On Tue, 1 Aug 2023 19:13:42 +0100 piorunz <pior...@gmx.com> wrote: > On 01/08/2023 19:09, Celejar wrote: > > Okay, thanks for the clarification. It seems, however, that I'm dealing > > with a hardware issue (as Dan Ritter suggested): I did some more > > testing, and after the latest crash, the system won't boot at all, and > > the power LED blinks red six times, which according to the > > manufacturer "indicates a pre-video graphic card error." > > > > "To resolve the issue, complete the following steps: > > > > 1) Reseat the graphics card. > > > > 2) Replace the graphic card. > > > > 3) Replace the system board." > > > > https://support.hp.com/gb-en/document/c03599666 > > > > I suppose I'll begin by trying the first and see if it helps ... > > Oh, that's more serious then. Could be power supply as well. Good luck > troubleshooting it.
So, while troubleshooting today I thought I smelled an ominously acrid odor of burning plastic. I wasn't sure whether it was real or a figment of my stressed imagination, but when I opened the case, sure enough, the cable feeding the GPU had burned and broken. Fortunately, I don't see damage to the system's power cable or to the GPU itself, just to the 6 pin to 8 pin PCIE adapter cable (the HP PSU has only 6 pin cables, and the GPU needs an 8 pin connection). I remember debating at the time (3 years ago) whether to buy the cheapest one I could find, or to invest a few dollars more to buy a brand name unit from a reputable company. I rolled the dice on the former, and it did last three years - and hopefully didn't take out anything else with it. I'm going to order another one, from a reputable company this time, and hope that it was just the cheapo implementation that was flawed, and not the whole concept of 6 pin to 8 pin adapter cables ... -- Celejar
