Problem with computer start up....

Codasmd

Old School XPeriencer
Joined
25 May 2002
Messages
495
Hey,

My computer will not boot and has been having this problem lately. When I hit the power switch, all the lights come on, both on the front of case and on keyboard.

However, they stay on and I dont get a signal to the monitor. I took it apart last night and put it back together again after doing a bit of dusting in there.
Tried using different power connecters, using "Y" spliters, and pulling all the ribbons.

Same result. I did notice later that the vid card fan was not moving though. But, the computer's been on for the last few weeks and runs fine when on.

I'm thinking that if the video card fan is dead, the card is dead?
Hoping to get confirmation of this before I go and buy a new one, for I dont have access to one right now.

And if the card is dead, I can understand not getting a signal out, but I'm confused as to why it would stop the boot progress.
All suggestions and comments are welcome.

_____________
AZZA MoBo
Ath 750
512 MB PC-133
20 GB WD Drive
GeForce2 MX 32MB
WinXP Pro
 
I just tried a different video card and got the same result.

Could it be possible that the hdd has problems with boot sequence but works fine if it's able to get past that part?

Or am I looking in the wrong direction?
 
i don't think it's your videocard. think it's your monitor itselfs, check if the netfeeding is working smooth and/or try a different monitor too. and let us know what you get ;)

greetz,
 
Whats netfeeding?

I'm totally drawing a blank to that.
 
the elektronic power you get straight from the elektrical web ;)
 
hmmm....here is my latest try:


Putting a known good card into the problem computer gave the same results. However, the good vid card fan did run. As did the case fan and the cpu fan.


I put the problem computer vid card into a "problem free" system and got the original problem. Fan did not turn on and there was no signal out. The computer sounded like it was going into the normal boot steps but right at power on, I got three warning beeps from comp. speaker. One long one and two short ones.

Beeeeeeeeeeeep, beep, beep.

Lasting no more than 2 seconds for all three beeps.

So this is where I'm at right now. Original card seems to be junk, but the good vid card in original comp still didnt work.

Im gonna look for the mobo book now for the beeps.
 
a monitor shouldn't stop your machine from booting.. it has no bearing on the boot process since it's just an output device.. but hey, ya never know.. you could try a different monitor to see what happens..

does it seem like the machine is booting in full but you can't see it from a particular point onward in the bootup? or is it stopping at some particular point completely? I am wondeirng if you might need to boot into safemode (if possible) and remove the video driver and then reinstall it.. or you may need to try a repair on the install..

yeah, have a look in your mainboard manual for the error code.. if you can't find it if you know teh brand and model you can usually d/l a pdf of the manual from the mfg site..
 
It doenst appear to be even starting to boot. I dont hear the usual sounds.

I did hook it up to a diff monitor but that didnt work either.

Whats really weird is that it was working fine for over a month. I never turned it off during that month though.

Turned it off and came home a few hours later and I havent beeon on it since.
 
could be the HD, but it could be a mainboard issue.. any chance you can borrow a HD from another machine to see if it will work?

by the sound of it though it could be the mainboard if you can't even get it to POST (power on self test)..

have you recently (before this problem) changed cards or RAM or anything? a loosely connected card, RAM, or cable can wreak havoc..
 
Well....cant find the manual to the mobo but it's an:

Azza kt3-abx

The azza site is completley worthless, unless ur buying something.

I did find this info on it, but nothing about warning beeps.
 
Okay.

The beeps were because the vid card was not seated in the agp slot all the way.

The motherboard sits to low in the case to allow the "elbow" to sit correctly. Anyways, I bent it straight and it sits in there fine. The card works, im using it now, but the fan still doenst spin.

So both vid cards work and the problem is something else, which I suppose is good because one thing has been eliminated.

What else? Hdd?
 
could be the HD.. does your system display anything at first so you can device detection or is there no display period? if no display I would tend toward the motherboard.. if it was the HD you would see detection but then get a message like "OS not found" if the HD was hooped..

btw, not having the fan work on your vid card is not good.. when it's getting heavily used (ie. gaming) it's gonna overheat eventually and burnout.. I wonder if the fan can be replaced by something off the shelf? anyone know?
 
I found a place you can download the manual from but it will take a while unless you live in Asia..

Get it here
 
could be the mobo. had a friend who experienced same 'beeps' a few weeks ago and it turned out to be a friend mobo.

worth looking at...
 
that's what I'm thinking too..

I had a look through the manual but it doesn't provide a list of any sort for the beep codes..

just wondeirng if you had made any manual changes in BIOS? if you have perhaps you can 'load BIOS defaults' and see if it helps..
 
Thanks for the link Robbiesan.

If it is the mobo, anyone know of a test or tests that I can do to check, myself?
Or is this something that costs money and is done with volt meters and the like?

I just dont understand how the computer could work fine for a month straight and then not turn on a few hours later. I mean, I cant even get into safemode or bios setup.

Maybe if I throw it to the ground repeatedly, it will work?
 
lol, I don't think throwing it on the ground will help but it might make you feel better.. hmmm, maybe a tech shop could some testing on it but generally techs say "it's the mainboard and it needs to be replaced".. this is because the mainboard is an integrated piece of hardware and no shop is going to try and narrow a faulty chipset and then replace it..
 
I would unplug everything that's not necessary, your main concern is for it to post. Remove all the unnecessary cards (sound, nic, ect) except for the video card (make sure it's properly seated). Unplug the floppy drive, hard drive, cdrom(s) from the motherboard also remove extra ram, only leave one stick in the computer...if possible borrow a stick of known good memory. If you are able to boot the computer at this point (only having the cpu, memory, video card) add what you've removed/unplugged one at a time being careful to plug the cables in the right direction and that cards are well seated. If the computer refuses to boot bare bones try to get a hold of a power supply to swap and then processor to try, as a last ditch effort you might try removing the motherboard from the case and placing it on something non-conductive and try booting it then. This can be tricky to do, but a few times I've ran into something in the case grounding the motherboard out after fixing the problem the computer was fine.
 
ok so now when you power the system on are you getting video ever?

i would try what others have suggested also i found:

The BIOS can be rolled-back to the last batch of valid settings by pressing "CTRL + Insert" at start-up.

give that a try while your at it also.

i've had the same thing occur myself. i just shut the system off and tried cold booting and nogo, it was the motherboard.

good luck
 
I unplugged everyhthing but the vidoe card and took out one stick of ram.

Leaving only one stick of ram and the video card in. The sound is integrated so I can't disconnect that.

So, I tried starting it with only the vid card, motherboard and cpu connected. Result was the same as before; nothing. No signal out. I can only assume that it is the mobo or cpu since i know that the vid card works, but correct me if I could be wrong.

About taking the mobo out and putting it on non-conductive surface...

Is this to say that I take it out of case and setting on something like a wooden desk?

Do I have to remove the power supply also?

Do I need some sort of ground or is the mobo alone on the desk?

And what exactly am I looking for when I do this?

Thanks

[Edit]....I didnt get any beeps at all when trying this, but I did get a long beep yesterday when powering on with the vid card pulled.
 

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