Decoding the error codes.

[Thicko]

I have an AA8 mother board which will not power up. I have tried all the tips on this site, ie. cleared cmos, disconnected the sata hard drive, removed and re attached the memory sticks, to no avail.
The Error codes I read are, 83 36 3F. Power is sent to the fans briefly, I get a long beep followed by a short beep, then the whole lot shuts down. Any suggestions please. If all else fails is it possible to read my sata hard drive with another computer which doesn't have a sata socket on the MB ?
Regards Thicko.

[ABIT Sean]

The codes do not indicate errors. They show the post cycle. In your case I would check the PSU as the codes being displayed relate to CPU power (12v 4 pin connector). Thats if its 8.3. not 83.

The abit site has more info regarding codes.

http://www.abit.com.tw/faq/code.html

[Thicko]

Many thanks for the link to the Abit site. However the indicated chart did not mention codes 36 or 3F. So I will investigate the site further and get back to you.

[pipTheGeek]

I had a problem with an Abit motherboard that had a hex display on it. I was very dissapointed when I discovered that the point it was hanging at wasn't listed in their list of codes. Whats the point of the diagnostics display if you can't decipher its output?
http://www.bioscentral.com/ may list the beep codes or the actual post code though.

PS
If anyone was curious, my problem was that I had connected a PCI-E 6 pin power to the ATX 12V socket. In my defence what PSU makes the PCI-E connector white?

[Thicko]

Hi David, thanks for your input. I am not progressing as far as the internet is concerned so I may have to consider other methods. I have another computer to fall back on fortunately. The most pressing thing for me is to get the info from the hard disk of the original PC. The problem with that is that the original PC has a sata drive where as the good PC is older and has no provision on the MB to connect to. As to the cause of the failure, it is inexplicable, other than an inconsistent mains power supply. I run the computer through a UPS unit which helps, though like us all it too is getting old.
Thanks again, Rog.

[pipTheGeek]

Your safest / cheapest bet for recovering your existing data will be to find someone who does have a SATA connector and put your drive in their PC as a second drive.
The other fairly easy option is to get an external USB enclosure that accepts a SATA drive. Something like this. Please realise I have no experiance of this kind of device (I do have a sata removable drive bay though, should you live near Norwich ) so I have no idea if that particular one is any good.
I assume once your data is safe you'll start trying things on the broken PC to see if you can make it work?

[Thicko]

Your first suggestion ie find a friend with a computer with sata drive is valid, but not feasable.
Your second point sounds a great solution, and thanks for the link.
The third point is the most friendliest but for the same reason as the first as I live in a remote mountain village in Greece. When I have salvaged the info I need I will of course concentrate on restoring the broken PC.
I have accrued a couple of older PC's so I might try swapping the Power unit assuming the wiring harness is the same. Unfortunately that is perhaps the only component that is compatible. I'll be in touch. Many thanks.

[Thicko]

Hi folks,sorry for the delay in getting back. I purchased an adapter as per your suggestion and was able to transfer the contents from one sata drive to the working computers ide. I then set about sorting the AA8 M/B.
The culprit turned out to be the PSU I swapped the unit from another defunct PC, and the AA8 started up as per normal. Hurray. Many thanks to all who have helped.