System Does Not Run BIOS

A real dilemma. I have a home built, circa 2005, computer. Recently, the True550W Antec Power Supply "died". There was no real warning that the power supply was dying and I was not using the computer at the time. I purchased an Antec HCP750 after talking with Antec to ensure it would be compatible.

I installed the power supply, carefully made all of the connections, and restarted the machine. All items appeared to power up fine -- fans, CPUs, boards, and hard drives (warm to the touch). However, the hard drive light is on constantly and the BIOS never starts.

I have "cleared" the CMOS, reconnected the hard drives, but have been unsuccessful in getting the computer to respond. At this point, I am at a loss. Would anybody have some suggestions or recommendations? I realize that a circa 2005 PC is OLD but it was operating fine before then and I would like to be able to use it even if I end up buying a new machine.

Thanks in advance ...

 

Do you have a 4 pin connector near the CPU? Is the 4 pin connector from the PSU attached?. You may also need to attach a power connector to your video card.

When you say the BIOS never starts, I am assuming that you do not get a post code or beep. Make sure there are no capacitors that are bulging or leaking.

The dying PSU may have taken out the motherboard.

 

Just to add to tgell's suggestions which are more likely culprits, also try booting with no HD. It is unusual for the HD light to stay on--perhaps it is having trouble identifying the HD and that could be causing the problem.

 

Okay, there is another (8 pin connector) near the CPU which is connected to the power supply. I unplugged the two hard drives and the yellow light (power light is blue) remained on. I do have a molex power plug in the video card. I switched to another molex and nothing changed.

There is no onboard video connection so I only have the video card that can receive the monitor connection.

I could not see anything that was disfigured or out of shape ...

Other suggestions????

Thanks again for any help ...

 

When you say you do not get a BIOS, does the computer beep when booting? Remove all but one RAM module and see if it posts. If not replace with the other RAM module.

 

I do not get a beep ... I have 4x1 GB of RAM. I assume you are saying that one of the RAM sticks may have been impacted when the power supply died. Should I take three out and try one at a time to see if it works?

 

Yes, try one at a time. Try one. If it does not work switch to another.

 

Sorry, the sticks are difficult to access given all the cables. This is beyond my experience so if I pull out all of the sticks, which slot gets the one stick? They are ordered DIMM 1 thru 4 ...

 

DIMM 1. If you do not feel comfortable doing it, then I would let someone else do it for you.

 

I am comfortable doing it ... by the way the motherboard is a dual processor so does that impact how I re-insert the RAM sticks?

 

It should not. Just make sure you have grounded yourself first by touching the metal case and unplug the computer. I would also push the power button for 30 seconds while it is unplugged to drain the capacitors.

 

I don't think I'm liking this ... I tried each one of the sticks, one at a time in DIMM1. In all four cases, nothing changed -- no beeps, nada. The system continues to misbehave. Given the process of elimination we have gone through, I am guessing that something is dead-dead.

Do you have any other suggestions or conclusions?

Again, thanks for your help on this ...

PS: I have ordered another computer and while I don't like to throw away even a "functioning" PC, I'd like to know that it is likely dead before I do it.

 

One additional question: This is a circa 2005 computer, boards and all. If it is determined to be dead, is there any benefit to cannibalizing the boards for future use OR has technology advanced to such a degree such that the chances of using the "spare parts" are very low?

I have been known to be a bit of a pack rat so need some more objective advice.

Thanks again ...

 

I would not try to save the motherboard if it was dead. It is possible that you have a bad power supply but I doubt it.

One other thing you could try would be to remove everything RAM, video card, keyboard, and mouse. Then see if the computer throws an error post.

A very good step by step for checking why your computer will not boot or post. Some steps would not pertain to you as you have pretty much said it worked before the PSU failed.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-perform-steps-posting-post-boot-video-problems

 

Hi,

One last thing to check is how did you clear the CMOS? If you moved the jumper be certain you put it back onto the correct pins. (I only mention this because once I had my "clear cmos" jumper fall of the pins during transport and could not figure out the problem. Million to one scenario but worth a quick look.)

Swapping out a known good CMOS battery couldn't hurt either and trying with no CMOS battery is worth a shot too before writing it off.