Computer not working: nothing shows on monitor

  • Thread starter Thread starter blacklotus90
  • Start date Start date
Well, bad news over here with my P6SBA - it is now dead as a doorknob -
nothing - nada.
I put the original power supply back in (the FSP350) and reconnected
everything (after taking out the cmos battery and jumping the "reset
cmos" jumpers), and, when I hit the power on switch, NOTHING HAPPENS -
at all.

I guess that means I screwed something up big time. I can't figure
what. The cmos battery was a maxwell cr2032 and measured at 3V on my
radioshack multitester. I checked all my connections - all were
fastened in good and power is available. It is now as if the little
power switch connector is not fastened, but, of course, I checked that.

Did I do something bad with that cmos battery/reset cmos jumper thing?
Or did something bad happen when I hooked up the other power supply
(the antec 380)? Anyway, this is a real bumer - this old PC was really
a good horse while it worked. Now the memory, the CPU, the video card,
all junk pile stuff - makes me sick. littleberry
 
Wow, so many responses!! I am sorry if this response is short or
incomplete, but I do no have much time on this computer I'm using.

To answer Phil, my mobo is just a plain A8N-SLI. I cannot test the
graphics card on another computer, as all my friends use AGP mobos.

Many of you seem pretty adamant that this is a PSU problem.

I've tried removing all cards, drives, adapters etc. and this didn't
help.

I'm currently out of thermal paste, so I cannot reseat my CPU as of
right now.

Here is what I am going to try today, in this order:

1. Reset CMOS
2. Try graphics card in second PCI-E slot
3. Request to borrow a PS from a friend

I'll post the results as soon as I can.

Thank's for the help so far!
 
Here is what I am going to try today, in this order:
1. Reset CMOS
2. Try graphics card in second PCI-E slot
3. Request to borrow a PS from a friend

I'll post the results as soon as I can.

Thank's for the help so far!
Click to expand...

Major Update!!

I tried resetting the CMOS, but unfortunately that did not help.

I then tried to put the graphics card in the lower PCI-E slot.
[This may or may not hae relevance to my problem, but in order to fit
it in the lower slot I had to disconnect both my HDD's. I had already
tried disconnecting all stuff before, but it may still be relevant.]
It worked!! Just to check, I put the card back in the upper slot, and
that worked too!!
Now, I have a new problem. The POST screen (the one with the asus logo)
takes forever. I can get into setup, but after pressing DEL it says
entering setup for about 30 seconds instead of the normal 5-10. If I do
not enter setup, it stays on that screen for about 30 seconds, then
finally goes to the one where it displays the memory, addins, etc.
Then, it goes to the black screen before boot screen, and just stays
there.

I have no idea why this is, and I will try tweaking BIOS to see if that
helps. Any suggestions as to why it won't startup?
 
I can get into setup, but after pressing DEL it says
entering setup for about 30 seconds instead of the normal 5-10. If I do
not enter setup, it stays on that screen for about 30 seconds, then
finally goes to the one where it displays the memory, addins, etc.
Then, it goes to the black screen before boot screen, and just stays
there.

I have no idea why this is, and I will try tweaking BIOS to see if that
helps. Any suggestions as to why it won't startup?'
Click to expand...

Okay. It is still taking a long time to post. Now, sinc last time I did
turn it off during windows setup, it did give me the lastknown config,
safemode, etc. screen, which was fully responsive. I chose last known.
It then went black, and then started to come up with the boot screen.
This froze before it was even fully faded in.

My next things to try:
Safe Mode
Knoppix or Ubuntu
 
'blacklotus90' wrote:
| Okay. It is still taking a long time to post. Now, sinc last time I did
| turn it off during windows setup, it did give me the lastknown config,
| safemode, etc. screen, which was fully responsive. I chose last known.
| It then went black, and then started to come up with the boot screen.
| This froze before it was even fully faded in.
|
| My next things to try:
| Safe Mode
| Knoppix or Ubuntu
It is a bad idea to try installing another operating system when you
obviously have a hardware problem.

After clearing the CMOS, did you reselect the previous options used? The
long time to boot (POST is Power On Self Test, only a part of booting up)
may very likely have either of two relatively benign, easy to correct
causes.
* In the BIOS settings there is one selection to enable something like
'fast power on self test' or 'fast boot'; this selection, among other
things, will eliminate checking all of memory - that alone will shorten the
boot time by 20 seconds or so.

* If you have not reset the CMOS characteristics for the hard drives
the system will have to identify the configuration from the hard drives -
this will add time to the boot up.

By this time you have opened the system case and fooled around with the
hardware so much that you may have inadvertently caused a bad mating of
connectors.

Since you have on site in warranty repair available, USE IT before you do
something that voids the warranty!
Since you have on site in warranty repair available, USE IT before you do
something that voids the warranty!
Since you have on site in warranty repair available, USE IT before you do
something that voids the warranty!

Phil Weldon




|
| > I can get into setup, but after pressing DEL it says
| > entering setup for about 30 seconds instead of the normal 5-10. If I do
| > not enter setup, it stays on that screen for about 30 seconds, then
| > finally goes to the one where it displays the memory, addins, etc.
| > Then, it goes to the black screen before boot screen, and just stays
| > there.
| >
| > I have no idea why this is, and I will try tweaking BIOS to see if that
| > helps. Any suggestions as to why it won't startup?'
|
| Okay. It is still taking a long time to post. Now, sinc last time I did
| turn it off during windows setup, it did give me the lastknown config,
| safemode, etc. screen, which was fully responsive. I chose last known.
| It then went black, and then started to come up with the boot screen.
| This froze before it was even fully faded in.
|
| My next things to try:
| Safe Mode
| Knoppix or Ubuntu
|
 
Since you have on site in warranty repair available, USE IT before you do
something that voids the warranty!
Since you have on site in warranty repair available, USE IT before you do
something that voids the warranty!
Since you have on site in warranty repair available, USE IT before you do
something that voids the warranty!
Click to expand...
I like to be daring!

Hehe, it works perfectly now :) Curiously, I removed my wireless card
to boot knoppix, and after it had been removed, windows booted fine. I
reinstalled the drivers for it and after re-inserting it, and
everything is fine and dandy
 
blacklotus90 said:
Hehe, it works perfectly now :) Curiously, I removed my wireless card
to boot knoppix, and after it had been removed, windows booted fine. I
reinstalled the drivers for it and after re-inserting it, and
everything is fine and dandy
Click to expand...

Sounds like you might not have reset the cmos properly and
it took some time to sort out the mess with the removal and
replacement of various cards forcing it to clean up the ESCD.
 
'blacklotus90 wrote:
| I like to be daring!
|
| Hehe, it works perfectly now :) Curiously, I removed my wireless card
| to boot knoppix, and after it had been removed, windows booted fine. I
| reinstalled the drivers for it and after re-inserting it, and
| everything is fine and dandy
_____

I am happy your system is now working. Evidently you enjoy trouble shooting
and fooling with hardware. As you can see from the replies you've gotten to
your original post, there are many ideas about how to trouble shoot; some
even work. For your next problem, you might try posting to just ONE
newsgroup (of course, choosing that one newsgroup could be difficult). The
reason for choosing just one newsgroup is the 'peer review effect'. A good
technical newsgroup has knowledgeable participants that check most posts and
evaluate answers and information. Any incorrect information is usually
pointed out quickly (as 'Ron Speed' did with my error in reversing the
source of the 'Power Good' signal.)

Another good thing to do is to use google searches to find posts related to
your problem. This may get you started on troubleshooting, and will also
help you evaluate the suitability of a newsgroup for your questions. For
hardware questions, alt.comp.hardware.overclocking is a good group,
especially for troubleshooting (and overclocking if that attracts you -
though if you overclock, it's a good idea to have a second system if you
need restore corruption in the overclocked system {and a second system is
also a tremendous help in hardware troubleshooting}).

Finally, I checked the manuals for all three A8N-SLI models, and the plain
vanilla A8N-SLI manual does not have the passage you sited about 'beep
codes' and a speaker, only the Deluxe and Premium manuals do (and they also
have a voice annunciator.) You really should connect a speaker to the
'panel' connector of the motherboard. It is simple to do, and very helpful
when you don't get a monitor display.

Good luck.

Phil Weldon

|
| > Since you have on site in warranty repair available, USE IT before you
do
| > something that voids the warranty!
| > Since you have on site in warranty repair available, USE IT before you
do
| > something that voids the warranty!
| > Since you have on site in warranty repair available, USE IT before you
do
| > something that voids the warranty!
| I like to be daring!
|
| Hehe, it works perfectly now :) Curiously, I removed my wireless card
| to boot knoppix, and after it had been removed, windows booted fine. I
| reinstalled the drivers for it and after re-inserting it, and
| everything is fine and dandy
|
 
'Ron Speed' wrote:
| Sounds like you might not have reset the cmos properly and
| it took some time to sort out the mess with the removal and
| replacement of various cards forcing it to clean up the ESCD.
_____

Seems likely.

Phil Weldon

|
| > Hehe, it works perfectly now :) Curiously, I removed my wireless card
| > to boot knoppix, and after it had been removed, windows booted fine. I
| > reinstalled the drivers for it and after re-inserting it, and
| > everything is fine and dandy
|
| Sounds like you might not have reset the cmos properly and
| it took some time to sort out the mess with the removal and
| replacement of various cards forcing it to clean up the ESCD.
|
|
 
I like to be daring!

Hehe, it works perfectly now :) Curiously, I removed my wireless card
to boot knoppix, and after it had been removed, windows booted fine. I
reinstalled the drivers for it and after re-inserting it, and
everything is fine and dandy
Click to expand...

Aw hell, why not just throw a PSU at it anyway, and keep everybody
happy.

--Vic
 
Hi, davsf. Been noticing your posts. Now you know why those mobos are
so expensive on Ebay? IIRC, you said your mobo is a 440-BX. Many were
sold. Many of them were built from a bunch of bad capacitors--even Asus and
Abit, as well as others. Bet yours has several swollen caps, if not bulged
to the point of leaking what looks like rusty liquid crud onto the mobo. And
since so many were built and have given otherwise good service, people don't
wanna give 'em up; hence the high price on Ebay due to so few replacements
for so many needed.
HTH in your solution to the problem. In the meantime, doublecheck that
you replaced the CMOS-CLEARING JUMPER correctly--it's so easy to miss one of
the 2 pins it is supposed to fit onto by shifting it ever so slightly toward
the end so as to only grab one pin.
Luck. S
 
In message <[email protected]>
sdlomi2 said:
... Many of them were built from a bunch of bad capacitors--even Asus
and Abit, as well as others. Bet yours has several swollen caps, if
not bulged to the point of leaking what looks like rusty liquid crud
onto the mobo.
Click to expand...

Yep, I'v thrown out two Epox motherboards for exactly this problem. Now
replaced by an Asus.
 
I have the same problem with my DV 1000, it is the bad CMOS chip quoted
by www.laptoponcall.com
They had to replace 2 bad CMOS or FMOS chip for me and the laptop is
perfectly working fine now. The good thing about the service is much
much cheaper than replacing the new motherboard. You can go to
www.laptoponcall.com and there will be tons of information for you in
the motherboard problem.
 
titi said:
I have the same problem with my DV 1000, it is the bad CMOS chip quoted
by www.laptoponcall.com
They had to replace 2 bad CMOS or FMOS chip for me and the laptop is
perfectly working fine now. The good thing about the service is much
much cheaper than replacing the new motherboard. You can go to
www.laptoponcall.com and there will be tons of information for you in
the motherboard problem.
Click to expand...


This guy has made only 3 postings, and in all of them he mentions the
PC repair services of the same company (and in all of them he advises
to change the motherboard). It looks to me like a shameless promotion.
Perhaps they get a too large stock of the motherboards.
 
minnesotti said:
This guy has made only 3 postings, and in all of them he mentions the
PC repair services of the same company (and in all of them he advises
to change the motherboard). It looks to me like a shameless promotion.
Perhaps they get a too large stock of the motherboards.
Click to expand...

Original poster = titi_tran84
Posting from 69.61.184.27 (fuse.net , cincinnati)
Tried search on Cincinnati Better Business Bureau.

http://search.cincinnati.bbb.org/de...ID=0292000010003472&ComName=LaptopOnCall+Inc.

"Principle = Annie Tran"

http://www.laptoponcall.com/index.php?act=price

:-)

Paul
 
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