[Dermie24]

Hello All,

Merry Christmas!!

Hopefully this is the correct forum for my problem. I am currently working on a Gateway computer that will not boot up. When it is turned on it will show the video RAM value and then go to the Gateway screen and stop. I'm also not able to get to the BIOS. I did remove the BIOS battery and reinstalled it. What jumper do I need to move to clear the BIOS?

Any other suggestions on what to do now?

Thanks,
Dermie

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Hi,

Disconnect all the drives both ide and power cables, pull all the cards out except video and see if you can get into bios. The computer is not passing post so there is a bad part some where.

Then add one device at a time and see if you can still access bios till you find the offending one.

My guess is the harddrive so maybe just try that first.

Rick

[Doby]

Hi,

Disconnect all the drives both ide and power cables, pull all the cards out except video and see if you can get into bios. The computer is not passing post so there is a bad part some where.

Then add one device at a time and see if you can still access bios till you find the offending one.

My guess is the harddrive so maybe just try that first.

Rick

[Doby]

Also you may want to try the ram in a different slot because it seems to fail post before it checks the ram.

Bad ram or ram slot is usually indicated with a series of beeps but your working with a Gateway that probably don't have a case speaker.

[Dermie24]

Not a harddrive problem ... I already installed a different harddrive and got the same results.

Unhooked everything, took out RAM. Turned it on and it beeped like you said it should. Installed RAM in different slot ... back to same condition. No beeps and stopping at Gateway screen.

Another sympotom it is having is that it doesn't turn on easy. I'll push the button and it'll run for a second and turn right back off. After a couple of times it'll turn on, but only get to the Gateway screen.

[Doby]

Does this system have a video card in it and also onboard video? If so take out the card and try the onboard in case the card is the problem, if not never mind.

If you can't get into bios and it just freezes on the gateway screen the only other thing I can think of is to start swapping parts, first try the psu, then the ram. If you try this and all the drives and cards are disconnected then that would leave the cpu or motherboard but I don't think it is either of those because of the beep when you removed the ram.

[Dermie24]

No onboard video.

I took a guess and ordered replacement RAM. It'll have double what it came with and it could always be used in addition to the old stick if that's not the problem.

Is your other guess the power supply? I don't think I'm going to change that. It's an older computer and not worth the hassles.

I'll let you know how I make out in a few days when it shows up.

I noticed your Southern Columbia tag line on you last message. Funny you should be helping me ... I'm near State College. Small world even on the internet!

Thanks for the help so far!

[Doby]

Yea my next guess would be the psu but if you have another computer the ram would fit in we could possible check it.

It could also be the board or cpu, take a very close look at the board, look at the capaciteres the black cap looking things, are they leaking or do they look bulged? if so the board is bad.

yea it is a small world, I am helping a girl from eastern PA right now how about that 2 neighbors in one day.

Your welcome and Go Lions

[Dermie24]

Well, the RAM finally showed up. I installed it. Didn't fix the problem. decided I would unplug the keyboard, mouse, and monitor to see what would happen. The stupid thing beeped like it booted! I hooked the monitor back up and tried again. Sure enough it was booting now. Hooked the keyboard and mouse back up ... no go. So I went and found an extra keyboard I had and tried that. Everything worked fine. So I guess it was the keyboard the whole time!

Oh well, it has 192MB of RAM now so it needed it anyway. And it was only $18 on E-bay.

Thanks for the help!