Just got new system together, can't get in to bios

Olivas

I just got this system together that I'm building for my brother and I start in up for the first time, it POSTs. Then the CPU speed is displayed (its wrong, but I'm thinking it's only because this the first startup), then its counts the memory and comes back OK. Then it displays memory speed: DDR200 and it stops there. Try hiting DEL to get into BIOS and nothing. It just stays there. I tried clearing the CMOS already with no luck. What else could cause this?

KD7 (non RAID)
Enermax 350W power supply that came with case
AMD XP 2200
256MB Crucial PC3200
GeForce 4 ti4200
Maxtor 60 GB


Thanks

Bill

Hello, there.

Assuming the mobo is not shorted, I suggest you check these :-

1. Is the PSU a new unit? If not, it could be the cause. (It could
be faulty even if it is new).

2. Plug it to a different a/c outlet.

Hope it helps.

Regards,

Bill

ml_man

Disconnect all of the hardware with the exception of the video card, cpu and memory. Re-set the CMOS and see if it posts.

Olivas

Outlet is the same as where I normal plug my comp in. I also tried moving the memory to a different DIMM slot with no luck. So, I gave ml_man idea a try and disconnected CD, HD, and floppy. It starts up, POSTs, and then starts detecting IDE drive, so I jump into the BIOS. Now I'm happy for the moment. Reconnect CD, still boots but not detected. Reconnect floppy, it's fine still. Reconnect HD and I get the freezing problem. The drives are on seperated IDE channels and I've tried setting the to both master and cable select, but no luck there. What now, is the HD bad? It is a Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 60gb. What should I try next.

Thanks all

Bill

I suggest you test the system on an a/c socket in a DIFFERENT room.

Bill:)

trippin

Some motherboards want you to press a key other than del. Try F2 instead.

Swordsman

Is the hard drive new or is it from a previous machine/setup? If it's new, I suggest you return it for another. If it's a salvaged drive from another build, then I suggest the cable's bad or the cable's plugged wrong or there's no power to the drive or the drive is dead. If you pulled the drive from another build, I suggest reconfiguring the old machine, see if the thing boots, and if it does, then format that drive to clean up any conflicts in the os/drivers that could be causing the hangs. You've isolated it to the hdd since it gets into the bios with everything but the hdd connected. I doubt it's a power outlet issue. It could be a power supply issue, so if you could replace it and try again it could be that easy.

Good luck,
S!

Olivas

I pulled the hard drive and cd drive from the new machine to test them in mine. Boot up just fine. It is a new hard drive, so I went through and set up the partitions, formatted them, and installed Win2k. All that with out even a little hic-up. So, I put them back into the new system and all of a sound it thinks it wants to boot normally. It boots into windows, so I got all the drivers installed. Now the problem is still with the BIOS. I can get into it, but if I make a change and try to save and exit it saves it and acts like it is shutting down to restart, but it never restarts. Sometimes I can press reset 3-4 times and it will come back on, and sometimes I have to clear the CMOS for it to come back on. On boot up after it detects the IDE drives, it gives me CPU error and about being unworkable or set wrong. I can press F1 to continue anyways and everything works just fine or I can enter the BIOS and take my chances.

Thanks everyone for the help so far.

d-rker

clear cmos ,go to bios and load defaults and f10 ,reboot .now go to bios again and change settings and f10 .
since the hd is working ,you could try swap the mem & cpu from your machine .

ml_man

Just for fun change the battery even though it is a new board.

Olivas

Just got back from out of town and got back to business. Tried loading the fail safe defaults and rebooting, same situation as before. Also, got a new battery for the CMOS and no luck with that. Next plan of attack is switching the CPUs from mine to the other. That will have to wait for tomorrow though becuase I need my machine up and running for homework tonight.

Olivas

Had couple of minutes to play around this morning and for some reason I just tried changing the CPU voltage from what it had as the default 1.6v to 1.65v. Try saving and exiting and it actually comes up again by itself, displays the correct CPU speed, and continues on booting without a problem. I nearly crapped myself. I have a little more testing to do with the BIOS later on to make sure it wasn't just a fluke.

Mt_Goat

You should find out what bios revision is working for most people and flash to it before you get too far.

Olivas

BIOS version is DN, which is the latest release. Since changing the voltage it boots without a problem. Now the problem is poor memory performance. I get scores slightly lower than my kr7a. I've verified that the memory speed 200 Mhz. Once I try getting aggressive with the other memory settings it doesn't want to boot any more. I get the one repeating beep with no video. Reset CMOS again raised voltages for CPU and memory (timing setttings still at default) and am letting sandra burn-in run for a little bit.

Tex

But it did it OK without all the other crap plugged in right? What kinda powersupply is in it?

Tex

Olivas

Power supply is an Enermax EG365P-VD. I've got the memory scores to come a bit by backing the memory speed down to 166Mhz and then tweeking the timing settings. Got it slightly overclocked just by up the fsb to 140, so the processor is running 1.9Ghz and have had no problem. Looped sandra for a couple hours and also looped 3DMark2003 for a couple more. Temps haven't even reached 50C with the older swiftech MC-462 and only a 30 cfm fan. I do think that the power supply might be a little under powered because whenever I do a cold boot the fans startup, but I get no video and no post. I have to press reset 1-2 times and then it boots fine.

ml_man

Sounds like a bad board to me.

berko