[Four4]

Hello all, I am new to the forum and hopefully you will be able to help me.

As of yesterday I have had troubles booting my computer. When I hit the power button everything comes on as normal including the lights, fans, and I can hear the hard drive, but I the beep that normally happens when I start up the computer is missing. Also my keyboard doesn't flash nor does my optical mouse come on. The monitor just remains at standby.
Before this happened my computer was on and working normally. It had been sitting for maybe 30 minutes when I went to plug in my PSP into the usb port. This is when I noticed my computer had frozen. I don't know if it froze when I plugged in the PSP or if it was already frozen. I tried to restart by pushing the restart button on my pc but it was unresponsive so I had to unplug it. After turning the computer back on the problem described happened. Been stuck like this ever since. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Specs
3.0ghz Pentium 4
768megs Ram
80gig HDD
Nvidia 6800GT
Gigabyte GA-8IPE1000-G motherboard

Edited by Four4, 25 November 2005 - 01:28 PM.

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Anyone have any suggestions?

[Four4]

Anyone have any suggestions?

[Samm]

Welcome to G2G Four4

When you plugged the PSP into the USB port, did you connect it to a front USB port or a rear one?

[Four4]

Front

[Samm]

Ah. Gigabyte recognise that there is a known issue with motherboards using the Intel ICH4/5 chipsets and front USB ports. The issue is with badly earthed USB devices or ports burning out the southbridge chipset on these boards.

I advise that you disconnect the power from the system, open up the case & inspect the motherboard for any signs of damage such as charring, discolouration, burning smell etc. Remember that these may be hard to spot, so use a light & inspect it very carefully. Discharge your own static first by touching a metal surface & try not to touch the board. I also suggest you disconnect the front USB internal connections from the board.

Let me know if you find anything

[Four4]

I looked for about 5-10 minutes and didn't see anything that looked unusual. I'm guessing there is no way to fix this besides replacing the motherboard?

[Samm]

If the motherboard IS damaged, then replacing it is your only option. But before you do, theres several other things left to try which should help determine whether or not the board is damaged.

Can you try the following please :
1. Disconnect the main power, open up the case & disconnect the main ATX power connector from the motherboard.

2. If you haven't already done so, disconnect the front USB internal connectors from the motherboard.

3. Remove any cards you have from the system except for the video card.

4. Disconnect all drive ribbon cabling from the motherboard but leave the power connected to the optical drive(s).

5. Locate the clear cmos jumper (should be the jumper nearest the battery & often labelled CLR_CMOS or similar). Move the jumper cap to pins 2-3 & leave for 30 seconds, then return the cap to its original position (pins 1-2).

6. Make sure all external devices are disconnected (except monitor & keyboard), then reconnect the power connectors & try to boot the system up again.

Let me know what happens.

[Four4]

My motherboard doesn't have a jumper so I just unplugged the battery, will that do it? After doing all the steps I still get the same problem.

[Samm]

Yeah, removing the cmos battery should do the trick.
When you say it still does the same thing on power up, do you mean that the fans are spinning (cpu fan etc) but no picture on screen, no beeps & no keyboard flash?

[Four4]

Yeah, still power but no beeps, keyboard flashes, or picture.

[Samm]

To be honest, it doesn't look good.
Can you try removing all the ram modules & booting up again. You should hear a series of beeps.

[Four4]

Yes, when I take out the memory I hear a continual series of rapid beeps.

[Samm]

OK, thats a good sign.

Next I want you to try this :
(keep everything stripped out of the system as I described before & make sure the front USB connectors are not connected to the motherboard)

1. Disconnect power etc as before

2. Remove the video card & all RAM

3. Re-insert the AGP card. Make sure you push it in firmly without forcing anything & that the card is inserted evenly at both ends. Remember that the AGP slot on your board has a plastic bar at the end. This must be unlocked before removing/reinserting the card, then locked back into place after the card is installed.

4. I don't know how many RAM modules you have but it's obviously more than 1. I want you to install just one of the modules into slot 1 (slot nearest the cpu socket).

5. Clear the cmos again by removing the battery for at least 30 secs.

6. Reconnect the power to the motherboard & try to boot up again. If you get the same symptoms as before (i.e power but no screen, no beeps etc), then remove the ram module & replace it with one of the others. Let me know what happens this time.

[woohoofulness]

sry, i cant help you but i think this will get someones attention who can....

[Four4]

I get the same problem (Power, no screen or beeps) with all my sticks of ram. I'm guessing you were right about the usb port shorting out the motherboard. Doesn't look like I can fix it. I should be able to have it replaced through the company I bought the pc from, but I was hoping there was something I could do without having to ship it back to them. I really appreciate the support though, if ever I have a computer problem I will definitely come here first.