• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Help my PC doesn't boot

D

Doggiedog

Lifer
My PC was running fine until this morning when I finally decided to put the cover on the PC to keep it quiet.

The next time I booted, it got past the posting stage but then rebooted itself. Then the next time I rebooted it posted but died now it doesn't even post.

I've tried 2 different video cards but the PC won't even post. The HDDs whirl up and power is going through but just a blank screen.

I was wondering, if you accidentally crack your cpu, it should at least reach the posting stage, no? I'm trying to figure out if this is a MB problem, a CPU problem or a overclocking problem. I don't think it's the latter since I cleared the CMOS but nothing is still happening.

Any advice would help.

Thanks.

 
sounds like video card needs to be reseat.

any beeps on bootup?........

to clear the CMOS it is recommended you take the ATX connector off the motherboard and then clear the CMOS


have you done this also?


Jen


 
I've tried 2 different video cards and nothing.

The activity light on the monitor turns on when the PC is powered on then it goes into sleep mode right away. So I think the video cards are ok.

The MB beeps once then the HDD light turns on but stays that way.

I've taken the battery out of the MB, pulled the plug and left it off for 30 mins.

During that time, I just took apart the whole system down to the CPU heatsink and checked out the CPU but everything looks good.

I retried it again but still the same thing. No post.

Just a single beep and a blank screen.

All this from just closing my case?

The PC was working fine for the last 6 months. I changed my vid card 2 days ago but ran into no problems.
 
single beep is video card signal so i would think that the video card is working correctly. have you got the cable to the monitior hooked up correctly. any bent pins on the cable? do you have another monitior to test it with?


Jen
 
The monitor is fine. So are the cables. I would be able to tell if the monitor or cable was bad but the PC still booted as normal.

The PC doesn't even post. The HDD light remains on but there is no activity, they are just spinning.

I am wondering, if the CPU is dead, wouldn't the MB still post? If the MB doesn't even post, that would mean the MB is dead wouldn't it? A dead CPU shouldn't cause the MB to not post I would think.
 


<< The monitor is fine. So are the cables. I would be able to tell if the monitor or cable was bad but the PC still booted as normal.

The PC doesn't even post. The HDD light remains on but there is no activity, they are just spinning.

I am wondering, if the CPU is dead, wouldn't the MB still post? If the MB doesn't even post, that would mean the MB is dead wouldn't it? A dead CPU shouldn't cause the MB to not post I would think. >>




well to me your getting a beep which is a sign of the processor working and video card getting signal. a series of beeps would be a indicator or memory problem. could be that the board is hung up somehow. what i will be getting very soon is a pci diagnostic card to help with my few problems i have had in the past. my latest problems was a 1.4 mhz bird DOA and a Epox 8k7a also same. It took buying another processor to discover all of this out.


Jen
 
Unplug everything except CPU, one stick of memory, ATX power cable (of course), and the video card. Unplug the hard drive, optical drives, all pci cards....everything. And I mean the 4-pin molex cables to your drives, fans, ATA cables from the mobo, everything. Strip it down to the bare essentials it needs to post. I just got done fixing my sister's computer that was doing exactly the same thing. Her's turned out to be a corrupt BIOS. She had the magistr virus and it ruined her BIOS. Hopefully yours isn't the same problem!

Anyway, strip it down and see what happens. Add components back one at a time until the problem returns. If it's stripped to the bare essentials and still won't post, you can really narrow it down by doing this. Try it and post your results.

Edit: Also...What BIOS does your mobo have? Each BIOS uses different beep codes. Find out which BIOS you have then do a search on google for beep codes.
 
Thanks for your help Jen.

I am so sick of this though. I've gone through 2 MB and 2 CPUs now on this stupid PC.

I bought this Iwill and the first one was DOA then I chipped the CPU when I was placing the stupid heatsink with really tight clamps onto it. Now I upgrade the video card a couple days ago and decide to finally put the cover on the side of my PC because it was loud and now it dies. WTF?

My wife's PC (650 Duron @950) which I am using right now was a bargain basement experiment of mine which cost me so little to make but has outlasted 3 of my high performance PCs now. It's like a joke.

I don't know who to be mad at now. Iwill? AMD? VIA? Abit? Myself?

I don't want to spend more money on this PC trying to figure out if the MB is bad or the CPU is bad.
 
Maggotry, I'll try that out.

I was hit with some stupid trojan horse virus yesterday called dlder. I don't think that would be the problem though because it was just spyware and from what I've read about it, it was fairly tame and doesn't cause damage to your PC.

My Iwill KK-266 MB was using the April 26th bios but I haven't updated the bios probably since May. The PC was working perfectly fine last night. I was fighting that trojan and when I was done, I started messing around with my new GF3 Ti200 card. I was trying to OC it and got it pretty stable around 233/533.

Thanks for all your help guys.
 
It was an Award bios but I can't tell you which one exactly since the PC doesn't post.

I just did what you told me. I pulled everything but the vid card, HDD and 1 stick of RAM but nothing. No post. No beep.

Things like this want to make me go back to Dell :|
 
i wouldnt suggest this but its cheap and not impossible: you took out the battery, if the contacts got touched it will short. buy a new one. else i would just have thought the vid card not pushed in quite properly.

very very weird that its just from closing your case... did that cause a bit of a jolt to the machine or something? maybe something got knocked a little out of place.

if the bios is corrupt, if you have a AMI BIOS and the floppy LED comes on at all then you could be in luck, someone told me this when i had similar problem on my old 200mmx machine. one thing im not sure about is then my BIOS was a .rom file, on my new machine (still AMI) the bios ends in .F4, though that might just be gigabyte showing version. Anyway, assuming you do have a bios file ending in .rom, copy it to a floppy and rename it to AMIBOOT.ROM, insert the floppy into the duff comp and switch on, it will flash the BIOS for you with this file. Saved my ass, i might have a quick search for the post i made where i found this out and compare symptoms.
 
Actually unplug the HDD too. Your computer doesn't need it to POST. Dude, it really sounds like your mobo is bad, particularly the BIOS. Unplug the memory. You should get 1 long beep. Plug your CPU and memory into your wife's PC. If it boots, then you know your mobo is dead for sure. You could also try her CPU and memory in your PC.
 
I just looked at the bios and I made a mistake it is a Phoenix bios D686s.

I tinker with my PC all the time but this one stumps me. I don't think I shocked the PC because I always make sure I ground myself before doing anything.

This is extremely frustrating.
 


<< This is extremely frustrating. >>


We've all been there, man! Hang in there! There are lots of smart people in this forum that are willing and able to help. Don't give up and don't buy a Dell! :Q You know they can't build a system as well as you can. They mass produce with a target audience of grandmothers. You've been warned.......
 
Trust me I'll never buy a Dell again. I bought one once and they were the biggest pricks to me even though they screwed up my order. Same with Gateway. The only PC company I'll buy from is Micron since they were awesome with their customer service when I bought my P2 233 from them.

I smell something burning now from my PC.

I hope it's not my CPU because I took off the heatsink to check it out.

I don't think I want to swap CPUs with my wife's PC since I think doing that will open a new can of worms.

This looks grim.
 


<< I smell something burning now from my PC. I hope it's not my CPU because I took off the heatsink to check it out. This looks grim. >>


You took off the HSF and tried to boot it?!?! :Q:Q Yeah, that's grim. Go ahead and get a new mobo/CPU combo deal from somewhere. If you have a Fry's Electronics nearby, they usually have good deals. I think you had a bad BIOS.....now I think you can add a bad CPU to that list! 🙁🙁
 
No no. I took off the HS and checked the CPU to see if it was damaged at all. Then I replaced it. But I'm not sure if the thermal paste got smeared and burned or what.
 
well the AMIBOOT.ROM thing i was on about can be found in this postoover at THWG. However there the there was conbtinuous beeps not just one. Pheonix mihgt have some sort of equivalent, maybe try emailing them, their website or something, if corrupt BIOS seems to be the case.

i meant jolt it physically not eletrically 🙂

errrr you dont mean you took off the HSF then turned it on??? i saw a vid of what happened to an AMD cpu when they took off HSF when comp was on, lets say i thought about getting a fire extinguisher.

have yet another go with the vid card, this is exactly like (well without the burning) what happened to me when i hadnt applied enough force. esp fi theres an AGP clip. better yet, test it out with a PCI vid card, rather than an AGP, for a start theyre easier to put in and secondly it could be the slot has broken or something.
 
probably unrelated, but i had a friend whose pc wouldn't boot after we had the cover off. turns out she put a longer screw in where a short one went and shorted the mobo to the case (packard hell). booted fine once the screw was removed. luck to ya...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top