Cannot boot anything

[Tommyhat]

I'm at my wit's end here and I hope someone could help me here (Tek tips has saved me countless times before).

So my PC will not boot into anything, I cannot even get bios to load. The fans on the video card and processor fan start up alright but it does not proceed any further. The optical mouse will not light nor will the locklights on the keyboard. It seems to be stuck in limbo before the bios. I can't even hard reset by holding down the power button.

I tried replaceing the motherboard battery, the power supply and the motherboard itself. All this accomplished was allowing me to hard reset by holding down the power button.

I'v tried booting with half ram, no ram, no video card no hard drive... nothing works.

Has anyone had this problem before or could possibly offer some advice?

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[franklin97355]

I'd start with the power supply before I went any further.

The answer is "42

 

[Tommyhat]

I tried replacing the power supply. No difference.

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[cupid11213]

I had that exact same problem just a few weeks ago with a friends computer to which i finally had come to the conclusion that the mobo was the culprit and told him that when i returned it to him ( then he went home started it up and it loaded all fine to the bios and he just installed xp on it and is now working fine) (funny how this works huh! lol)

ok what i last did before i returned it to him was to reset the bios (switch the jp2 jumpers <there right next to the cmos battery> to 1 and 2 to reset it i believe. then unplug the pc from wall and press the power button countless of times to run the juice out of the mobo, give it about 15 minutes <just to be sure ,lol> and then put the jumpers back the way they were to normal. and try to startit up and see if it gives you the bios screen)

I believe it's 1&2 to reset and 2&3 for normal but to be sure look at your mobo pamphlet to see how it needs to go on your mobo.

Please let me know of the progress and if not will try to find other solutions (although i would say that the mobo is starting to fail on you now) i had tried everything you just mentioned and more.


well let me know if this helps.

good luck!



Some people make things happen, some people watch things happen, while others wonder what happened.

 

[cupid11213]

oh also check change IDE cabled to see if thay are bad, it worked for a minute when i did that but then did not format the drive. then went back to th e same thing, but try resetting the bios first see if that helps.

Some people make things happen, some people watch things happen, while others wonder what happened.

 

[mainegeek]

What cpu are you running?
Did you plug in the additional 4 pin P4 plug into the motherboard? (If required)

Try it with just the basics attached. Cpu,Ram,Video and keyboard and see if it boots. If you have replaced the mobo and power supply for new ones then the cpu may possibly be gone.

 

[G0AOZ]

Are you trying to get this running with the component parts mounted inside the case? Under extreme circumstances where you seemingly cannot get anything to run, I'd suggest laying out mobo, PSU and floppy drive on the bench. This is just in case there is something accidentally shorting out the mobo to the metalwork.

At this stage unplug everything from the motherboard and PSU except CPU, RAM, video, floppy drive and keyboard. This is the minimum you need to run.

Also connect the system speaker. Any beeps after applying power to the motherboard?

If the system still fails to run, you will need to try and check individual parts on another machine to verify they're ok. Assuming you've checked Maingeek's suggestion re the P4 power connector, take a look at the Wattage for the PSU - what is it?

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[Tommyhat]

Cupid11213: Thanks for the advice. I'll try the jumper thing when get home. I don't think there's anything wrond with the IDE cable because I can't even boot bios, so the failure is before the HD is even recognised.

Mainegeek: I'm running a p4 3.2 hyperthreaded. I tried replaceing the CPU with my roomate's (same thing) and it still wouldnt boot.

G0AOZ: It was previously in a custom lego case so now the parts are all sprawled accross my workbench anyways haha.

Thank you all for your suggestions. Looks like another night of troubleshooting and doritos for me!

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[BadBigBen]

I don't think there's anything wrond with the IDE cable because I can't even boot bios,

this is a wrong assumption that some people make... I had a mobo that did the exact same thing until I pulled the IDE cable from the motherboard...

Clearing the CMOS is the best place to start, on a customers PC I was working on, what he had done was Power off the PC while it was in Sleep Mode, would not come back on at all, just hung there... cured it by clearing the CMOS...

I would also try another OUTLET as dirty power can cause this aswell... especially in old housing, like Dorms from the 40/50/60/70's at College etc...


Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[Tommyhat]

Okay... This is getting nuts...

I've actually replaced EVERY piece of this computer with spare parts around the house and it STILL doesn't work. It is, for all intents and purposes, a new computer.

I've tried another computer plugged into the same outlet and it worked fine, so that's not it.

What's the best way to be sure the CMOS has been reset?

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[BadBigBen]

Take out the Battery for 10 min... unhook from Outlet, press and hold the Power switch for a few min to drain the CAPS...

btw. speaking of PowerSwitch, for testing purpose only, switch the Reset button with the Powerswitch, and try to turn on the PC with the RESET switch, sometimes powerswitches go bad...



Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[Tommyhat]

I tried just jumping the power pins with a pair of scissors, but I'll try that reset button idea too, thanks.

More Details to come!

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[funkytunaa]

Not sure whether you have done or not but I'll start from scratch.

Take out all non necessary components.

So you are left with.

Motherboard
RAM
CPU
Power Supply
Video Card

You can plug in the Keyboard but not necessary to get something on the screen.

If that works, add hard drive and then one component at a time.

If it still doesn't work, pull the video card out and see if you get 4 system beeps if not replace one bit at a time until you find the faulty part. Remember there could be 2 parts that are faulty too. Power surge could have shorted anything.

If still not, open up a working computer and put bits from that in, you at least know those bits work.

Good luck.
F

 

[satrow]

You have a floppy drive cable connected? Remove it - one pin out on the floppy-side connector can give similar symptoms.

 

[Tommyhat]

It seems my replacement motherboard was broken as well!

I was right on my first guess. It's replaced and works now.

Thanks to all that replied!

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