K7T turbo2 boot problems

[tris-]

cpu - duron 1.3ghz
ram - 256 mb
Gcard - GF2 MX440

i built this comp for my parents and didnt notice anything wrong with it but they keep telling me they need to reset the CMOS every week. the prob they get is when they power the comp on, the screen is just blank, reset the CMOS and voila it boots up. i thought it could be a fauly battery on the board so i am going to buy another one tomorrow, but if its not that then does anyone have an idea what could be causing it? the power supply is also 400W.

 

[tris-]

bump battery made no difference

 

[Testin da Cable]

try moving the ram to another slot if possible

 

[Jonty]

Hi n3wbie

Does the computer actually boot up, from what you can tell? (e.g. does it sound like everything's trying to load as normal, and there's just no output to the screen?) Or is the computer completely dead, with no hard drive activity? Also, are there any bleeps right after you power up? If so, count how many there are and note whether they are short or long in length.

Kind Regards

Jonty

P.S. TdC may well be right, since he's a genius with this kind of stuff, so try his solution first as I only ask these questions in case his solution doesn't work.

 

[Testin da Cable]

ooh a genius? well, I'd not go that far myself, but thanks Jonty

anyway, once apon a time I had n3wbie's problem too, and it turned out to be a dodgy dimm ( but I've heard that vidcards with problems can cause it too). n3wbie would do well to try the diverse components of the computer in a different computer to test them for faults and to see if the test computer will perform alike his parents box.

I'm betting it's a dimm, but with my luck it will turn out to be a HDD cable not seated properly or something

 

[Jonty]

Originally posted by Testin da Cable
ooh a genius?

Can I have my money now? hehehe

Sounds like more good advice, though, n3wbie. Be sure to let us all know how you get on.

Kind Regards

 

[tris-]

Originally posted by Jonty
Hi n3wbie

Does the computer actually boot up, from what you can tell? (e.g. does it sound like everything's trying to load as normal, and there's just no output to the screen?) Or is the computer completely dead, with no hard drive activity? Also, are there any bleeps right after you power up? If so, count how many there are and note whether they are short or long in length.

no, yes,no the LED panel shows 2 red lights which isnt anything according to the manual. if we reset the CMOs it will boot up but if we leave it a few hours and try to turn it on, nothing happens, a few = 2-3 hours

 

[Jonty]

Hmm. And TdC's suggestions didn't work? Could you try booting up with the case off, or open, and see if any lights on the motherboard turn on? If you do notice a change, then I'll try and find a diagram of the board and figure out exactly what the light corresponds to.

Sorry to hear you're still having trouble.

 

[tris-]

the LED pannel is visible outside and there is no change with another RAM mod in it. the LED pannel just shows 2 red LEDs then 2 LEDs not turning on.

 

[tris-]

should add i also just updated the bios, it worked fine, rebooted it, it came on. rebooted again to double check and nothing happend again.

PS even after only 5 minutes of no power i have to reset the BIOS

ahh bugger it, im putting it down to a BIOS fault, gonna take it back to the shop, only bought it in feb so it still under guarantee.

 

[Testin da Cable]

allrighty then mate. you could also try flashing the old bios back to see if that works and save yourself a trip to the shops.

 

[tris-]

been messing around a bit more with it, even if i just change the time in the bios, the PC wont boot and i have to rest the bios again.

 

[Testin da Cable]

flash it back then, see what happens.

 

[tris-]

hmm well it seems to be working for the time being i will go back in an hour to check if it will still turn on.

 

[tris-]

rah still not workin, it booted up and said checksum error defaults loaded, pressed F1 to continue then it wouldnt boot up after it restarted, went into bios and loaded fail safe settings, comp wouldnt turn on, reset bios it came on, restarted comp and it wouldnt work again

 

[Testin da Cable]

Originally posted by Testin da Cable
flash it back then, see what happens.

 

[tris-]

Originally posted by Testin da Cable
flash it back then, see what happens.

i did already, sorry i thought i said that

 

[Testin da Cable]

oh! I'm sorry. well, it seems you're in for a trip down the shops then sorry we couldn't help you out mate.

 

[tris-]

no prob at least you tried. just hope the buggers will replace it.