PC POSTs but doesn't boot(?)

[Keiron]

Hi all,

I've put a pc together with old components.
On trying to boot the damn machine the thing posts but then
won't boot as far as the GDM (linux login interface). That is
to say, the monitor seems to go off/no signal mode.

I can't tell if the pc actually makes it as far as the OS login (through
drive activity) because I've not wired all the front panel due to not
having a mobo manual(MSI 7069 if anyone can help (it's out of a NEC
Powermate)).
ove.
Anyway, it seems this (kind of) error is widely reported on
various online forums however not necessarily with a common cause
or solution.

Here's the skinny with mine;
I can enter the bios.
I can boot from CD, and infact used the CD to install the OS
without any issues, i.e. the it doesn't appear to be a graphics issue,
ram problem, or shorting problem. The disc is also in usable condition
having just come out of another pc. Incidentally, the cdrom and harddisk
are currently operating on the same IDE slot, until I get a sata
optical drive, but even in this configuration the operating system
installed without fuss.

So, any ideas where I should look in trying to further analyse this?

Thanks

p.s. cpu fan continues to spin as it should and the pc seems to be
recieving power etc. i.e. the computer is on .... but .... well, as above.


Thanks again.

 

[keiron]

Hi all,

I've put a pc together with old components.
On trying to boot the damn machine the thing posts but then
won't boot as far as the GDM (linux login interface). That is
to say, the monitor seems to go off/no signal mode.

I can't tell if the pc actually makes it as far as the OS login (through
drive activity) because I've not wired all the front panel due to not
having a mobo manual(MSI 7069 if anyone can help (it's out of a NEC
Powermate)).
ove.
Anyway, it seems this (kind of) error is widely reported on
various online forums however not necessarily with a common cause
or solution.

Here's the skinny with mine;
I can enter the bios.
I can boot from CD, and infact used the CD to install the OS
without any issues, i.e. the it doesn't appear to be a graphics issue,
ram problem, or shorting problem. The disc is also in usable condition
having just come out of another pc. Incidentally, the cdrom and harddisk
are currently operating on the same IDE slot, until I get a sata
optical drive, but even in this configuration the operating system
installed without fuss.

So, any ideas where I should look in trying to further analyse this?

Thanks

p.s. cpu fan continues to spin as it should and the pc seems to be
recieving power etc. i.e. the computer is on .... but .... well, as above.


Thanks again.

Hello again,

Further to my original post. I've put a socket A board in the case with a
Duron of some decription and it powers up and boots to windows
fine. I should have mentioned that I was using a 300W psu. It's a macron
supply which were pretty good in the days of generic psus but obviously a
little dated now. It does however have a P4 four pin cpu connector (but
only a 20pin motherboard connector instead of 24 pin). I had imagined this
power supply would have been enough given that beyond the 3.8GHz cpu
(rated at 111W thermal design) there was very little in the way of power
demand: the motherboard with onboard graphics, a harddisk and optical
drive. Was I right to think that this shouldn't tax this 300W psu or are
the symptoms I describe typical of an under powered PSU?

Thanks

 

[Paul]

Hi all,

I've put a pc together with old components.
On trying to boot the damn machine the thing posts but then
won't boot as far as the GDM (linux login interface). That is
to say, the monitor seems to go off/no signal mode.

I can't tell if the pc actually makes it as far as the OS login (through
drive activity) because I've not wired all the front panel due to not
having a mobo manual(MSI 7069 if anyone can help (it's out of a NEC
Powermate)).
ove.
Anyway, it seems this (kind of) error is widely reported on
various online forums however not necessarily with a common cause
or solution.

Here's the skinny with mine;
I can enter the bios.
I can boot from CD, and infact used the CD to install the OS
without any issues, i.e. the it doesn't appear to be a graphics issue,
ram problem, or shorting problem. The disc is also in usable condition
having just come out of another pc. Incidentally, the cdrom and harddisk
are currently operating on the same IDE slot, until I get a sata
optical drive, but even in this configuration the operating system
installed without fuss.

So, any ideas where I should look in trying to further analyse this?

Thanks

p.s. cpu fan continues to spin as it should and the pc seems to be
recieving power etc. i.e. the computer is on .... but .... well, as above.


Thanks again.

It's possible that Xwindows is failing to load for some reason.

For your distro, which you've installed on the hard drive, you'll
need to enter grub at boot time, and use whatever option to bring
it up in single user mode. And then debug why Xwindows didn't start.
You'd look at /var/log/Xorg.0.log for evidence of failure reasons.
Many distros now, don't bother with a /etc/X11/xorg.conf file, and
you may need to hand craft a file to get X working. Installing
a relevant xorg.conf may make it work.

Alternately, you can boot your Linux LiveCD, mount the file system
from the hard drive, and then look at the Xorg log file. As in
/media/blahblah/var/log/Xorg.0.log. Where the blahblah part is
the mount point.

I run Linux distros in VPC2007 as virtual machines, and I have
to make my own xorg.conf file for each one, to get them to run.
Otherwise, the screen is a mess.

This is an example of a hand crafted xorg.conf . But this is intended
for a particular situation, and you cannot use this directly. This
is to illustrate how much work it is, to hand craft a file.

******* some old xorg.conf I had lying around *********

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout0"
Screen 0 "Screen0"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
# generated from default
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
# generated from default
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Unknown"
HorizSync 31.5 - 75.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 100.0
# Modelines via "cvt"
Modeline "1152x864_50.00" 66.25 1152 1208 1320 1488 864 867 871 892 -hsync +vsync
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Device0"
Driver "s3"
VendorName "Vanilla Corporation"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Device0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 16
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1152x864_50.00"
EndSubSection
EndSection
*******************************************************

Paul

 

[keiron]

It's possible that Xwindows is failing to load for some reason.

For your distro, which you've installed on the hard drive, you'll
need to enter grub at boot time, and use whatever option to bring
it up in single user mode. And then debug why Xwindows didn't start.
You'd look at /var/log/Xorg.0.log for evidence of failure reasons.
Many distros now, don't bother with a /etc/X11/xorg.conf file, and
you may need to hand craft a file to get X working. Installing
a relevant xorg.conf may make it work.

Alternately, you can boot your Linux LiveCD, mount the file system
from the hard drive, and then look at the Xorg log file. As in
/media/blahblah/var/log/Xorg.0.log. Where the blahblah part is
the mount point.

I run Linux distros in VPC2007 as virtual machines, and I have
to make my own xorg.conf file for each one, to get them to run.
Otherwise, the screen is a mess.

This is an example of a hand crafted xorg.conf . But this is intended
for a particular situation, and you cannot use this directly. This
is to illustrate how much work it is, to hand craft a file.

******* some old xorg.conf I had lying around *********

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout0"
Screen 0 "Screen0"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
# generated from default
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
# generated from default
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Unknown"
HorizSync 31.5 - 75.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 100.0
# Modelines via "cvt"
Modeline "1152x864_50.00" 66.25 1152 1208 1320 1488 864 867 871 892 -hsync +vsync
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Device0"
Driver "s3"
VendorName "Vanilla Corporation"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Device0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 16
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1152x864_50.00"
EndSubSection
EndSection
*******************************************************

Paul

Thanks Paul,

X config was a consideration but I'm uncertain. I have used this board
previously with the very same distribution (Ubuntu 10.04 LTS) and had no
problem with the onboard video. Additionally, I took the linux drive out
and replaced it with a working XP installation and I got the same/a
similar error: the pc POSTed told me there was an error with the last
windows boot (fair enough as I'd just put the drive back in) and then
failed to boot. The difference in this case being the computer actually
restarted. I'll keep the drive aside and check the config but I'm thinking
it's more and more a hardware issue - although for the life of me I can't
think what!

Cheers