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Booting Problems
Hi, im trying to fix a dell 8400 for my freind however i have met a strange problem.
The pc wont boot without resetting the cmos, then it works fine. However turn it back off and the cmos needs to be reset again.
Without the reset the psu and f ans dont even spin up and no lights come on apart from the aux power light, showing the psu is getting power.
Any ideas??
Thanks, neil.
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Could the battery be flat on the motherboard?
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thats the only thing i can think of, but would that cause the problem?
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I tried a different battery from a working machine and still the same problem :(
When i boot it up it says "invalid setup information", does that means some settings need to be changed or does it just always say that after a cmos reset - also possibly it just means the time and date?
ideas??
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After clearing the cmos, you would normally need to set the right settings in the bios for the processor fitted etc. However, the problem does seem to point to a faulty motherboard.
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Update the BIOS, worth a try...
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Ok ive now tired two other batterys from working machines and ive up dated the bios to the latest version.
But the problem remains.
Ive also tried taking out all non essential components and tried it like that and i still had the problem.
Is there anything else to try or is it a gonner??
Also in regards to the bios settings there not much you can configure in there and its all done automatically and ive tried the factory defaults which didnt seem to change any settings anyway.
Thanks, Neil.
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Well im upgrading the pc with a new case/ mobo/ cooler now and upgrading it to 2GB ram so hopefully that will solve the problems and give them a better and more reliable PC that can be properly upgraded in future :)
One question though - would it be better to keep the current 400mhz 256 dimms installed and add the new ram or take the old stuff out and run the ram at 800mhz??
neil.