Possible fried motherboard..

[thewastedsmile]

My comp's run into problems and after a good afternoon on it, I'm stumped completely. At first, I was having problems with random reboots, which eventually led to the computer BSODing before going into Windows normally and not even going into Windows through safe mode. I figured that popping it open and doing some cleaning while waiting for an XP CD couldn't hurt (got from a friend today, with it breaking down the night before) so I did some re-Arctic Silvering on the CPU and popped it back in, leading to the current problem.

Basically, even with just the primary HD hooked in, it locks up after the initial bootup (showing what's on each of the IDE channels and so on.. the exact name eludes me at the moment) saying, quote, CMOs Error- reverting to default settings. (though I wouldn't think that it'd have any relevance; it'd fark up regardless of the message, but I'm not really here mentally, so correct me if I'm wrong.)

UPDATE: Well, I just got a Duron from a friend to work with and still getting the same lockup, so the CPU's fine, by the looks of it. Tried working with the jumpers and Li-Ion battery too and still nothing. Gack.

Any ideas or suggestions come greatly apprecated. Thanks.

 

[mechBgon]

Specs? My crystal ball's on the charger, but it'll be a couple hours...

 

[thewastedsmile]

Baah.. long day in class fries the brain, knew I was forgetting something. xP

*needs coffee*

AXP-M 2400 @ 2.2 ghz
1 GB
Maxtor 30 GB HDD (Master & old as dirt, might be worth something there)
WD 160 GB HDD
Abit NF7-S
Chaintech 6600GT

 

[mechBgon]

/me sends you an e-coffee

I assume you did clock it back down to normal and test that way? Maybe look over the motherboard for any capacitors that are leaking or bulging like Canned Food Gone Bad :Q Other than that, how about taking the drive out, putting it into a different system as a second drive, and running ScanDisk and an antivirus scan on it (and backing up any important stuff). Then put it back in the original system and try running a repair-installation of Windows?

You did have an up-to-date antivirus, right? The Blackworm/Nyxem.e "time-bomb" worm was due to go off today, is what made me think of that

 

[thewastedsmile]

Can't even get into the config menu though; it locks up even before then, though, with settings cleared, it shouldn't still be set at 2.2. Capacitors, as far as I'm seeing are all intact, but I figure I'll try a ScanDisk on another system and toss up an update in a bit. Thing is, I've tried booting even w/o an HD and still get the same error. Mobo's barely 1/2 a year old, though it was an OEM'er, so I don't see how it could be messing up there, unless I mananged to get a dud. Antivir's also been updated, so shouldn't be having problems there.

 

[mechBgon]

Could the PSU be going bad?

 

[thewastedsmile]

It's certainly a possiblity and one I haven't looked at yet; is there anything I should be looking out for or is my box showing symptoms of PSU farkage?

 

[mechBgon]

Well it sounds like PSU or motherboard, if it won't even get through the POST screen If you had another PSU to test with, that could be a quick easy thing to try. You're using the 4-pin square ATX12V cable in addition to the main one, right?

 

[thewastedsmile]

Yep.

 

[thewastedsmile]

I borrowed a PSU from a friend and I'm still getting the same error so by now, it's definately the mobo.

Barely 3 months on it too, so annoyed I am. Thing is, the chipset fan seemed to have died, so by the looks of it, it's crispy now, though I can't get the damned screws off the fan to check. Is there any way to fix the mobo or should I start shopping for a new board?