Hot Tub Forum
General => General info Somewhat hot tub related => Topic started by: 96SC on February 22, 2007, 01:36:29 pm
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I have seen posts where folks are or want to use an Ipod for music with their hot tub sound systems.
My son recently got an Ipod and was going to download music through our computer. As soon as he plugged it into the USB port he got a message something like, 'There has been a power surge in the USB port'. With that the screen froze and the mouse quit working. He turned off the computer hoping to 'reset' the screen and mouse. When the computer was turned back on, the green indicator light on the monitor came on then immediately turned to yellow (I guess that means somethings not right. We tried the monitor with a different computer and it worked). However, the computer does not operate, the lights come on but nothing works. (Son's friends, who are computer savvy, think they have it narrowed down to a video card or (god forbid) mother board. :o :'(
All this is to say we believe the Ipod is the reason for our computer's problems and I would hate to see any of you plug your Ipod in and have a catastrophe with you new sound system. >:(
For what it's worth the Ipod works fine. :D
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(Son's friends, who are computer savvy, think they have it narrowed down to a video card or (god forbid) mother board. :o :'(
They probably are right. If you have a used computer store or used parts store, pick up a cheap video card and see. Your computer may have the video card built into the motherboard.
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Ok, I need to know how that happened...My kids plug in Ipods, Sansa and Muvo players all the time...This is my new computer and I don't want anything to trash it. So why did that happen to 96SC?
I know the USB port works to transfer information back and forth to the computer from the MP3 devices. AND it also serves to charge the batteries for the Ipods and Sansa players..so is it possible that the USB port is defective and because the Ipod was pulled (and not ejected properly) from the computer, it locked everything up? I know if you pull any USP storage device out without ejecting properly, it can really cause problems on your computer..Where is Autoplay? Maybe he will know what happened. when my kids get home, I will find out where the Ipod documentation is...maybe that will help.
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This type of error comes up when a USB device draws too much power from the USB port, which has a 500 mA maximum supply. The most common reason for an error message like this is people who are using an unpowered USB hub to attach multiple USB devices to their computer and exceeding the limits. However, this should not damage the computer since there are protection measures to prevent that, and it can be solved by either using a powered USB hub or separating the devices to multiple USB ports.
In your specific case, 96SC, it sounds like you did indeed have a computer that was on the brink of failure and the iPod pushed it over the edge, through no fault of its own. Does the BIOS screen display, or does the monitor just show nothing? Alternately, can you hear the hard drive spin up as Windows is loading? If the monitor shows nothing but you can still hear the hard drive spin up and access like it's loading Windows, take wmccall's suggestion and get a cheap video card to test it. If it doesn't display anything and you can't hear the hard drive access, you probably have a motherboard hardware issue. In that case, don't forget you can always put the hard drive in another computer to recover your data until you can repair or replace the PC.
To dispell any FUD: The iPod is perfectly safe to use with your PC and with your sound system. It is only harmful if you throw it at someone's head.
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What's FUD? I know who FUDD is, but I don't know what FUD is. And I'm a 17 year ITS geek who works at a very large financial services company- nobody has more acronyms than us.
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What's FUD? I know who FUDD is, but I don't know what FUD is. And I'm a 17 year ITS geek who works at a very large financial services company- nobody has more acronyms than us.
Sorry - 'Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt' - it's a marketing term that is used pretty often in the PC industry. Sometimes it's unintentional, but often can be deliberate and used to scare consumers into buying or not buying a certain product.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear,_uncertainty_and_doubt
P.S. I work for a military government contractor - they have quite a few acronyms too ;)
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Thanks for all the advice. The computer is in the hands of son's computer savvy friends. The only way I could mess with the inards of a computer is if every little component is labels with large orange letter i.e. 'THIS IS THE VIDEO CARD' OR 'THIS IS A MEMORY CARD'.
My son mentioned that when the message about the power surge came up he smelled what resembled 'something electrical burning'. And I do recall plugging a device into the USB slot one other time but the computer did not recognize the device that was plugged in, so maybe it was a bad USB and this pushed it over the edge (as someone suggested).
mattny, I work for the government and we have a mountain of acronyms, too. Top of the list is SNAFU and SSDD (Same S---, Different Day).
To all the Ipod fans. I wasn't directly trying to blame the Ipod for our problem it was the only thing that was different when using the computer when it 'fried'.
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This is what I have in my Sys,along with 7 other USB ports. (http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/11-999-048-02.JPG) I have a 5V and a 12V,which is rarely used.
The current symptoms suggest a vid card issue.....but it could also be your power supply I.E. a defective rail. I would also look into your CMOS/BIOS,and see if you can manually disable the USB ports,or disconnect them from the mobo.....and troubleshoot in that direction. If onboard Vid card,disable it in bios,and get 1 of your geek friends to use a cheapy plug in card,and see if you get pic. As others mentioned,verify that other stuff is running/operating, HD etc etc.
GL
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What's FUD? I know who FUDD is, but I don't know what FUD is. And I'm a 17 year ITS geek who works at a very large financial services company- nobody has more acronyms than us.
I'm sure you are familiar with the old ID 10T error. We also had the DASH designation -Dumb Arse Poop head.
But my favorite was our BDU failure. It sounds like a computer term. When I was supervisor over the PC techs at CompuServe we would write "BDU failure" on a lot of our work orders. The Department Manager called a meeting one day and on top of the list was asking what we should do about all the BDU failures.
We suggested Shotguns, bricks, and ball bats. Then we had to explain that BDU meant Brain Dead User.
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I'm sure you are familiar with the old ID 10T error. We also had the DASH designation -Dumb Arse Poop head.
But my favorite was our BDU failure. It sounds like a computer term. When I was supervisor over the PC techs at CompuServe we would write "BDU failure" on a lot of our work orders. The Department Manager called a meeting one day and on top of the list was asking what we should do about all the BDU failures.
We suggested Shotguns, bricks, and ball bats. Then we had to explain that BDU meant Brain Dead User.
I definately quality as an ID 10T or BDU, when it comes to computer hardware and willingly admit it. Give me a good ol' on/off button, I can handle it. (Unless it's like my cell phone where none of the buttons make sense).
:-/
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We had one BDU that always had to be advised to RTFM.
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We had one BDU that always had to be advised to RTFM.
I'll bite, what's RTFM? :-/ I don't think it's a radio station.
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RTFM=
Read The Freaking* Manual
*In some situations, the word Freaking is replace with a word that most likely won't make it past the naughty word software that guards the forum.
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On a checklist for one of the planes I used to work on was the line:
"Close A.S.H. Receiver."
Since there are VHF, ADF, VOR, NAV, COM, and a few other radios on board, I couldn't figure the thing out.
It was the ash tray. They wanted it closed so the ashes wouldn't blow out when the pilot started the engines with the window open.
8-)
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For those of you who give a RA (Rat's A**) here is what we've found out so far about the computer. The video card is OK, the hard drive is OK, I think the USB is OK. Next to check out is the mother board....and it doesn't look good so I've heard. :'(
Those of you who are computer savvy, if it is the mother board does that automatically mean new computer or can you save the old one by installing a new molther board?
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Anything is fixable. Gauge the repair costs against the price of a new machine.
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Are you convinced it's your mobo? Have you tested the power supply,and each feed/rail etc?
Yes you can put in a diff mobo,in fact,for I and many others,it's easy if you take your time,and the right precautions. If you plan on switching out your mobo,and keeping everything else in your sys,you'll have to find a compatible mobo,that will accept your current ram and cpu. If your cpu is old/outdated....and your ram is small/slow etc...you might want to at this time,look into upgrading all three elements.
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Are you convinced it's your mobo? Have you tested the power supply,and each feed/rail etc?
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The only thing I am sure of is that the computer isn't in my house. ::)
All the info I have gotten is second hand from my son, who's friends are doing the diagnostics. If they come back with a dead mobo edict I'll suggest the power/rail etc. Until then we are trying to stay out of their hair as they are college students and don't have a lot of time to dedicate to it.
Thanks to all of you for your input.
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I agree with autoplay - it's more than possible that it's the motherboard, but when you say that 'the USB is ok' this doesn't sound quite right to me as the USB ports are part of the motherboard 99% of the time (not many PCI USB cards around anymore). Also, as I mentioned the USB ports should be protected from overload failures, so that implies something fishy off the bat. It might well be your power supply, as autoplay suggests - Power Supply failures are much more common than motherboard issues but cause flaky problems that people often blame on the motherboard.
If your son's friends have a spare ATX power supply, it's a 5 minute job to swap in a new one, fire it up, and see if the same problems manifest themselves. I'd give that a try if at all possible.
Brewman is right, a new motherboard isn't that difficult to obtain and swap in but you should weigh it against the cost of a new machine. If your system is recent within the last 2 years, it's probably worth it to replace the MB.
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Update on my computer 'repairs'. Son's friend have hit a brick wall so I'm taking it to a guy in our plant, a real computer repair person. I didn't know he had a repair business until 3 days after the other folks had it.
A short conversation on what happened and he thinks it's the mb. I'll be sure to mention rails etc and keep you interested folks informed.
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Got the word from a qualified computer technician. It's the m.b. and NO the Ipod didn't do it.
The tech is going to rebuild (or should I say update) the system for us, says it will be like a new one.
:D
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Glad you got it resolved, thanks for the updates! Hope you're back up and running soon.
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Finally got our computer back, here's the run down:
Parts:
Motherboard w/3.20 GHz Processor and case
Software included/loaded:
Microsoft Office 2003
HDValet
CCleaner
SpyBot 1.4
AVG AntiVirus Software
RegCleaner
PCRescue
Microsoft Office 2003 and Windows Updates
At a cost of $175.00
I don't know what some of the software is (CCleaner, HDValet, SpyBot 1.4, PCRescue) but I have it now.
How did I do? Is some person taking the day off since they made enough off this one transaction? I have a gut feeling that the amount is very reasonable, but would like an outside opinion.
:D
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The guy did you a nice favor, that's a great price for parts and labor. Office 2003 must be illegal of course, unless you owned that before, but who's keeping track ;)