Motherboard Issues!!! Or is it something Else?

[MattyC]

Hi all,



I’m wondering if anyone can help solve a problem that i am having with my PC. The PC is about 3 years old, and was self built. I have had no problems with it until a week ago.



The computer in brief uses a Asus A8V Deluxe Motherboard AMD 64 Processor (Soz not sure of the spec), Sony DVD Drive and Re Writer. Geforce Graphics Card.



The computer was working fine, and was shut down out of Windows XP as normal.

When i tried to turn it on again the machine would not boot up. All the fans inside the machine were working. The hard disk and DVD drives were not booting and there was no usual beep from the bios.



This mother board as im sure many of you will no has a ladys voice that tells you of any errors etc… The lady states that there is an issue with Overclocking!! This im guessing being the reason why the machine is not doing what it should do.



Further Info, the machine as far as im aware has never overheated.



The machine is standard and has never been overclocked. Is this an issue with the CPU, Motherboard or something els???



Any help would be grateful as I don’t want to start buying new components for the sake of it.



Cheers



Mat

 

[floppybootstomp]

If you're able to, hit the del key on startup and enter the bios.

Check all your settings, particularly CPU frequency and reset if and as necessary.

Also make sure the memory and graphics card are seated fully home in their slots.

 

[psd99]

take out the cpu and fan and put it back in again.

do you get any graphic output on the screen?

with no output it's usually either the cpu, graphics card or board, but because you hear that sexy lady americano accent it's not your board.

 

[muckshifter]

It is unrelated to OC'ing and you probably cannot enter the BIOS either ... if a "reset" of the BIOS, using the on-board jumper don't help, then I suggest a visit to a good PC repair shop.

A strip-down, re-seat everything, including new CPU thermal past, may cure the problem. I would certainly try a replacement MB battery (2032).

Sorry! can't be more help.

 

[MattyC]

Cheers,

The graphics card fan spins up but there is no output to the screen. If the graphics card is knackered in this case would this cause the machine to not boot up at all, even giving no bios beep???

 

[muckshifter]

Cheers,

The graphics card fan spins up but there is no output to the screen. If the graphics card is knackered in this case would this cause the machine to not boot up at all, even giving no bios beep???

I doubt there is any wrong with your graphics card, if there was, it would tell you, either by that little voice, or by beeping madly at you.

When a PC boots, it looks to the BIOS for information, if there is any error detected, it will refuse to boot to save any damage.

 

[MattyC]

Ok, i will have a look at the computer tomorrow evening, i now have a spare PC so i will try swapping the battery over 2 see if thst works. Could the issue lye with the Bios. Could the chip be damaged of would a flat battery be the answer??

 

[MattyC]

With regards to the Reset of the bios does anyone no where there are instructions to do this ?? I have a computing background but is it blatently obvious where the reset jumpers are on the M'Board....

 

[floppybootstomp]

You should look in the motherboard manual to confirm but the jumper is usually on a row of three pins near to the CMOS battery.

It's current position will be 'off' moving it the only other position will reset the bios. You then move it back to the off position.

It should be fairly obvious which one it is and anyway, if you have the machine disconnected from the mains it won't do any harm moving/replacing any of the jumpers. As long as you put them back to their original position before powering up of course.

 

[psd99]

or if you can't locate the pins or don't feel confident enough you will see a silver battery in the board. It's thin and shiny.

Make sure your has no power connected to it then take this battery out leave it out for 20 minutes at least
this will reset the bios.

 

[MattyC]

cheers guys, i wll update tomorrow eveing with the outcome

 

[TriplexDread]

Sorry to contradict you mate but 20mins is a long time. As long as power is off 20seconds is fine

 

[floppybootstomp]

Sorry to contradict you mate but 20mins is a long time. As long as power is off 20seconds is fine

This man speaketh truth.

 

[MattyC]

Guys,

I have now been able to get hold of another PC (Intel based) so that I can check out the Ram and Graphics Card etc.

Results. The Ram appears to work fine in the other machine, so does the graphics card, and the SATA Hardisk.

As such is this now a motherboard problem or is the CPU knackered?? I’m not to sure what else I can check....
The motherboard seems to have power as all the fans work, including the small green LED which is on, and as stated the electronic lady states that there is an overclocking issue. Oh and I have reseated the CPU and Removed the Battery form the bios and left it out for a few minutes as suggested. All these efforts have failed.

Im guesing the hands going to have to go into the pocket for a new Motherboard and or CPU.

If it is deemed the CPU what AMD chips can the ASUS A8V Deluxe Mother board take, or should I just get a new one.

Any Ideas....

Cheers

Mat

 

[Abarbarian]

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

Click on CPU Support on the left hand side and this will tell you what cpus the board takes .

Did you try the battery from the working mobo ?? or did you just re-set the coms .

You did clean up and use fresh thermal paste when you re-seated the cpu ??

Looks like you have covered everything , its always best to double check before spending money .

The fact that the womans voice is heard is an indication to me that the cpu is dead , but thats only a guesss . Shame you can not find a friend with the same socket mobo to test it out .

Good luck .

 

[psd99]

see if you can find a working cpu to put in that machine


20 minutes because sometimes I took out my battery for more than 10 minutes and it didn't clear cmos.

 

[floppybootstomp]

20 minutes because sometimes I took out my battery for more than 10 minutes and it didn't clear cmos.

The only way a CMOS chip can hold it's settings is to have voltage supplied to it. Take away voltage and it resets.

If your chip held it's settings for over ten minutes the machine was probably plugged into the mains.

I suppose it is possible some onboard capacitors could have held a charge but that's a rare thing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Socket A8V Deluxe takes a Socket 939 CPU.

I'd say it's 50/50 odds against motherboard/CPU being faulty but if I spun a coin it would come down motherboard side up.

I've known all functions of a motherboard to work but the whole PCI bus not to function so hearing a voice chip talking to you is not conclusive proof of the motherboard being good.

Socket 939 chips are well cheap atm Link

But socket 939 motherboards are thin on the ground, this is one of the few I could find Link

If it were me I'd cut my losses and get an AM2 motherboard & CPU.

Suggestions: Motherboard & Dual Core 2Ghz CPU

Both come to £70.00.

Plus you'll need a CPU cooler: Zalman @ £32.00

So for a touch over a hundred quid you've got a decent upgrade and something that works.

You could get a cheaper cooler and save a tenner but that one's a good one.

Or you could get an AM2 CPU retail version with stock cooler.

 

[MattyC]

Cheers,

For all your hlep i think i will admit defeat and Purchase a new Board and CPU.