Stuck at Intel Splash screen

I was asked to try and fix a Medion MT7 PC which was failing to boot. Initially it showed a Disk Boot failure. The HD was removed and an attempt made to boot it from a Linux bootable CD. The PC started to boot but then as the OS was being loaded it crashed. Thereafter any attempt to boot the PC results in the Intel splash screen being permanently displayed with no error messages at all.

The RAM has been tested and is known to be good. The PSU has been tested and is also working correctly. The CMOS battery has been removed and every device disconnected apart from the video card. On attempting to boot there is a single BIOS beep and the Intel splash screen is displayed and there it remains. Attempting to get into BIOS fails.

Can anyone think of anything else I haven't tried?

 

Try going in the BIOS and disabling the onboard lan , sound, serial ports.

Seems like i had this problem before and it was the onboard lan causing it.

 

Check the capacitors around the CPU for splits, if your sure the RAM and PSU are good then you will probably need to change the motherboard. It's unlikely the CPU has failed.

 

@IrOnMaN: Like I said I can't get into the BIOS.

@voodoo3rd: There is nothing obvious but I'll remove the mobo so I can get a better look.

 

As a working tech, there are certain things I do with PC's like that. First remove all outside power from the PC. In a laptop, pull the line power plug and then remove the main battery. On a desktop, pull the plug! Then remove the cmos battery and leave it out for at least 20 to 30 minutes.
If you have a digital volt meter, measure the battery voltage. It MUST be 3.0vdc or better, or it needs to be replaced with a NEW battery.

This routine will allow the BIOS chip to completely drain down to zero, except for the permanently stored factory settings. Then when you reboot, you will be asked to set the time and date. Most modern bios's will automatically determine how much ram is installed and the configuration of the hard drive, DVD drive, etc. (so you don't need to worry about that)

I've used this technique many times, to revive an otherwise DEAD PC. I've even been given PC's that were supposedly DEAD, but worked just fine, after the above technique was used on them.

If the PC I'm working on is over three years old, it automatically gets a NEW CMOS battery. Dead or dying batteries can cause all sorts of crazy problems.

Good Luck and Happy Holidays!

The Shadow

 

Had the CMOS battery removed for a good 24 hours but it made no difference :confused. On boot it just goes to the Intel screen and there it stops. The CMOS battery was at 3.2V by the way.

 

At first glance, that would point back to the motherboard itself.

I was getting some weird failures on my own mobo this past year. It was a five year old MSI board. There were several of the capacitors on the +5v rail that were either bulging or leaking from the bottom.
I went to Badcaps.net and ordered replacement caps, which I changed out myself.
The board is now working just like new.
Cap replacement is not recommended for those not familiar with Board-Level repairs.

But, in this case it does sound like a motherboard failure.
I'd have to make some more tests before totally trashing that mobo.

Good Luck!
:cool