About to settle and buy, but need an FSX expert

[SAAB340 28]

but how do we know this is the reason for not booting? It could be a loose wire or something

Hmmm. Let's see... You said there was a spark and a flame off your Mobo. I would see that as an extremely good indicator as where to start with the fault tracing. It clearly needs to be replaced.

 

It hurts to hear whats happened to you. There's nothing more annoying than saving up for a while to be able to purchase the parts only to have to wait even longer to get it working just because one part is faulty. Don't give up on self building thou. It'll get sorted.

[6FingerSays 99]

Hmmm. Let's see... You said there was a spark and a flame off your Mobo. I would see that as an extremely good indicator as where to start with the fault tracing. It clearly needs to be replaced.

 

It hurts to hear whats happened to you. There's nothing more annoying than saving up for a while to be able to purchase the parts only to have to wait even longer to get it working just because one part is faulty. Don't give up on self building thou. It'll get sorted.

 

Thanks. I meant like I don't know what caused the fire... like to much power, or if some other part caused the problem. Got any ideas of the problem before I put in a replacement MObo so it dosen't start a fire again?

[SAAB340 28]

Thanks. I meant like I don't know what caused the fire... like to much power, or if some other part caused the problem. Got any ideas of the problem before I put in a replacement MObo so it dosen't start a fire again?

Given that you said that the fire was in a small piece right below the big "SFC" button thinggy it sounds like it's a part of a voltage regulator curcuit. The SFC "button" is a choke. You can read about the different parts of a voltage regulator curcuit here.

 

If you really want to find out what part that was fed by that particular voltage curcuit you'll have to look on your motherboard. One cirqcuit is fed to the PCH. Another curcuit to the RAM. The remaining curcuits are fed to the CPU socket. So as you take out the RAMsticks and the CPU, look so you don't have any burn marks around the connector pads. All connector pinns are located on the Motherboard itself so if one of them is bent and is causing a short circuit it will be replaced with the mobo. But it's most likely the part that burnt that is the cause. Never the less, you need all voltage circuits to work in order to get your computer to succsessfully POST, hence your re-starts.

 

Was it the very first time you powered up the mobo that it all went wrong?

[6FingerSays 99]

Was it the very first time you powered up the mobo that it all went wrong?

 

Yes

[SAAB340 28]

Probably a bad part in one of the voltage regulators than. As I said before, check for burnmarks on the RAM connectors and under the CPU as you take them off to RMA the mobo and let us know how you get on. Hopefully it wont have fried any of them.

 

When you get your new mobo back, put it all back together and hopefully it will all POST nicely.

 

I can recommend to always run Memtest86 off a CD before installing the OS to make sure your RAM is OK. (It's always recommended even if you haven't fried your Mobo before=).

 

Not sure it'll make you feel any better but I had to RMA 2 different faulty sets of RAM before I got my current setup running. I couldn't believe it when one stick in the replacement set also was faulty. It's annoying and frustrating when it happens but in the end it'll get sorted.

[williamoforange 0]

Makes me wonder where we are going to be in 25 years time!

 

I was thinking back (after reading some of the posts on here about PC kit) to 25 years ago when I had my first experience with flight simulation.

 

It was a BBC B Micro, plugged into a portable black and white TV - I believe it had 16K memory.

 

I had been given a flight simulator software for my birthday - it was Spitfire or similar.

 

The program was loaded via cassette tape onto the BBC, the graphics consisted of a black screen with a 2d wite outline of a cloud, there was a cross hair as a site guide and once you had been flying for about 10 minutes you came upon what could only be described as a giant "blob" consisting of a white outline of something that was supposed to be an alien!

 

I remember thinking at the time how awesome this was and really cutting edge!

 

Anyone remember this lot?

 

It was called AVIATOR!

 

http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&biw=1920&bih=1047&tbm=isch&prmd=imvnsb&tbnid=henl-bJ1qyx4SM:&imgrefurl=http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/cgi/archive.pl%3Ftype%3DGames%26platform%3DBBC%2520Micro&docid=EgHSHt6LOzskrM&itg=1&imgurl=http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/userdata/images/medium/PRODTHM-21325.jpg&w=152&h=200&ei=GVNYUJf2L4LqrAfYg4DYBQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=271&sig=113523830444680994995&page=1&tbnh=160&tbnw=121&start=0&ndsp=46&ved=1t:429,r:20,s:0,i:140&tx=25&ty=59

[Ben Cap 89]

 

 

I remember thinking at the time how awesome this was and really cutting edge!

 

I can't even imagine what we will be flying with in 25 years. I doubt computers will even have the same hardware to user interfacing idealogy...

[Great Ozzie 101]

I really wish this didn't have anything to do with the bootup problem. And maybe the bootup problem is related to something else.

 

Wait... let me see if I understand this correctly... your motherboard actually catches fire from a failed component, and you are not sure what the boot problem is related to?

 

Or are you trying to say you are not sure what caused the component failure in the first place?

 

I had a Tyan S2895 motherboard recently fail. Got the "acrid" smell of some component failing (faint whiff anyway). Found one of the small capacitors had ruptured. That's all it takes for a comp not to boot (could have had more components that failed but I have no way of testing that).

 

A loose wire is certainly possible. I had a psu once returned to me where one of the pins on the 24 pin connector did not "clip in" in the connector (the "ears" had been broken off so the lead could not clip in). So you can certainly try looking at all the connectors. (pic below displays what I mean... I would think this a very unusual problem tho).

 

You could also get a psu tester... something like this: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16899705003 Had a neat experience once checking a psu... while testing heard a low pop and a huge cloud of white smoke came out the back (better than a 4th of July smoke bomb). Took 2 or 3 secs before I realized "yes I am alive and not being electrocuted". bizzzzt

 

Your failure sounds more like power connected to a ground... dunno how tho. Those connectors are supposed to be the so called "idiot proof".. they only go in easily (key word there) one way. Some years ago people were confusing the 8-pin power connector with the 8-pin PCI-e connector (but some changes made to prevent that now).

 

Could be as simple as a failure of the component on startup... how to know?

 

I know the RMA stuff is a bit of a hassle and who doesn't want their comp to fire up the first time (not like the one you describe). I have a board now in the process of returning / replacing. QC is good (quality control) but by no means perfect and we occasionally get "the luck of the draw".

 

I'm going to throw this thing in my dumpster and cry myself to sleep.

 

I know this feeling quite well. Regroup... think it thru... take your time... be sure of what you are doing (if not - you know plenty of help here or many other places on the net). Commit to getting it "right". May take you longer than expected and more aggravation than you imagined... in time you can get it sorted (I have to tell myself these things btw).

 

-Rob

 

Loose pin on 24-pin connector

 

 

[Ben Cap 89]

 

I'm going to throw this thing in my dumpster and cry myself to sleep.

 

I know exactly how you feel... I've RMA'ed so many things that you would be shocked. Don't worry about it and just move forward. - Push through and get all of those things RMAed. It will be worth it in the end.

[6FingerSays 99]

****UPDATE*****

 

So, how long has it been? 4 weeks?

 

Anyway, got new motherboard installed, this computer guy ran it and tested it for like 12 hours. BUT, now I have it, and its mine.

 

I overclocked it to 3.9 Ghz, and I think thats where I am going to stay right now for awhile.

 

Tonight, I installed FSX Acceleration, and..... you guessed it! PMDG 737ngx.

 

I am happy. I know I have ALOT of tweaking to do.

 

FSX runs without addons from 80-100 Fps about everywhere.

 

IN the Ngx cockpit I am getting from 25-40 Fps, pretty unstable.

 

Tomorrow, I shall install REX, Other planes, and tweak everything I can

 

If you have any tips for me, let me know!

[Great Ozzie 101]

BUT, now I have it, and its mine.

 

Excellent... nearly posted last night wondering what was going on with your build.

 

Look over Word Not Allowed's Hardware & Software Tweaking stuff

 

I'm also a fan of NickN over at SimForums worth checking out his stuff too.

 

-Rob

[SAAB340 28]

Great to hear that you finally got it sorted. Happy flying.

(Please do some for me as well as my computer is still packed away in boxes since I moved house. I'm starting to get a bit fed up renovating the room where it's supposed to live.)