[rain183xx]

Hello guys...

So I start up my computer, and everything sounds normal. The fans turn on, the lights, etc. However, my monitor does not receive any signal whatsoever, and acts as if it's not connected to anything. Plus, the computer does not beep like it normally does.

I switched the video card and PSU from this working computer into it, but to no avail.

Is my motherboard screwed? My CPU?

Please help! Thanks.

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Well, since you changed the PSU and video card with no getting no where, that leaves RAM, Motherboard, CPU.

Try taking all of your RAM out and start your computer. Do this with the hard drives power and data cable unplugged, same goes for the CD/DVD drive. Do you get a beep code then?

If so, it may be your RAM. Place only 1 stick in DIMM0 (usually the closest to the cpu, consult your manual or look on the motherboard to see what is labeled "DIMM 0" aka the first slot) It often goes like this... DIMM0A, DIMM1A, DIMM0B, DIMM1B... something to that affect. IF that stick doesn't do anything, try the next stick. It's very unusual for 2 or more sticks of RAM to die at the same time.

If that doesn't work, it is most likely your motherboard or cpu... often motherboards die long before cpu's do.

Let me know how it goes. And I'm assuming this computer worked 100% fine before all of this and that this is NOT a new build. Right?

Edited by Ferrari, 23 March 2010 - 12:15 AM.

[Ferrari]

Well, since you changed the PSU and video card with no getting no where, that leaves RAM, Motherboard, CPU.

Try taking all of your RAM out and start your computer. Do this with the hard drives power and data cable unplugged, same goes for the CD/DVD drive. Do you get a beep code then?

If so, it may be your RAM. Place only 1 stick in DIMM0 (usually the closest to the cpu, consult your manual or look on the motherboard to see what is labeled "DIMM 0" aka the first slot) It often goes like this... DIMM0A, DIMM1A, DIMM0B, DIMM1B... something to that affect. IF that stick doesn't do anything, try the next stick. It's very unusual for 2 or more sticks of RAM to die at the same time.

If that doesn't work, it is most likely your motherboard or cpu... often motherboards die long before cpu's do.

Let me know how it goes. And I'm assuming this computer worked 100% fine before all of this and that this is NOT a new build. Right?

Edited by Ferrari, 23 March 2010 - 12:15 AM.

[rain183xx]

I appreciate the swift reply... Thank you very much! Unfortunately I cannot perform that test at the moment. I will certainly do so in the morning.

To answer your question, no this is not a newly built computer, and yes it was working fine for roughly 2 years... sadly the computer I first built has always been working fine with no problems (despite the annoying XP Defender Pro alerts) and survived longer than my second.

Back with an update tomorrow, and thanks again!

[Ferrari]

Sounds good, let me know how it goes.

[rain183xx]

Hi Ferrari

I did as you suggested, and sadly my computer did not beep in any situation - no RAM, 1st RAM stick, 2nd RAM stick.

I suppose the RAM, Vid Card, and PSU can all be ruled out as the problem now, correct?

[Ferrari]

Yes. It seems the motherboard or cpu has gone bad. Do you see any "swollen caps" around the cpu anywhere? This is often the cause of a motherboard going bad, but not always the case. Here is what capacitors look like HERE and when they swell it looks like THIS. Notice the ones on the left are swollen, and the ones on the right are swollen so badly they are leaking.

One last thing you could try is clearing the cmos and trying to boot. Remember, you don't have to have the hard drive or cd/dvd drive connected, the idea is just see if you can get to the BIOS or get any video or beep codes.

Clear your CMOS:

• Unplug your computer from the wall
• Open the case up, usually the left panel comes off
• Locate the CMOS Battery (See Image)
• Use a small flat head screw driver to pry it out
  CLICK HERE TO SEE HOW
  BE CAREFUL and Gentle!
• Wait 5 minutes while pressing and holding the power button
  a few times to release any left over electricity in the system
• Pop the battery back into place

Please Note: You will have to reset the time and date in the BIOS upon first boot.

[rain183xx]

Ferrari, after removing the battery and another CMOS reset my computer has FINALLY decided to beep one time and show me the initial screen... however, it stops at Detecting IDE drives.. and when I press delete to try and get to the BIOS, it just freezes.

What should I do next?

Thanks again in advance!

[Ferrari]

Hmmm... I would do everything you've done over again now that you have gotten the system to P.O.S.T. (Power On Self Test) which is when you here the single beep. That means it P.O.S.T.ed. The next thing it tries to do is find a boot device like a hard drive, floppy, and/or cd rom.

Are you sure it's freezing? Clear the CMOS again, and try again. After you put the battery back in, but before you turn the computer on, connect your hard drive and see if you can boot to windows. It's really just trial and error, changing only one thing at a time to find the culprit, see?

Also, about connecting the hard drive. If you can get to the BIOS, do that first of course. You may need to enable the SATA ports, or set your boot priority to CD ROM first, Hard Drive second. Also, if you have the option to change the AHCI mode, that needs to be set to whatever mode Windows was installed with. Either SATA mode, or IDE mode... that matters whether it will boot windows or not.

OK, good luck. You have made progress, but it still isn't looking all that great. Try some things again. And you may be wondering what has caused all of this in the first place, the answer still remains to be seen.

Did you check for swollen caps by the way?

Edited by Ferrari, 23 March 2010 - 10:57 PM.

[rain183xx]

Hi Ferrari.

It seems like the caps are fine. However, the computer will not even get to the initial screen every time. It feels as if I have to restart it a couple of times before I finally get that beep. Even then I can get never get past "Detecting IDE drives" or into the BIOS.

Time for a new motherboard I guess?

Thanks again

[Ferrari]

Yeah I would think so. A new board or cpu, but usually it's the board. I would start there. A local computer shop might be able to pop your cpu in a test board to see if it POSTS for cheap, maybe even free if they are nice. Or even test the motherboard themselves with known good working components.??? Most computer shops/local professionals keep various motherboards and cpu's around for testing reasons.

The only other thing I can think of is that you have two bad components and you haven't used the right combination to figure that out.

To recap, Your RAM doesn't seem to be bad, nor your PSU or Video card. Like I started this thread with, that leaves your motherboard and cpu. From your testing, it sounds like you agree.

Let me know how things work out, always good to find out the final solution.

Edited by Ferrari, 24 March 2010 - 02:52 PM.

[nomorebeeps]

I know this is a dead thread but I wanted to confirm Ferrai's advice worked for me for any future readers.

I had similar PC issues like the OP, only the GPU and CPU were powered of which by fans were working.

Everything else was not, computer wouldn't beep or get past post. There would be no signal on screen, mouse, keyboard and DVD drives were dead.

Following Ferrai's advice for CMOs removal and the advice listed on other forums I removed the CMOS battery for about one minute and put it back there after.

Whilst the battery was unplugged, I then removed the RAM sticks and sprayed the sockets with compressed air. From there I switched the RAM sticks around so what was my #1 RAM was then placed in the socket where its sibling lived and vice versa.

I powered up the machine with just GPU, CPU and 1 stick of RAM connected. Some how I got post. Turned machine off and placed 2nd stick of RAM in machine - again got post and repeated the last step adding another bit of hardware as I went - HDD, HDD2, DVD drive etc. In the end the whole computer was reconnected and managed to get back up and running.

When windows was loaded my volume slider and network icon was missing, but in the end this rectified itself by restarting.

For me it was not a PSU or Mobo issue (thank god). I'm not sure what it was exactly but the 2 methods above saved me big time. Thanks Ferrai.

PS this is a throwaway account. Good luck to you in the future.

Edited by nomorebeeps, 23 May 2013 - 04:09 AM.

[arkk]

Well, since you changed the PSU and video card with no getting no where, that leaves RAM, Motherboard, CPU.

Try taking all of your RAM out and start your computer. Do this with the hard drives power and data cable unplugged, same goes for the CD/DVD drive. Do you get a beep code then?

If so, it may be your RAM. Place only 1 stick in DIMM0 (usually the closest to the cpu, consult your manual or look on the motherboard to see what is labeled "DIMM 0" aka the first slot) It often goes like this... DIMM0A, DIMM1A, DIMM0B, DIMM1B... something to that affect. IF that stick doesn't do anything, try the next stick. It's very unusual for 2 or more sticks of RAM to die at the same time.

If that doesn't work, it is most likely your motherboard or cpu... often motherboards die long before cpu's do.

Let me know how it goes. And I'm assuming this computer worked 100% fine before all of this and that this is NOT a new build. Right?

Hello Ferrari this method work for me. Can I ask what is the problem on my pc?