PC won't start?

[Kenny]

MS 6738 m/b
Athlon XP 2000 CPU
256MB PC133 RAM
GeForce MX440 graphics

Single POST beep, gets as far as "detecting IDE drives" and just sits there
doing nothing.
HDD and IDE cable OK, tested in another PC, same with RAM.
Have reset CMOS and changed battery, no difference.
Can't get into BIOS at all so can't boot from CD or floppy.
Suspect BIOS corrupted although resetting didn't help.
Any suggestions welcome.

 

[DL]

I believe a single beep is generally memory related, whether actual memory
or mobo?

 

[Kenny]

SIngle beep normally means it has passed POST and hardware OK.

 

[Mike Hall - MS MVP Windows Shell/User]

Not always..

http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm

 

[Bob I]

Plug HD cable into the other IDE header? But if you cant get into BIOS,
is it not recognizing the keyboard?

 

[Kenny]

Turned out it was a faulty optical drive! Have seen these fail before but
usually not reading or writing. First time I've seen one cause the PC to
fail to start at all.