Computer problem

motoxpress

Senior member
May 25, 2001
861
0
0
Not sure if this is the right forum...

I built a cheap pc for my bro-in-law and I am having a problem with it. I can't get the computer to talk to the monitor. When you boot up everything spins up but it just sits there and never moves on. I have replaced the video card and ram, reseated the processor but, to no avail. Here are the specs:

VA6 MB
Slot 1 adaptor
500 celeron 370
64 pc100 ram
old pci matrox video card
20 gig maxtor ide drive
50x CD

Any ideas?

Thanks

Motoxpress
 

MichaelD

Lifer
Jan 16, 2001
31,528
3
76
Do you get any motherboard beeps? How many? Do you have another monitor to try out to rule out that he may have a bad monitor? How about the monitor cable? Is the monitor plugged in? (Sorry, gotta ask!) More info.
 

christoph83

Senior member
Mar 12, 2001
812
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0
Try booting with the mobo,video card and cpu, If you dont get any beeps,take out the CPU, then boot it up with just the motherboard and video card. If you still dont get any beeps,it looks like a problem with the motherboard.
 

Pederv

Golden Member
May 13, 2000
1,903
0
0
Are you sure the system is moving on thru the bootup process? Do you see the hard drive working for a minute or 2 then stop? If you press the windows key on the keyboard or ctrl+esc then the up arrow and enter and enter again does the system shut down or restart? I know the bios on the matrox G200 goes haywire and doesn't show any display (matrox has a bios recovery utility for this purpose) maybe they have a bios recovery for the model card you are using.

EDIT: have you tried different slots for the video card?
 

motoxpress

Senior member
May 25, 2001
861
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0


<< Do you get any motherboard beeps? How many? Do you have another monitor to try out to rule out that he may have a bad monitor? How about the monitor cable? Is the monitor plugged in? (Sorry, gotta ask!) More info. >>



No beeps. I have tried another monitor, same thing.
 

motoxpress

Senior member
May 25, 2001
861
0
0


<< Try booting with the mobo,video card and cpu, If you dont get any beeps,take out the CPU, then boot it up with just the motherboard and video card. If you still dont get any beeps,it looks like a problem with the motherboard. >>



Tried that. No beeps. <sigh> How can I test the motherboard?
 

motoxpress

Senior member
May 25, 2001
861
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0


<< Are you sure the system is moving on thru the bootup process? Do you see the hard drive working for a minute or 2 then stop? If you press the windows key on the keyboard or ctrl+esc then the up arrow and enter and enter again does the system shut down or restart? I know the bios on the matrox G200 goes haywire and doesn't show any display (matrox has a bios recovery utility for this purpose) maybe they have a bios recovery for the model card you are using.

EDIT: have you tried different slots for the video card?
>>



I did try another video card. Same problem. It looks to be more fundemental than a video card, unfortunately.
 

bacillus

Lifer
Jan 6, 2001
14,517
0
71
I wonder if your problem is you're trying to use a ppga cpu on a fcpga slocket! the pin ids are different.
 

motoxpress

Senior member
May 25, 2001
861
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<< I wonder if your problem is you're trying to use a ppga cpu on a fcpga slocket! the pin ids are different. >>



Hmmm, to be honest, I am not sure but, I believe it DID work at one point. I'll check into it.

 

spamboy

Banned
Aug 28, 2000
1,033
1
0
Good one, bacillus, i'll bet that is it. Check you manual to make sure you have all your jumpers correct. Should be set for PPGA, not FCPGA.
 

NelsonMuntz

Golden Member
Jun 14, 2001
1,827
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Do you have a way to check the processor in another system??? I had an experience almost like that recently with someone I do some work for. His computer suddenly shut off and wouldn't restart. They tried to replace the video cable and stuff like that, but when I got there I tried some different video cards (even an ISA) and I was afraid it was the processor. The hard drives and the CD-ROM would spin up but no activity on the screen. No beeps from the board either. The board was a BX much like my own and the processor was a P-III 450 MHz. Those are supposed to have a temperature kill, but when I watched the fan, it wasn't working properly. I brought the processor home and got the same thing on my machine. I put a new fan on it and still nothing. We went out and purchased a P-III 866 MHz and put it in (retail box w/heatsink and fan and 3 year warranty). It worked great at 650 MHz because the BX only rated for 100 MHz until I got him hooked up with a new board at 866 MHz. So it's running great now at rated clock speed. Boy do I know how to write a book? Bottom line, check the processor in another, otherwise working, system.