# Flashing Green Light on Tower



## drokness (Aug 16, 2010)

Hi, TSF. One of my friends has been having computer troubles, so I told him I'd see what I could do to help. I brought his tower back to my place, unhooked my tower (after shutting it down from windows) and hooked his up. I used the power cord from my tower (along with all the other attachments - keyboard, mouse, monitor, etc...) and attached it all to his tower. Everything went smoothly. Until I tried hooking my tower back up. Now, when I plug in the power cord to my tower, I get a blinking green light. The tower won't even turn on at all. After I unplug it, it slowly blinks out. When I plug it back in, same problem.

His computer is an HP, mine is a Sony VAIO. Mine's roughly 5 years old, his is 6-7 years old.

I probably did something I shouldn't have. Did the cord somehow configure to his tower, and now it won't work with mine? Is there anything at all I can do to fix this? Will buying a new power cord help? Thanks.


----------



## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

I'm thinking the problem is coincidental. What you describe should not have caused any damage to your PC.
Where is the Green blinking light located?


----------



## drokness (Aug 16, 2010)

It's the light on the back of the tower, near the top, right below the place you plug the power cord into.


----------



## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

If that light is on the PSU I would suspect the PSU is the problem. OEM PSU's are not good quality to start with and any OEM PSU over 2 yrs. old is a good candidate for failure.


----------



## drokness (Aug 16, 2010)

I opened up the side panel, plugged in the power cord and there was a corresponding blinking green light on the motherboard itself - so I'm not sure if the issue was with that or the PSU. But I actually was able to get a solid green LED light and power on the PC. I found some people experiencing a similar problem (having simply unplugged their PC, only to plug it back in and experience the blinking green light), and they fixed it by aiming a blow dryer at the part of the tower on the back where the light was blinking (guessing that would be the PSU). Sure enough, after roughly one minute, it worked. Only now, I'm having trouble with my monitor. When I plug it in to the CPU, I get the "No Input Signal" message on my screen, and it goes into power save mode. The monitor works fine with my friends computer/tower, just not with mine. Could it be an issue with the graphics card? I have made no hardware or software changes before, or since, experiencing the original problem. Thanks.


----------



## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

I would still suspect the PSU.


----------



## drokness (Aug 16, 2010)

So you think replacing the PSU might solve the problem? Even though the trouble I'm now having is with the monitor connection? Like I said, it now turns on no problem (and the LED stays a solid green), just getting the "No Signal/Power Save Mode" on the monitor. Might that just mean that, even though the tower turns on, the PSU isn't supplying enough power for the video card/monitor? 

Also, if you have any recommendations for a good PSU, it'd be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for all your help and patience.


----------



## drokness (Aug 16, 2010)

Was able to fix the problem. Thanks for your time.


----------



## CWMgrits (Dec 23, 2010)

I went out of town and came home to find that there had been a power outage and my pc wouldn't turn on. The little green light flashes on the back while it is plugged in and slowly stops when I unplug it. I know absolutely nothing about computers except how to use the programs I like. I opened the tower and cleaned out all the dust with a compressed air can, but that's the extent of my fixing capabilities. Oh, I also tried a different power cord. Same result. Best Buy says it's $400 just for them to look at it and see what's wrong. Would love to try something on my own! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!


----------



## epshatto (Dec 23, 2010)

CWM, the power outage likely damaged your computer. Do you know what caused it? Was there an electrical storm? You can try replacing the power supply by itself, but I'm worried your whole computer might be shot. In the future, I would recommend an uninterruptible power supply. And turn your computer off if you won't be home for more than a day.


----------



## drokness (Aug 16, 2010)

CMW,

Sounds like you were experiencing the same problem I was. As crazy as it sounds, I solved it by aiming a blow dryer at the blinking light (a couple inches away from it) for roughly one minute. I found the solution on a thread on some other site, and it worked for quite a bit of people. I'm not sure exactly how/why it works (it has something to do with the hair dryer acting as a hot solder and completing some circuit), all I know is that it did work I haven't had a problem since. So, basically, the instructions are as follows:

1. Plug in computer (so you get the blinking light on the tower).
2. Turn on hair dryer, aim it at blinking light (a few inches away).
3. Continuing aiming hair dryer for 1-3 minutes. (be patient, for me it was closer to one minute, took as long as three for some other users.

The light eventually turned solid green. Now, I'm not saying this will definitely work, but it's the only thing that worked for me - and I was looking everywhere in an absolute panic. Plus, didn't cost me a thing. 

Hope this helps!


----------



## CWMgrits (Dec 23, 2010)

Thanks y'all! I'll try the hair dryer thing and if that doesn't work then it looks like I'll be making a donation to Best Buy.


----------



## drokness (Aug 16, 2010)

Cool, hope it does the trick!


----------



## MattnLinda99 (Dec 6, 2011)

drokness said:


> Was able to fix the problem. Thanks for your time.


My daughters computer stopped working and would not turn on it had a blinking green light on the back. I brought it outside and blew all the dust out of it using a vacuum on reverse.
It didn't help.

I figured the dust build up caused it to cease so I brought my computer which was working fine outside and blew the dust out. Guess what happened it stopped working and the green light began to blink!!!!

I almost freaked out!!

It's around 40 degrees outside. I believe the cold air condensed on the metal parts which may have caused the problem.

I tried the hair dryer on my daughter's computer and I was able to start it but I get nothing on my monitor.

I tried the hair dryer on my computer and it worked right away and I can use it now.

My daughter's computer still has no function on the monitor but it does turn on with the on off button. 

How did you get your computer to begin working after it initially didn't show anything on the monitor?


----------



## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

The hair dryer worked because the psu needs replacing....I have seen this work before but by doing it you are risking every other component in the computer.


----------



## drokness (Aug 16, 2010)

I had plugged the monitor into the wrong video port on the back of the tower. I had plugged it into the vertical port (the "generic" monitor port), forgetting that I had a graphics card installed. That port was further down and horizontal. Here's an incredibly basic graphic representation of what I mean:

http://visual.merriam-webster.com/i...on/personal-computer/tower-case-back-view.jpg

The monitor, in this case, needed to be plugged into the "game/MIDI port". If your daughter has a graphics card installed in her computer, the monitor won't work in the normal "video" port.

I'm sorry if this is incredibly confusing, but maybe, if this is hard to follow or your daughter's tower isn't laid out the same way, just try to find other compatible ports to try out.


----------



## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Rich-M said:


> The hair dryer worked because the psu needs replacing....I have seen this work before but by doing it you are risking every other component in the computer.


Ditto!


----------



## MattnLinda99 (Dec 6, 2011)

Thanks everyone,
I wound up purchasing a new power supply for $39 at comp usa and everything is working fine now


----------



## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

$39 for a psu means you will get similar problems again in the future.

A good power supply does not cost $39 and the psu is the last place you want to go cheap on


----------



## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

Agreed a $39 psu could well be worse than the one that was in there.


----------



## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

I suspect you will be back, probably with more serious problems, if you continue to use a $39 PSU.


----------



## deadfast (Dec 20, 2011)

Not to support unorthodox fix's, but I had the same problem with the same vaio and I got it running again without the hairdryer, although I'm not sure if this method is advisable or not.

This puzzled me a bit because the psu tested good with my fangled tester gizmo, but I noticed the blinking light on the power supply would remain solid if the main motherboard connection was unplugged. I left everything plugged in with the side panel off and carefully unplugged said connection, and the light turned solid again. I then returned the main connection to the motherboard, dodged a stray spark, and now she's runnin' like new again. Only side affect I experienced was loss of the date and time, which was easily corrected. 

Since the majority of instances listed here all point directly to the power supply, I would also recommend replacing the thing if you're serious about the health and well-being of your Vaio. If you have spare machines sitting around like doorstops, go for it.


----------

