I traded my cousin some really expensive RAM that I happened accross for his old desktop, that he put his graphics card into that he swapped from his newer computer. If I plug the desktop into the wall and try to turn it on nothing happens. If I open it up I can see that the where the wire from the power supply plugs into the motherboard there Is a little light on. So clearly some power is getting somewhere…

How do I go about trouble shooting this, and what tools do I need? I assume at minimum a multi meter? Not really sure what to do, it’s been decades the last time I built a computer.

  • vivavideri@lemmy.world
    0·
    6 months ago

    Depending on what cpu it is, you should be able to try it without the gpu. Also Google the mobo and try to find its manual. The manual will tell you things like what you can plug in and where. It’ll tell you compatibility crap too. You’ll have two spots on the back where you plug in the displayport/hdmi cable for your monitor – the gpu, and the mobo. Use mobo port and take out the gpu and see if it starts. POST is key. My old gigabyte was a badass and had a led number box so troubleshooting was cake. With other ones, there’s gonna be miscellaneous spots with lil lights that’ll blink (the manual for the mobo will tell you)

    • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.worksOP
      0·
      6 months ago

      Edit: Is it possible there aren’t lights? I read through this a few times and don’t see anything.

      Amazingly the computer came with the motherboard manual. I think something was wrong or a component was incompatible with the old one, and they had this one available.

      Someone else suggested buying a speaker to hook up so I can hear the beeps. Do the lights provide the same info as the beeps?

      • Muehe@lemmy.ml
        0·
        6 months ago

        Do the lights provide the same info as the beeps?

        Yes, but whether you have lights or just beeps depends on your board. I think yours does not have the lights, just the speaker pins.

      • vivavideri@lemmy.world
        0·
        6 months ago

        I poked around at your manual lol.

        #11. System panel. One left of it is for the wee speaker. Also check that your chassis is wired up to this correctly, or, better yet, you can be a madlad and unplug it all and see what works. The caveat to that is… you have to know what order to do that in. Generally, your power supply has wires that go to all sorts of stuff, make dang sure you don’t power your cpu for very long without the fan/cooler. Once you know the cpu power and fan is working, keep plugging more stuff in til you find the problem. I’d also mention if anyone hasn’t, be mindful of static.

      • vivavideri@lemmy.world
        0·
        6 months ago

        Yeah. There should be a page in the manual with a diagram of your board and it’ll tell you where. here.