Author Topic: Green light on back of computer blinking/ticking (Read 25067 times)

Davda · « **on:** November 25, 2011, 05:28:20 PM »

I have read many many articles about the problem I am having but none of them have helped me to solve my problem. (probably because I don't understand them) But anyways here is the story of what happened. I walked into my office and saw that my computer was frozen. So I turned it off and then turned it back on but when I did it beeped three times and wouldn't turn on. I had no idea what in the world was going on so my dad told me to unplug the power cord for a couple days. I did so but when I plugged it back in and pressed the power button it did nothing. I looked at the back of the tower and there was a green light blinking on the back of the computer. I took off the case and I saw a light on the motherboard also blinking. I have no idea whats going on. Please help me.

Oh and P.S. I am only 14 and know nothing about computers so please try and simplify your responses.

Geek-9pm · « **Reply #1 on:** November 25, 2011, 07:15:41 PM »

The green eight is not related to your problem. That is from the network thing. When the computer is plugged in, a very small bit of power goes to some things.

It is possible that part of the Power Supply has gone bad. Or maybe a drive has failed and shorted out the power. Or, it could be the power switch has come loose.

patio · « **Reply #2 on:** November 25, 2011, 07:19:00 PM »

The green blinking light on the MBoard however IS related to the issue...
What MBoard is this ?

Davda · « **Reply #3 on:** November 25, 2011, 07:34:06 PM »

Sorry I am not very technical how do I find out what kind of motherboard I have?

Computer_Commando · « **Reply #4 on:** November 26, 2011, 04:41:48 AM »

What is the make & model number of the computer?

Davda · « **Reply #5 on:** November 26, 2011, 01:15:31 PM »

I think my computer is a Gateway 507 gr

Computer_Commando · « **Reply #6 on:** November 26, 2011, 01:19:33 PM »

No such model listed. If you want accurate assistance, give precise information.
http://support.gateway.com/us/en/support/default.aspx

Davda · « **Reply #7 on:** November 26, 2011, 09:03:39 PM »

I'm pretty sure thats what the model number is. It's a pretty old computer so it may not show up on the gateway computer.
when I googled 507GR it came up with numerous results.

jason2074 · « **Reply #8 on:** November 26, 2011, 11:01:53 PM »

Is it from the power supply you mean green light blinking? If yes, try removing all connecting source inside from the power supply to motherboard, drives. Remove also CMOS battery and wait for about 5 minutes. Reconnect and before plugging in, press power button for about 15 seconds. Then plugged in from power source and power on your tower. Make sure all connections are fully seated and nothing amiss. If no changes, then try another PSU.

Computer_Commando · « **Reply #9 on:** November 27, 2011, 04:16:15 AM »

Quote from: Davda on November 26, 2011, 09:03:39 PM

I'm pretty sure thats what the model number is. It's a pretty old computer so it may not show up on the gateway computer. when I googled 507GR it came up with numerous results.

This looks like it: http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/R/4658/4658nv.shtml
Pentium 4-530, still very useable, same as one of mine.

The blinking green light on the back & on the motherboard indicates the power supply is not operating properly. New ones are about $30. Read the nameplate on the PSU (Power Supply Unit) to get the specs, but any 300W ATX one will be good if you are still using the onboard video, if you are using a PCI-e graphics card, then 500W will be required. You can't get too big, only the price gets higher.

This one is on sale for $30, if you don't mind sending in the rebate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153113

Davda · « **Reply #10 on:** November 27, 2011, 06:38:49 PM »

Thank you very much for the replies. But jason I have one question. When I disconnect all the things do I risk ESD?

jason2074 · « **Reply #11 on:** November 27, 2011, 11:10:27 PM »

You only need to unplugged from power source then touch metal casing of your tower. But most would recommend using anti static wrist strap for precautionary measure and also avoid causing static charge when touching internal components and damaging them. http://www.computerhope.com/esd.htm

Davda · « **Reply #12 on:** November 28, 2011, 10:08:24 PM »

No success. Although when I opened up the case I saw that there was a red wide wire that was not connected only to the mother board but nothing else. Could this be the problem?

quaxo · « **Reply #13 on:** November 29, 2011, 01:12:18 AM »

Sounds like a SATA cable. If your hard drive or DVD drive is a SATA drive, it should be connected to that.

Computer_Commando · « **Reply #14 on:** November 29, 2011, 04:09:36 AM »

Quote from: Davda on November 28, 2011, 10:08:24 PM

... there was a red wide wire that was not connected only to the mother board but nothing else...

This statement makes no sense to me. Please rephrase.

kimsland · « **Reply #15 on:** November 29, 2011, 04:23:07 AM »

Quote from: Computer_Commando on November 29, 2011, 04:09:36 AM

This statement makes no sense to me. Please rephrase.

I think quaxo answered that properly.

A red 'w i d e' wire? Hmm, probably SATA cable. No?
Connected to the M/B only, probably SATA cable. No?

I think yes

Davda · « **Reply #16 on:** November 29, 2011, 04:32:53 PM »

Sorry commando I realized I said that weird $:-\$ I meant to say that there is a thick red wire that has one end plugged into the motherboard but the other end isn't plugged into anything.

Computer_Commando · « **Reply #17 on:** November 29, 2011, 04:38:23 PM »

Is this i?

Maybe it came off the hard drive?

Davda · « **Reply #18 on:** December 02, 2011, 05:40:26 PM »

Ya that's it. So anyways do I need to buy a new power supply?

kimsland · « **Reply #19 on:** December 02, 2011, 08:28:15 PM »

Quote from: Computer_Commando on November 29, 2011, 04:38:23 PM

Maybe it came off the hard drive?

Davda, does the Hard Drive have TWO leads coming out of it?
To save another, about what a hard drive may look like, here are two:

This one is IDE flat ribbon data cable

This one is SATA ie that red data cable, pictured earlier

If there is not two leads coming from the hard drive, you need to plug them in.
ONE comes from the power supply
ONE comes from the Motherboard.

Please Google internal Hard Drives pictures, if you are still not sure what a Hard Drive looks like

Davda · « **Reply #20 on:** December 11, 2011, 10:15:31 PM »

YES!!!!!!!! It worked!!!!!!! I plugged those cords in and it powered on!!!!!!!!!!!! However there is still one more problem. It is still making the 3 beeps when starting up. I read in some places that I need to take out the ram and put it back in is that right?

Davda · « **Reply #21 on:** December 11, 2011, 10:33:11 PM »

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! I decided to go ahead and take the ram out then put it back in. I then unplugged the power cord and moved the computer to the screen. I guess that was a bad idea because when I tried turning it back on it started blinking again and it wouldn't power on.

Computer_Commando · « **Reply #22 on:** December 12, 2011, 01:33:36 PM »

I suspect the RAM is not seated properly. Push them in until the locking tabs catch the notches on the ends. Make sure the notch on the bottom of the RAM is lined up with the tab on the socket. You have DDR.

Davda · « **Reply #23 on:** December 12, 2011, 08:31:52 PM »

I tried that. I pushed the ram in until it clicked. The light on the motherboard is still blinking and so is the one on the back of the tower. What I don't understand is how it was working once and then all of the sudden it stopped working. One thing I think I may want to mention is that this whole powering on thing has happened before. It wouldn't turn on. Everyone just kind of gave up hope on it. But one day after about a month after finding out it wouldn't turn on I came downstairs and pressed the power button and it turned on. Is this a sign of a bad power supply?

jason2074 · « **Reply #24 on:** December 12, 2011, 11:50:48 PM »

Bad or failing power supply. Can you borrow one for testing atleast? Take out also one stick of RAM module if you have 2 to troubleshoot the problem.

Davda · « **Reply #25 on:** December 26, 2011, 08:14:06 PM »

Sorry that I haven't posted while I'm just starting to get discouraged. With my christmas money I was thinking of buying a new power supply but before I did I wen't down to my computer and tried again... and it turned on... but started beeping. I am not wanting to buy a new power supply because there is also the beeping problem. The computer is temporarily working so I was wondering what the problem with the ram is. I have taken out the ram many times. However I am kind of confused about that. I keep hearing that I should take out the two memory sticks but it looks like to me that there are 4 memory sticks. Should I take out all 4?

Computer_Commando · « **Reply #26 on:** December 27, 2011, 05:26:56 AM »

The beeps is a signal from the computer that some component has failed. It's not the PSU. Since it doesn't happen all the time, I suspect a bad RAM module. You can test the RAM if you can get the computer to boot a CD & run for many hours.
Download memtest and burn ISO file to CD which will create bootable CD.
http://www.memtest.org/

Davda · « **Reply #27 on:** December 27, 2011, 03:51:28 PM »

Aaahhh. Well the computer won't turn on again. I am thinking about buying the psu but I firs want to know if I need to replace the ram afterwards. It seems to me that there are 4 ram sticks in there. Is it possible that it is just one of them that isn't working instead of all of them? Because I really don't want to replace my ram.

Computer_Commando · « **Reply #28 on:** December 27, 2011, 04:44:23 PM »

1. You can test the PSU without removing it from the case.
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/ht/power-supply-test-multimeter.htm
2. Don't replace any RAM until you can test them.

Davda · « **Reply #29 on:** February 11, 2012, 11:15:11 PM »

So I checked out that mem test thing but I am very confused. What am I supposed to do? Is there a program I burn to a cd then put it into the computer and then let the magic happen? I am just so confused.

Computer_Commando · « **Reply #30 on:** February 12, 2012, 07:07:42 AM »

2 months later, can't be too important to you.

Geek-9pm · « **Reply #31 on:** February 12, 2012, 10:02:59 AM »

Many 'Live' CDs have a memory test.

http://www.ubcd4win.com/

Davda · « **Reply #32 on:** February 17, 2012, 08:37:44 PM »

First of all why do you have to be so rude computer_commando? I was waiting for the computer to turn back on again. And second of all I'm still confused. Do I just burn the program to a disk or is there something special I have to do?

Computer Hope Forum

News:

Author Topic: Green light on back of computer blinking/ticking (Read 25067 times)

Davda

Geek-9pm

patio

Davda

Computer_Commando

Davda

Computer_Commando

Davda

jason2074

Computer_Commando

Davda

jason2074

Davda

quaxo

Computer_Commando

kimsland

Davda

Computer_Commando

Davda

kimsland

Davda

Davda

Computer_Commando

Davda

jason2074

Davda

Computer_Commando

Davda

Computer_Commando

Davda

Computer_Commando

Geek-9pm

Davda