Computer wont post boot

[chrissy.y2k]

sony viaio 402 Computer was working fine on new yrs eve, came back from night out and computer seemed to have gone into hibination but would come bk on, computer was turned off 15 mins turned bk on and nothing no video, and beeps, but fans and lights all on, i tried diff video card same thing remove ram and drives same thing! does this indicate that motherboard is shot, cpu or both?

[William]

I had a very similar problem just before Xmas. My RZ desktop displayed exactly the same symptoms. Lights and fan but naff all else. Couldn't get into the Bios and pulling the RAM and video card did nothing.

I suspected the Power Supply but was loathe to return the unit to Sony out of warranty in case they diagnosed a new Mobo and God knows what else as well.

In the end I bought a good quality Generic case, a 500W power supply and perhaps unnecessarily, a new Higher Spec Asus Mobo.

Incidentally the 500W power supply was about £13 from Ebuyer and has numerous favourable reviews from satisfied purchasers. The only downside is the PSU fan is internally powered and doesn't have a lead to plug onto the appropriate Mobo connector. But what the hell its very quiet and was VERY cheap.

If you don't know already please be aware that Sony PSU's are not the standard size hence the new case purchase.

The downsides are that I have lost my PCMCIA slot and Memory Card readers. Firewire was restored by purchasing a £5 PCI Firewire card off Ebay.

I also had to buy a new Floppy drive (£5) as the supplied Sony one had no front plastic due to the way it fitted in the RZ case.

If it is out of warranty and cost is not the primary concern then by all means send it back to Sony. I was just genuinely worried that it was like handing them a blank cheque.