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Problems with boot after PSU change

L

lavagirl669

Diamond Member
Just installed Antec True Power 510W PSU. Previous troubleshooting led me to failed PSU.

Hooked everything back up double checking all connections.
CPU, Vid Card, everything working.

Recently changed CMOS battery.

Hit Power and I get one of 2 things:

No beep and no Video (yes card is running and fan is spinning) just fans going
along with everything else.

When I reset my CMOS jumper (power unplugged) I get the normal 1 Beep
But then I get - 2 and then 1 beep (2-1) (Can't find this beep code anywhere so don't know what it is)
and then the Post Screen - ***Tried to hit delete to get into BIOS at this point and it would not
go***
Instead I get an Ameritrends black screen with System info
and one of 2 error messages:
CMOS settings wrong
OR
CMOS battery low

I try hitting F11 for Setup as it says to
then F1 ***Nothing happens*** BLACK Screen and System is running but nothing happens

Shutoff power and tried again
Get same Post and then Ameritrends Black screen with system info
Hit F11 for Setup
then
F2 for default settings

It goes to a "Select First Boot Device" screen
with Floppy, IDE 0 (HDD), or CDROM as my options.

I hit IDE 0 and next get a black screen and NOTHING

Tried switching off power and trying again and same thing.

Next time I try I get NOTHING again NO Beep, nothing until I power off and reset CMOS again
and then same as above 🙁

Help! Someone suggested I needed to reset CMOS settings, but I can't even get into it.

Could this be a MOBO problem?

Thanks in advance!

Lavagirl
 
It is a new CMOS battery and still the same error.

Sometimes it is "CMOS battery low"
Sometimes it is "CMOS Settings incorrect"

Tried the F11 to F2 to boot sequence screen and even tried booting off the WinXP CD
with no luck...just a black screen and lots of lovely noise from the fans, CPU and LED as
well as all optical drives.
 
Also, could a CMOS battery failure cause symptoms like this?

I'm almost beginning to think if it isn't the MOBO then maybe the HDD?

I get the post and Ameritrend screen but then no WINXP so it isn't even getting to
the HDD (?)

Please help...I'm going to go get another CMOS battery and try replacing that again
but tell me...would that be the only problem that could cause this?

Suspect: MOBO..... (?) or HDD (?)
 
Hard to say exactly what your problem is. Too bad you dont have extra system you could swap parts out with. If you have two sticks of ram just to eliminate that as the problem pull one and then the other etc. and test. Also, reinstall your old Power Supply and see what happens. Install an older video card pci or AGP if you have one. Replace the HD and see what happens. If you have two HD just make the second one master and see if it makes a difference. Pull all pci cards accept video and see what happens... It probably is a mobo/PS/HD issue. Your settings for your CPU are correct in the bios or onboard I assume.
 
Hi Luthien,

Thanks for the suggestions....so you don't think it's a bad CMOS battery?

I have 2 HDD's but the 2nd one had not actually been installed. I was planning to, but
my old PSU failed (previous post).

So I wouldn't be able to use the 2nd HDD as a Master since I have not actually installed it
yet right? Seagate recommends installing the software first then the HDD.

As far as settings for CPU they have not changed.

What initially happened is I tried to boot up system it got all the way to the WinXP starting up screen
and just died: LED's, fans, everything!

So I troubleshot it taking out ALL except Vid card, ram stick and CPU and using old PSU still did the same thing....Died.
Connected a backup PSU (300W) same configuration and it worked, getting me to the Screen I'm getting now.

Put in the new Antec PSU today (550W) and hooked bare minimum up...same thing.

Don't know what else to do....think its worth trying another CMOS battery?
How can I test if the HDD is actually working? Is there something I should be looking for if I pull it out
when running?
 
I seriously doubt the hard drive has anything to do with it...... Ignore the HD for now (disconnect it), and focus on the BIOS/CMOS issues. A faulty CMOS battery can cenrtainly cause those symptoms, but since you just put in a new one, that seems unlikely.

Have you tried reflashing the BIOS with the original bios image, and then going into the bios to put back your settings?
 
Haven't tried that....

What would be the best way? Have not done that before...sorry...rookie 🙂

Thing is, when I hit DEL on Post screen it doesn't take me to the BIOS
why would that be?
 
That spare 300W power supply. Was it a cheap/older one? I had a problem over the summer where the system would act really sporadic. When I used a cheap 300W power supply there was no problem. It ended up that there was a short from one of the USB headers. The 300W power supply was cheap so it didn't care. But my original power supply was cutting off power when it encountered the short.

I guess try running your system outside of the case. Or try to make sure nothing is shorted.
 
If you want to try your second HD out you can do it using Norton Ghost but you will need another working system to create the boot disk on... I hope your familiar with Norton Ghost... Do you have two sticks of ram or not? Btw I am just trying to help you narrow down what could be wrong using what you have to work with. At this point I would say the chances are good that you have a bad motherboard or something you cant test because you dont have another CPU or more ram etc. RMA the motherboard and if that doesnt work before you RMA the cpu go buy an extra stick of ram if that isnt the problem return it so no cost to you just running around time. Not much more you can try accept tearing it all apart and running it outside the case like already suggested but I have never had that be the problem in 15 years, so I think that is WAY overkill even though the MOBO manufacturers always want customers to do it just in the hope that they can save their time and waste yours so if you dont want to do it tell them you did it, lol. You know I really think at this time it is about 90% chance it is your motherboard you need to RMA/replace. You can still try flashing your bios to the newest bios available for it if it doesnt have it already. Oh, and if you can get advanced replacement with your mobo company do it since that will save you a week of waiting.

If you want to learn how to flash your bios check out your mobo manual and your mobo website for the files you will need and the directions.

Did you say that the 300W older PS you have gets the system up and running?
 
Thanks Luthien,

I do have 2 sticks of RAM and will try switching those.

No extra CPU though.

I'll try flashing the BIOS too

I think you are probably right though, I've got a MOBO failure or short of some kind.

darn 🙁
 
Oh and NO the system didn't boot up with the 300W

But I determined by using it that the old PSU was bad because it got me running up
to where I am now.

Thanks again
 
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