Cannot boot up, keyboard will not work

[Bazzer Smith]

Ok so I tried to install a graphics card without much luck.
Anyway I did not delete the old drivers, that might be the root of
the problem - I don't know. I just felt 'safer' leaving them there.

Anyway I cannot do anything with that comp now so I am back on this
old one. Now that I finally got it to work.

Is there any hope for that computer?

I was hoping I would be able to do something like a system restore
if I could get the keyboard to respond.

However as I did not actually change anything I don't see how a restore
would help?

I am really stuck.

 

[Paul]

Ok so I tried to install a graphics card without much luck.
Anyway I did not delete the old drivers, that might be the root of
the problem - I don't know. I just felt 'safer' leaving them there.

Anyway I cannot do anything with that comp now so I am back on this
old one. Now that I finally got it to work.

Is there any hope for that computer?

I was hoping I would be able to do something like a system restore
if I could get the keyboard to respond.

However as I did not actually change anything I don't see how a restore
would help?

I am really stuck.

If the old drivers are still there, as you claim, then put
the old graphics card back in. You should be back where
you were.

Then, go to "Add/Remove" and remove the driver.

Next, shut down and install the new video card.
(Turn off the power and unplug, before making hardware changes.)

Finally, boot up with the new card in place. With no driver,
the video card will run a low resolution, like 640x480. After
you install the new drivers, and reboot, all should be well.
(Some video cards need a later version of DirectX, but the
video card CD will have a copy of the required DirectX version,
so the install CD should do all the hard work.)

Even if you are changing from one Nvidia video card, to a different
model number of Nvidia video card, you still have to uninstall the
old driver and reinstall the new one. Any number of things could be
different, in the requirements of the new video card, so it helps
to allow the installer to do its thing again.

Paul

 

[Jeff Strickland]

Ok so I tried to install a graphics card without much luck.
Anyway I did not delete the old drivers, that might be the root of
the problem - I don't know. I just felt 'safer' leaving them there.

Anyway I cannot do anything with that comp now so I am back on this
old one. Now that I finally got it to work.

Is there any hope for that computer?

I was hoping I would be able to do something like a system restore
if I could get the keyboard to respond.

However as I did not actually change anything I don't see how a restore
would help?

Have you tried taking the new component out and booting with the previous
configuration? The card might not with your motherboard, or it might not
work at all.

 

[Paul]

OK I will add a bit more info.
I did not delete any drivers, I just put the card in my machine
and rebooted. It posted up the HP start-up screen with
stuff like press F1 to do this, press F10 to do that and
press 12 to do something else. However whatever keys
I pressed nothing happened. It was not responding to the
keyboard. Also the 'light' on the keyboard was not on
although it does flash on briefly when I booted up.
But then it goes off and stays off.

I tried taking out the graphics card I had installed to revert
to the onboard graphics but when I rebooted all that happened
is that I got a blue screen. It't don't look good does it?

I also tried booting with the disk that came with the graphics
card in the CD drive but it made no difference at all.
There was a little bit of CD-drive actuiivity right at the start
but then nothing, just the same as a boot with no CD in it.
That is either a blue screen or the screen with the 'press F1'
etc..

I also tried putting the master drive in this PC (very old PC)
as a slave but it would not recognise it, but then maybe that is because
it is 'too new', this computer is about 10 years old.

Can anyone give me any clues here as to what is going on?

Normally it would put up a timer of 15 seconds and then boot
normally, with the option to boot into safe mode IIRC or
Ubuntu which I had installed on the slave drive.

I am wondering if I could try to boot from the slave drive
into Ubuntu by putting it on as master?

I did try and boot from a Ubuntu CD but that failed too.

I am a bit out of my depth here.
The drive access light seems to be always on when I try to
boot.

There were no 'beeps' by the way.

Can anyone give me an idea of the 'damage done'?

Is the drive screwed? Is the hardware screwed??
Or is it just a software conflict.
I fear the worst!!
Best start looking at a new PC!!

The monitor still works!!
I guess the CPU does too as it 'posted ' something
to the screeen in one situation, with the new ATI graphics
card in.

Help!!

OK, turn off the power, and go back inside the computer. You've
bumped a cable, like the ribbon cable to the drive. You've upset
something unrelated, so check that all the connections are secure.

I had a scary experience once, where I bumped the ribbon cable
while I was changing some hardware. The computer starts all by itself
once it was plugged in. It took a few minutes to figure it out, but
I found the ribbon cable was only half plugged in. Once I put it
back properly, problem solved.

You also tried to boot Ubuntu, and it didn't work, so some part
of the hardware just isn't happy right now. Have a look around
and pray it is a loose connector.

Paul

 

[Jeff Strickland]

My machine that behaved sorta like this a few weeks ago had a bad memory
card. The screen would go to the place where there were a couple of options
with the F Keys, but the options could not be invoked.

I took out one of the 512M memory cards (RAM), and the problem persisted. I
took out the second card and installed the first one, and the problem was
resolved. I reinstalled the second card, the problem returned, and removed
it again and the problem went away.

You are having an issue that surrounds the installation of a new video card,
but I think this is a coincidence.

 

[Bazzer Smith]

Ok so I tried to install a graphics card without much luck.
Anyway I did not delete the old drivers, that might be the root of
the problem - I don't know. I just felt 'safer' leaving them there.

Anyway I cannot do anything with that comp now so I am back on this
old one. Now that I finally got it to work.

Is there any hope for that computer?

I was hoping I would be able to do something like a system restore
if I could get the keyboard to respond.

However as I did not actually change anything I don't see how a restore
would help?

I am really stuck.

OK I will add a bit more info.
I did not delete any drivers, I just put the card in my machine
and rebooted. It posted up the HP start-up screen with
stuff like press F1 to do this, press F10 to do that and
press 12 to do something else. However whatever keys
I pressed nothing happened. It was not responding to the
keyboard. Also the 'light' on the keyboard was not on
although it does flash on briefly when I booted up.
But then it goes off and stays off.

I tried taking out the graphics card I had installed to revert
to the onboard graphics but when I rebooted all that happened
is that I got a blue screen. It't don't look good does it?

I also tried booting with the disk that came with the graphics
card in the CD drive but it made no difference at all.
There was a little bit of CD-drive actuiivity right at the start
but then nothing, just the same as a boot with no CD in it.
That is either a blue screen or the screen with the 'press F1'
etc..

I also tried putting the master drive in this PC (very old PC)
as a slave but it would not recognise it, but then maybe that is because
it is 'too new', this computer is about 10 years old.

Can anyone give me any clues here as to what is going on?

Normally it would put up a timer of 15 seconds and then boot
normally, with the option to boot into safe mode IIRC or
Ubuntu which I had installed on the slave drive.

I am wondering if I could try to boot from the slave drive
into Ubuntu by putting it on as master?

I did try and boot from a Ubuntu CD but that failed too.

I am a bit out of my depth here.
The drive access light seems to be always on when I try to
boot.

There were no 'beeps' by the way.

Can anyone give me an idea of the 'damage done'?

Is the drive screwed? Is the hardware screwed??
Or is it just a software conflict.
I fear the worst!!
Best start looking at a new PC!!

The monitor still works!!
I guess the CPU does too as it 'posted ' something
to the screeen in one situation, with the new ATI graphics
card in.

Help!!

 

[Bazzer Smith]

If the old drivers are still there, as you claim, then put
the old graphics card back in. You should be back where
you were.

Then, go to "Add/Remove" and remove the driver.

Next, shut down and install the new video card.
(Turn off the power and unplug, before making hardware changes.)

Finally, boot up with the new card in place. With no driver,
the video card will run a low resolution, like 640x480. After
you install the new drivers, and reboot, all should be well.
(Some video cards need a later version of DirectX, but the
video card CD will have a copy of the required DirectX version,
so the install CD should do all the hard work.)

Even if you are changing from one Nvidia video card, to a different
model number of Nvidia video card, you still have to uninstall the
old driver and reinstall the new one. Any number of things could be
different, in the requirements of the new video card, so it helps
to allow the installer to do its thing again.

Paul

 

[Bazzer Smith]

If the old drivers are still there, as you claim, then put
the old graphics card back in. You should be back where
you were.

Thanks for replying Paul!!

The old graphics was the onboard graphics so it is still there
so to speak but it is only capable of producing a blue screen
when I take out the new card.
Does not look good really.

Then, go to "Add/Remove" and remove the driver.

I can't get nowhere near that far, it's either a blue screen
or the 'press F1' etc screen.

The old graphics looks totally screwed with the blue screen.

One other thing I did earlier was to enter the BIOS to see if there
was a option to diaable the old graphics, but I could not
find anything that seemed to do that, so after a bit to looking around
and *possibly* accidently changing something I am 98% sure
I quit without saving changes.

 

[Bazzer Smith]

Have you tried taking the new component out and booting with the previous
configuration? The card might not with your motherboard, or it might not
work at all.

Yes I have tried that a few times but it makes no difference.
It's the 'F1' screen with a dead keyboard with the card in or
a blue screen with nothing on it with the card out.

 

[Bazzer Smith]

OK, turn off the power, and go back inside the computer. You've
bumped a cable, like the ribbon cable to the drive. You've upset
something unrelated, so check that all the connections are secure.

I had a scary experience once, where I bumped the ribbon cable
while I was changing some hardware. The computer starts all by itself
once it was plugged in. It took a few minutes to figure it out, but
I found the ribbon cable was only half plugged in. Once I put it
back properly, problem solved.

You also tried to boot Ubuntu, and it didn't work, so some part
of the hardware just isn't happy right now. Have a look around
and pray it is a loose connector.

Well I have had a look around and I cannot see anything obvious.

I have taken the main drive out at the moment and the other one is
disconnected.

I can see one small connector that looks spare, it looks like
a power supply to a floppy - yellow black black red, it is smaller
than the other power connectors.

Personally I am thinking the worst I am just wondering the
scale of the damage.

Can I presume the CPU is working because it put stuff on the screen?

Actuallt that reminds me of a problem I saw elsewhere
I will see if I can find it.

 

[Bazzer Smith]

My machine that behaved sorta like this a few weeks ago had a bad memory
card. The screen would go to the place where there were a couple of options
with the F Keys, but the options could not be invoked.

I took out one of the 512M memory cards (RAM), and the problem persisted. I
took out the second card and installed the first one, and the problem was
resolved. I reinstalled the second card, the problem returned, and removed
it again and the problem went away.

You are having an issue that surrounds the installation of a new video card,
but I think this is a coincidence.

Possibly, I 'cleaned' the CPU fan a few days ago, and some of the
stuff I cleared out seem have left bits of dirty on the mother board.
I would have shifted some of that about installing the card.
I will have another go at it when I have cleaned the board up a bit.

 

[Paul]

I will give it a while before I make my mind up.
But
1) I could power off and take the card out and uninstall the drivers.
2) Grab the bull by the horns and boot normall to see what happens.
3) I could possible boot up in ubuntu and delete the drivers for
the old graphics (I know what they are as I made a back up of them
anyway).

I am not sure what cured it, either checking the connectors and memory
were firmly in place (one memory stick looked a little looseish) or maybe
the magic hoover?

Which way would you go if you were me?

I am tempted to go for 2 but I will give it 10 minutes

Boot it and see.

Paul

 

[Bazzer Smith]

Ok so I tried to install a graphics card without much luck.
Anyway I did not delete the old drivers, that might be the root of
the problem - I don't know. I just felt 'safer' leaving them there.

Anyway I cannot do anything with that comp now so I am back on this
old one. Now that I finally got it to work.

Is there any hope for that computer?

I was hoping I would be able to do something like a system restore
if I could get the keyboard to respond.

However as I did not actually change anything I don't see how a restore
would help?

I am really stuck.

Good news!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a poke around, hoover it out :O)
(I know thats not advisable!!)
Put it back togeather togeather again.
Boot up with the card in...and
It is past the F1 screen!!!
I know have options to boot normally, recovery, or ubuntu!!!

The keyboard works!!

Which should I choose!!

 

[Bazzer Smith]

Good news!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a poke around, hoover it out :O)
(I know thats not advisable!!)
Put it back togeather togeather again.
Boot up with the card in...and
It is past the F1 screen!!!
I know have options to boot normally, recovery, or ubuntu!!!

The keyboard works!!

Which should I choose!!

I will give it a while before I make my mind up.
But
1) I could power off and take the card out and uninstall the drivers.
2) Grab the bull by the horns and boot normall to see what happens.
3) I could possible boot up in ubuntu and delete the drivers for
the old graphics (I know what they are as I made a back up of them
anyway).

I am not sure what cured it, either checking the connectors and memory
were firmly in place (one memory stick looked a little looseish) or maybe
the magic hoover?

Which way would you go if you were me?

I am tempted to go for 2 but I will give it 10 minutes

 

[Bazzer Smith]

Boot it and see.

I did.
The disk is in the drive and it is installing the drivers, looks like
it will take a few minutes.
The old drivers are still there but I hope they won't cause a problem.
I just will have to wait and see.
Another couple of minutes.
I expect it will reboot then.
It seems to be taking forever on the last driver I am wondering if it is
stuck?

 

[Bazzer Smith]

I did.
The disk is in the drive and it is installing the drivers, looks like
it will take a few minutes.
The old drivers are still there but I hope they won't cause a problem.
I just will have to wait and see.
Another couple of minutes.
I expect it will reboot then.
It seems to be taking forever on the last driver I am wondering if it is
stuck?

Ok rebooting now, past the F1 screen.
Windows logo.
That seems to have stopped though.
Oh its started again.

Welcome screen.
Desktop.

OK well its booted up but the colours seem screwed up.

 

[Bazzer Smith]

Ok rebooting now, past the F1 screen.
Windows logo.
That seems to have stopped though.
Oh its started again.

Welcome screen.
Desktop.

OK well its booted up but the colours seem screwed up.

I am going to reboot again and swop monitors and internet connections
so I am on the new computer to see if I can sort out the colours.

 

[Bazzer Smith]

I am going to reboot again and swop monitors and internet connections
so I am on the new computer to see if I can sort out the colours.

OK, I had problems first time I booted, blank screen.
Rebooted again after waggling the card a bit and it seems fine
now,the colour is fine too. I think that was a poor connectiiion
on the port.
Seems my machine is a little delicate so I will have to be careful
with it.
But thanks very much for the help especially Paul.
It's a horrile feeling when you think you have lost your computer,
the other one is so old it is only good for news groups and very
light surfing.

I will see if I notice any difference in the graphics now.
It seems just the same!!

On again thanks!!

 

[Paul]

OK, I had problems first time I booted, blank screen.
Rebooted again after waggling the card a bit and it seems fine
now,the colour is fine too. I think that was a poor connectiiion
on the port.
Seems my machine is a little delicate so I will have to be careful
with it.
But thanks very much for the help especially Paul.
It's a horrile feeling when you think you have lost your computer,
the other one is so old it is only good for news groups and very
light surfing.

I will see if I notice any difference in the graphics now.
It seems just the same!!

On again thanks!!

Good work

Paul

 

[Bazzer Smith]

Good work

The graphics seem a lot faster compared to what I had anyway.
It's only a low end card Radeon 3450, I was going to get something
a bit better but my power supply did not meet the spec.
I mainly want it to try to run two monitors, not tried that yet though.
Gonna give it a try now, I think I have to reboot.