PC Boot problem. No Beep, No POST

[ukjane]

I have built a PC myself and having problems with it. My first board was definatly faulty, confirmed by supplier and replaced. This board does not have the same problem, but similar.

The machine was OK, at first but was hanging occasionally on the memory count, then it started to count the memory really slowly during boot. During an XP Pro installation a memory address error occured, then at the next reboot it would not boot. I unplugged the power cord and reinserted the machine powered on without me even pressing the power button - strange. No post beep, no display, power reaches all components but no boot. A CMOS jumper reset and Battery removal sorted it out that time.

Since then during an other re-boot the same problem has occured again. I have reset the CMOS jumper and removed battery for at least a minute and it won't resolve it this time.

I have since purchased some new memory and tried my new memory same problem. I have also had it looked at by a computer store, they told me they thought it was a BIOS settings issue, and once we could get into the BIOS we could set it up right. But WE CAN't GET INTO THE BIOS because it doesn't POST. He swapped the Graphics and Power Supply to see if this was causing the problem. Still not booting.

Help.....any ideas, I have emailed the motherboard manufacturer's tech support and they told me to check mem and power supp, but already done this.

Surely I can't have received 2 fauly mobo's.

My system

Case with 350watt Power supply.
Abit AT7-MAX2 mobo
AMD Althlon XP 2400+
3 x 512MB 2100 DDR RAM
AGP MSI GeForce4 8X 64MB
120GB HDD 7200rpm
Sony DVD-Rom
Phillips CD-Writer.

I have tried booting with only the required components, i.e no drives and still same problem. I understand that I will need to upgrade to a 500watt power supply before installing any more components, but would an underpowered power supp cause a non post problem?

 

[Kocky]

I'd try the following.

Remove everything from the case except your video card, cpu and one ram stick.
Boot system and see if it comes at the POST.
You should get a DISK BOOT ERROR. If it gets to this point then the video card, cpu and the ram stick are good.

After that add another ram stick and boot again. If it comes at the POST power off the pc and add the last ram stick and reboot. If it reachtes the POST again then you're certain your ram sticks are OK.

After that add the hard-drive and install your OS. After OS is installed add one piece of hardware everytime and reboot.
This is the best way to detect faulty hardware and get a stable system. Also set your BIOS to the default settings.

Make sure that the master slave settings of your IDE devices are correct.

Did you also check if your motherboard supports the memory and also the size 3x512mb. You also want to check the front side bus speed of your memory. If you have 266mhz memory and the FSB is set to 333 mhz then you'll get into trouble.

Good luck.



After taking a look on the net i found the following about your mobo:

Supports:
Four 184-pin DIMM sockets
Supports 2 DIMM DDR 333/400 (Max. 2GB)
Supports 3 DIMM Un-buffered DDR 200/266 (Max. 3GB)
Supports 4 DIMM Registered DDR 200/266 (Max. 3.5GB)

 

[ukjane]

Thanks. I shall try that when I get home. The memory is supported, I checked before I bought it. When it was working the memory was being counted v slowly and in jumps, but the speed was being detected as DDR 226 which is correct.

If after this test it still won't boot, what do you think?

 

[Kocky]

Check if your motherboard is not short cirquiting (I don't know if I spelled that right) with the pc case. The motherboard should be placed on coper pins that level the mobo of the pc case.

If you have a ultra DMA 66 or higher than you should have a special IDE cable for it. It's a 80 pin IDE cable. The cd-rom drive and burner should be installed on a 40 pin IDE cable.

 

[Kocky]

If you have a ultra DMA 66 or higher hard-disk than you should have a special IDE cable for it.

I forgot to put hard-disk in the sentence.

 

[ukjane]

I shall check all that as well tonight. Thanks.

 

[BadBigBen]

Hi to all,

Hmmm I had similiar problems on my system that I build...

after weeks of checking and rechecking everything it simply boiled down to one denominator the RAMs where shot... Oh they passed all tests and then some, but once they got to their operating temp the simply became faulty...

you might also just try it with one MEMstick at a time...

Another issue could be that the Processor is overclocking/heating and just decides to hang...

Ben

 

[ukjane]

Hi,

I've checked everything you've mentioned. My problem has changed slightly though now. I push in the power switch but the power only says on for approx 1 second, the procesor fan spins once, then power goes off, powser light on case just flashes on once and then straight off.

Leaning towards a Power Supply problem, hope it didn't blow the board. I'm now back to EXACTLY the same problem as my first faulty board, which makes me think that i'm doing something to them, I have checked that the board is mounted properly and all seems well.

I am taking into the supplier at the weekend and he will check the board\config for me and swap parts out if faulty. I shall post the outcome so everyone knows next time they have the same problem.

 

[BadBigBen]

Hi Jane, Hmmm it sounds now more than likely that you either have connection problem somewhere in your system or that the sensors for the overheating protection of your CPU come into play... check for the correct FSB and Speed Ratio settings for your Processor, if your Board has an AUTO setting try to set it to that (my old Board had such a setting and it recognized the processor correctly)... reboot and see what it will do...

Ben

 

[jonhiker]

check to see if the board is shorting against the case. adjust the MOBO slightly and tighten down the screws. I had a similar problem and this worked, although in may not apply to you.

 

[7figo7]

I have the same MOBO and the same problem and i'm on my second MOBO from this supplier. The supplier i bought the board from was Scan.co.uk. If you found a solution to this problem please let me know.

Figo

 

[ukjane]

We never did actually find out what the problem was. In the end our supplier swapped the board for a similar Asus model and we havn't had a problem since. It was therefore not a fault with any other component in the system as we changed everything else.

The most likely causes of this sort of problem are faulty processor, faulty PSU or some sort of short circuit through say a floppy drive. But it's also likely that there is a batch of faulty MOBO's.

I hope you get it sorted.