box not POSTing

[michealdell]

hey folks,

i'll go over some quick things first, not sure if they're all connected but should give as much as possible

so for the last 4 or 5 months, on post i get 'floppy drive failed -40', which is fine. i just always boot into windows, no problem.

then in the last 2-3 weeks, i get a problem where my machine won't shut down. it will just restart. originally it would restart and windows would load, etc. however in the past week after the first restart it would go into a perpetual restart cycle. post, restart, repeat. the only way i've managed to turn my machine off since then, is by the powersupply switch on the back. dirty i know, but the front power button and restart also gave up 2-3 weeks ago simultaneously.

this morning, i turn it on, and it goes immediately into the restart cycle. i shut it off. wait a few, turn it back on, and this is where the nightmare began;

now the bloody thing won't post at all. the fans spin, the mobo status led is green, but there's no beep and the disks aren't spinning up.

i've swapped out the power supply with a heavier one, done a multitude of ram configurations, reseated the cpu even. always same deal.

i've resorted into taking my disks and throwing them in another computer i just happen to have, and am fine...for now. but i need to have my workstation back to hit some deadlines!

any ideas? or just knowing, would be enough. if it's a fried mobo, then so be it.

specs;

asus a7n8x-deluxe
1gig ram - pretty sure it's midrange ram, but it works in my other machine so pretty sure it's not the culprit
2 ide hd's
athlon xp2500
nvidia quadro 750

i'm infinitely grateful for any help, and can provide more details if i left anything out

cheers, m

 

[michealdell]

oh also, if it's the mobo/cpu that is dead, i'd very much appreciate some suggestions on replacement. i knwo it sounds lame, but i need something with an agp port so i can use my quadro card...do such things still exist?

 

[amdskip]

Check your capacitors to see if any of them are bulging/spewing their guts.

 

[michealdell]

hmmm....that's a tad too technical for me unfortunately...is that a clever way to say the mobo is fried?

 

[Harvey]

The floppy drive failure could happen because your floppy drive is bad or because the power connector or FD cable is bad or disconnected. Try another floppy drive.

I have the same problem where my machine reboots, instead of shutting off. I suspect a conflict with some recent Windows update and a driver, but that's about as far as I've gotten with it.

The new failure to boot could be a problem with your motherboard, your CPU or your hard drive. Have you tried clearing your CMOS?

 

[Frintin]

Might check your power saving options, ACPI was nasty stuff back in the day, and can still be nasty stuff.

Bulging capacitors are a motherboard problem that is often talked about and would require looking at your motherboard is all. Look at the capacitors and if they look like they are bulging then you got a problem with em. They slode too and will be easily be noticed.

When you get floppy drive errors (they are really one of the sturdiest longest lasting parts of a pc) combined with other flaky behavior (restarting etc.) then things lead me to believe you have a motherboard problem.

Could be as easy as a cmos battery. Could be motherboard power problems.

 

[michealdell]

hey all, thank you very much for your input!

the floppy drive is the least of my worries... i can live with it dead for sure.

i did reset the cmos, i also tried swapping out the battery for one that works. no dice yet again...the hard disks work in my other machine perfectly after i transferred them, so that's off the list...

oh well, i guess it means a dead mobo. as long as that's the verdict i can live with it. thanks for all your help!

 

[Slikkster]

The first thing I would do is remove the floppy cable (at both the floppy drive and the motherboard) AND the power connector to the floppy drive.

Make sure you didn't leave the "Clear CMOS" jumper in the "Clear" position. Restore it to it's normal position.

Reseat ALL power cables from the PSU to the motherboard.

Try disconnecting all unnecessary devices. For example, disconnect CD/DVD drives (power cables and IDE cables), USB components, sound card (keep track of what PCI slot the sound card is in, however), and any other non-essential PCI cards.

You really only need the video card, memory, and your hard drive. Even the hard drive is not necessary to see if it will start up, so consider disconnecting the power and ide cable to that, too.

At this point you really only want to see the thing turn on. If it does, then your problem is probably not the board itself. With no hard drive connected, it will just see it boot to the POST screen and it should stop at some message like "No boot device detected" or some such.

Also, make absolutely sure your CPU fan power connector is securely fastened. That's a very simple cause of non-starts.

 

[michealdell]

thanks again for the help all. i stripped it down to just the cpu, ram, and video card, and still not posting. none of the capacitors are bulging, that i can see at least. i took the proc off and inspected, it appears that the thin layer of material, sorry i dont know what it's called, between the chip and the heatsink has totally worn away. i dunno if this would cause the machine not to post?

anyhow, again thanks all for the help, i greatly appreciate it

 

[Slikkster]

Also, take a look at the PC Tower/Case connectors to the motherboard. Make sure they are correctly attached. They are very small pin jumpers.

 

[michealdell]

i'm kinda lost....slikkster, you mean the screws that attach the mobo to the case?

 

[Slikkster]

Disregard my last. I wasn't talking about screws. I was talking about the wires that connect the case/tower to the motherboard itself, controlling things like Power ON, Reset, Power LED, etc. But after rereading your first post, I can see that you're getting power.

Now, as to your last post about the CPU:

It's quite possible that the motherboard is still fine, but the CPU itself has fried or gone dead. The thin layer of material you're referring to is "thermal paste", and it is a necessity for a properly working pc.

It's possible that heat buildup on the CPU was the cause of your problems from the get go, and now it's either dead or it's alive, but getting an immediate heat shutdown signal because there's no cooling going on.

You need to get yourself some quality thermal paste. Your local RadioShack probably has some (call them) or places like Compusa, BestBuy, CircuitCity, Fry's, etc. Look for "Artic Silver 5". I think Compusa has their own re-branded version, called Mad Dog Artic Silver 5.

Anyway, Artic Silver is widely thought to be the best on the market.

Once you get a small tube (and they are small tubes!) of this stuff, the first thing you are going to want to do is clean the "die" area of your cpu. That's the raised metal portion that the heat sink actually rests on (with the thin layer of thermal paste between).

Here's a primer on how to apply (and clean) the cpu and heatsink. You can use a high-quality Isopropyl Alcohol in lieu of the Artic Silver-branded cleaners mentioned.

Read the instructions carefully. One mistake people make is they put way too much paste on the die. If you read the instructions, you'll see that the dab of paste (before spreading it uniformly) is about 1/2-3/4 of the size of a grain of uncooked rice. Look at the pictures and read the instructions.

You will need:

High quality Isopropyl Alcohol (the less water content, the better) or actual CPU cleaning solvent.
Lint Free Cloth (eye glass cleaning cloth is best, but even a paper coffee filter can be used).
A razor blade or credit card for spreading. See instructions.

You ABSOLUTELY need to clean the surfaces of the CPU die and the heat sink before applying new thermal paste/compound. Do NOT use your bare fingers to spread the paste. You'll get skin oils mixed in...a no no.

If you follow the instructions, and study the pictures, you'll get an accurate idea of how to proceed.

With any luck, the cpu might come back to life. Worth a shot. You should at least rule it out.

Steps:

Clean CPU Die and Heat Sink with Isopropyl (high quality) and wipe dry with lint free.

Apply the thermal paste to CPU die as noted.

Reconnect Heat Sink.

Reattach heatsink/fan wire to motherboard.

See if she powers up.

Instuctions and pictures here:

http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appinstruct/as5/ins_as5_singlecore_expsd.pdf

 

[michealdell]

wow! that's a lot of info - thank you slikkster. i'll give it a last dying shot!

 

[MaverickBP]

Originally posted by: michealdell
wow! that's a lot of info - thank you slikkster. i'll give it a last dying shot!

UPDATE! Lol my system is exhibiting similar issues and would like to know if this resolved it. I'm not too confident after reading your problems but hell...my troubleshooting of my own system isn't getting me any further either.