Hi all I'm having a problem getting my PC to start up. It had been working fine until I installed a firewire card. Then I attached my camcorder and it wouldn't recognise the camera so I tried another one and it didn't work either. I couldn't figure out the problem so I took the cameras to a local Sony Centre and they couldn't get the cameras to work either - in other words something on my computer must have knackered the DV port on both cameras. So I got a new camera and a new firewire card just in case. When I tried to install the new card I got a warning sign saying "This device cannot start". So I removed and then reinstalled it and this time there were no warning signs. So I turned the computer off and nervously attached my new camera...but the computer wouldn't start. I removed the firewire card and it still wouldn't start. I assumed the motherboard was fried because the processor and PSU fans were turning but I wasn't getting any lights on the keyboard nor any life from the CD ROM. However I've just unplugged all the hard disks and this time the computer started to boot up until the point where it realised there were no disks to boot from whereupon it switched off. I got excited and tried to boot again so I could go into BIOS and maybe see if there was a problem there. Now it won't start again although at least now there is an initial glow of lights on the keyboard telling me that something is happening. Has anybody come up against this before cos I'm stumped. Thanks RaucousM Here is the spec: Motherboard: M2N4-SLI Processor: AMD dual core RAM: 2 gigs Graphics: ECS GeForce 7600 256MB GDDR2
It could potentially be a faulty motherboard or faulty PSU. It could also have been a faulty firewire card which in addition to breaking two cameras also damaged your motherboard.
Sam, you are much more versed on this subject than I, but I have to ask this question. How in the hell would a faulty firewire card, affect a video camera? If this can actually happen, I sure as hell would be going after the manufacturer of the firewire card for compensation.
Well, Firewire cards don't run off the highest voltage in the PC. What if a fault meant that they did?
Well I'm really not sure on how a Firewire card can destroy your comp. Did you install it and remove it correctly? Because even the static inside the machine can fry it.
Suppose a fault with the card meant that half a dozen pins on the PCI connector had shorted together. That would short out your PCI bus, which could well damage your motherboard. There's one example.
