Computer won't boot completely...

[Mean MrMustard]

Everything was working fine until I tried to boot it tonight. It will start up for 3 seconds then shut off automatically. I have no idea what is wrong. I think it is my motherboard or CPU.

Specs:

Athlon Thunderbird 1.3 Ghz
Epox 8K7A motherboard

for the brief seconds that it is trying to boot, the LEDs on the motherboard say "FF"

anyway, any suggestions are appreciated.

Craig

 

[OdiN]

Is your CPU fan dirty/not spinning as it used to? Sometimes the motherboard will shut off if it doesn't detect fan RPM on the CPU connector, or too little RPM.

If that isn't the case, I'd try a new power supply - borrow one or use an extra if you have it.

Failing that...are there any beep codes? If it's turning on, the CPU should be fine. If anything else it would be the motherboard. Try clearing BIOS (especially if you were overclocking).

 

[Chaotic42]

Try holding your power button in for a couple of seconds when you turn it on.

 

[ja83]

Did you steal my post from pcmech? lol it's all good. I had the same problem , it turned out the be my motherboard.

 

[buckmasterson]

Could be the CPU though...

 

[dudeman007]

Accoring to your mobo manual, FFh stands for "Boot attempt (INT 19h)"

Just for fun I looked up 19h, (seems like everything has an h on the end of every code for some reason), and it says "19-1h Reserved"

Go see for yourself. The codes are at the bottom on page 81. Hope this helps

 

[ed21x]

perhaps the watch battery for maintaining the internal clock is drained? you can replace that pretty cheap