Stunped on Dead Computer Problem!

Hi.
Did you clear the CMOS?What about cable?

Yes, I moved the jumper that allows you to clear the CMOS. When I turn the computer on, all lights work and fan on Power supply runs and on Processor. This is why it has me so stumped. I would like to try to fix it my self, before shelling out loads of money to a repair guy. It doesn't go past screen that says the error message.

The "screen" that you are seeing says that the monitor has power, but is NOT seeing any signals from the video port on the PC.

Since you say this motherboard has built-in video, make sure that any jumpers are properly set, and that the cable for the video connector is properly connected to the motherboard.

I have seen a number of socket A motherboards give me a no boot problem.
The fix has been to FULLY reset the CMOS, and manually set the CPU FSB and clock on the first boot.

To get some of these systems to boot, I need to do the following:
Remove the CMOS battery.
Un-plug the power cord.
Wait at least 1/2 hour.
Plug in the power cord and turn on the PC.
Enter BIOS settings.
Set the CPU speed and other bios options.
Save settings, and exit setup.
Replace the CMOS battery.

While not a common problem, I have had a few AMD CPUs arrive dead. It is also VERY easy to damage a socket A CPU when you install the heatsink.

Chas

Part 1

Hi

You have already been given excellent suggestions. There are some other possibilities.

Read and understand the motherboard manufacturer's manual. There are certain ram combinations that will prevent boot, depending on the board, such as single sided or double sided, buffered or non buffered ram and ram module size - 128/256/512/1Gig. and combinations of. Some require the P4 power connection on the new socket A boards.

Make sure that the CPU heat sink is properly mounted. Should you have it mounted 180 degress out from proper alignment, you can crack the die on the processor or cause it to short out. You will also leave an air gap between the CPU and the heatsink which will cause an overheating problem.

I would alsocheck to assure that there is not a metal motherboard standoff mounted in the case that do not line up with any mounting holes in the motherboard for this will cause the board to go to ground.

Part 2

While you have the motherboard removed it is an excellent time to "bench jig" the system. Throughout any testing process you should keep in mind the killing effects that ESD ( electorstatic dischrge ) has on electronics. Place the motherboard on a non static surface, such as the anti static bag it was shipped in, and assure that you remain well grounded, especially in low humidity environments. Check for proper mounting of the CPU/Heatsink/Fan and the ram. Double check all jumper settings and set the FSB to 100 MHz. for the initial boot. Add a video card, if not "onboard" and connect the power supply. Power on the system by momentarily shorting the power on pins. Should the system not boot, start with changing the power supply and then each other component, one at a time, until you find the failed or intermittant device.

Should the system boot, unplug the power supply and add the floppy drive and its cable. Pay close attention to the connection of the power lead on the floppy drive. One pin off, on the connection, will cause a direct short and could damage your system. Power back up and check to see if it boots. Continue adding a device, one at a time, until you find the offending device. Determine the cause for any device preventing a boot. This could be a power connector, improper expansion card seating, bad data cable, bad circuit board on the device, ect..
Once you have a successful boot, with all devices connected and the BIOS configured, you can then start to assemble the components back in the case, again, one at a time.

I hope this helps.

Note - This is a two part answer. Please accept or reject this answer based on this and not for each part of the answer. Thank you.

May be just a bad power switch or wire? Try physically shorting the pins on the motherboard that the front power switch connects to. Just take a screwdriver and touch the 2 pins for a quick second and release.

It seems the only thing common to all the changes is the Hard Drive. Try a virus scan using certified virus free floppy based scanner.

Dear Stumped,

I agree with the guy in Answer 7. Before you take
the PC to a service center, try this: If you have
an emergency startup disk, or even DOS 6.22 on
floppies, set up the PC with only the floppy drive
and video installed. Reset the CMOS, insert the
floppy disk and power up. Immediatly go into BIOS
setup and select the default settings, exit and save. If the system boots from the floppy without
any error messages on your monitor, then your hard drive could be the culprit. You could have a boot sector virus, or the FAT table is messed up triggering the error message. If you have to take the PC in for service have them install a known
good hard drive first. Good luck!