PLEASE HELP ANYONE!!

[Chip0214]

Whenever I turn on my computer, the only thing that happens is the drive lights for drives A: and B: come on, but they just stay on and the system won't boot up. What should I do? I have tried putting a recovery disk in the drive, and it doesn't do anything either. If anyone could help me please tell me... thanks alot!

[Junky]

Hi there,

What kind of a computer is it? Who made it? Give us a full discription of the machine, and maybe about how old it is.

Have you added any hardware lately? Were any changes made to the machine?

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Moderator of Hardware & Overclocking

[Chip0214]

Yeah, it is an IBM PS/1 Consultant, Model 2168-G87. It's a 486DX2, 66 MHz, 250 MB Hard Disk, and 3.5 and 5.25 disk drives. I believe it is a Fusion 16 CDROM. It was made sometime around 92-93. Let me know if anyone needs any more info. Thanks alot!

[zipulrich]

That's quite a museum piece you've got there!
What OS is it (trying to) run? Will make a little difference in how to proceed.

[Junky]

For a system that old, my first thought is that of hardware failure. Or something has come loose inside the case. Any ideas how long it's been since the case was removed? If it hasn't been in the last 5 years or more, I bet the dust build-up is so bad that it caused a failure of something.

The hard drive may have died. Can you hear it "spin up"? If not, it has died, or the power cable to it has come loose or went bad for some odd reason. A 250 meg hard drive does not have the life of the new hard drives today.

If you can hear the hard drive spin up, It could be several things causing the problem. Motherboard, RAM, ribbon cables, video card, etc...

You may have a big job ahead of you on this one.

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Moderator of Hardware & Overclocking

[This message has been edited by Junky (edited 17 February 2001).]

[Chip0214]

Yeah, it was my first computer, but I still want to use it. I can hear the hard drive spin, and here is the problem, I think. I was going to put a new CDROM into it awhile ago, so I took it out. Then I think I accidentally pulled the ribbon cable(The gray one that hooks from the motherboard to the CDROM) out of the motherboard. Then after that all that happened was the drives came on. I could still hear the HD spinning though. I have Win 95 on it.

[Junky]

Did you push on the ends of the cables to make sure a good connection? The hard drive will still spin if the ribbon cables aren't connected good, but no data transfer will take place. Go in there and make sure those cables are connect good. Even if they look connected, they may not be...so push.

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Moderator of Hardware & Overclocking

[Chip0214]

Yeah, I'm sure that they are all the way in... the one that I disconnected was the one that went from the motherboard to the A: and B: drives. It was like a Y connector type of thing.

[lynnm]

Quote:

"the only thing that happens is the drive lights for drives A: and B: come on, but they just stay on and the system won't boot up.

It sounds to me that you have the ribbon cable for the floppies hooked up backwards. The Floppy light staying on is a classic symptom for that. You are also liable to get an error(40) message on the screen.

Try this: completely remove the ribbon cable from the motherboard and then determine which end of the FDD controller socket is pin one. Reconnect the ribbon cable making sure that the cable is inserted with its pin one wire plugged into the pin one end of the motherboard connector. Pin one on the cable is marked with a coloured,(usually red but possibly pink or green) stripe. Pin one at the motherboard end will be indentified with a small number one or perhaps with a tiny arrow symbol.

If you are really lucky the hard disk connector and the floppy connector may be right beside each other and you can use the orientation of the HD cable as a guide to determining the location of pin one on the floppy controller.

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Please Folks! Whenever we post a reply to your question it is important that you let us know whether our advice was helpful.This way other users can determine whether the suggested fix worked or not.

It is meet to recall that the Great Green Heron rarely flies upside down in the moonlight.(Foo Ling ca.1206)

[Chip0214]

Yes, I see what you are saying... although the cable will not insert any other way than what it is in now becuase there is a "Tab" in the middle of the cable, and then there is a "Slot for the Tab" on the border of the slot where the cable hooks into the motherboard. So then I can't see how I could reverse the cable. Also, the cable that hooks the HD and the motherboard together is wider(or has more wires in it) than does the cable hooking the two disk drives to the mother board. The 3.5 end of the cable is also different than the 5.25 end, so then I can't get those two mixed up either. - Thanks

[lynnm]

OK so we have established that the 32 pin ribbon cable is properly oriented at the motherboard. The next step is to ensure that the ribbon cable is not reversed on either one or both of the Floppy drives - If either one has the cable plugged in backwards both will display the problem. Disconnect the ribbon cable from both floppies and the motherboard and reboot. If the machine boots then we know that the problem is definitely related to the floppies or the cable and not something else.

Assuming that the computer boots - power it down,reconnect the ribbon cable and one of the drives and reboot. Be sure to ascertain which end of the floppy's connector has pin one and make sure that you connect the colour coded edge of the cable to the pin one end.

If the problem recurs disconnect the cable from that drive and hook up the other floppy following the instructions above.

On the other hand if the computer works after reconnecting the first floppy then simply reconnect the second floppy again of course being sure to connect pin one to pin one.

If after all of this the problem remains buy a new ribbon cable because these cables can get brittle with age and the cable might have an internal short which would not be apparent on visual inspection.

[This message has been edited by lynnm (edited 17 February 2001).]

[This message has been edited by lynnm (edited 17 February 2001).]

[lynnm]

Text of email from chip 0214:

Is it possible that I could get a blank screen whenever I boot? I tried
your suggestions... the detaching of one cable and then booting up, then the
detaching of another and then boot up. They both seem to work fine and when
I went to hook up my new monitor with the old computer... I got a blank
screen. Maybe it has something to do with the new monitor and the old
computer. I couldn't use the old monitor becuase that one was taken up to
college.

Response

1). Does the machine now post(ie. run through its self tests and emit a single beep)? One beep is normal - no beep or more than one beep is not normal.

2). When you say you get a blank screen on boot - Is there anything of any description on the screen ?

3). If by chance you mean by the above that you are not loading Windows on boot but are getting a C: prompt - type the following:

Items within brackets are keystrokes
cd\Windows<ENTER>
Win<ENTER>

I have responded to your email here in the forum for a couple of reasons. Please understand that I am not in the least annoyed that you contacted me directly:

a) I have not been the only one working with you on this problem and exchanging emails with you would cut the others out of the loop.

b) Many users read these threads to learn more about maintaining and repairing their machines,(and to learn what does not work for that matter).

c) Most users email addresses bear little or no relationship to the user's handle in the forums. I spend a lot of time at a number of support boards and all too often I get emails from users referring to their posts and I have no idea which post/site/forum they are talking about. I've got one going right now from poor sod who sounds frantic but I cant find his post to respond and his email bounces when I try to contact him.

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Please Folks! Whenever we post a reply to your question it is important that you let us know whether our advice was helpful.This way other users can determine whether the suggested fix worked or not.

It is meet to recall that the Great Green Heron rarely flies upside down in the moonlight.(Foo Ling ca.1206)

[lynnm]

Chip0214

How are you making out with this computer?? Enquiring Minds want to know


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Please Folks! Whenever we post a reply to your question it is important that you let us know whether our advice was helpful.This way other users can determine whether the suggested fix worked or not.

It is meet to recall that the Great Green Heron rarely flies upside down in the moonlight.(Foo Ling ca.1206)