Question Transported my computer from Greece to UK and now it won't start.

May 18, 2019
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I safely moved my rig from Greece to the UK, put clothes inside and styrofoam protection along with more clothes outside and put it inside a computer box.

I bought the UK power plug and got everything ready, but now my system doesn't exactly start.
I press the power button, the computer turns on, but that's it. Display doesn't turn on, mouse and keyboard don't work either and I checked to see if the sound works, but nothing, no windows startup sound either. I noticed something that usually doesn't happen, the CD drive led was blinking non-stop until I shut it down.
I've tried everything, plugged directly into the wall, tried different cables, unplugged and replugged, made sure all the hardware cables were in check.
Same thing again and again.

The system just isn't starting, it should at least show the Gigabyte logo on the screen, even if the motherboard was fried or something, it's just turning on without actually running any kind of software at all.
 
I don't know what the Power Specs are in Greece, but in the UK it is 240v 50 Cycles. You did get the plug adapter. If you came by air, then it was scanned. If your drive was an Hdd 9 Spinner ) and there was any kind of magnetics involved it wiped the Hdd most likely. You said your were getting the Gigabyte splash screen when you stated it. That tells me it is POSTing, but not installing the operating system. When you get to the Splash screen. hit F2 or whatever it is to get to the BiOS. Once in there, check your BOOT ( you do this by hitting F10 as well ). Make sure it is set to boot from the Hdd. from the sound of it, it sounds like it may be trying to boot from the Optical drive and there is nothing there, although if that was the case you should be getting a message about using a bootable drive.
 
May 18, 2019
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I don't know what the Power Specs are in Greece, but in the UK it is 240v 50 Cycles. You did get the plug adapter. If you came by air, then it was scanned. If your drive was an Hdd 9 Spinner ) and there was any kind of magnetics involved it wiped the Hdd most likely. You said your were getting the Gigabyte splash screen when you stated it. That tells me it is POSTing, but not installing the operating system. When you get to the Splash screen. hit F2 or whatever it is to get to the BiOS. Once in there, check your BOOT ( you do this by hitting F10 as well ). Make sure it is set to boot from the Hdd. from the sound of it, it sounds like it may be trying to boot from the Optical drive and there is nothing there, although if that was the case you should be getting a message about using a bootable drive.
No, I meant that I should be getting the splash screen, but I'm not. I had a fried motherboard before and I still had a splash screen, however this time, I don't.
I forgot to mention that I had found a loose screw, rolling about, it's likely that mid flight, the screw messed something up with the motherboard.
I did buy a new UK cable.
 
No, I meant that I should be getting the splash screen, but I'm not. I had a fried motherboard before and I still had a splash screen, however this time, I don't.
I forgot to mention that I had found a loose screw, rolling about, it's likely that mid flight, the screw messed something up with the motherboard.
I did buy a new UK cable.
The screw itself wouldn't present an issue as long as the Computer wasn't powered up. You got it, so it will not be and issue such as shorting something out. Surprised a fried MOBO POSTed and got to the splash screen. When it goes through POST, it Checks the MOBO, Graphics Card, CPU, and RAM. If it isn't POSTing, then the problem is in there somewhere. Just a matter of what could happen in transit to which component.
 
May 18, 2019
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The screw itself wouldn't present an issue as long as the Computer wasn't powered up. You got it, so it will not be and issue such as shorting something out. Surprised a fried MOBO POSTed and got to the splash screen. When it goes through POST, it Checks the MOBO, Graphics Card, CPU, and RAM. If it isn't POSTing, then the problem is in there somewhere. Just a matter of what could happen in transit to which component.
I have two graphics cards and I know that without them it should just be working, cause the keyboard/mouse and audio still work normally, but in this case, they don't, plus I tried unplugging and switching on and off both GPUs that I have. When I unplug the CPU power, the CD drive eventually stops blinking and I can even open it! But everything else still doesn't work.
 

DavidM012

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dimms may have unseated check they are fully inserted, and the cpu heatsink can be subjected to g-force in transit sometimes falling off and knocking about inside the chassis giving the pc a distinct bruleé, hence it is advised to remove the heatsink priorly. Check that is still properly attached, esp. if that's where the screw came from. An improperly attached heatsink could cause the pc to shut down due to thermal safeguards on the board & cpu.

It would probably post if that were the case and shut down before windows starts to load. And it sounds like there might be more than one problem. any other loose screws? check there isn't another one lodged between the mobo&mobo mounting tray. Stuff could get anywhere due to aforementioned g forces. all power connectors properly seated?
 
dimms may have unseated check they are fully inserted, and the cpu heatsink can be subjected to g-force in transit sometimes falling off and knocking about inside the chassis giving the pc a distinct bruleé, hence it is advised to remove the heatsink priorly. Check that is still properly attached, esp. if that's where the screw came from. An improperly attached heatsink could cause the pc to shut down due to thermal safeguards on the board & cpu.

It would probably post if that were the case and shut down before windows starts to load. And it sounds like there might be more than one problem. any other loose screws? check there isn't another one lodged between the mobo&mobo mounting tray. Stuff could get anywhere due to aforementioned g forces. all power connectors properly seated?
There is some G-force at Take off, but not enough to really cause any problems. Now there is always take off / landing on a rough runway. I have had Computers shipped by pretty much every means possible. An off the shelf prebuilt ( except for the Exotic stuff, come from China by ship to the US. I have had them shipped Ground either UPD or FedEx and they get a lot of bouncing in transit for sure and some have been flown. This is not to mention handling when loading / unloading. They have all done fine. Having said that, The suggestion about reseating the sticks in the DIMM slots is a good one. It is possible they could have become unseated during transit. I just did an upgrade and when I went to put the memory in, it was difficult as it was a very tight fit. No way those things will back out.
 
I'm not sure if I did it correctly, I had no jumper, but I took out the battery, waited 30 minutes and touched the CMOS pins with a screwdriver for 5 seconds, the guide said that it's an alternative, but I'm getting the same result now.
Yeah, that is the alternate way if you don't have the jumper. Try unplugging the Optical drive and see if it will POST. Unplug both the power and data cables.
 

DavidM012

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The system should post with board, cpu & heat sink, ram, and a gpu to see what's going on and a psu to power it all. The problem can only be with one of those components.

A disk drive is only necessary to load the os. Isolating which one(s) are the problem is only guesswork, and hard to do if you don't have any spares. So it was working prior to transit, some screws fell out of something, and now it doesn't post.

Could be a bad psu, components unseated from their slots, even the cpu unseated from the socket who knows what knocks happened along the way, bouncing over speed bumps, turning corners, accelerating and braking.

Could be something wrong with one or all of them and the only way you have to test each component is prolly by substituting it with something else if you have any spares, otherwise just guessing.
 
May 18, 2019
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Yeah, that is the alternate way if you don't have the jumper. Try unplugging the Optical drive and see if it will POST. Unplug both the power and data cables.
I am not sure what you mean by unplugging power cable, because I don't know how to switch it on without pressing the button.

The system should post with board, cpu & heat sink, ram, and a gpu to see what's going on and a psu to power it all. The problem can only be with one of those components.

A disk drive is only necessary to load the os. Isolating which one(s) are the problem is only guesswork, and hard to do if you don't have any spares. So it was working prior to transit, some screws fell out of something, and now it doesn't post.

Could be a bad psu, components unseated from their slots, even the cpu unseated from the socket who knows what knocks happened along the way, bouncing over speed bumps, turning corners, accelerating and braking.

Could be something wrong with one or all of them and the only way you have to test each component is prolly by substituting it with something else if you have any spares, otherwise just guessing.

As far as I know that screw was loose before transit, it was an old thumbscrew I lost but never found. It was lost prior to transit, but it's possible that while I packed my system that it damaged something by the remaining electricity running inside.
 
In a situation like this, you may find that your best (and quickest) strategy would be to completely disassemble the system (minus actually removing drives from the case), inspect everything, and re-assemble everything.

Chances are that it will boot fine when you're done with re-assembly.....as long as that loose screw wasn't someplace it shouldn't have been if you powered it up with it in there.
 

DavidM012

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Hmm. Well probably a short of residual power would not be harmful but, a loose screw could have been shorting something before. Shorts don't always instantly kill components, it can happen, or they can die slowly maybe work for a week or two and then give up.

Unplugging the optical drive, simply remove the dvd -rom drive. Sometimes you just want to strip the cp down to the bare bones of cpu board mem psu and gpu in order to 'breadboard' it in an effort to isolate the problem which means disconnecting all peripheral devices and by process of elimination tracing the fault.

*spare psu, does it work with another psu of the correct rating
*spare mobo, do all the other components work on another mobo

That's halfway there. Cpu ram gpu

+try another gpu y/n did it post

etc.

You can't do it if you don't have any spare parts you'll have to either guess what the problem is most likely or take it to shop. I have never taken a pc to a repair shop or paid anyone to fix my own pc. When my pc has a problem I just switch out a part and see if it works.

Is everything correctly seated in their sockets including the cpu under the heat sink. Etc. Are all power connectors firmly plugged in?

Which component might have shorted if it was a short?
 
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May 18, 2019
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I would like to note that when I unplug the CPU, the CD drive stops blinking eventually and is even able to open, which it couldn't before. Still no display or Windows booting
 

DavidM012

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The system will not post with the CPU unplugged.

Remove all drives and peripherals. Try substituting the components with a spare one at a time. spare psu? Spare mobo? Spare Gpu?

*Ensure that the cpu is correctly oriented in the socket and that the heat sink is firmly attached (with thermal paste applied).

Do you know what you're trying to do?
 
May 18, 2019
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I think I found out what the issue is. I tried to remove the heatsink and the CPU, while locked, came out with it, stuck on the heatsink like one.
I will try to separate them, but I don't know how. Anyone got a clue?
 
I think I found out what the issue is. I tried to remove the heatsink and the CPU, while locked, came out with it, stuck on the heatsink like one.
I will try to separate them, but I don't know how. Anyone got a clue?
Okay, I have never encountered that before. The CPU should stay in the socket when you remove the heat sink. Use some Rubbing alcohol to get the Thermal Compound loose between the CPU and Heatsink. Don't worry about moisture as it evaporates fast. I don't know what was used, but you should use something like Arctic Silver 5 and not much of that, about the size of a pea in the middle of the processor will do.
 

DavidM012

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It's probably not impossible. The cpu isn't firmly seated in the socket and if it's stuck to the heatplate when you remove the heat sink by pulling rather than twisting it can be yanked right out of the socket.

If it kind of jumped in the socket going over a speed bump, who knows what might have happened although it's probably not the case in the process of elimination you need to ensure everything is properly seated in the socket. It's been moved. Something could've sprung out of a socket. Gpu could've jumped out of the socket as well.

It may be a simple obvious problem like due to the mechanical movement like that or it may be an electronic problem due to a fault that only turned up until now that wasn't evident before because of the loose screw possibly shorting something.

Nobody can say for sure because nobody saw what precisely happened. At the moment it is not clear that any of the 5 core components, cpu mem board gpu or psu is in fact working.

Without any spares can't really eliminate any components either.

What to do? Take it to a shop and spend money, or buy some spares, 990fx boards aren't cheap even second hand and that's the point where an upgrade to a new system would be looking more economical.

So the dilemma: Spend on spare parts, that are too expensive, pay over the odds for a repair, or build a new core system of cpu ram mem, ditch the rest, idk maybe you find out it was only the gpu or maybe it's the board or psu don't know without switching each one for something else.

What's even more dilemma-ish about it is, although you could start with buying a new psu, a new build wouldn't require the same price 850w psu so that would also be spending more than necessary.

The only area you can save money really is in re-using the chassis & drives for a new build and you should only really need a quality 550 or 650w psu for a new cpu board and mem. The 850w psu is nice to have on an fx but not necessary for new cpu's.

Can't test any of the components individually if nothing is working right now and no spares but it would also be a pain to build the new system only to find the problem was only the gpu, not to mention potentially troubleshooting any new problem in the new build as well.
 
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