system wont boot; no POST beeps

Hi!

i had this problem last week (the processor won't start, there are no POST beeps, case is receiving power), and it just went away...well, it happened again a couple days ago. here's what happened, and what i have done so far :

1. plugged mic./ headset into the sound card, system crashed
2. disconnected all peripherals...no luck
3. tried to boot with no periph. and random disk in the disk drive - no luck
4. tried the processor in another mobo...processor worked fine, and that hard drive booted.
5. changed the power cord on original machine - no luck
6. loosened mobo screws to case - no luck
7. took out all periph cards - no luck
8. disconnected and reconnected the power led - no luck

what should be my next steps?? i'm going to try another processor in my mobo...to see how that goes. what's this i keep hearing about "voltage testing?"

thanks for any help you can give.

oh! mobo = tyan trinity 400, processor = intel pentium 3.


thanks!!

(^^;(Your checkings are roughly complete.)

But item No.1 somewhat bugs me.<......,system crashed> <----(Oo;?(What's this?)

Generally, the mother board failure is expected, you may update bios, but resistor or condensor error is likely.

It seems to me that the bios going to vanish makes such a state. In this case, you should save the bios and write back or update before it's too late.

I'm not sure how to update or flash the bios when my system won't boot at all.

"system crashed" = i plugged in the mic/ headset, and it just shut off, and won't do anything now.

what about removing the lithium cell? i have been leery about doing it...what do you suggest?

I'm not sure how to update or flash the bios when my system won't boot at all.

<--(^^;?(It's natural. Doesn't it boot completely, even sometimes? Floppy is not read?)

"system crashed" = i plugged in the mic/ headset, and it just shut off, and won't do anything now.

<--(^^;(Extraordinaly, Sound Card is shorted? One of the culprit. Put it aside for the moment.)

what about removing the lithium cell? i have been leery about doing it...what do you suggest?

<--(^^;(Hence, Cmos cleared, That's it. Generally no harm. You' better replace it with new one.)

But if the mobo is physically broken or shorted, any devices attached may be broken. This is expected from the case of Sound Card. Then you should not attach any valuable items like 160Gb HDD to this mother for the moment. If there are two memories, take out one at least.

(^^;?(It seems more serious than I had expected. Be careful .at handling and not to damage any more things)

Thanks for helping!!

it doesn't boot at all, there is nothing indicating that the floppy is doing anything.

should i detach all cards and the hard drive, before testing with another processor?

if i should need a new board, what do you suggest? i don't want to have to replace much. if possible i would like to keep everything...the processor...memory (i'm using pc100, 1 card of 64, one of 128.) i don't do any gaming, or graphic craziness...i mainly use it for working from home...so, a lot of internet, and ms office.

thanks again!

Definitely remove all peripherals and see if it boots then (with just cpu, hdd, ram, video). If yes, add back other cards&accessories until it no longer boots.

If no, do try removing and replacing the lithium cmos battery. If any beeps occur during a failed boot attempt, note the sequence and tell us.

Swap out as many of the necessary parts as possible, one at a time (different ram, different video card, different hdd, different cpu) without peripherals. Again note any beeps.

If all else fails and you need a new board, you'll have to consider what you want to do. Easiest would be just find another p3 board. Thats getting harder to do though, so you might want to consider an inexpensive socket 478 board with a P4. That would require new ram as well, so it is the more expensive option, but it is a significant upgrade, and will keep you working longer.

i tried a different processor on my board....with sound, video, dial-up modem, and cable modem cards all out. nothing. took out lithium cell left out for 10 minutes. no beeps or anything. so, new board, right??

define "harder to get a p3 board?" do they just not sell them anymore??

y'all have been awesome...i do appreciate the help!!

If you cannot get it read floppy by all means, there's no way.

As for mother boards, follow Karsh's instruction, well-informed on hardwares.

As for Sound Card, you'd better prepare another cheapest PC for test machine for future use or now. Anything even junk with old pentium will do. I think you can get it at 1-3 bucks or so.

well, it seems that a new board is the only option....what do you think about AMD Athlon XP, with Abit VA-10 Athlon 80 processor, and 256 of DDR ram? that seems pretty inexpensive, and will still meet my needs.

also, after installing the board, et al, will i need to re-install the operating system?

thanks so much to you all!!

cathy.

That is a decent inexpensive mobo. Not sure what cpu you were referring to. The Athlon XP's are very good cpus, good price/performance ratio. Get one with a 333mhz fsb ("barton") if you can, with pc2700 ram. 256mb of ram is the minimum I would get, it should be enough for you though, since you probably don't do much gaming or video/photo editing.

You should plan on reinstalling. If it works, great, but it doesn't always, so just plan on a reinstall.

(^^;(I'm not so familiar with recent board as Karsh, but it would be flawless to your needs)

reinstall <--(^^;(Of course, PC is not a box of chocolates. Post another thread then, if it fails.)

As for PenIII board. If you want to recycle your parts, you'd better search for it in used PC shop. If you do without haste, you may get it at very reasonable price. Make friends with stuffs.

There have to be many used workstations and servers for PenIII without CPU and RAM.

Be careful before replacing your dead motherboard with a new one. The motherboard might not have been the problem in the first place. Check the power supply and see if it is providing the appropiate voltages as it may be zapping out the motherboard.

How would i check the voltage on the psu? the case is definitely getting power....and it's been working for 5 years, so is it strange for the voltage to suddenly spike?

cripes...i'm just overly attached to this friggin machine, huh???

Karsh --> why pc2700 ram, instead of the DDR? the specs on the Abit VA-10 Athlon motherboard say that it takes "single channel DDR"...are they interchangeable?

hey dude... mine has been doing the exact same thing.

I've changed out every piece-- ram, processor, mobo, power supply, battery: IT STILL DOES THE SAME THING.

sometimes it boots, but maybe 10 minutes later it will just shut off. Then when I turn it on, the power comes on-- but nothing ever displays. Processor stays cold. Ram stays cold.

After maybe 8-10 restarts, it will boot, only to repeat the process again. I can't figure it out either. Ive basically built a new machine, yet it has the same problems as with the old parts.

I say that just to tell you that I thought it was the mobo too... but that didn't fix anything.

My next step is to reseat the heatsink on the processor with thermal paste. I have noticed that when it crashes, the heatsink is almost too hot to touch. Only thing I can figure is maybe the processor is getting too hot and it cuts off; then only when it cools down does it decide to boot again.

pc2700 is a speed of ddr memory. A 333mhz fsb (2x166) gives a memory bandwidth of 2.7gb=2700mb->pc2700. You want the ram to be at least as fast as the fsb speed of the cpu, so for a 333mhz fsb Barton, you want 333 (166x2)mhz DDR ram, also known as pc2700.

@sullimd- definitely sounds like you have heat issues. Try reseating the heatsink, and add any fans that your case can support.