Bro's comp restart/turn on problem...

[sam21]

Hello,
I was just wondering why my brother's computer have trouble restarting or even turning on,it's not the computer but the monitor.It seems that the monitor isn't getting any signal from the computer and so while the computer is turning on and progressing through,the monitor is still dead.At first I thought it was the monitor,but it's not,it works fine with other comps.The only way the monitor will turn on is to "cold start" it aka. unplug-and-plug-back-on for A COUPLE of times before it works.

I'm not sure of the hardwares but I know it has a SiS something display adapter integrated...

[Redo40]

Have you tried locating updated drivers for the display adapter? If you have a video card on hand you could install it and disable the intergrated video and see if that straightened it out.

[sam21]

Redo40,
where do I dl updated drivers for SiS display adapters?Does SiS have their own website I can dl it off?

[ZANEY123]

http://www.sis.com/

so go to support,

Zaney123

[GaryRouth]

Hi Sam

If you have the box there with you, will it shutdown properly when "Shutdown" is selected? Or does it hang on "Windows is shutting down"?

When it's starting (or restarting), do you hear any beeps from the main box? You should hear one nice clear strong beep from the computer when it finishes the POST (Power On Self Test) - do you hear that OK?

On the times that the monitor doesn't display, do you hear any short beeping patterns?

At those points that it finally starts OK, do any error messages display? and then go away? ..."click to continue" sort of thing?

And did your brother add any memory to that system recently, or make any other hardware/software changes just prior to this trouble? Did he have the case open for any reason?

Do you have a manual handy with the Bios Setup for his PC? If not, you can enter Bios Setup and choose "Set Default Values and Exit" . . . then tune later when you find a manual.

If he hasn't added any hardware/software recently, and his box is a major brand - does it work fine once it finally boots OK? If this is the case, run a thorough full system virus check with the latest definitions, clear the Temporary Internet cache, & Temp files, scandisk and defrag the hard drive & run the manufacturer's diagnostics, and backup all important personal files. Then you can troubleshoot without worrying. If a new driver from the SiS.com site doesn't help, you can try restoring from the Recovery Disks - most will offer several layers of Recovery - drivers, programs, OS -- or even a complete reformat and reinstall of the whole works. If the hardware has changed since the computer was purchased, it might be a good idea to put the old part back in just during the reformat/reinstall, and then add the newer parts later.

Hey, I just wrote another book. In one sentence this boils down to: you have a bad part, bad bios setting, or a bad driver.

. . . Gary

[p.s. all the above figures he's using Win98 or Win98SE (or Win95)...if he has WinME, a quick fix would be to try to use the System Restore feature and choose a restore point before the restart trouble started. And here's a Shutdown/Restart TroubleShooting site that get's recommended a lot:
http://www.aumha.org/a/shutdown.htm
Hopefully something here will get you going again]

[one more thing: while in the Bios Setup, check the temperature readings for the cpu and case]

[sam21]

1.If you have the box there with you, will it shutdown properly when "Shutdown" is selected? Or does it hang on "Windows is shutting down"?

It used to,but now it just goes on to "it is now safe to turn off your computer,and the auto-off goes into effect...

2.When it's starting (or restarting), do you hear any beeps from the main box? You should hear one nice clear strong beep from the computer when it finishes the POST (Power On Self Test) - do you hear that OK?
On the times that the monitor doesn't display, do you hear any short beeping patterns?

There is no beeping whatsoever I think the little speaker inside went dead...

3.And did your brother add any memory to that system recently, or make any other hardware/software changes just prior to this trouble? Did he have the case open for any reason?

No memroy added,only hardware added are probably just a Sony burner and a NIC,the case was always unscrewed due to missing screw but it was closed because the case was againts a desk...

4.Nope no bios setup,I think,where would this be located at?

5.Nope DEFINETLY not any brand....

He is using Win98 and temps are around 40-50celcius...
He has a slot-1 Celeron400mhz with a fan that barely turns

[mike breck]

So did this problem start after adding the NIC or Burner?

Try pulling the NIC and disconnecting the Burner.

Is the PC receiving power - does the keyboard light up, the PSU fan turn, the CPU fan turn?

Have you tried switching on the monitor before starting the PC?

The only way the monitor will turn on is to "cold start" it aka. unplug-and-plug-back-on for A COUPLE of times before it works.

What are you plugging and unplugging to get it to work - the power cord or the monitor cable connector to the video port on the mobo?

If that doesn't help, I think you should take the mobo from the case and try to boot with minimal components.

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.p...threadid=12753

[GaryRouth]

Hi Sam, Hi Mike, hello all -

Been busy as heck today! (burnt brain - no RMA for that either) . . .

sam - did you give the out-of-the-case trick a shot? It's a troubleshooter Hal wrote up & has saved many a box from endless frustration. Like Mike, I wouldn't be surprised if the added burner and network card are top suspects.

If that gets you back to basic functionality, you can then start investigating your drivers a little more, to see if they are the correct versions, etc. That troubleshooting site at aumha.org has lots of shutdown issue things to look for (one of them being CD burner software). Update the drivers (motherboard, video, audio, network card); update the burner software, install and run an AntiVirus program (though we don't recommend McCaffee) with the latest definitions, download and run either RegClean or RegMaid from the microsoft download site . . .

And then have your brother make sure he pays for dinner next time out and about!

. . . Gary

[p.s. (re: Bios Setup) ...watch for a banner message when your machine starts (the few successful times, anyway) that says "PRESS DEL (or perhaps F1, or F2) TO ENTER BIOS SETUP" . . . and press that key. Select "Set Defaults and Exit" ....then reboot. You can tune for performance later. There's a little Bios guide here at PC mech, and there's a quite detailed Bios Guide at http://www.adriansrojakpot.com] "your mileage might vary"

[sam21]

1.So did this problem start after adding the NIC or Burner?
Not sure,my bro didn't live with me when these components were installed

2.So did this problem start after adding the NIC or Burner?
Won't I have to get a new driver/IP adress if I do so?
This one seems to complicated,gonna hold this back for a while...

3.What are you plugging and unplugging to get it to work - the power cord or the monitor cable connector to the video port on the mobo?

I'm not exactly unplugging anything,I just keep turning the on/off button on the power surge,but it's definetly the PC not the minitor

[GaryRouth]

Hi Sam

You're probably going to have to open that box up & look around & try things.

1) Life without a Pc speaker makes troubleshooting a headache. With the case open, follow the two little wires that thread from the case's speaker: are they plugged in anywhere? They should be plugged into a set of pins that are usually marked "SPKR" in tiny silk-screened letters on the circuit board next to the pins. These pins are all in a row on most boards, the hard drive's LED pins usually there, and the Reset button's pins, etc. Some boards have a plus (+) sign for the positive wire (as opposed to the black ground wire). If the speaker's wires are unplugged, try plugging them in (with the power off & unplugged, of course). That will help tell you if you are having a normal POST, and then hanging while loading Windows.

2) It won't hurt to unplug the CD-drive and the network card. That won't remove their drivers (the cd's Windows "drivers" are built into Windows anyway). To help troubleshoot, just disable the network card in Device Manager - then you can take it physically out of the case. [Start/Settings/Control Panel/System]. Click the plus sign next to Network Adapters, click on your network card, then click on Properties: and checkmark the box "Disable in this hardware profile". [If you decide to try a different driver for the network card, you can just remove it by clicking on Remove instead of Properties].

3) The troubleshooting in Hal's list, aumha.org's list, and the lists from Mike and I a few posts earlier should give you some idea of what's causing the problem. Did you look in on your Bios settings yet? If you want Win98 to do the Power Management, you might want to disable Power Management in the bios setup, and try the setting of "PLUG & PLAY OS?" set to "YES".

Unfortunately, these things sometimes take more time than they seem like they should.
Best of luck
. . . Gary

[glc]

This is a pure hardware issue - has nothing to do with Windows or drivers. The fact that the CPU fan is barely turning raises a warning flag here - I'd start looking at a weak power supply if it isn't just a shot fan.

[Markoman01027]

I have had a problem like this before. My computer would turn on, but I would not get a video signal. It wasn't my memory, sound card, optical drives, etc. CPU was fine, guess what it was? It was the motherboard. The motherboard got scratched up a little bit preventing the video from going from the video card into the monitor. So I replaced the motherboard and put in a new video card and it worked fine.

Try putting in a different video card to see if it works. If not, test your hardware on a different motherboard.

-Matt

[GaryRouth]

Hi Sam - any luck yet?

[and I thought you were joking about the Cel's fan, because of the low temps, or just it's quiet noise level] . . . Gary

[sam21]

GaryRouth,
appreciate the help but I'll have to do it this week-end,I'll post back here and see how it goes...

[sam21]

Back from the past,hello again all!!

Well things has updated since back then,now the CPU fan had just been replaced,a 128mb of ram has just been added,and a new 16mb PCI video card was just bought....


1st off,I formatted the HDD with Win2K,after the setup copies the neccesary files the computer restarted on it's own,ande oh boy did it restarted.The new video card had just been put in and the monitor is STILL not getting any power
what else could it possibly be???

--thought it was the onboard video that was faulty,but now a new video card had just been put in and still problem persists

--It might be software related but setup of Windows 2000 was not completed because of restart problem,and when I turn the computer on,the screen just goes blank after te POST screen,that's right!BLANK NOTHING!

I am truly stumped,what should I do now??I have a PC without an OS and I can't install the OS because of this problem

help would really reeeeeally be appreciated...

[sam21]

I will try a new PSU in alittle bit,now out to buy it..

[sam21]

new PSU installed,still persists...


PLEASE,PLEASE help

[sam21]

got into windows to finsh install of Win2k,but I did so by booting off the cd-rom.If I set IDE-0(HDD) 1st in BIOS,I get an error saying "Pri Slave Drive ATAPI incompatible" "Sec Master Drive ATAPI incompatible""Press F1 to resume"

what do they mean?

[sam21]

OH MY GOD!!!
IT'S WORKING!!!!FOR THE LOVE OF GOD IT'S WORKING!!!
YESSSSSSS!!!WOOOO HOOOOO!!!!

[Cricket]

Originally posted by sam21 OH MY GOD!!! IT'S WORKING!!!!FOR THE LOVE OF GOD IT'S WORKING!!! YESSSSSSS!!!WOOOO HOOOOO!!!!

What was the solution to this problem?

Cricket

[sam21]

^finshed install of Win2k using the new video card