Power On Self Test = no beeps

MoBo = MSI K8N Neo4
CPU = AMD Athlon 64 3200
RAM = Corsair TwinX 1024-3200C2
OS = Windows XP

Current status is that he PC will not boot. After pressing the power button, the blue power-on LED lights and all the fans (2 case, CPU, GPU, and PS) spin, but the monitor stays black and there is no POST beep.

Previously, for the past couple of weeks, the PC had been acting flakey. I was just getting ready to reformat HD and reinstall windows. here have been frequent system hangs and crashes: 5 -15 times per day. Sometimes would get the blue screen, sometimes it would spontaneously reboot , sometimes screen would freeze and I would have to hold in the power button to shut down - and then power on to reboot. Other times the screen would go black and the blue LED (power) would flash. Then even holding power button in would not do any good and I would have to flip the switch on the back of the power supply. It seemed like the POST beep was taking an inordinately long time to happen after powering back up.

I have already tried a new power supply - no joy (double-check all power connection). Put back in my old GPU, which was still good, but had been upgraded - no joy. Tried using different keyboard and mouse - NADDA!

Begining to suspect serious MoBo issues. What more can I try before giving this system a brain transplant (new MoBo & CPU).

Thanks in advance for any help.

-HMS

 

If I were experiencing these issues I would try different RAM to eliminate that, don't buy RAM, borrow it if possible. (assuming you only have 1 stick, if you have 2x512's then try them individually)
But to be honest IMO I think your mobo is fighting a losing battle.

I've read about some people having issues like this and some say they fixed it with cmos etc, but any time I've seen it personally, it's been the mobo.

Sorry I can't give you better news, although someone here may have a brain flash, it happens frequently lol

 

There seems to be 3 types of the motherboard you specified, do you know what PCB Version it is? 1, 2 or 3?

Please download the drivers for your specific motherboard from this page.

Also, please download and run Memtest86+ from a bootable CD by burning the ISO. image to the disk (preferably) using InfraRecorder. Let the test run for atleast 30-45 mins, doing one stick at a time, (if you have more than one).

 

Hard to disagree. My money's on the cpu from what you have said with mobo failure in second place.

You can try a bare bones set up ie mobo, cpu, ram (one stick only) & vga. This should ideally be done with the mobo out of the case.

To rule out the ram, remove any ram from bare bones set up and see if the system makes any kind of beep (ram error beep). If no then back to cpu and/or mobo failure.

Good Luck

EDIT: Have a look at the caps on the mobo also. Do they all look ok, any buldging/leaking

 

Thanks for your quick responses. Shorthly after I posted, I tried new RAM modules (I had previously bought two 512 units to expand my RAM to 3GB, but couldn't get the four modules to play nice and the two brand new ones were still sitting in their package). Again no joy.

Then talking to my son, he said that he had borrowed from me the D-bracket with four diagnostic LEDs that came with my MoBo. I hooked it up. Now when pressing the power button the diagnostic hangs with four red LEDs indicating damaged or inproperly installed CPU. Good call risk_reversal.

The good news is problem is isolated and possible less expensive repair job. I will try reseating CPU first. But, if that doesn't work the bad news is that it is older CPU and likely harder to find to buy replacement. Any suggestions on where best to shop for socket-939 CPU?

Thanks again!

 

how about just go for a new mobo?

 

I wouldn't buy anything until we are certain something is to fault.

Please don't just throw cash at the problem, buying a new CPU, Motherboard etc.

Please follow my previous post and post back the results.

I will walk you through the troubleshooting process.

 

You're right... a new MoBo is due, especially considering this one is almost 5 years old. New MoBo would mean upgrade to multi-core and much happiness, but...

I got so much going on right now I really don't want to deal with that whole what's the best MoBo to selkect. I'd prefer the quickest, cheapest, interim fix just to get me up and running again ASAP. Assuming sellers wouldn't gouge me for a socket-939, simply due to low supply, I hope that fix might be easier. Then again, I could spend so much time trying to find the CPU that I could have gone through the whole process of deciding which new MoBo to go with. (I am notorious for over-analyzing the options when I finally get to the upgrade time.)

So, If any one would recommend a good place where I might shop for outdated socket-939 CPU, I would really appreciate it.

 

Well yeah, I was just saying "should it be the proc" then perhaps a new mobo is in order when you start looking at cost of proc versus longevity of a new mobo.

 

Burrell,
OK I will try your recommendations. Though I must admit that I thought the self-diagnosis of the D-bracket had confirmed the bad CPU, and if that's the case I don't understand how I could boot from a CD or anything. Also, even if CPU is not dead, if the system won't get past the POST, I am ignorant about how booting from CD would be possible. I can't find my recover boot CD. Can I try to boot from the original Windows XP installation disk?
I may need further help walking through this, but let me what I can do based on your previous advise.
Thanks.

 

The diagnosis you provided together with the D-bracket 4 red lights seems pretty conclusive to me especially if you are unable to boot your system.

As regards replacement, you could get a used A64 from ebay. So long as you are careful, it should be ok and will not be expensive at all. I have never had any problems buying used cpus from ebay. Make sure there are no bent pins.

While you are at it grab a A64 4000+ (San Diego, single core) instead of a 3200+. Your board should have no problem detecting it. The SD will be a lot faster and has 1mb of cache. If you use your pc for activities that do not include gaming or video editing then that board / set up will be good for some time to come.

Good Luck

 

Sorry guys!

I missed the bit about the D-bracket :-o.

I'll just hide in this corner now. :cry

(Yep, i agree, looks like you need a new CPU/MB)

 

In reply to Burrell's initial question, it would appear that I have the PCB 1.x version of this board. Thanks for the tip, risk_reversal, to upgrade to the San Diego CPU.

Curious about the distinction between the various flavors of their K8N Neo4, I visited the MSI web site. Wandering over to their CPU compatibility table I noticed this board purportedly would also support the Toledo version of the CPU, also with a 1MB cache. Furthermore, if I read this right, it indicates some dual core support. In particular the Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core (Toledo, 90nm, L2 Cache 2 x 1MB). Does this sound reasonable to you. If so, do you think this would be worth the stretch?

Thanks again guys for all your help.

 

Not sure about the different board flavours. Dual core can be an advantage depending on what you do otherwise no.

The only thing I would advise, is that dual core A64s would inveriably require bios upgrades to support these cores. If your bios version is not recent enough you may get into a situation where the cpu would not be detected by the current bios and since your board does not boot you would not be able to flash the bios...do you see what I mean.

But I think (99%+) that your board would support dual cores (subject to bios and pcb version).

So do you remember what bios version you have? Also sometimes pcb board versions are important? Just points to note.

I used to run a A64 Winchester core 3200+ (like yours) and did personally find that the San Diego 4000+ with the 1Mb cache was better but then again that was also probably due to the fact that I o/ced it to FX57 speeds............

Good Luck

 

Hi Folks,
Sorry for the long time to reply. Here's the story...
Though I was so convinced it was the CPU, before finalizing a purchase on ebay, I gave the MoBo one more careful inspection. Sun-uva-gun if I didn't notice a tiny, little, chip resistor that looked charred and crinkled. Consequently, at the last minute I opted to replace the MoBo. To keep things simple, got a used copy of the exact board. (It was surprisingly expensive - I paid almost what I had paid for the original one when it was new, four years ago.) Anyway, I installed it, using the same CPU, memory, etc. that I had been using. Lo and behold, my system is back and running. It took more than a few iterations of booting into safe mode and rebooting into "last known good configuration". But now it has been running for a few weeks without problems. While I was at it, and after hearing the stories of better performance, I did end up buying a used San Diego CPU. I haven't gotten around to swapping that out yet, but looking forward to it.
Thanks again for all your help and advice.
-HMS