I just inherited a 4550 dimension from my younger brother. I'll be damned if the thing doesn't reboot 10 seconds after every time I turn it on.

I have tried hard-booting, switching the harddrives around, changing the power-cords (internal and external) changing the voltage on the power supply, and a different power supply. No dice.

I also searched this forum and Google. I have a Pentium II Dell that was rock solid. This thing is a PIV 2gHz (more power than I've ever had in a PC before) and so far it seems like a real P.O.S. I was so excited to install Linux, but every time I restart the drives spin up, spin down, and the it turns itself off.

Anyone heard of anything like this happening before? I'm at a loss.

Thanks,

O

could be overheating. . .

could be a faulty power supply. . .

could be a hardware problem. . .

could be a softwar problem. .


But I'd put money on the Powersupply and/or CPU overheating. . .

My 2 cents": could be a memory problem. Have you recently changed/added memory? If so, have you run memtest86? Obviously something isn't happy -- SlackMeUp's advice is excellent, and I'd add in the RAM as a possible culprit.

Sorry to hear it's not going well; let us know if there's anything we can do to assist -- J.W.

Good point J.W,

I'm a bloody computer tech and I did not think of that. . .

Yes, if your computer can boot off a live CD, then run a memory testing program. . .

SystemRescueCd has one. . .it will work. http://www.sysresccd.org/

But there are others too. . .



So ya, I'd bet on a PowerSupply, Overheating, or RAM problem. . .

Thanks, guys. Now the probem has worsened-- I took out the memory and restarted. No beeps or bleeps. Probably a faulty motherboard. I tried some other memory and it didn't work. I'm not getting any signal to the monitor now, so could conceivably be a bad video card too. Thanks, and I'll try to update again when I can.

O

I replaced the motherboard, case, power supply, and memory. Assembled, and restarted. Spontaneous power-off. Unbelievable. So, the only parts left from the original Dell are harddrives, cd-rom drives, video card, and processor. I'm taking those for diagnostics.


F*ck.

Dude that's rough. My guess at this point would be that the CPU is toast, as that now would seem like the most likely culprit for random lockups.

One other thought - it's not something extraneous to the PC is it, such as the power cord being loose in the wall socket, or a faulty power strip (or surge protector, whatever)? Those are the only other things that seem like they could be a factor. -- J.W.

I just purchased a 2.8gHz p4, and daaaamn LQ is loading up faster than ever. HAhahahah.! I'm glad I also got that 12-pack of Corona on the way home from the store.






Hahahah.....
And, incidentally,


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! F * C K D E L L! !!!!!!!!!!!!!

-O