Computer doesn't want to power up

[cecco]

I need your expertise in trying to figure out what is causing my friend's computer to shutoff immediately after power up.

AMD Sempron 2400 CPU
256 MB Elixir RAM
Biostar M7VIG 400 7.1 Motherboard
S3 Shared 64MB Intergrated Video
AC'97 OnBoard Audio
Award Legal BIOS

So far I tried to swap memory, swap PSU, reset CMOS, made sure all fans are working and heat sink in place. I also tried scaling back the CPU frequency from 166 to 133 to no avail. I put the hard disk on my computer and it's working fine. Capacitors look fine and everything is free of dust. At first I thought this was a case of the motherboard not reading the CPU fan and shutting off to prevent damage, however the fan works and the motherboard displays RPMs.

Did I miss something? Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[CheesePoofs]

That sounds like a power supply issue. Make sure the power supply is good powerful enough, and the one you swapped is powerful enough also. Could you list them?

 

[mechBgon]

Look at the third and fourth photos on this page and check the issue they illustrate. And yeah, what power supply (brand and model, please) is running the show here?

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: CheesePoofs
That sounds like a power supply issue. Make sure the power supply is good powerful enough, and the one you swapped is powerful enough also. Could you list them?

Read his post carefully , He said he has alredy tried to swap the PSU. Although I am not rulling it out as a posibility; What Kind and What size was the PSU that you tried to swap it out with? And what size PSU and Make are you Currently using(or own)?

When you start the computer are you able to go into the bios setup? IF you can, does the computer stay on for longer that four seconds? Can It stay on 8 for Infinate amount of time 8 in the BIOS Setup SCREEN with out shutting down?

 

[CheesePoofs]

Originally posted by: Googer

Originally posted by: CheesePoofs
That sounds like a power supply issue. Make sure the power supply is good powerful enough, and the one you swapped is powerful enough also. Could you list them?

Read his post carefully , He said he has alredy tried to swap the PSU. Although I am not rulling it out as a posibility; What Kind and What size was the PSU that you tried to swap it out with? And what size PSU and Make are you Currently using(or own)?

I read it, and saw that. It still sounded like a PS problem to me, which is why I asked him to list both the PS he used and the one he swapped in for it.

 

[cecco]

Thanks for the replies. The PSU at question is Premier Plus by ATNG rated at 450W. I swapped it with my Enermax Whisper rated at 431W.

If hold on to the del key I am able to go into the BIOS and stay there with no problems. I'm really scratching my head on this one!

 

[Googer]

At what point in the boot process does it crash? What does the screen say just before and when it happens? Also do you hear any beeps coming from your motherboard? If not Check the bios and make sure that all silent options are off, because some Motherboards alow you to mute BIOS DIAGNOSTIC BEEP CODES. On my Intel motherboard the option is called Intel Quiet Boot on yours It may be called something differant.

 

[CheesePoofs]

Its probably not a PS problem then ...

What are the temps of the CPU in the bios?

 

[cecco]

Googer, the computer beeps once before the splash screen and then it shuts off unless i hold down on the del key. I believe this a nforce2 board so I don't if what you mentioned about a silent option is in the bios, I didn't see it.

After i reset the CMOS and restart, instead of the the splash screen it begins a normal boot where it detects the CPU, memory and video but then it stop and says:
CMOS Checksum error--defaults loaded
Warning! System had reset due to overclock setting. Please re enter cpu settings in the cmos setup and remember to save before quit!

Press F8 to enable system configuration (Doesn't work)
Press F9 to select booting device after POST (Doesn't work either)
Press F1 to continue (Works but shuts off again)
Press DEL to enter setup (Works but once I exit it shuts off)

The temps are 42C idle in the BIOS.

Any ideas?

 

[mechBgon]

Did you check my link and confirm that you got the heatsink direction correct.

 

[CheesePoofs]

It could be a problem with a dying battery. Try replacing the battery with one that you know works from a different computer.

Also, did this problem start all of a sudden, or did he just build the system and it always has done this, or did you do something that made this happen?

 

[ShadowBlade]

well if your computer tells u the overclock setting is wrong, reset it to the defaults and then try...occasionally computers know what wrong with them, and when they tell you, listen.

if it shuts down when u exit BIOS settings, this could be because youre selecting "save settings and restart" or something to that effect

42C is fine

also consider adding more ram, ha, that reminds me, did you remember to oc your ram to work with your cpu? if not this will screw with your computer and probably cause it to, guess what, shut down

 

[CheesePoofs]

Originally posted by: ShadowBlade
also consider adding more ram, ha, that reminds me, did you remember to oc your ram to work with your cpu? if not this will screw with your computer and probably cause it to, guess what, shut down

Wrong, you don't need to. My last rig was nforce2 based, and it would just automatically run the ram with a divider by default. I changed that later, but it ran fine with the divider.

 

[sniperruff]

i'd go with mechBgon's solution and also check if the PSU fan is running, or if anything is shorting out the mobo.

also see if every cable is plugged in securely.

 

[cecco]

The heatsink is sitting flush, no problems there. This computer is mainly used for business and internet. It was never overclocked and I was just recently involved to try to fix it. (some help eh?) Everytime I reset the CMOS it keeps coming back with that overclock error message. Like I said I even tried scaling back the ram and cpu freq to 133 instead of 166 (FSB is done automatically). I am puzzled by this.

Question. It seems to me this is a hardware issue, could the OS be at fault here? (Win XP) If so would reformatting the hard drive be of any benefit at all?

Thanks again for the help.

 

[CheesePoofs]

Windows can't be at fault, it reboots before the windows boot process has begun.

 

[mechBgon]

The heatsink is sitting flush, no problems there

Flush, sure, but in the right direction or the wrong direction? Did you look at the photos and look at your heatsink's step location, that's ALL I'm asking here.

 

[sniperruff]

hmmm is the hard drive used? was it pulled straight out from a different computer?

 

[cecco]

mechbgon, yes the heatsink is flush in the right direction, just as shown in your pics (really nice I would like to add). I was told the computer was working fine a couple of days ago and then this happened. You guys think the mobo actually went bad on it?

Hard drive is a Maxtor 80GB purchased brand new with the computer.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: CheesePoofs
It could be a problem with a dying battery. Try replacing the battery with one that you know works from a different computer.

Also, did this problem start all of a sudden, or did he just build the system and it always has done this, or did you do something that made this happen?

Good point. Are you always loosing the settings in the cmos?

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: cecco
Googer, the computer beeps once before the splash screen and then it shuts off unless i hold down on the del key. I believe this a nforce2 board so I don't if what you mentioned about a silent option is in the bios, I didn't see it.

After i reset the CMOS and restart, instead of the the splash screen it begins a normal boot where it detects the CPU, memory and video but then it stop and says:
CMOS Checksum error--defaults loaded
Warning! System had reset due to overclock setting. Please re enter cpu settings in the cmos setup and remember to save before quit!

Press F8 to enable system configuration (Doesn't work)
Press F9 to select booting device after POST (Doesn't work either)
Press F1 to continue (Works but shuts off again)
Press DEL to enter setup (Works but once I exit it shuts off)

The temps are 42C idle in the BIOS.

Any ideas?

Try replacing the CMOS Battery (99¢ at certain stores) and swaping out the video card for a differant one. Also If your bios has a system defaults option try to restore it.

 

[cecco]

I'll look into the battery and see. The CMOS is saving my settings when I change them though. I also have tried restoring the default settings but again to no avail. Could there be a problem with the connection between the motherboard and the hard disk? because it reads the floppy, but when it gets to detecting the hard drive I believe that's when it fails. The boot up order is Floppy, Hard drive, CD-ROM, and like I said earlier it never gets past the hard drive part.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: cecco
I'll look into the battery and see. The CMOS is saving my settings when I change them though. I also have tried restoring the default settings but again to no avail. Could there be a problem with the connection between the motherboard and the hard disk? because it reads the floppy, but when it gets to detecting the hard drive I believe that's when it fails. The boot up order is Floppy, Hard drive, CD-ROM, and like I said earlier it never gets past the hard drive part.

It will save and keep the settings even after a reboot if the battery is dead, but when the power is off and the machine is unplugged for a while does the CMOS still retain the time, date, and settings?

Also do you have any PCI HDD Controller Cards attached to the motherboard? Like this one or similar:
http://www.lsilogic.com/products/megaraid/sata_300_8x.html
http://www.lsilogic.com/products/megaraid/megaraid_ata_133-2.html

 

[cecco]

Googer, there are no cards on the motherboard, just CPU and RAM, everything else is onboard. I'm going to try to get a new battery for the CMOS and see what happens. BTW are those found at a regular electronics store? Thanks for all your help. I guess It all comes down to figuring out what this checksum error really means.

 

[Googer]

I have purchased them at Wal-Mart, Publix, Walgreens, Compusa, Radio Shack, and Eckerds (Now CVS). The most common type of battery these days is CR2032. Other types of batteries (like battery packs and NiCd) have been used before in the Past but If I were betting, most modern boards Use that type.