Dead 7MC machine :(

[mark1234]

What a fun evening this hasn't been...

I got the dreaded phone call whilst I was at work today: "Why isn't the TV working?" So I was really looking forward to getting home.

What I found is that the PC will turn on but won't even POST and nothing is displayed on screen. It's not the graphics card as I've tried it in another desktop PC and it works fine there, and the card from that machine doesn't work in the 7MC PC. I've removed and swapped memory sticks around and that makes no difference. I've removed the tuners. I've disconnected all the HDDs. I've cleaned everything out - amazing how much dust a PC accumulates.

A few times I've managed to get into the BIOS setup screen, only for the screen to blackout within a few seconds. Once or twice I've even managed to start booting Windows, but it's never got near completing before dying. The 99% experience is that apart from the fans spinning up, nothing actually happens, and I've tried many times over the last few hours.

I'm suspecting it's either the motherboard or the CPU that has gone kaput. Am I missing anything obvious here?

I've just looked up my order from eBuyer and this hardware is 4 years and 11 months old and has been running pretty much 24x7 since then. It started life running MCE2005 and moved to 7MC when the beta came out. I guess I've had my money's worth out of it.

[StumpyBloke]

PSU?

[Scallica]

I would definitely suggest testing another CPU.

Keep in mind, changing the CPU or motherboard will break any DRM'ed recordings.

[carljanderson]

PSU?

I would try a new PSU too. Sometimes when you don't think it is a power supply, it is.

[STC]

PSU thirded. One of the voltage rails could be playing up and would give the symptoms you describe.

Also may be worth looking for bulging and/or oozed electrolyte on any of the banks of caps around the processor.

[mark1234]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Looking like some computer Frankenstein I've just jury-rigged the PSU from the kids PC into the 7MC PC. No dice. Same lot of nothingness.

No obvious sign of damaged capacitors. I wish I had a spare CPU to just swap over, but given its age if I start going down that route I may as well just get a new cheap CPU/mobo combination.

In the mean time I've had to connect the cable box directly into the TV for the retro, non-PVR experience. Somehow I managed to remember where the appropriate remote was, and the funniest thing I've had with this situation so far: the 7yr old just asked me where the play and pause buttons were. "Surely there must be play and pause buttons!" she cried - just can't understand the concept of "normal" TV!

[holidayboy]

Every cloud.........

How's the shopping list coming along Mark?

[mark1234]

I have spent a good chunk of today on eBuyer's site...

[newfiend]

sorry to hear about the death in the family.. I hate it when unexpected things like this happen but your not alone .. it's happened to us all at one time or another. I agree with holidaboy though..Every cloud...
Darn wifey.. guess I have to build a new PC....bummer.... haha..
newfiend~

[mark1234]

Having to watch TV like we did back in the 20th century is painful. How do people still watch TV like this? Savages.

The 7yr old was almost in tears last night waving the MCE remote uselessly at the TV screaming that it just wasn't "fair" that she couldn't pause TV! I have no idea what shows are on when to know what I'm missing. And who realised that TV shows have adverts in them?

[crawfish]

The 7yr old was almost in tears last night waving the MCE remote uselessly at the TV screaming that it just wasn't "fair" that she couldn't pause TV!

That's pretty much what I was doing before I discovered it was iTunes interfering with several remote keys, including Skip Back/Forward. But I finally stopped screaming and wrote some Autohotkey code to close iTunes when I start Media Center or XBMC, albeit with a fruitless pitstop along the way involving some iTunes scripting that wasn't reliable at making iTunes ignore the remote.

[newfiend]

Having to watch TV like we did back in the 20th century is painful. How do people still watch TV like this? Savages.

The 7yr old was almost in tears last night waving the MCE remote uselessly at the TV screaming that it just wasn't "fair" that she couldn't pause TV! I have no idea what shows are on when to know what I'm missing. And who realised that TV shows have adverts in them?

.. You don't realize how good you have it with WMC until it's GONE!. My wife called my HTPC the "crap DVR" the other night..OUCH! I was like are you kidding It has had it's issues sure.. its a PC.. But I would be pretty upset if it crashed.. I feel your pain bro.. hang in there.!!.I have faith you'll have it back working soon and probably better than it was before!!
newfiend~

[mark1234]

I've noticed a trend in the posts here: they've gone from practical to emotional support. Cheers guys, it's perfect!

(I was reduced to watching 30 seconds of ITV tonight. "Take Me Out" - WTF????)

[newfiend]

I've noticed a trend in the posts here: they've gone from practical to emotional support. Cheers guys, it's perfect!

(I was reduced to watching 30 seconds of ITV tonight. "Take Me Out" - WTF????)

Well, we're all like a great big WMC family here.. And where else can we turn when WAF hits -3?? Good Luck Mark.. I know "standard TV" stinks

[mark1234]

I've ordered a new AMD CPU/motherboard combo. It's dirt cheap and allows me to reuse all the other hardware I've got in the current machine.

It's basically the cheapest dual core option I can find, which is exactly what the current CPU was five years ago, so I have no doubt that it will be do the job just fine. There are even reports that the CPU can be unlocked to quad core with this mobo. Not sure if I'll try that or not.

Only downer now is waiting for eBuyer to ship the thing... Oh, and then reinstalling and reconfiguring Win7.

[blueiedgod]

Sorry to hear about the dead HTPC. I always try to have spare parts on hand. Plus, having all of the PC's in the house use similar parts, allows for easier troubleshoot. i.e. I can take the CPU out of wife's PC and test in mine...

[mark1234]

I did have, effectively, a PC worth of spares floating around. But then I assembled them into a working PC and sold it to my brother, so I have very few spares left now. All the machines are different vintages as well, so all have different CPU sockets.

[newfiend]

Wish ya well on the rebuild. Hope it all goes smooth for ya. =)
I just had to wipe my SSD and reinstall.. Thought I may have had a corrupt file or two because I kept getting BSOD's .. Figured out after I wiped it that It was a bad memory stick. (ones I just added a couple weeks back). The system was working fine for the last few weeks then suddenly BSOD's.. Ugh. Oh well I was over due for a "refresh" anyway and It comes at a good time as i am adding more tuners anyway.

Hardware blues.. *sigh* .. Hope this is it for us both for at least a little while. (I also just swapped out the PSU and two Fans a month or so back).. damn thing has been a money pit lately. lol

[mark1234]

damn thing has been a money pit lately. lol

Yeah, that's a big risk. I think it best not to total up the total spent on this project over the years.

Hope yours ticks over nicely now as well.

[newfiend]

Thanks Mark.. hope your rebuild goes well. If I added up all I have in my rig I am sure I would probably have a mild heart attack.. It's a bit on the high side.. But I really love my setup. It's awesome. I love watching movies on it. Just added another Ceton USB unit tonight for a total of 8 tuners. Never though I would have or need that many.. MCE really spoils the hell out of ya.
now I just need to return my bad sticks of RAM.. got the RMA for that last night..
Let us know how your rebuild goes. Hope it's smooth for ya!
newfiend~