Boot Issues

[Frosty]

Usually im able to handle any pc trouble myself but on this occasion i feel i must turn to the only ppl i know that know more about pc's than me - my Hexite Brethren.

PC Spec -
1.8 (2.2) Tbred "A" Amd (4yrs old)
9800pro Sapphire (3 yrs old)
Epox 8RDA+ (4 yrs old)
1 Gb of Ram - 2x256 Ebuyer Ram 166FSB - 1 x 512 Crucial 200 fsb (group run @ 170x10)
Maxtor 160Gb Hd ( 1 yr old)
CWT 450Watt PSU (2 yrs old)

For the record this setup, in its current form has been faultless for over a yr (The Crucial Ram and Maxtor Hd are relatively new additions, a yr and a half old)

The Problem -
I turn my pc off in the evening and in the morning, on boot-up, i get numerous bios beeping noises - monitor doesn't turn on. Pc doesn't boot up.

My own troubleshooting:
I always knew that mixing ram could be troublesome but for the past yr no errors had occurred with only the mildest over clocking. I recognised the beeps as Ram errors. What I did:

1) Earthed myself.
2) Took all 3 sticks of ram out.
3) Cleared the Bios via Jumper.
4) got my 512 stick and put in DIMM 1.

Same beeping noise - then i stuck it in the other two DIMMS. Same error. By this time i was suspecting that the ram stick might be dead. So i switched to a 256meg stick and began to troubleshoot the Dimms with that.

Some luck, it appeared that Dimm 1 & 2 were fine but my 3rd DIMM seemed to be dead, randomly. I repeated the process with my crucial stick, and this time it was fine :S . But again when i put a stick in DIMM 3 it started playing silly buggers and not booting. Over this period i cleared the Bios numerous times.

Prognosis - Dimm 3 was dead and i had to make do with 756 ram. Not a Huge problem.

That evening i turned it off and low and behold the next morning it was making the same error again!

I repeated the aforementioned steps but this time nothing would avail, no monitor boot up etc. Was i to think that all the sticks were dead or all the DIMMS were dead?

I poured over the contents of my epox manual - the mobo is equipped with an LED error indicator - the code is meant to detail the error. I was getting 3 different errors consistently on different bootups.

C1 - Ram error
2b - Graphics Card Error
1b - Bios corruption

So i did these steps in different combos-
Took 9800, Hd, pci cards out.

Just tried different combos of ram while putting the graphics card back in at certain intervals. I was able to get to the bios screen up randomly. And get into windows like there were no issues. While this showed all the hardware was working (apart form the third DIMM still) I was still pissed that I simply didn’t know what was causing the problems.

I was none the wiser as to what was causing the problems.
I knew the graphics card worked.
I knew the ram worked.
I knew Dimm 1&2 worked.

But given any restart (even from a successful bootup) it would all go bk to square one. No monitor. Those hellish beeping noises. And me stripping down my pc yet again!

Yesterday I stripped my whole pc down - cleaned the mobo, graphics card, the case, all the fans, reapplied artic silver to the cpu etc. Put it all together with one stick of ram (the crucial) and everything hooked up (and yes the power connector is on my 9800pro, but sometimes the bios gives the error that it isn't, I even switched power connectors on my 9800pro, some times the bios acts like it isn't working - randomly.)

I even put a fresh battery in the mobo! Seems to have done nout.

My suspicions:
I thought the bios was running internal tests on ram and was picking up errors and that is why it didn’t allow pc to boot up sometimes.

I thought the battery might be flat and simply wasn't keeping settings at shutdown - so i gave it a fresh battery.

I dreaded my graphics card was dying, sometimes on start up the monitor would turn on but just show the graphics card details. Not go any further.

As I type this I have managed, randomly to get the pc to bootup with the current setup:

Everything hooked up, my crucial ram in DIMM 1 and a 256meg stick in DIMM2. Bios default. No overclocking.

But I know that if I turn off or restart this pc I may never get it up and running again. And certainly not with having to strip it down again.

Please help, this is the sound of a desperate man.

Adam.

[ultimate]

Can you or have you checked the psu rails for voltage or have you another known psu?

[Frosty]

I strongly doubt its the psu, but its made by a company called CWT (Channell Well Technology) my model is 450Watt, its one of the more reputable psu companies with a decent reputation (it's no Q-Tec).

If i get little feed bk from you guys the only thing i have left in mind is to flash the 9800's bios and the Epox 8RDA+ with the latest bios. But im dumb struck. As soon as i think ive got the issue pinned it turns out that it still doesnt work....

[Splash]

It's not what you want to be hearing, but I reckon your mobo is on the fritz...

[teachmech]

It's not what you want to be hearing, but I reckon your mobo is on the fritz...

It certianly sounds that way to me as well.

[scrandman]

Your mobo is about the right age to have been affected by the bad capacitors problem. Carefully inspect the board for bulging caps.

[blueball]

Some BIOS will reset to default clean/safe settings if you boot up with the "INSERT" key held down. You will then need to go into the BIOS and reset the settings you need - it's free to try and it may help but I am also of the opinion of either the mobo or the PSU is goosed. Have you another PSU you could try?

[maverick77_uk]

Its not something like a dead bios battery is it? Could be that when its been off overnight, the charge in the dead battery isn't enough for it to remember all is settings, thus the beeps? Messing with it after its been on a bit, the battery has just enough charge to hold the info for a few restarts?

[Frosty]

Sorry for late reply but since my last post the damn thing died and i had to strip it down, i spent more hours than i care to say just to get it running. Im convinced its the mobo as you guys suggest. i swaped my psu with a spare and same thing (shortyl before it popped and there was flash but thats another story.) My CWT psu is fine, im sure its the board.

Main reason?

A few weeks back i noticed this brown substance alone the 5 capaciters adjacent the cpu, just those 5. I was most perplexed and meant to query it here back then, but everything was fine so i forgot. Now scandman has mentioned about checking capaciters im sure its the mobo. I'd love to invest in a new system but i simply cant justify it atm, i need a new mobo.

Any recommendations?

Is it best to get an oldish mobo but from a reputable manufacturer thatd suit my setup?
like an asus, epox or abit?

or would it be better that i bought a fresh mobo from a cheaper company. I have a budget of around 50quid...

I need a mobo with the following:
x8 agp port (im not prepared to make jump to pci express, dont have the money for a card to go with it.)
Soundstorm, or a good integrated sound card (not deadly important but high on the list)
Can take my tbred "a" amd

no point getting a top of the line mobo with the current spec...also expensive atm.

I'd quickly like to thank every one that posted, your a life line in a sea of hardware ignorance

Adam

[ultimate]

Why not try and replace the caps on the board wont cost much and it would be worth a go, just have a look at all the caps and replace any that look dodgy i.e. swelled tops, goo coming out etc, so long as you are handy with a soldering iron it is easy to do.

[Frosty]

Hmm going near my hardware with a red hot piece of metal that could punch holes through it has always crossed me as big balls country.

In short i've been too scared to do it and havent found it necessary to justify the risk yet. But im willing to learn and since im getting a new mobo anyway ive got nothing to lose.

I've never done any soldering so what:

a) filament/resistant solder would i need?
b) if i chopped off a capacitor and strolled down to my local maplin could i find a replacement?
c) is it a big job?
d) is there any online tutorials?

Im still looking for mobo reccomendations!

But on a side note im interested in the soldering, if only to further my knowledge.

[scrandman]

Sorry I was right!

There were some tutorials on how to do it a few years back, but you might struggle to find them now.

It's worth checking to see if your mobo is still under warranty first though - ASUS boards have a 3 year warranty.

[ultimate]

a) I use alloy type Multicore 5 core ersin flux savbit No 1 1.2mm diameter, I know purists wont agree with me but it works for me.

b) Yes but check all caps that are faulty as they can be different values

c) Not a big job but you do know what you are doing as it is easy to connect board traces

d) Dont know of any to recommend but if you do a google search there are some on there i.e. http://www.epemag.wimborne.co.uk/solderpix.htm and if you have an old board practice on that with an iron of not over 15watts fine point tip.

Worth a go as it will give you experience and if it works will be cheaper than a new board

[FatalSaviour]

Your mobo is about the right age to have been affected by the bad capacitors problem. Carefully inspect the board for bulging caps.

That would have been my guess too...
I had an Epox SoA 8K5A2+ that died recently.
There had been brown goo oozing out the caps for a year or so, but it finally gave up the ghost a little while ago.
I e-mailed Epox support, who kindly offered to send me replacement caps FOC, if I was confident fitting them myself...all they needed to know was which ones I required.

You might want to try doing this?

HTH

[teachmech]

Hi scan have two socket A boards in stock.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...Thumbnails=yes

or dabs have the following

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx...2&v=2#infoarea

Hope these help.

[maverick77_uk]

New socA moBo's are getting thin on the ground due to the discontinuation of the socket, however, I have this one that suits your requirements:

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Product...6&GroupID=1089

Ans is still available. Asrock as a budget manufactuter haven't failed me yet, and well within your budget with change from £30.