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Computer cannot boot - No POST beep - All components already replaced

I

ICEBreakerDX

Junior Member
Dear Anandtech forum members,

My original thread did not seem to garner much response, which I suspect is because my initial post was too long. Therefore, I have attempted to summarise my problem here.

Upon switching on my computer, the disk drives (HDD and DVD) spins up, but then it proceeds no further. There is no POST beep, and the monitor does not come on. At first, rebooting the computer a few times did the trick, but after a day or two, my computer could not boot at all.

I changed the motherboard, CPU and RAM, and my computer worked perfectly for a week until the same thing happened. Rebooting it several times worked, but after one day, it could not boot up at all.

I then proceeded to change the PSU and the GPU. This was no help at all. Therefore, other than the disk drives and the computer case, every other component has been changed. I have disconnected all the disk drives in case a faulty disk interrupted the POST, but this made no difference.

The only thing I can think of is whether my original PSU was faulty and killed both my motherboard. However, note that repeated rebooting worked initially, but not after a few days.

Hope someone can take the time to play Sherlock with this. Thanks!
 
Hi TJ52! Yes but they've all been replaced!

1st time replaced motherboard and CPU, system continued to work a week. Then it went down again. 2nd time replaced power supply and graphics card. Still no luck.
 
Start with the basics.
Give all component info (Manuf, model etc.)
Start with your MB outside the box with just one stick of ram and GPU, nothing else.
If it posts, shut down and add another stick of ram, try again.
If it does not post, switch ram sticks.
After successful post with all ram, add on HDD
See where I'm going with this?
The only way to properly trouble shoot is to consolidate and eliminate.
Some MB's have trouble setting the correct power levels for some ram.
Yes, I know it worked fine for a few days, many components will work out of spec for a short time.
When troubleshooting, the thing to remember is 'there is no easy button.' In the long run, you will spend more time and money trying to shortcut proper troubleshooting than by taking each step methodically.
 
Hello MagnusTheBrewer, thanks for your reply. I've tried booting with just the board, CPU, one stick of RAM, and with and without the graphics card. In other words, all other PCI cards, SATA / IDE / floppy drives were disconnected. That's the odd thing. It can't even boot up past the POST beep on a minimum set up. And recall, that this happened even after replacing all my basic components.

My hardware info (very typical):
Asus P5K | Intel EN8200 | Kingston 1x2GB DDR2 800MHz | PSU: 2theMax SV 400W+
 
Just because componants have been replaced does NOT mean that they are now good. You could have just as easily received a tits up board right out of the box.
 
Hi RadiclDreamer. I understand the point you are making. But please do realise that the problem is IDENTICAL. It's statistically improbably to have such an odd problem to begin with, and then have the same problem occur one week again afterwards INDEPENDENTLY. Obviously, there is a root problem somewhere. Any ideas on where the root problem could be? A faulty PSU killing both boards perhaps? Something else?
 
OOPs, just read your original post.

Have you popped the cpu cooler off and had a look. Is there too much thermal grease, or not enough?

Do all the fans spin up at boot?

Do you use a UPS? Surge protector?

Is this a system you leave on all the time or does it get turned off/on day to day?

Take a real close look at your mobo. Are there any "fattened" transisters, ie, they look or feel puffed up?
 
Are there standoffs to correspond with every hole in the motherboard, and NO standoffs under the motherboard that don't correspond to a hole in the motherboard?

That'd be the first thing I'd check ...

(this theory lends itself to condition: no power, and condition: same case, if the builder is putting the motherboard into a case which has extra standoffs it is quite possible that it is shorting out, and even possible that over time the board is damaged.)
 
Icebreaker I am in the midst of trying to diagnose almost the exact problem as you. However my problem is with a new build that never booted from the begining. I get the exact symptoms as you. (no post beep..no video..but everything powers up) I also changed the board and then the processor and then the psu in that order. I believe I may be on to something. After trying a third board with no success, I decided to put the processor into another working machine and guess what? It killed it. So it is definately possible to fry a mobo with a bad cpu. Now the only question is, was it the processor to start with, or did something else take it out originally? I have a new board and processor comming and am going to replace the 2 together on the bench before anything else.
 
Thank you so much Derdrache, Datwater, and Capsgs for your posts. It shows you guys really put a lot of thought into the problem. You mentioned some things I didn't think about or had missed.

Hello Derdrache, your questions got me thinking outside the box. Thanks. My CPU cooler is the original one supplied by Intel, so the amount of thermal grease present should be OK. The sole reason why I do not use 3rd party CPU coolers despite their excellent heat dissipation capabilities is because I never know what is too much or too little thermal grease.

All the cooling fans spin up during boot. The whole boot up process up to the POST beep is perfectly normal. The fans work, the drives spin up, I can see the LEDs of the DVD drives flickering for a moment like they always do, while the HDD LEDs remain on permanently, just as they should until the POST beep.

I have not UPS, but I do have a Belkin power strip with surge protection daisy chained to another lesser known brand power strip that seems to also have some minimal protection. I figured that as long as I have the Belkin plugged into the wall, it would protect the second power strip.

The system is switched on 12 hours a day and 60 hours on weekends; I leave it off when I go to work.

I am not an electronics hobbyist, but on the advice of someone else, I have looked at the old motherboard to see if any of the capacitors have swelled up. As far as I can tell them look healthy. Of course, that doesn't mean they are. I've probably missed one.

Hi Datwater. Thanks for your assistance. Are standoffs those bolt-and-nuts-like things that one screws onto the metal sheet of the case to support the motherboard? If so, then no, there should be no extra standoffs that might touch the board and short circuit it. However, I shall check again. It's a very clever point that is easily missed.

And finally hi Capsgs. Thank you for sharing your experience. There does seem to be some similarities between two cases. In my case, I am thinking whether it was the PSU that killed the board. So in hindsight, I wish I had replaced the PSU and the board together, rather than separately.

Tomorrow, I am going to take my board to Asus, and let them test my board to see if it is really dead. If so, I'll need to replace my board. Hopefully my CPU is OK.

Really appreciate all your comments.

JC
 
Try booting without your keyboard and mouse plugged in. I saw that you said "I've tried booting with just the board, CPU, one stick of RAM, and with and without the graphics card." A bad keyboard can stop your system from booting as well. Furthermore I have seen printers plugged in through USB ports cause the system to hang at POST for about 20 minutes. Didn't see you say anything about external devices being unplugged.
 
I took the motherboard back to Asus who did a quick test in front of me. They said the I/O chip was dead, and more damages could lie with the south bridge. They said that the problem is usually caused by a bad power supply. When I mentioned that it was a 2theMax, the technician noted that a lot of people with motherboard problems use that brand. They took the board away for further testing and one week later (today), I got a new board. My computer is working now. Too bad my current (second PSU) is also a 2theMax. I won't be buying this brand again.

So it's confirmed. The old PSU blew my first board. I replaced it, and after a week, it blew my second board too. So even though I had replaced everything (including the faulty PSU), it still could not boot. Next time, if my board dies, I will change the PSU with the board.

 
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