PC bootup problem - no beeps.

[Kezmondo]

Hi, I'm after some thoughts on a problem I'm having with my PC:

All of a sudden, the PC struggles to start up. Most of the time, I get no beeps, followed by blank screen - monitor goes into standby mode.

Occasionally I get a kind of muffled beep, and it gets to the motherboard splash screen or device listings, and then freezes.

Also occasionally, it beeps once and boots up fine. However, Windows freezes after a seemingly random period of time and I'm forced to switch it off.

These problems haven't followed any upgrade or anything.

I've tried:
Reseating the RAM - no joy.
Swapping the power supply - no joy.
Swapping the video card - no joy.


So, what looks like the problem, in your opinion? I'm thinking the Motherboard but just wanted your thoughts before I shell out for a new one.

Thanks.

[Ideas Man]

Sounds like motherboard to me too. I've seen this happen a couple of times and the motherboard was the cause. Make sure you try all your components on another motherboard (If possible) if you want to be absolutly certain it's the motherboard.

[mendhak]

IdeasMan: What if the processor is overheating? Or possibly a bad hard drive?

I had a similar problem with a bad hard drive, which was about 9 years old.

[Kezmondo]

Hmm, I hope not, I've just ordered a new Mobo!

Aside from swapping the HDD with another, is there a way I can check it? If I just disconnect the HDD, what would I expect to happen?

As for overheating, is that something that can suddenly just start happening? The fan is still working. The processor isn't overclocked or anything, and has been working fine for 2 years.

[Ideas Man]

If the HDD was bad and you disconnect it, it will still do a POST and beep, it will just get an error when it attempts to load the OS so it can't be that.

[visualAd]

Easiest way to test whether or not it is the mother board is to boot the system with only a graphics card and memory.

If it doesn't boot to a "no operating system found" message then it could be a memory problem or the motherboard, as you have already tried changing the graphics card.

To test the memory just take all the memory modules out and test one at a time. Then test each memory module in eah memory slot to isolate problems with the memory slots on the motherboard.

If it still doesn't boot then its probably your mother board

[Kezmondo]

I actually tried a new memory module last night and got exactly the same behaviour. On the one occasion I did get it to boot, everything froze up after about 20 minutes. Therefore I'd say it isn't the memory. However, I didn't try it in different slots - thanks for that idea, I'll give that a whirl.

I did try starting up with the HDD disconnected and got nowhere - no beeps, nothing on the screen. It's looking more and more like the motherboard.

Was thinking about the overheating issue - am I right in thinking this would be unlikely as the problem happens on startup? I would have thought there wasn't enough time for it to overheat?

Thanks for all responses by the way - I'll let you know how the new motherboard works out.

[mendhak]

If in fact it is the CPU overheating, then it doesn't matter when it happens. You need to figure out how long you've been using it. Leave the PC off for a couple hours and try again. If it works smoothly, then it may have been an overheated CPU. But after reading IdeasMan post(s), I doubt if that is the case.

[Kezmondo]

Right, I think the problem is sorted now so I just thought I'd post the outcome...

Got and installed the new motherboard. Plugged just the video card in and start it up - worked great.

Plugged the other cards in (sound card, LAN card, TV Tuner card) and same problem! By process of elimination, it looks like the problem lies with the TV Tuner! With all the other cards, in it's been working fine and doesn't freeze in Windows.

The moral of this story - should anyone have similar problems - is to try disconnecting all but the video card first and seeing if the machine will boot, and take it from there. Having little experience with the insides of a PC, I didn't do this - I also should have mentioned my full quota of PCI cards when posting on the forum, and for that I apologise.

Anyway, hopefully it's all sorted now, so cheers!



P.S Anyone wanna buy a motherboard?

[visualAd]

Originally posted by visualAd
Easiest way to test whether or not it is the mother board is to boot the system with only a graphics card and memory.

You should have read my post

[Kezmondo]

...and yet more apologies!

[Ideas Man]

I said it too, I thought you did test all the cards because I said...

Make sure you try all your components on another motherboard (If possible) if you want to be absolutly certain it's the motherboard

Which includes disconnecting them, obviously didn't read it :P.

[Kezmondo]

In my defence there, I didn't have another board to test them on, until l bought the new one. To be honest I didn't really consider the TV Tuner or the LAN card because I've never used them - they came with the PC when I bought it. I didn't realise that if they suddenly became faulty then it could potentially screw the whole system up. But I do now...you live and learn eh?

[Ideas Man]

Yes, very true, I spose out of it all, you got a nice motherboard upgrade .