PC Broken.. any advice appreciated

Mal Cullen

Mal Cullen

Mal Cullen

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Joined
7 Feb 2010
Posts
191
Location
Essex
My machine last worked about 8 weeks ago before a big problem knocked it for 6. Recent house move has prevented me looking into it. Today I started getting serious in my attempts to fix. Ended in frustration as I just don't know enough about wat could be wrong..

Machine
Pny GT8800 GT 512MB
Abit IP35
Vista 64
4* 1g Corsair DDR2
ANTEC case
Freezer Pro 7 cooler

This machine had been giving me randon BSODs in the past. Then suddenly I got

Award BootBlock BIOS v1.0
BIOS RomChecksum error
a few more lines

Machine wouldn't get past this point no matter what I did. Couldn't get into BIOS absolutly no way past this screen.

Machine had been OC'ed by OCUK when I bought it a couple of years ago and I think the last time I got it to boot into the BIOS I did try to switch it to the un-OC'ed profile.

Things I have done so far to try to help/fix.. (I always think you know when you have done something that has made a difference and I certainly haven't had that feeling..)

I cleared the CMOS memory using jumpers as I thought I had a corrupt BIOS.
I changed the CCMOS1 battery in case it had run down
I stripped the machine cleaning all dust from PSU & case & GPU etc.. Huge amounts dust. Used only cans of air no vacum cleaning!
I reapplied Arctic 5 to CPU & Cooler and boy did they need it!
All done wearing anti-static wrist strap & grounding etc..

I try to power up & MB gets the red light it is meant to saying power going to the board then all fans start run on full then stop for a sec (this is what they have always done..) then back on again full. There is green light on MB where there is supposed to be one. Everything looks absolutly perfect to my untrained eye. The trouble is absolutly nothing is going to the screen. The screen is on I have checked both DVI outputs etc etc.. nothing. Screen is working perfectly as picks up laptop every time.

Can anyone think of any steps I can take to try to get somewhere?

Could it be PSU failure? It looks perfect and fan is spinning and it seems like it is all working.
Same with GPU

Totally lost as to what to do next...

Any help advise greatly appreciated. This machine has never been really perfect for a while with the BSODs and I wonder if they could be a signal that something was wrong and now it is finally fried...? My changes made to the BIOS settings cause me concern.. but I can't even get the BootBlock to come up any more..

I can post pics of the inside if they would be of any use...

ta

Mal
 
make and model of psu?

remove all ram sticks, bar one.

disconnect optical drives.

try booting up again, try different ram sticks.

have you tried repeatedly hitting the delete button to enter the bios on startup.
 
Holding the delete button makes you look less ridiculous mind.

I always thought mashing a button wildly too get into the bios made me look like a lunatic.
 
depends if he has a keyboard like mine that takes a few moments to power up, so will need to the button to be pressed at the right time, so holding down the del button from start won't be recognised.
 
Cheers

Power comes from OCZ 600w according to the spec of the machine I originally bought..
Full Spec is
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 GO 2.40GHz Quad Core CPU Overclocked too a minimum of 3.00GHz and beyond.
- Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Intel approved cooler
- Abit IP35 Pro XE Intel P35 (Socket LGA775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
- Award winning Corsair 2GB PC2-6400 CAS4 (2x1GB) Dual Channel Kit (Overclocked at 850MHz+) (Note when upgrading to 4GB overclock drops to 3.00GHz on CPU)
- 500GB Seagate 32MB Cache SATA-2 Hard Drive
- NVIDIA 8800GT 512MB
- Pioneer DVR-216DBK 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black)
- OCZ 600W Next Generation Power Supply
- Logitech S220 2.1 Speaker System - Black
- Samsung SM-226BW 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black
- Saitek Eclipse 2 Illuminated Gaming Keyboard - Blue/Red/Purple
- Razer Krait 1600dpi Professional Gaming Mouse

When I power up I get all fans as described in OP.. Will try delete key as keyboard does briefly flash on for half a sec..
 
I think it's the bios chip my friend. Is the machine in a state that it's possible to falsh the bios?

I don't know if you still have a warranty on the mobo or if the bios chip is soldered to the mobo. If you can't flash the bios chip there is a chance it can be swapped if not soldered to the board. Failing all the above RMA if possible

Hope this helps
 
It does ring a bell with a problem i had with a clients pc a very long time ago. If memory serves i had to make a bootable floppy disk. Copy a flash utility to it with bios file and make a batch file to run the utility.
 
Error seems to indicate error with BIOS. However from my own experience errors like these can be a bit misleading so I would try:

1. Systematically unplug and replug everything into the motherboard in case a dodgy connection is causing this.

2. Reset CMOS - and remove any overclock

3. Try booting with one stick of RAM - if fails try a different stick. Lastly try a different RAM socket.

4. Unplug all peripherals - ad try one last time

5. Swear a lot - start pulling components out of spare/second PCs you have and try them in the PC to locate the faulty component (if you have spares).

6. If all that fails resign - yourself to it being a faulty Motherboard...

Which is my general way of troubleshooting

Hope that helps

Imps
 
yeah I have been thinking above all else it is the BIOS that is corrupt and preventing the boot. I have started and repeatedly hit delete with no jpy. Tried just 1 ram (twice - different stick each time) & disconnected DVD drive.. all to no avail..

Bugger now I can't even get fans to start... nothing happening at all when I hit on button... sorry been at this all day on & off & getting fed up with no progress and my lack of knowledge..
 
Impy77 said:
5. Swear a lot
Click to expand...

lol Atleast it's not just me then

On a serious note, I think it's F2 to enter the bios on those mobos (i could be wrong). You could try downloading a bios file and burn to a cd. Try Alt+F2 (if F2 is used to enter the bios) there maybe a flash utility built into the mobo and it will flash the bios from the cd. Will be far easier than the FDD option

Let us know how it goes
 
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