Computer Problem

Discussion in 'Horn Depot' started by Squall, Apr 22, 2004.

  1. Squall

    Squall 500+ Posts

    When building the computer, I get no display on the monitor and the CDRom drives and hard drives keep "rebooting' every couple of secs. What's strange is that is seems like it's an infinite "booting" up loop, because the monitor stays on waiting for the "press 'del' to enter bios" screen to appear, but i have NO display.

    I took out the RAM and it made a beep, so i know the onboard speaker works and i get no beeps when i have everything in there.

    Asus MB
    AMD Athlon
    265 RAM
    40GB HD

    thanks in advance
     
  2. TexasOwnzYou

    TexasOwnzYou 500+ Posts

    how's the PSU? can it handle the load?

    maybe your processor is getting too hot. they tend to shut down when cpus get too hot. (check your heatsink/fan).

    can you boot into anything (cdrom or floppy?)
     
  3. Bob Wills

    Bob Wills 500+ Posts

    "What's strange is that is seems like it's an infinite "booting" up loop, because the monitor stays on waiting for the "press 'del' to enter bios" screen to appear, but i have NO display. "

    I don't get it. Do you have any output to your display (monitor) or not?

    btw: Try booting the system into the BIOS panel w/out a HDD or CDROM first.
     
  4. CaptainObvious

    CaptainObvious 25+ Posts

    The beep codes you get without the memory usually indicate that the MB and CPU are working. If it was an overheating issue I'd expect the system to at least begin its POST and give some video.

    At the very least you usually need the MB, PSU, CPU+heatsink, Video Card, and memory to POST. That's about as far as you can take and get some decent response besides a bunch of beeps.

    Strip it down to those core pieces with the monitor attached like BW said. Pull the mouse, any expansion (PCI) cards, drives, etc. See if you get video there. If not try pulling the monitor. If it's POSTing you should get 2 short POST beeps or something, not the many beep code you get from memory issues. You can also attach the KB (hopefully PS2, USB may not do this) and the 3 lock lights will blink on and off once during POST.

    Based on what you described I'd guess memory or one the other attached devices right now. Try those steps and see if you can get further. Also swapping known good parts is awesome. Video card, other memory, etc.
     
  5. Hypeisgood

    Hypeisgood < 25 Posts

    That is some good troubleshooting advice. Work to a level that you can get a success, your minimal known good level, and build back up one item at a time to locate the problem device. You can work up faster, more than one item added per boot, but it might actually take more time.
     
  6. score4OU

    score4OU 25+ Posts

    Do you have a video card or video built on the motherboard? Check your motherboard book to see if there is a jumper that needs to be set for one or the other.

    Make sure that the ribbon cables are lined up correctly to your drives. Pin1 goes to pin 1. If you have more than one drive on a cable, be sure one is set to master and the other as slave with the jumpers.
     
  7. Squall

    Squall 500+ Posts

    really good advice, thanks all, gonna start with the CPU and heatsink....seems like the most plausible option.
     
  8. score4OU

    score4OU 25+ Posts

    Check the voltage on one of the power cords that goes to a drive. This happened to me. The comp would turn on and the fans start, but all the fans seemed slow and it would not post. After taking the thing apart and putting it back togethed 3 times, I checked the voltage. I did not get a full 5 volts or 3.3 volts to the power cables. I got a new enermax PSU and was up and running.
     
  9. Horns11

    Horns11 10,000+ Posts

    Was about to say the same exact thing... when power supplies start losing it, the system tends to "multi-boot" and restart itself on whims.

    First try the strip-down method of booting with what you know works. If it still doesn't boot up correctly, fork over the $30 for a 400W PSU.
     
  10. score4OU

    score4OU 25+ Posts

    Squall,

    Did you fix it yet?
     

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