Computer sometimes won't boot

  • Thread starter Thread starter m. lamphier
  • Start date Start date
M

m. lamphier

A recurring problem. The computer will run fine for months at a time;
one day I restart it and it no longer boots up.

Upon startup the system gets as far as detecting the processor and
then stops. Does not detect the IDE drives. I doubt the drives are at
fault, I have replaced them in the past and it did not fix the
problem.

Sometimes the system does not detect the processor.

The only fix I have so far is I unplug everything and let it sit.
Typically it will boot up after resting for a day or so. What might
this mean? On the old Macs this often meant you needed to zap the
PRAM.

My amateur suspicion is the motherboard, since the system varies in
what it does and does not detect -- sometimes it detects the processor
but not the IDE drives; sometimes it does not even detect the
processor.

Once it boots the system runs flawlessly for months at a time.

There is no consistent pattern that I can see in what I do just prior
to the system going on the fritz, it seems more or less random.

Aside from motherboard what are the other possibilities?

- processor
- memory
- other


thanks

Marc
 
m. lamphier said:
A recurring problem. The computer will run fine for months at a time;
one day I restart it and it no longer boots up.
Click to expand...

Have you looked for leaking capacitors on the motherboard?

(pictures http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=195 )

They can cause problems like you are describing. Eventually they fail
completly and the board dies. It is posible to change them but you do need a
good soldering iron.

Adam S
 
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