P4B266-C Boot Problem - Won't Scan Boot Devices

[Parallax Abstraction]

Hey all! This is kind of urgent as it's for a client of mine so I
hope someone knows the answer. He has an Asus P4B266-C with a P4
1.8Ghz and 512MB DDR266. The system has been working fine for quite
some time, but recently developed a problem. The system goes through
the POST procedure fine and gets to dispalying PCI devices. However,
the system halts there. It doesn't start seeking boot devices though
the floppy light remains on from the seek the BIOS does. This just
starting for my client suddenly two weeks ago. Yesterday, I resolved
the problem by clearing the BIOS and redoing the settings. I also
flashed the BIOS from 1002 to 1006. It worked for a day and now it
has started doing it again. Has anyone seen this before and does
anyone know what causes it or how to fix it? When his system boots,
it runs fine with no instability whatsoever. However, now it isn't
booting at all. Can anyone help me out?! Thanks all!

 

[Paul]

Hey all! This is kind of urgent as it's for a client of mine so I
hope someone knows the answer. He has an Asus P4B266-C with a P4
1.8Ghz and 512MB DDR266. The system has been working fine for quite
some time, but recently developed a problem. The system goes through
the POST procedure fine and gets to dispalying PCI devices. However,
the system halts there. It doesn't start seeking boot devices though
the floppy light remains on from the seek the BIOS does. This just
starting for my client suddenly two weeks ago. Yesterday, I resolved
the problem by clearing the BIOS and redoing the settings. I also
flashed the BIOS from 1002 to 1006. It worked for a day and now it
has started doing it again. Has anyone seen this before and does
anyone know what causes it or how to fix it? When his system boots,
it runs fine with no instability whatsoever. However, now it isn't
booting at all. Can anyone help me out?! Thanks all!

Simplify the problem by removing the PCI cards, until you can get
it to post. Perhaps one of the PCI cards is busted and is hauling
the PCI bus down ?

If you own a PCI "POST" debugging card, with the two digit hex display
on it, insert the debugging card in a spare PCI slot, and see where
the BIOS is halting.

Run your hand over the surface of the motherboard and check for any
components that are burning hot.

Take a voltmeter and check the supply rails. If you can get back
into the BIOS, it is easier to use the hardware monitor in the BIOS
to do this.

HTH,
Paul

 

[DaveW]

It sounds like the chipset may have developed a thermal fault.