Mysterious PC Boot issue

Hey Guys,

I have a really WEIRD problem, on the weekend I was given a new board, cpu & memory, I upgraded and everything was fine, then the next day when I went to use it, it just wouldn't boot, not even the CMOS for the videocard, not POST at all, the keyboard numlock wouldn't even kick in, after a few times turning it off at the switch, then back on, the 5th try worked and it booted.

Then the next day it did the same thing, except this time I tryed 100+ times and it just wouldn't boot or post, the monitor stayed in sleep mode!

I have reseated the memory, even tryed 2 diffirent PSU units, the guy that gave me the upgrade took it back and got it working again, except he changed the CPU to a Pentium D and one of the memory modules was bung, so I end up with 1x 2GB DDRII memory module instead of 2 sticks = 4GB.

When he dropped it off, I hooked it up straight away, and bugger me, it wouldn't boot once again!!!

So I started to think, maybe it was the power board that it was plugged into, but after bypassing the surge board and pluggin directly into the wall, still no boot!

So I tryed a diffirent wall socket all together, once again, NO boot!

I`m ready to rip my hair out, getting extremely frustrated, I got my new broadband connection but I have to use my sons old PC at the moment, until I can work out wth is wrong with my comp.

Before I upgraded, the old board, cpu & memory did the same damn thing every now and then, when trying to boot it for the first time for that day! thats why I thought maybe the PSU, but trying a second and even 3rd PSU doesn't seem to make a diffirence.

Any idea's???

Would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT: I have also disconnected ALL IDE/SATA/FD connections, and power, aswell as any PCI cards, so its a standalone bootup using only the CPU, Mem, Mainboard & On-Board Video.

The Boards an ASRock Core1333 FullHD.

Davo

 

Do the fans kick in and the monitor stays blank or does absolutely nothing happen?

If the fan kicks in but the monitor stays blank have your considered your monitor may be faulty?Can you try your sons monitor?

Failing that try a cmos reset,find the small battery on the motherboard shaped like a silver coin and remove it for 10 secs then replace and try to boot,also remove the cmos battery completely and try to boot without it.

Have you had any problems with your clock in windows?

 

Hi,

The fans kick in but the pc does nothing, it isn't the monitor as it won't post, and my bootup numlock doesn't kick in.

I also reset the bios, and tryed the battery trick, still no luck.

I even removed the front panel connectors for the power button, leds, reset, etc and shorted it to boot, still no post.

On my old PC I had a garbaged clock, but that was the old mobo/cpu/memory combo, this new one was fine, the only thing I re-used was the HDD, but I disconnected all HDD/CD/FDD connections for a stand alone boot, but the keyboard numlock wont kick in, and screen stays in sleep mode.

I have tryed a diffirent monitor, I have even disconnected everything except the monitor and still no post.

Hmmm, has me really baffled! :cry

 

Hey there,

have seen a simialr issue with a dodgey cpu, but if its that then it probably wouldnt boot at all... unless the voltage is unreliable, might have a capacitor related issue.. or microfracture on the board. Possible dodgey data cable from Hard disk wouldnt help either.

On one occassion, and still dont know why to this day a dodgey mouse, caused a problem.. I think it was mouse after replacing it it booted..I know my fellow geeks that doesnt sound logical but it worked after swapping the mouse..that was with win98 though...

Also try checking for enough thermal grease / paste between cpu and heatsink.
Also check in bios for cpu temperature shutdown next time you manage to boot.

The only time I had an issue with a million boot attempts before getting in was went shopping for two hours and came back just as I came in the door the Xp loading screen just kicked in... that was dodgey capacitors... It never went again after this...:cry board was 9 months old.

Check that you have enough Watts in the Power supply to run your video card and ram etc...dont forget usb devices get power from your power supply, so if using a usb hub and running several devices from this its going to add a load to the power supply..

Also check between motherboard and case ensure there arent any hairs fluff or screws that might be shorting out the Motherboard...

Good luck with this one guy:wave