Just built it and now it doesn't boot windows XP disk

[Two|Bit]

I just built a computer for the first time and I have run into a problem editing the bios and installing windows XP. The first time I booted up the computer, I got into the bios and made the changes that I thought were nessessary, like changing the boot order and using AMD's Cool n' Quiet technology. After saving the changes, I put in the Windows XP Home disk and hit restart, so that it would boot and I would install XP. It did nothing but show me a screen with a graphic saying, "ASUS: A8N-E" and "press DEL for bios". I tried hitting delete to get into the bios and nothing happened, so I restarted. The disk was still in and nothing happened, and I tried hitting delete again and still I got no response. After numerous restarts I still couldn't get past this screen. I turned off the computer for about an hour. When I powered on again, for some reason hitting delete worked this time. I looked at the CPU temps and they were at 38 C so i knew that was fine. I restarted thinking the problem went away and still no windows XP install. I cleared the CMOS once and it didn't solve anything. It seems to work only if I wait about an hour later and then i can get into the BIOS. Help would be greatly appreciated.

My system specs are:
Asus A8N-E, AMD Athlon 64 3200+, Antec TruePower 2.0 380 watt, Gigabyte Radeon X800, Kingston ValueRAM 1 GB, Maxtor SATA 160 GB.

[rspassey]

Did you put your cd drive on the top of the boot order?

[Two|Bit]

I set the primary boot device to "Removable". I thought this meant a floppy drive. The secondary boot device was set to "CD-ROM". And the third was the hard drive.

[rspassey]

You dont need to boot from floppy for XP, set Cd to primary and insert the CD, it should auto run and initialize set up.

[blue60007]

Is your CD drive installed properly? Can BIOS recognize it? Correct me if I'm wrong, but as long as you don't have any media in the floppy drive (set as primary) the boot sequence should then hop to the secondary (CD drive) and try to boot from it, and the CD should boot. At least that is what my computer does

Attempts to boot from floppy (if there is no media in it, it skips. if there is, then it will attempt to boot it, if it is bootable then it will boot that, if not you get that error)
Then it will attempt to boot from CD-rom. I see "Boot from CD-ROM.......", then that appears again, then it will boot from hard drive and boot windows.

So the exact order shouldn't matter, as long as the CD drives are above the hard drive.

[Two|Bit]

Thanks ryan124712 for responding so quickly. My current problem is that it is locking up on the opening screen. I can't get into the BIOS setup. I was able to get into BIOS setup after one hour after turning off the computer. Any suggestions?

[bitTRL1000]

Originally Posted by blue60007 Correct me if I'm wrong, but as long as you don't have any media in the floppy drive (set as primary) the boot sequence should then hop to the secondary (CD drive) and try to boot from it, and the CD should boot.

You are correct. The A8N-E will skip the removeable drive if there's nothing in it.

[rspassey]

Originally Posted by Two|Bit Thanks ryan124712 for responding so quickly. My current problem is that it is locking up on the opening screen. I can't get into the BIOS setup. I was able to get into BIOS setup after one hour after turning off the computer. Any suggestions?

This sounds like it could be the PSU, but im not making any promises, it almost seems like the mobo isnt even getting power to initialize and allow to enter bios. If that was happening then I'd also expect that nothing would come on the monitor, but you said you get the bios screen. My other thought is that your keyboard isnt recognized all the time and only sometimes it works, If this is the case then try putting the keyboard in a different USB port. Again, I dont want to make any promises and say that your problem is the PSU or the keybaord and then you buy a new one and the problem persists.
Hope that helps.

[blue60007]

The other thing is, he has a good solid power supply which should be more than enough, but it could be bad. Is your video card AGP or PCI-E?

[Two|Bit]

I was able to get into BIOS again (not sure why this time and not before). I made the CD-ROM the primary boot device. And disabled "Quick Boot". This forces a memory test, which was executed the next time I booted up. But still it locked up when I tried to enter BIOS settings again. I tried putting the XP set up disk into the CD drive, but it did not auto-load.

And my video card is PCI Express: Gigabyte Radeon X800 256MB.

[blue60007]

Hmm, you said CPU temps were OK? what about chipset temps?

Is it possible you could throw that PSU into the computer you are using now?

[Two|Bit]

Originally Posted by blue60007 Hmm, you said CPU temps were OK? what about chipset temps? Is it possible you could throw that PSU into the computer you are using now?

All temps are fine, but i am not sure what the temp of the video card is. I doubt it is high because it is practically doing no work at all. It won't be possible to put in a different power supply because this computer is a Dell and doesn't have an ATX 2.0 power supply. Thanks very much for your input this far.

[blue60007]

Hmm ok, yeah the video card shouldn't be the problem (as long as the fan is functioning). I have an ATI X800XL AGP, and when you switch it on the fan goes on full blast for a few seconds (computer, you are cleared for takeoff), then slows down. Just double check that is functioning, but I don't think that's the problem. Do you have another PSU (or a friend that has one) you could plug in?

[Two|Bit]

My video card doesn't have a fan, but it shouldn't be over heating; I have two case fans pointed at it. Also, I am getting a picture so it shouldn't be defective. And I don't have access to another PSU.

[blue60007]

Originally Posted by Two|Bit My video card doesn't have a fan, but it shouldn't be over heating; I have two case fans pointed at it. Also, I am getting a picture so it shouldn't be defective. And I don't have access to another PSU.

Ah well I figured it did, but your right it shouldn't be the video card causing the problem. I can't think of anything else, maybe someone else has an idea.

EDIT: could you get through the POST memory test OK?

[Two|Bit]

Yes the memory test ran through to the end and said "OK".

[blue60007]

I would try updating/flashing the BIOS, possibly it got slightly corrupted? I don't know if that would help or not.

[Two|Bit]

How would I go about doing that? Do you have any other ideas on what the problem might be?

[Gizmo]

If the BIOS was corrupted, even slightly, it would not get passed POST. It sounds very much like your PSU at this point. What brand and wattage is it?

[Two|Bit]

This is the type of PSU I have: Antec TruePower 2.0 380 Watt. Im pretty sure this is enough power to run my system.

Edit: I don't even think I am getting past post...

[RazorDX]

When you turn the computer on, is there a single beep? If not, what do you hear?

[Two|Bit]

No, I don't hear any beeps. I hear and see the fans turn on and lights on the drives flash on. There is also a green light on the motherboard. I tried using a boot disk but it could not be accessed. I once again clear the CMOS but this didn't solve any of these problems...... help

[Two|Bit]

I discovered my motherboard has no speaker, so I attached one from an old computer and I got the signal POST beep. Its just one signal beep and thats it. But still the system locks.

[blue60007]

Originally Posted by Gizmo If the BIOS was corrupted, even slightly, it would not get passed POST. It sounds very much like your PSU at this point. What brand and wattage is it?

OK wasn't sure if would go anywhere or not. And I agree I'm thinking it is the PSU either isn't enough, or isn't working properly.

[Two|Bit]

What makes you think that?

It's strange, when I wait about an hour with the computer off, I am able to get into the bio at start up. Once I had left the Windows XP disk in the optical drive and forgot about it being in there. I left the computer off for about 6 hours and tried turning on the PC when I got back, and the computer started loading the windows startup. It said I needed to install the SATA drivers. Also at this time I got a warning saying that my CPU fan was running to slowly. When I checked in the Bios (One hour later) it showed the CPU temp fine. This led me to believe that the system is locking up because it is sensing the CPU running slow, even though it has sufficient cooling. This problem is really starting to annoy me. What should I do?

[blue60007]

Hmm that's true. Well the PSU is powerful enough (cause it can get the thing started) but maybe it's overstressed and can't output enough power for very long.

You know I really don't know, this is just stumping. I guess you could try RMA'ing the motherboard...

Also maybe the CPU is overheating, just because BIOS reports the temps are fine, doesn't mean the temps reported are correct. The thermal diode on the motherboard could be faulty. What you need is a temperature probe that outputs the temperatures, and you could find out for sure.

[Two|Bit]

Temperature probe ehh? I think I will take of all of the components that I don't need and try to pin point the problem. Thanks for your responses. Does anyone else have another idea of what the solution the this problem is?

[Two|Bit]

OK I figured out that the problem was the RAM. It was matched improperly. I pulled out a RAM module and now it works fine. But now i won't be able to run both modules in Dual Channel mode, only in single channel mode. It wierd because the RAM is dual channel compatible and the motherboard is too, but i guess they just don't work together. Now i have a bit of a problem loading windows. LOL. Im not really sure if I need to load third party SATA drivers or not... if I don't i get a blue screen of death, and I'm not quite sure which ones to go with. Does someone know if I have to?

[blue60007]

I see you have 1GB of RAM, is it 2 512MB modules? If so, you need to have two of the same spec modules in corresponding slots (1 & 3, 2 & 4) to have dual channel work. If it's one module that's defective, then you should RMA it. Also you should try swapping the one you have in with the one you pulled out.

[Two|Bit]

Both are functional. they work together if I put them in slot 1 and 2, but that doesn't allow me you utilize dual channel capability. The problem was when they were in slots 1 and 3 or 2 and 4. Is my RAM just no compatible?