rebuild problems

[jnc007]

I rebuilt by computer about 3 months ago. Everything was fine up until about 3 wks ago. My brand new harddrive just up and died. I sent it back to the distributer and they replaced it quickly and for free. I reloaded all of my software over this last week and everything seemed fine. This morning I rebooted my systemed because I thought it was acting "slow" I looked at the setup screen and decided that I didn't have the time or energy to start mucking around with it. So I exited it without saving anything. When I rebooted again it froze at the "verifying dmi pool data" field. I've run into this in the past and ususally means somethings not setting right. So I reset everything.

When I rebooted it this time the system started but I didn't get a system beep. My monitor kept going back and forth from "initiating" to "rest mode". This is idicated from the power light going back and forth from yellow to green. I shut down and reset the video card in a couple of different ports and got the same thing. I then cleared the CMOS, and rebooted. Everything came back up with no problems. I shut down and tried a clean boot. Same problem, no system beep and the monitor didn't know if it wanted to start or not. So I again cleared the cmos, reset the video card and everything is alright.

So my question is, can anyone hazard a guess as to what this is? Its a relatively new Mobo, less the 6 months old. The hard drive is brand new. The monitor is 2 - 3 years old but has only been moved 2 -3 times in its life and it hasn't been moved from its current location in 1.5 years. Can I assume its the video card?

Thanks for your help

Josh

[glc]

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=132409

[jnc007]

Thanks GLC

However, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be looking at there.

There's 6 pages of 3 - 4 different issues. I didn't see anything that pertained to my issue that I hadn't already tried. Anyone else have any specific suggestions?

Thanks

[raftero]

don't know what you looked at but what GLC wanted you to do is the out of case check that HAL 9000 gives instructions for.

[jnc007]

Well as neat as the trick to jump start your computer with a screwdriver was, the computer still isn't working. Here's what I did.

I pulled all the hardware out of the case. I plugged in the pwr, the board, the video card and one stick of memory. I jump started it with the screw driver and vroom it went. By went I mean the same problem presented it self, the power kicked in but it didn't recognise my video card. I then I tried another pci slot and got nothing. I then went to the old stand by and cleared the cmos and started the computer. I then got the screen to come up.

For a moment I was excited because at the point I'm thinking its either the board or the card. I remembered I had my cousins computer here and I threw the card in there. On the first try it came up. I shut it down and tried it again and a third time. It powered up no problem and I got the test screen.

So where does that leave me? Is my board getting wonky? Could it be a software issue? The other help string said to make sure the board's not grounding to anything. As near as I can tell, its only tought the 6 posts its screwed into. As of right now, I have the board back in the box.

What's my next step?

Thanks

[GaryRouth]

If the Rage 128 16mb card (XPert 128?) isn't recognized at first, there's a bios setting that you can try altering to see if it helps -- under "Advanced Bios Features" there's an item "Disable Unused PCI Clock" which you can set to "Disable". Here's the blurb from the manual for your motherboard:

Disable unused PCI Clock:
This option disables the clock of PCI slot that is not in use.
[Enabled]: The system automatically detect the unused PCI slots, and stop sending clock signal to these unused PCI slots.
[Disabled]: The system always send clock signal to all PCI slots.
NOTE: Set this option to [Disabled] setting if there are adapters that cannot be automatically detected by the system and will cause malfunction.
__________________________

I'm not entirely surprised you're having trouble using that card with that motherboard - when the Rage 128 was new, ATi described it as designed for the "PCI Local Bus" - (not sure if the early Rage 128 PCI cards were PCI 2.1 compliant - the later ones were supposed to be) - the cpus paired with that card at that time were the Pentium/PentiumPro/PII. It's a pretty big step back to go with the older Rage in an otherwise recent system. The drivers for that are probably the old NT4 drivers, too, I'd bet. But hey - if changing that Bios setting allows the older card to get the basic job done, you're in luck.

. . . Gary

[glc]

There will not be a problem using a PCI Rage 128 card to get the thing up and running, as long as the card isn't defective. Put it in the top slot.

Okay - with the motherboard back in the case, still with the CPU installed, and one stick of ram, connect the power supply to the motherboard, connect the front panel wires, put the video card into the top PCI slot, connect the monitor and the keyboard - power it up and see if you can get into the bios. If you CAN, shut down and add ONE component at a time, retesting each time.

[jnc007]

I've tried that too. Same problem. No boot, no beep. I clear the cmos and it comes right back to life.

[glc]

Parts substitution time.

[jnc007]

Yeah...That's what I was thinking too.

However! Could it be software? Prior to my HD frying last month I had this exact configuration going with no problems. It could be the video card just getting old or it could be something all together different. I know I need a new video card but to drop $150 - $300 isn't something I want to do right now.

I might try a fresh install of the system. Its all of a week old. I don't have anything irreplacable on it.

[glc]

Its NOT software if you can't get the core components working properly out of the case as outlined in that procedure. How CAN it be software if you don't have the hard drive connected?

[jnc007]

I'm thinking it may be software because I didn't have this issue a week ago when I first put the system together. I can't nail down exactly when this happened, but it was some time around when I upgraded to xp sp2. So I've been wondering if it has something to do with that. That's where Gary Routh's addition came from. I posted a seperate, but linked question over in the XP forum.

[jnc007]

I've been searching around the net looking for a possible solution. One solution is my battery is dying. Does this sound viable to anyone? The board is less then a year old but I do leave it running alot. What specific information do I need to find a replacement? Is this something special that I'll need to buy online? or can I get it any computer shop?

[glc]

The way I read your posts, you are having problems just getting it to POST correctly out of the case on the table with minimum components. That is a HARDWARE problem.

The battery is a standard coin battery - probably a CR2032 or similar - you can get those anywhere, I get them at Walgreens.

[GaryRouth]

Hi again

The cheapest try for a solution would be if you have a friend with a used video card left over from upgrading (one in good working order & compatible with your system) - you could borrow it for troubleshooting. If everything suddenly runs fine with the borrowed card in there, perhaps your friend would sell it to you at a reasonably low price. It's also true that some cards in the $40-$50 can bring some reasonable performance (they lack some of the fancier features, but some light gaming can be done) -something like a Radeon x300 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127196

Is the motherboard holding it's settings? It's odd that the system boots everytime you clear the CMOS settings. Are you running on the defaults? Or? If the settings aren't staying put, you could try a new CMOS battery ($1.50) - a little unusual for a recent board to have a problematic battery, but it does happen sometimes. You can also try just taking the older battery out, checking for any trouble with the connectors (gently clean with a pencil eraser if necessary), and placing the battery back in. If it then works OK for two or three boots, and then loses it's settings again, try a new battery.

I didn't mean to distract you when I mentioned the older drivers for that card - they aren't involved in POST problems (of course). I just mentioned it as a possible source of grief for functionality later on.

If it turns out to be the motherboard itself that is faulty (ie, using different video cards, memory, cpus - doesn't help) - it is likely still under warranty, and you may be able to exchange it for a replacement at no charge. Depending on the vendor you purchased from, a new Asus motherboard can have a warranty good for up to three years (there's a standard manufacturer's warranty, and some vendor supplement that).

Have you had any power troubles with the system recently? (power surges in your area? Thunderstorms while the computer was on?).

Hope it's one of the less-expensive repairs
. . . Gary

[late edit -- just saw your last two posts - (I started typing this, then got interrupted). . . seems like the battery is a good 1st try, since it's inexpensive]. Sorry for the overlap in replies.

[Klutz_atlantis]

I had something similar happen to me. I couldn't get my current build to run at first. I cleared the cmos and then it would boot. I went into the bios to mess around with settings would save. I would then restart and bam wouldn't boot. Clear CMOS again. I thought I had a bad battery, and I switch it out, but still the same thing. The PC would not come out of a restart or a power down w/o have to reset the c'mos. I COULD install windows, so I did that. After a few CMOS clears I had windows installed. I installed ASUS updater and got the latest BIOS installed it, hit restart and prayed. BAM problem fixed!!! I needed a BIOS update was all, but with what components I had installed it sent the factory set BIOS for a loop.

And in case you're wondering I didn't have a floppy drive, but I did have the internet. For a while I could almost swear it was the battery not holding the settings, but luckily I thought to check the BIOS.

My system was brand new everything out of the wrapper that day, but yours has been working for some time and then a component died on you.d

Basically, what I'm suggesting is the your BIOS possibly got messed up or something along that line and when you reset the CMOS it set it back to factory (At least that's what happend to me), and not the latest one.


klutz

[jnc007]

Thanks Klutz (I always wonder where people's call signs come from...)

What your suggesting is about what I've been thinking. I'd done a bunch of software upgrades (SP2 in particular) and prior to that it was problem free. The system is less than 2 weeks old so there's really no harm in fresh reload.

I"ll give it a try after exams. Thanks for the advice.

[GaryRouth]

jnc007 - be extra careful if you try flashing the Bios - if things freeze up during the flash, it's difficult to recover the motherboard. If you plan to flash using a bootable DOS floppy diskette (containing your Bios's flash program [usually award.exe or similiar] and the update [usually a .bin file], you can try a few practice floppy diskette boots first, with a floppy that only contains the minimum files necessary for a clean DOS boot.

It may be that you'll need to clear the CMOS before each boot until you find out the cause of the trouble.

Bios updates do cure all sorts of odd behavior on motherboards - good thinking by Klutz_atlantis. But it is a hazardous repair on a system that's having trouble just making it through POST. If your practice floppy diskette DOS boots go smoothly, it might be worth a shot.

If the practice floppy diskette boots are problematic, try the borrowing known-good parts routines.

Best of luck - both on your repairs & your studies
. . . Gary

[jnc007]

Well, I have two exams this coming week, so it won't be till wednesday before I can get to working on my system. I think what I'm going to do is do a fresh install and then before I update any software immediately flash the bios. I know there's been 2 or 3 updates in the time this system has been out. Plus the software abit offers the bios flashing is pretty much push button and it does it all it self. I'll let you know how it turns out.

[glc]

I would NOT attempt a Windows or online bios flash on an unstable system. That is a LOT more dangerous than a floppy boot.

[jnc007]

Well this weekend while studying I wiped the HD and did a fresh install. All is well. Once I had the initial load done, I updated the bios. I haven't had any boot issues.

I'm making it a practice now for every major update I do I'm going to do the intial restart and then I'm going to power down cold and then boot. This way if anything changes I'll be able to pinpoint specifically what's effecting my system.

I appreciate the help from everyone. Looking back the only two things I can see that could have caused this, was a) a currupt bios and / or b) I loaded xp SP2 first without loading sp1...I"m no XP expert, but in hindsight those are the only inconsistantcies I can see.