Computer Boot Problems
Hello,
I am having trouble with a computer... its my friends and from what he told me this is what originally happened to the computer:
It make a weird loud noise and then the hard drive locked up and he was forced to reboot. He says this happened twice, I came up to see it happen and nothing would happen. The next day his computer would not boot up, his monitor shows that a computer is there (green flashing light) but that it appears to not be turned on, however, the computer is turned on, fans all run, the hard drive runs but nothing happens. It will not even boot up the BIOS at all, its like its not even on.
Here is what I've tried to fix:
Power supply, bought a brand new case and power supply... not the problem.
Intel P4 2.4 GB CPU, bought a brand new P4 3.0 GB CPU... not the problem.
Replaced his 2, 256 MB DDR memory sticks with my 1, 512 MB DDR memory stick... not the problem.
Unplugged both hard drives... not the problem.
Tested another monitor... not the problem.
Removed all PCI cards from the computer... not the problem.
Tested different working video cards... not the problem.
At this point the only thing I can think that would be the problem is the motherboard, however, it lights up, everything seems to be working, but I am totally stumped... any suggestions at all?
Thanks,
Skippy
I am having trouble with a computer... its my friends and from what he told me this is what originally happened to the computer:
It make a weird loud noise and then the hard drive locked up and he was forced to reboot. He says this happened twice, I came up to see it happen and nothing would happen. The next day his computer would not boot up, his monitor shows that a computer is there (green flashing light) but that it appears to not be turned on, however, the computer is turned on, fans all run, the hard drive runs but nothing happens. It will not even boot up the BIOS at all, its like its not even on.
Here is what I've tried to fix:
Power supply, bought a brand new case and power supply... not the problem.
Intel P4 2.4 GB CPU, bought a brand new P4 3.0 GB CPU... not the problem.
Replaced his 2, 256 MB DDR memory sticks with my 1, 512 MB DDR memory stick... not the problem.
Unplugged both hard drives... not the problem.
Tested another monitor... not the problem.
Removed all PCI cards from the computer... not the problem.
Tested different working video cards... not the problem.
At this point the only thing I can think that would be the problem is the motherboard, however, it lights up, everything seems to be working, but I am totally stumped... any suggestions at all?
Thanks,
Skippy
Hi Skippy,
could you give us the model number ,eg version from your motherboard.
i think all pentium motherboards are so expensive that the mobo-manifactures should also lay an info on the mobo-you could find it on the front side or eventually on the back side (of the circuit board) on your mobo.
Or read the type of the two bridges(south-,north-bridg
Want to see the tech specs of your mobo.
Thanks!
cu
could you give us the model number ,eg version from your motherboard.
i think all pentium motherboards are so expensive that the mobo-manifactures should also lay an info on the mobo-you could find it on the front side or eventually on the back side (of the circuit board) on your mobo.
Or read the type of the two bridges(south-,north-bridg
Want to see the tech specs of your mobo.
Thanks!
cu
I suspect the motherboard also, but a loud noise before failure doesn't sound like a typical motherboard failure. Did you try not only removing PCI cards, but everything connected to the motherboard, like IDE and network and USB devices?
Also, do a visual inspection of your motherboard for bad capacitors. You can see pictures of examples here: www.badcaps.net
ASKER
*Rickardc
No onboard video, however, I did test 2 video cards which work in other computers.
*mwnnj
The motherboard is a P4P8X.
*Callandor
Everything has been removed, I started from scratch with nothing plugged in except the CPU itself, RAM and the video card and it would still not go into the bios.
No onboard video, however, I did test 2 video cards which work in other computers.
*mwnnj
The motherboard is a P4P8X.
*Callandor
Everything has been removed, I started from scratch with nothing plugged in except the CPU itself, RAM and the video card and it would still not go into the bios.
hi ricky,
excuse me for asking you all the time ,,,,
was there an ibm/hitachi deskstar model hdd attached to the mobo?
coul you try also replacing mobos :
can you find another atx tower for testing the "wrong " asus mobo..?
if you have problem on te "suspicios" tower with the "wrong" asus mobo-you can try to smell the power supply(not a joke),but be carefull,if there is a problem with the power supply you can smell it,or if you are brave enough(pay attention for the warranty) ,you can open the power supply and check the fuse and capacitors(as callandor!)...but i don't think it's a capacitor problem,,,i think there was a wrong hdd attached to the mobo ,like the ibm deskstar series,i think the harddrive had made the noises and after receiving bad sectors, had locked....the problem is :is there a security lock in the asus mobos if something like that occurs?why don't you try removing the batery and wait for a couple of minutes(with no current) and try all this stuff again:but only ram on it-u must receive a faulty message-if this occurs shutdown and attach the grafic card ,then try again...if everything is alright then try a hdd but not this noisy one which was already attached
to the system,,,,
i suspect the hdd and if a'm not wrong the asus mobo has locked itself for security reasons....could it be....
till later
excuse me for asking you all the time ,,,,
was there an ibm/hitachi deskstar model hdd attached to the mobo?
coul you try also replacing mobos :
can you find another atx tower for testing the "wrong " asus mobo..?
if you have problem on te "suspicios" tower with the "wrong" asus mobo-you can try to smell the power supply(not a joke),but be carefull,if there is a problem with the power supply you can smell it,or if you are brave enough(pay attention for the warranty) ,you can open the power supply and check the fuse and capacitors(as callandor!)...but i don't think it's a capacitor problem,,,i think there was a wrong hdd attached to the mobo ,like the ibm deskstar series,i think the harddrive had made the noises and after receiving bad sectors, had locked....the problem is :is there a security lock in the asus mobos if something like that occurs?why don't you try removing the batery and wait for a couple of minutes(with no current) and try all this stuff again:but only ram on it-u must receive a faulty message-if this occurs shutdown and attach the grafic card ,then try again...if everything is alright then try a hdd but not this noisy one which was already attached
to the system,,,,
i suspect the hdd and if a'm not wrong the asus mobo has locked itself for security reasons....could it be....
till later
btw,here you can check also your ram module:
http://www.asus.com/products/mb/socket478/p4p8x/overview.htm
cu
http://www.asus.com/products/mb/socket478/p4p8x/overview.htm
cu
and please excuse me for the faulty nick i used ,Skippy!
later
later
One last thing to try is take the motherboard out of the case and try the bare setup. The motherboard may be shorting against the case, so lay it on a cardboard box of piece of wood.
ASKER
Hey guys,
This has happened in 2 separate cases, the old case is the one that the problem initiated in. So, he bought a new case/power supply. Does the exact same thing. So I'm pretty sure its not shorting against the case because he had the computer for about a year then this starting happening. Bought the new case, put the mobo in, same thing.
I don't believe that the HD was a deskstar model, but I will go check.
I will try removing the battery from the mobo. Won't get this done til tonight after work, so in case your don't hear from me, thats where I am for 8 hours. ;)
Thanks for the help so far though, hopefully we can prevent another useless purchase. :)
This has happened in 2 separate cases, the old case is the one that the problem initiated in. So, he bought a new case/power supply. Does the exact same thing. So I'm pretty sure its not shorting against the case because he had the computer for about a year then this starting happening. Bought the new case, put the mobo in, same thing.
I don't believe that the HD was a deskstar model, but I will go check.
I will try removing the battery from the mobo. Won't get this done til tonight after work, so in case your don't hear from me, thats where I am for 8 hours. ;)
Thanks for the help so far though, hopefully we can prevent another useless purchase. :)
ASKER
Ok, checked the HD's, neither of them are deskstars also I removed the CMOS battery for a couple of mins, put it back in, plugged power and video card back in. Nothing. :(
hi Skippy,
as i read it seems there is a CMOS problem.Why?
Cuz the only things that are mechanical,which could make noise are fans and hdd(well there is a rotation).your friend,have heard the noise, cuz the CMOS was getting gone,and the hdd/hdds was going mad(no control).So what is to do:
° check on a good working system if the hdds are accessable,
° check if there is a warranty on the asus mobo(you said your friend used to work on his pc for a year),let asus check and replace their mobo with a new and good working one.Cuz you said:fans are on ,hdd/hdds are on too,it seems you have current through the mobo but no logical item on the mobo,the CMOS of your mobo is brocken-so think i.
I'll not try updating the BIOS(flash) it's not a secure solution-you can have a chance running the mobo again-but who knows ,when you'll get the same problem once again...so,be carefull with the old case,could it be that the problem is complex:power supply was bat =>mobo's CMOS got bad too=>as a result you can't run it on a new good working tower+new supply.
°check the new tower if it's ok and be carefull with the old one,it could be if you but an another mobo in the old case it could get brocken too...
So:
° cerefull with the old tower
° bring the new mobo to Asus ,if warranty ...
° check all other parts:new tower,cpu,rem,hdds,pci-car
cu
as i read it seems there is a CMOS problem.Why?
Cuz the only things that are mechanical,which could make noise are fans and hdd(well there is a rotation).your friend,have heard the noise, cuz the CMOS was getting gone,and the hdd/hdds was going mad(no control).So what is to do:
° check on a good working system if the hdds are accessable,
° check if there is a warranty on the asus mobo(you said your friend used to work on his pc for a year),let asus check and replace their mobo with a new and good working one.Cuz you said:fans are on ,hdd/hdds are on too,it seems you have current through the mobo but no logical item on the mobo,the CMOS of your mobo is brocken-so think i.
I'll not try updating the BIOS(flash) it's not a secure solution-you can have a chance running the mobo again-but who knows ,when you'll get the same problem once again...so,be carefull with the old case,could it be that the problem is complex:power supply was bat =>mobo's CMOS got bad too=>as a result you can't run it on a new good working tower+new supply.
°check the new tower if it's ok and be carefull with the old one,it could be if you but an another mobo in the old case it could get brocken too...
So:
° cerefull with the old tower
° bring the new mobo to Asus ,if warranty ...
° check all other parts:new tower,cpu,rem,hdds,pci-car
cu
ASKER
Ya the mobo wasn't under warranty anymore, so he bought a new one, should have it by Thursday. Can't do a BIOS flash if we wanted because nothing comes up, blank flashing green light monitoris all we got. :(
Gonna try the new mobo when it comes, if that doesn't work I have NFC what the problem is... I think it is almost impossible for it to be anything else?
Gonna try the new mobo when it comes, if that doesn't work I have NFC what the problem is... I think it is almost impossible for it to be anything else?
Hi,skippy.
I am 100% to your decision,but try with the new tower ,please,pay attention with the old one -could it be that it is working perfectly too, but be careful.
For the BIOS update i agree with you,i only tried to mention that somekind of ideas about BIOS-flashing are unsuitable.
OK,i'm waiting for your reply ,when you're ready.Good Luck!
cu
I am 100% to your decision,but try with the new tower ,please,pay attention with the old one -could it be that it is working perfectly too, but be careful.
For the BIOS update i agree with you,i only tried to mention that somekind of ideas about BIOS-flashing are unsuitable.
OK,i'm waiting for your reply ,when you're ready.Good Luck!
cu
ASKER
Its not the motherboard either... brand new motherboard in a brand new case with a brand new chip.
What else is left for it to be? Anyone? I'm completely and utterly baffled.
What else is left for it to be? Anyone? I'm completely and utterly baffled.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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ASKER
Ok, so here's what I did to fix this...
I plugged the old motherboard back in with the old cpu chip. When the computer was booting up I hit F5 on the keyboard, poof, the monitor kicks in. I see no rhyme nor reason behind this. So, after all this we're out $300 for the new P4 Prescott 3.0GB chip that will not work in either motherboard (cuz I'm a dummy and didn't realize this when we bought it) and $80 for the new mobo, however, I believe that we can send back because the mobo manufacturers are idiots and put the power supply plug in right beside the cpu and you can't plug in the fan and power supply at the same time with something being bent. Lesson: never buy SVX400 motherboards.
So all in all it is now working in the new case with the old everything. I don't know, I have no real answer on how this became unbroken, thanks for everyone's help and suggestions with this, I game the points to mwnnj because they were the most persistent in assisting me.
Skippy
I plugged the old motherboard back in with the old cpu chip. When the computer was booting up I hit F5 on the keyboard, poof, the monitor kicks in. I see no rhyme nor reason behind this. So, after all this we're out $300 for the new P4 Prescott 3.0GB chip that will not work in either motherboard (cuz I'm a dummy and didn't realize this when we bought it) and $80 for the new mobo, however, I believe that we can send back because the mobo manufacturers are idiots and put the power supply plug in right beside the cpu and you can't plug in the fan and power supply at the same time with something being bent. Lesson: never buy SVX400 motherboards.
So all in all it is now working in the new case with the old everything. I don't know, I have no real answer on how this became unbroken, thanks for everyone's help and suggestions with this, I game the points to mwnnj because they were the most persistent in assisting me.
Skippy
Greatly appreciated!
Sorry that i didn't help you straight away with a right answer ,but you helped yourself alone and that`s the best thing!I think you were lucky ,cuz i know people who had have burnt 2-3 amd cpu's cuz the Mainboard was a cheap gigabyte solution....So have your beer!
And also, you are always wellcome!
Till next time!
mwnnj
Sorry that i didn't help you straight away with a right answer ,but you helped yourself alone and that`s the best thing!I think you were lucky ,cuz i know people who had have burnt 2-3 amd cpu's cuz the Mainboard was a cheap gigabyte solution....So have your beer!
And also, you are always wellcome!
Till next time!
mwnnj
Does this computer have a graphics card? or is it onBoard?
make sure there is no dust in the monitor socket.