So, I fried my computer today:

[ScoopKW]

Well -- I wired up and installed my control panel today.

Everything worked fine. Actually played some 4-person Gauntlet to test things out. And some Gyruss, Battlezone, Xenophob, etc. etc. etc.

I removed the gaming stuff, and put my "work" computer back to stock configuration. When I booted, the mobo beeped at me seven times. I googled "seven beeps" (AMD motherboard) and discovered that the CPU is fried.

Two questions:

Seeing as I played a few hours of games on the control panel and computer, what are the chances that the problem is the direct result of my control panel? I don't want to shell out $$$ for new systems and fry them immediately.

Assuming there is no causal relationship between the control panel and my dead mobo, what would y'all suggest for a new mobo, CPU, memory, etc.?

(Naturally, I'm not going to hit FrozenCpu.com for extreme parts to play BattleZone.)  Just asking what will play most of the roms out there. I doubt anything will play Cruisin' World at more than a few FPS, but, I'd like to hear some opinions.

Thanks....

ScoopKW

[JONTHEBOMB]

I'm really just curious in knowing what controls made up your control panel?

[ScoopKW]

Go to "Project Announcements" for the panel:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=37885.msg338275#msg338275


It's an IPAC 4, four Happ Perfect 360s, a Happ USB trackball, and a bunch of buttons.


ScoopKW

[Scott84]

How could you have fried it?

[RayB]

It could have overheated, but chances are it's been jostled loose???

IF you removed the CPU to check it, did you re-apply heatsink compound? You HAVE to.

[Ash...Housewares]

I'd have to agree that the best course of action is to take the CPU back out and re-seat & re-grease it. 

Then, if that still doesn't work, I would say that the chances of your controls frying the CPU are pretty slim.  I doubt those controls could throw enough juice through the system to smoke it.  Plus, if your controls messed it up,  it probably would have happened while you were playing.

-Ash

[AlanS17]

What encoder are you using? Are you using the caps/num/scroll lock lights?

[testicle187]

You should also make sure you didn't install the heatsink/fan backwards, and if it is a newer Athlon Motherboard make sure you reconnected the extra 4 pin power connector that runs from the power supply to your motherboard. 

If you google "seven beeps" for an "Amd motherboard" you should probably retry that with specific motherboard information or check your manual that came with it.  Gigabyte beep codes may be different than say, Asus. 

Also, make sure there is nothing blacking the fans on your CPU from rotating freely and that RAM is firmly seated in the slots. 

Try all that and hopefully you can get it back up and running.

[fastredpacman]

It might also be your memory, or even your graphics card. Ive had beeps and nothing comes up and its been the memory or the graphics card. If you have another computer try swapping parts until you find the culprit.

[cdbrown]

I've had errors before and have managed to fix it with a cmos reset using the jumpers on the mobo.  When you boot the pc make sure your cpu fan is running.  I've had my pc on and the fan not spinning a few times after a rebuild - but it would only run for a very short time an not get hot enough to do any damage.

A bit of an idea of what you swapped out would help.  I can't see it having any direct relation to the control panel, but a direct relation to the swap out of parts.

[ScoopKW]

Hmmm....

I reread my original post. And I can't for the life of me figure out how people assumed I removed the CPU or did a major parts swap.

Hell, I never cracked open the case. The only parts-swapping going on was plugging my controls into USB ports.  I did physically move the computer to my workbench, so I could work on any wiring glitches in the control panel --  there weren't any.

I can't see where that would lead to a direct boot failure. But perhaps someone else has experienced the dreaded, "If you plug your Happ USB trackball in during a full moon, you'll have boot errors...."

That's my main concern -- is it even POSSIBLE to wreck a computer through the Universal Serial Bus?

In response to peoples questions...

cdbrown: Haven't opened the case, but will try a cmos reset, certainly...

fastredpacman: It's a crappy computer with a "built in" video system. Maybe the memory went... but I can't swap the memory with my other computer because they're not compatible.

testicle187: I spent an hour googling "eMachines T2385" before posting here. Like I said, crappy computer. Can't for the life of me find out who makes the mobo in this thing.

AlanS17: Happ USB trackball encoder and IPAC4. No lights.

RayB: Didn't remove the CPU.

Scott84: Dunno how I could have fried it. That's why I'm askin'. 

[PaulG]

First off:  Supposedly you can fry your mobo from the rare rogue USB.  I know it's supposed to be hot-swappable, but I've seen tales of people frying motherboards upon putting in a USB thumb-drive.  Supposed to be very rare, but I guess it occasionally happens (This news made me a little apprehensive about how often I'm plugging and unplugging things).

That said, if you played for two hours after plugging things in, that should eliminate that.  If you fried something plugging it in, it would have been dead from the start and no gaming for you.

Have you ever done heavy work on this computer before?  If you were playing for a couple hours (And using games that were high CPU utilization), this could explain how it could overheat and expose an installation/ventilation flaw that you hadn't exposed yet.

[Stobe]

I did a quick search for your EM T2385, and found that it is a Celeron machine, not AMD.  Was your post a typo?

Either way, I would agree with some of the other posts here.  If you have not opened the case, don't rule out the fact that something may have just come loose (especially since you physically moved the computer)

To boot up, a motherboard needs a CPU, ram, and a display adapter at minimum.  The video card working loose would be the most common, but are you just using the mobo's onboard video?

After that, check the memory and cpu to see if they have worked loose.

Do you get an video or POST screen at all.  I'm assuming not.

Worst case scenario, you fix will not be that costly if you wanted to repair it.  But if you don't have a pile of spare parts lying around, troubleshooting which device is failing gets tricky.  (could be mobo, cpu, ram, video, or a comination of them).

I (like many around here) have a background in computer repair.  So keep us posted on whats going on, and we will get you back up and running.

-Stobe

[RayB]

Step 1 is ALWAYS: Open case and look for loose things. My post did say it could have "been jostled loose". That applies to other parts too.

Step 2: Narrow down which part is the culprit. Disconnect all USB devices. Disconnect hardrives, cdroms... Check all cards are in tight like they should be. Check RAM is in properly. Now power up and see if the error codes are different.

Could USB fry something? YES. USB carries 5 volts on at least one of the pins. If something were misconnected, it could send 5 volts down the wrong pathway and possibly fry something, though usually all it does is cause a short, which would shut down the computer. At least that's what happens to mine. I have a bad USB port where every time I disconnect a device from it, my computer instantly turns off. But it comes right back up again if I power on. Weird huh.

[Havok]

Best case is to re-seat every component that can be removed, (all plugs on mobo, ram, pci\agp cards, etc) and boot up again. If that doesn't work, and you still get the beep error code, try removing every device that is removable, including drives.

You MUST have a load on the power supply, so connect at least one hard drive, and power up. If you still get the beeping, you're probably screwed. If not, then connect one component at a time, until the problem reoccurs. Then you'll know which piece is bad.

Good luck!

[pointdablame]

Best case is to re-seat every component that can be removed, (all plugs on mobo, ram, pci\agp cards, etc) and boot up again. If that doesn't work, and you still get the beep error code, try removing every device that is removable, including drives.

You MUST have a load on the power supply, so connect at least one hard drive, and power up. If you still get the beeping, you're probably screwed. If not, then connect one component at a time, until the problem reoccurs. Then you'll know which piece is bad.

Good luck!

your motherboard is connected to the power supply... you don't need a hard drive to supply a load.

[RayB]

Also, if you don't mind spending $, then the typical computer shop can look at it for probably anywhere between $20 to $50.

It sucks to spend money like that, but if you'd rather not have the headache, then they can tell you exactly what's wrong. (Just make sure you bring it to a trusted place).

[traknfieldSUPAstar]

what bios does your motherboard run? the beeps for one bios could mean something totally different for another. I'd check online to find out, if you can't, then go ahead and reseat your ram, videocard, cables, etc... as stated by havok. Good luck, and i hope everything turns out ok

[Havok]

Best case is to re-seat every component that can be removed, (all plugs on mobo, ram, pci\agp cards, etc) and boot up again. If that doesn't work, and you still get the beep error code, try removing every device that is removable, including drives.

You MUST have a load on the power supply, so connect at least one hard drive, and power up. If you still get the beeping, you're probably screwed. If not, then connect one component at a time, until the problem reoccurs. Then you'll know which piece is bad.

Good luck!

your motherboard is connected to the power supply... you don't need a hard drive to supply a load.

Mobo does the 5volt, hard drive does the 12volt...

[pointdablame]

Best case is to re-seat every component that can be removed, (all plugs on mobo, ram, pci\agp cards, etc) and boot up again. If that doesn't work, and you still get the beep error code, try removing every device that is removable, including drives.

You MUST have a load on the power supply, so connect at least one hard drive, and power up. If you still get the beeping, you're probably screwed. If not, then connect one component at a time, until the problem reoccurs. Then you'll know which piece is bad.

Good luck!

your motherboard is connected to the power supply... you don't need a hard drive to supply a load.

Mobo does the 5volt, hard drive does the 12volt...

It's been my experience that with the motherboard on the  5v line, you shouldn't have a problem.  I've run systems to test without a hard drive or optical drive dozens of times with no problems

[ScoopKW]

CMOS reset did the trick. I did it at work and had it up and running in a matter of seconds.

Thanks for your help, everyone...

ScoopKW

[cdbrown]

Hooray I'm the winner!!!!   Finally what I advised actually worked