with a bad MB.
Is the CPU, heat sink and cooler fan securely in place and fairly clean with
the fan working when the computer is turned on?
Is the RAM stick(s) firmly seated?

I think you will end up determining that at least the MB needs to be
replaced and you will become a "'hardware person".

Hope this helps.

Tom Mayer

----- Original Message -----
From: "Matt Perry" <[log in to unmask]>

First, I am not sure if this is bad list etiquette, but I posted this at
on the PCBUILD forum as well. Please accept my apologizes if it is
against the rules submit the problem to the list and post the same
problem on the forums. It appears that the readership is different which
is why I am doing this.

Here is my situation:

I have a weird hardware problem.

I have a Intel 915A motherboard in a home brewed computer. It has 512MB
of memory and a 450w rated power supply. Windows XP Home is the
operating system on it. I use the built in video. There are no other
cards in the available PCI slots.

When I was running Webroot's Spy Sweeper about a week ago I came back to
the computer to see that the computer had become "frozen". Neither the
mouse or keyboard would respond. Spy Sweeper was stopped in mid scan. A
hard power down was required. When I restarted the computer there was no
signal to the monitor. The fans and lights would come on, but no video
signal so I cannot even see a POST test. There are no beeping sounds
either. I tried restarting the computer several time with the same
effect.

After leaving the computer on for about 5 minutes, the computer shut off
and it smelled like something electrical was burning. It smelled like it
was coming from the power supply.

I replaced the power supply with a spare 300w. The computer started up
again, but without a video signal -- the same as the original problem.

I inserted a friend's Chaintech GeForce 5200 PCI-based video adapter in
one of the PCI slots. When I turned the computer on with the video card
in the PCI slot, it would briefly start (about a second) and then turn
off.

I went out and purchased a new power supply that was rated at what the
original was -- 450w. Now with video card in the PCI slot, the computer
starts up and stays on, but still no video from either the built in
video or the video card.

I have tried all of these steps with two different monitors and verified
those monitors work on other computers.

Whew! If you have gotten this far, thanks!

I am not a hardware person so I am stumped. What should I do next? Is my
system board fried? It seems like it is not since with the 450w power
supply the lights and fans come on and stay on, but I am perplexed as to
why I cannot get a video signal. Was the original "freezing" of Spy
Sweeper indicative of something? Could a virus have infected the CMOS or
damaged my hardware?

Without being able to "see" any error messages or the POST test results
and not hearing any beep codes I do not know where to go from here.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Matt

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