Please help, PC not Booting

[V_R]

Hi all,

Sorry about the long post, wanted to give you as much info as possible.

I can build a pc but haven't done much troubleshootting before so go easy with me.

Following on from my original overclocking thread here i thought i'd post a new thread in the relevant section.

To recap, this is whats happened so far....

PC (see sig) was oced to 2.7ghz...
FSB = 300
PCIE Frequency = 105
PCIE Clock = 33.33
Spread Spectrum = Disabled

All other settings are on auto/default settings

Screenshot of temps, CPUZ, TAT etc here

Then,

I was playing Stalker for an hour or so, when i got a blue screen stating 'irql not less or equal' (no mention of drivers or anything.) Did the dumping of memory and restarted.

But i got no beep, GFX and cpu fans are on but going at full tilt. and nothing on the monitor and no hard disk activity.

I tried resetting CMOS by unplugging, removing battery, moving jumper for about 30 seconds. Replaced back as before and still nothing.
When i turn on the pc and the fans light up and spin the it all stops, a second later it all comes back on and stays on but does nothing....

Have also tried using the CPR feature but that didn't help either.

The pc was off and psu lead was unplugged while i was at work in the hope that the CPR feature would do the trick, no joy...

Right, When i got home tonight i had a good go at trying t o get it going. Tried again to reset CMOS, no joy.

Have tried another PSU, without x-fi, without GFX or hard disks connected.

The motherboard still does not beep, the only time i get it to beep is when there is no RAM in it at all.

Unfortunately i have no spare DDR2, and none of my mates use it so can't try a different pair or put mine in another pc.

I think thats everything.

Do you think its the RAM? I have a nasty feeling its going to be the mobo but i hope not....

Please help, i am not sure what to do now.....

 

[V_R]

To add i noticed the lights on the keyboard reciever dont flash up when i press the power button either...

 

[V_R]

Anyone?

 

[chaosophy]

Do you have x2 sticks of ram in atm? If so try them one at a time in different slots.

 

[V_R]

sorry forgot to say i have tried that, each stick in every slot still no joy.

 

[chaosophy]

If the mobo is beeping with no ram then it may be the ram that's duff but you're pretty unlucky if both went.

Can you get hold of some ram from somewhere? Even if you just go and pick up the smallest stick of cheapest ram you can find on the high street, just to see if you can get it to boot.

You said you tried without X-Fi, GFX, HDD. Is there any other h/w you can try without, DVDs, mouse, k/b etc?

 

[V_R]

I think i have tried it with everything unplugged now....i think... Will have another go tomorrow.

Would be just my luck at the mo if it was both of them that died!

I did read on the asus forums someone said that it can take hours for the BIOS to reset when you take out the battery and move the CLRTC jumper, i dont know how much truth there is in that but i have left the battery out with the jumper in the clear position in one last desperate hopeful attempt.

Why is it that when i turn the pc on the fans light up and spin briefly then it all stops and a second later it all starts up as normal? (Even though it dont get any further.) Is that normal?

Cheers for the help mate.


P.S, when the RAM is not in the mb it beeps 1 long and then 2 short. If that helps any...

 

[SiriusB]

A month or two ago my boss' PC crashed and then wouldn't boot at all. Turned out to be one stick of his RAM deciding to die at that moment.

While unlikely and, indeed, really unlucky it is not impossible that both sticks of your RAM died. You really need to get some RAM to test with.

 

[V_R]

I may just have to buy some cheap stuff to test with if i cant get hold of any from somewhere.

Would it matter what, could i just get some of the cheap stuff off ocuk would that be ok? Any recommendations?

 

[SiriusB]

Any cheap DDR2 will do, you're only seeing if it will boot. You could always go down to a local PC Repair place and see if they could loan you some or test it for you.

I would ask if they are charging first though

 

[V_R]

Ok thanks, would this be ok then if i cant get hold of any?

Cheers

I cant believe this is happening to me a week after being built!

 

[chaosophy]

I think i have tried it with everything unplugged now....i think... Will have another go tomorrow.

Would be just my luck at the mo if it was both of them that died!

I did read on the asus forums someone said that it can take hours for the BIOS to reset when you take out the battery and move the CLRTC jumper, i dont know how much truth there is in that but i have left the battery out with the jumper in the clear position in one last desperate hopeful attempt.

It's worth a go but 'hours' seems unlikely imo.

Why is it that when i turn the pc on the fans light up and spin briefly then it all stops and a second later it all starts up as normal? (Even though it dont get any further.) Is that normal?

The P5B-Ds are know to do the double restart thing when changing settings in BIOS. It may be trying to start, not being happy about some thing (voltages maybe?), setting it and then trying to boot again and stopping? Not sure to be honest.

Cheers for the help mate.

NP.

P.S, when the RAM is not in the mb it beeps 1 long and then 2 short. If that helps any...

Just had a look in my P5B-D manual and it lists some beep codes but not that one. Might be worth checking ASUS and/or AmiBIOS websites.

And re: the ram, that should be fine. As mentioned any DDR2 ram just to see if you can get it to boot. You may have an issue first time if you've forced any settings in BIOS for your old faster ram but I think it's safe to say your CMOS is cleared by now!

 

[chaosophy]

Oh one more thing! Just remembered that this mentions booting the mobo for 10seconds with no CPU in to do a factory reset on the BIOS. Not seen it mentioned anywhere else mind, not that I've looked.

 

[V_R]

It's worth a go but 'hours' seems unlikely imo.

Mine too. But worth a try i guess.

The P5B-Ds are know to do the double restart thing when changing settings in BIOS. It may be trying to start, not being happy about some thing (voltages maybe?), setting it and then trying to boot again and stopping? Not sure to be honest.

Which is why i wonder if it has reset the bios yet, because before i changed anything in bios it would just power up straight away and at the mo its still pausing for a second.

Just had a look in my P5B-D manual and it lists some beep codes but not that one. Might be worth checking ASUS and/or AmiBIOS websites.

I had a look yesterday evening, On BIOS centrals website it says that 1 long 2 short is a 'Failure in video system' However a mate of mine was round and he had a look at it too and it only beeped 3 short times when the RAM was out, which is 'Base 64K memory failure' But when i tried it earlier it did 1 long 2 short, dont tell me the GFX is on the way out too......that would be just my luck...

Whats the chances of it being the graphics card going by what i have tried so far?

I have found someone with a gig stick of 6400 to use to test it though so will hopefully get my hands on that tonight and see what happens.

 

[V_R]

Right i tried the new ram, no different. Also tried my ram in a different pc and it booted fine with one, the other and both sticks.

Only thing i haven't changed/swapped is the CPU, GFX or motherboard.

To recap it never beeps unless there is no ram in it. Changing the ram is no different. The lights on the keyboard do not come on when its switched on. I have tried all combinations of hardware, from everything to nothing to see if it will post. Nothing happens, no beeps nothing on screen. I get three beeps when the RAM is not installed in the board.....

The bios has been reset many times now, to no avail.

Whats the chance of it being the CPU Or the GFX?


Thanks.

 

[V_R]

Will i get an RMA for the mb?

 

[manveruppd]

Definitely the BIOS, otherwise you'd be getting some beeps. I know it's supposed to reset in just seconds, but sometimes they don't, happened to me on my old MSI mobo, and I thought I had killed it until I decided to clear the CMOS again and leave the jumper at the clear setting for a good few hours.

First, unplug your PSU from the mains. Then, push the power button on the front of your case, just to get rid of any electrical charge leftover in the PSU's capacitors. After you've done that, take out the CMOS battery, and then put the CMOS jumper to 'clear' and, although I know it's overkill, leave it there overnight just to make absolutely sure.

If that doesn't work then it's possible you've completely scrambled the CMOS settings. I don't know if that booting without a CPU trick would work, though you have nothing to lose by trying. If not, you could try hot-flashing the BIOS chip on another board.

 

[V_R]

Definitely the BIOS, otherwise you'd be getting some beeps. I know it's supposed to reset in just seconds, but sometimes they don't, happened to me on my old MSI mobo, and I thought I had killed it until I decided to clear the CMOS again and leave the jumper at the clear setting for a good few hours.

First, unplug your PSU from the mains. Then, push the power button on the front of your case, just to get rid of any electrical charge leftover in the PSU's capacitors. After you've done that, take out the CMOS battery, and then put the CMOS jumper to 'clear' and, although I know it's overkill, leave it there overnight just to make absolutely sure.

Already tried that mate, the battery has been out and jumper moved for 24 hours, i replaced the battery and jumper when i tried the new ram. (See a few posts up.)

If that doesn't work then it's possible you've completely scrambled the CMOS settings. I don't know if that booting without a CPU trick would work, though you have nothing to lose by trying.

I'll try the CPU trick this weekend.

If not, you could try hot-flashing the BIOS chip on another board.

I didn't think the BIOS chip was removable on the P5B-D, Is it?

 

[manveruppd]

I didn't think the BIOS chip was removable on the P5B-D, Is it?

I don't own your motherboard but all mobos I've seen build in the past 5 years have had those little square chips that you can just lift out with a little pen. Is yours not like that?

 

[V_R]

Not sure tbh, just remember reading on the Anandtech forums a guy was moaning that it was not removable. I will have to check. Thats new to me i haven't seen a removable bios chip let alone removed one!