unbootable PC. beep codes and such.

[DemonWeasel]

I have an Athlon XP 1900+ with a Soltek SL-75DRV4 motherboard, an ATI Radeon 8500 video card, and 256 MB of PC2100 DDR RAM. I was considering overclocking my PC and I decided to move an already installed thermometer to a position where it would be closer to the cpu, as to give me a more accurate temp reading for my chip. I removed my heatsink, which was a total bitch just like it was to put on(you'll see why I mentioned this in a minute), and placed the tip of the thermometer so the tip was right next to the point of the chip that makes contact with the heatsink. I then replaced the heatsink (Yes, I made sure that it didn't interfere with the contact between the heatsink and the chip) and tried to start up my machine. Everything sounded normal for the first few seconds, but instead of the normal single short beep for a proper POST, I got a long beep followed by a slightly longer pause, then another long beep, pause, beep...and so on. I have Award BIOS, by the way. I was confused as to how removing my heatsink and putting it back on could cause something to go drastically wrong during the POST. I shut down the computer, made sure I didn't accidentally knock anything loose or unplug anything, which I dind't, and then tried to start up the machine again. I didn't hear a series of long beeps anymore, which I thought was good at first...but absolutely nothing was coming out, not even the normal single beep of a proper startup. All the fans were spinning and the harddrive was spinning and lighting up but I got no video. The CD-ROM drive was even blinking. The harddrive started making some reading noises which stopped after a few seconds. Strangely, I don't remember the floppy even attempting to check for a boot disk, which I find odd since the harddrive and CD-ROM were active. Anyway, after that the machine just sat there, everything lighting up without continuing to boot until I shut it down again. I thought that, since my heatsink made me push so hard to remove it and put it back on maybe I crushed my processor. I seriously doubt it though, because it is definitely heating up (my finger is still red from the quick heat test) and I remember having to push just as hard the first time I installed it while building the computer. I took the heatsink off again just to look at the chip and it appears fine. Another thing, The RAM light stayed on the whole time the comp remainded on. (The RAM light that is supposed to go on when voltage is flowing through the RAM) I'm not sure if it is supposed to stay on even with a normal boot...but...I'm telling you anyway. I checked all my connections again and tried to boot another time. This time the harddrive was spinning but not reading and the CD-ROM didn't light up, still no beeps and still no startup. I thought of the possibility that my internal speaker might be dead, but it seems highly unlikely since it was working perfectly fine when I was getting the long beeps. I removed all of my PCI cards, unplugged the CD-ROM and just removed anything I could think of in order to narrow things down as much as possible. I didn't notice any difference...same exact thing. I tried re-inserting my RAM, re-inserting my chip, re-inserting my video card, and still nothing changed. I even tried to boot without the video card or ram in at all just to see if it would give me a beep message. The machine did the same thing without a video card and ram...so I'm really stumped here as to why it wouldn't beep me deaf if I tried to power up without such main system components installed. Does this sound like I need a new motherboard, new RAM, new processor?...or anything else? The thing that really gets me is that the computer was working perfectly fine just before this. Why no beeps to tell me what is wrong? The computer I'm writing this from is so old that I can't try changing the parts to narrow anything down because they are incompatible. Ugh. Please help. I thought I knew computers well enough to be able to fix anything but I am stumped here. Thanks for your time.

[Charger]

Welcome to PCMECH!

Perhaps you did damamge the CPU as continuous hi-lo beeping usually indicates an overheat. Try re-inserting the RAM modules and video card tightly. If that doesn't work, read here:

http://www.pchell.com/hardware/beepcodes.shtml

[DemonWeasel]

The original beeping was just on off, not high, low. Problem is, though, i'm not getting any beeps anymore...and the beep I was experiencing isn't a listed Award Bios beep anyway. If I damaged my processor, would it still heat up like normal? Would the computer not beep me if the processor wasn't working? should I see physical signs if I crushed my processor?
-Thayer

[Cricket]

Hi DemonWeasel,

When you were working on your computer, was the motherboard in or out of the case? If you left it in, it's possible the motherboard got damaged from the bending it experienced when you were removing and then re-installing the heatsink (there is no support under the CPU socket and the forced used to install the heatsink clip can cause the motherboard to bend quite a bit).

Follow the troubleshooting instructions here: Out of Case Troubleshooter. If your system still doesn't respond, then you'll have to start substituting parts if possible to narrow down the problem.

You could remove the CPU and clean it off good with alcohol and use a bright light and magnifying glass to inspect the CPU core for any signs of damage. If there is any discoloration or any chips or cracks in it, it's probably dead.

Cricket

[mike breck]

Well core or mobo damage is always a possiblity.

Have you tried removing the thermistor?

Is there a chance that the thermistor shorted the bridges on the CPU?

What are you using for heat transfer between the CPU and HSF -Thermal Paste or a Thermal Pad? Remember, a Thermal Pad can only be used once. If you remove the HSF for any reason, you should scrape off the Thermal Pad, clean both the CPU and base of the Heatsink with pure alcohol, and then use a thin skim of Thermal Paste.

If you are using a Thermal Paste like Artic Silver, has any spilled over the CPU bridges that could be shorting them.

Have you unlocked the CPU? If so, what did you use on the bridges?

Repeating (endless loop) beeps with an Award "usually" point to a Ram error i.e. bad memory or a bad connection.

Can you try a different stick or if you have two sticks, try one at a time?

[DemonWeasel]

Thanks for your suggestions. I will try to bare down the system and see if I get any video.
I was installing it in the case and I did notice the motherboard bending, but it wasn't such a large amount of bend that I would think the mobo could be damaged.
I will clean and check the cpu and respond back with my findings.
I removed the thermistor after the first failed boot. The thermistor has a nonconducting plastic cover and it was not placed over any of the bridges. I was using a heat pad, but most of it was already smooshed away from the processor and the contact point on the heatsink. (pulling the heatsink off caused a flap of the heat pad to come off, so the contact point was almost completely clear of thermal pad. so I applied thermal paste before re-installing the heatsink. I'm not using arctic silver and the thermal paste is not covering any of the bridges. I have not unlocked the cpu. Sadly, I only have one stick of RAM, but I will try borrowing a friend's if the bare system does not work.
Thanks for your time and knowledge. I'll post back with the bare system and the cpu check results.
-Thayer

[DemonWeasel]

Just tried the bare system and it didn't work, so I'm continuing on to check the processor. One question though. Would the processor still heat up if it were crushed?

[DemonWeasel]

checked the CPU and didn't see any fractures or anything unusual. Does this mean I can rule out the CPU being bad? If I don't see any fractures and it heats up like normal when I try to boot?
I suppose I will first try to replace the mobo since it is the cheapest main component I can replace, other than the RAM, but that doesn't seem to be a likely culprit. Thanks for the help. Any more suggestions would be appreciated.

[Alfie]

Is the cpu fan plugged into the cpu header on the motherboard?

[DemonWeasel]

cpu header?
do you mean is my heatsink plugged in? If so, the answer is yes, of course it is.

[ZANEY123]

no what alfie means is do you have the cpu fan power connected to the CPU FAN connection on the mobo

Zaney123

[DemonWeasel]

yes, I have the heatsink fan plugged into the motherboard. All the fans spin just fine. Well, after inspection of the chip, which appeared fine, and considering the bending of the motherboard during the heatsink installation, I have ordered a new motherboard. I hope this does the trick. Since I'm not getting beep errors, and the mobo doesn't seem to care whatever Items I remove, it seems extremely likely that it is the mobo. Only other thing is the processor. the XP 1900 is damn cheap right now, about $90, so if the mobo doesn't do the trick, its new chip time. Thanks for your help, all.
-Thayer