HELP! PC won't even POST :-(

[wolf550e]

After working for more than a year with no problems, one day it died. No smoke, but no picture either. Tested the monitor - it's ok with another pc.
Now I have bare mobo with cpu and hsf, connected to the psu.
With no ram it spins the fan and beeps. With ram it doesn't beep, but it has no video card and it should beep (according to the manual). Neither its pcie nor an ancient pci video card give any picture. As if the mobo doesn't even know how to use a video card. Cleared CMOS, didn't do anything.

What should I do?

Specs:
ASUS P5K-E (Intel P35)
Core2Duo E6550
2 x Crucial DDR800 1GB
GF8600 PCIE
Matrox PCI 2MB alternative
working lcd monitor
brand name psu
other stuff is disconnected.

 

[TemjinGold]

Since RAM caused the discrepancy, I would try just 1 stick to see if it would boot. It's possible one of your two sticks is fried. I would also try them in different ram slots.

 

[wolf550e]

Thanks for the reply! Tried both DIMMs in both positions, separately. Still no beep when dimm is in, only "no-ram" beeps when no dimms are in. Maybe both dimms are fried? But I don't have a second ddr2 computer to test them.

 

[daniel49]

Originally posted by: wolf550e
Thanks for the reply! Tried both DIMMs in both positions, separately. Still no beep when dimm is in, only "no-ram" beeps when no dimms are in. Maybe both dimms are fried? But I don't have a second ddr2 computer to test them.

invest in a thrd stick or find a friend with a compatible comp...?

 

[Fireman]

Check the CMOS battery?

 

[TemjinGold]

Originally posted by: wolf550e
Thanks for the reply! Tried both DIMMs in both positions, separately. Still no beep when dimm is in, only "no-ram" beeps when no dimms are in. Maybe both dimms are fried? But I don't have a second ddr2 computer to test them.

It sounds like your ram is really dead. If you can get a friend to either lend you a stick, you'll be able to tell if anything else is broken too.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Originally posted by: wolf550e
After working for more than a year with no problems, one day it died. No smoke, but no picture either. Tested the monitor - it's ok with another pc.
Now I have bare mobo with cpu and hsf, connected to the psu.
With no ram it spins the fan and beeps. With ram it doesn't beep, but it has no video card and it should beep (according to the manual). Neither its pcie nor an ancient pci video card give any picture. As if the mobo doesn't even know how to use a video card. Cleared CMOS, didn't do anything.

What should I do?

Specs:
ASUS P5K-E (Intel P35)
Core2Duo E6550
2 x Crucial DDR800 1GB
GF8600 PCIE
Matrox PCI 2MB alternative
working lcd monitor
brand name psu
other stuff is disconnected.

Don't be surprised if it ends up being a mobo or VGA issue. Based on your description, it sounds like without the RAM installed, the mobo halts on that error. When you install the RAM, no RAM POST errors...but no VGA errors either. If you have access to a spare PCIE card give it a try. What do you have for a PSU? Are you ensuring all connections required to successfully POST are seated well?

 

[CoinOperatedBoy]

Originally posted by: wolf550e
Thanks for the reply! Tried both DIMMs in both positions, separately. Still no beep when dimm is in, only "no-ram" beeps when no dimms are in. Maybe both dimms are fried? But I don't have a second ddr2 computer to test them.

I just went through the same thing. With RAM in, system wouldn't POST but gave no beep codes. Take the RAM out, get constant beeps.

What voltage is your RAM spec'd for? Maybe provide a Newegg link? I had two sticks of 2.0-2.1V RAM that booted with auto-lowered timings at 1.8V (my board's default) when I first built my system, allowing me to adjust the Vdimm in BIOS to operate within spec. However, I was having some cold boot problems a couple months ago and reset my CMOS, and these modules wouldn't boot at 1.8V any more. I didn't expect that, so that made my problem pretty hard to diagnose -- testing single sticks didn't help. Had to get some different RAM. Turns out that one of my old sticks went bad, but the other was fine and would pass POST once I set Vdimm to 2.0V.

So, another vote for picking up some new RAM. Always good to have more on hand, and DDR2 is super cheap now anyway.

 

[bwatson283]

They dont have to be DDR2 to do the testing, if you have DDR it should work. Unless the Mobo will not lower than DDR2 for an odd reason. Please try a CMOS reset.

 

[Ausm]

I hate to say it but I think it is a mobo issue.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Originally posted by: bwatson283
They dont have to be DDR2 to do the testing, if you have DDR it should work. Unless the Mobo will not lower than DDR2 for an odd reason. Please try a CMOS reset.

Are you trying to say that DDR will fit in a DDR2 slot and vice versa? If so, you're wrong. Not only will it not physically fit, but they have different voltages..

 

[wolf550e]

Originally posted by: ch33zw1z

Originally posted by: bwatson283
They dont have to be DDR2 to do the testing, if you have DDR it should work. Unless the Mobo will not lower than DDR2 for an odd reason. Please try a CMOS reset.

Are you trying to say that DDR will fit in a DDR2 slot and vice versa? If so, you're wrong. Not only will it not physically fit, but they have different voltages..

Thank you ch33zw1z. DDR2 are notched differently for this reason: they are completely incompatible.

bwatson283: ... and I have stated that I have reset the cmos.

 

[bwatson283]

Doh! My bad.

 

[spinejam]

get a stick of ddr2 1.8vdimm and stick it in your 1st memory slot.
enter bios and change vdimm to 2.1 and save settings.
once 'puter restarts and is loading windows, shut 'er down and swap out the memory /and reboot.

this crap happens w/ my ballistix ddr2 when i bios flash.

 

[Tbirdkid]

grab a psu and try it. sounds like its possible that the cpu either isnt getting enough voltage. its also possible that the vid is what is dead. does the mb have onboard vid?