New computer - broken?

[jt01]

HI all ,

Ok, I just completed putting together the following system...
amd XP 2600, Asus A7N8X-VM M/B, 2x256M ram, etc.
When I turned it on for the first time, it made some strange ticking noise, then the monitor made a couple of cracking noises as it turned on and off.
It shows the 'Asus' screen (which I can get into the BIOS from), then it goes blank for a second and gives me the following message:
'REBOOT AND SELECT PROPER BOOT DEVICE
OR INSERT BOOT MEDIA IN SELECTED BOOT DEVICE AND PRESS A KEY'

can anybody help i dont know what to do from here???
thanks
john

 

[Coyote]

What's your boot order in BIOS?

This is prolly stupid on my part, but it sounds like it's waiting for the OS to be installed (in which case, set it to boot fron optical and put in XP disk)

Does BIOS show your drives OK?

Barton 2500+
Abit NF7-S v 2.0
Maxtor 60GB ATA 133 7200RPM
512MB Corsair Twinx 3200LL
9600 Pro
Enermax Noisetaker 420 watts
Win98SE

 

[setdhook1]

If you can get to your BIOS, then check Boot Sequence priority and insure you have your media in the right device, i.e. Floopy first, then Start Up floppy disks in the Floopy, if priority is CD Rom, then have your O/S disk in the CD Rom. If you are using XP, then set priority to CD Rom and place your XP CD into the CD Rom and setup will begin initialization :tongue: .

 

[Mr_Nuke]

That usually happens when there is no bootable disk(no floppy, no CD-ROM AND no OS installed on the hard drive). As the others have said, chedck the boot order(I'd recommend this order:Floppy, CD-ROM, HDD) and put in the Windows CD(XP PRO recommended).
This is not an error, in fact, this is normal and happens on any PC. The BIOS has nowhere to boot from, soit warns the user.

 

[jt01]

thanks guys- I changed the Boot priority to the CD-Rom, then restarted with the XP CD in.
worked then no problem

thanks

 

[jt01]

Ohhh nooo.....

The computer worked fine after this for a few times - installed all the drivers etc.

One time when it was turned on though it said it had some CMOS error, I just restarted and it began working fine again.

Now....... I turn the computer on, the asus boot screen comes up, but then it automatically goes into the BIOS screen and then freezes. It wont stop doing this!!!
Can anyone help?

 

[psyno]

Were you trying to OC at all?

I'd try clearing my CMOS if I were you. Take note of BIOS options you've set against the default first. Your manual should explain how to clear the CMOS with a jumper.

If you can get the system stable, I would further recommend updating your BIOS to the latest version, but NOT if you can't ensure stability first, for obvious reasons.

 

[Coyote]

Did you by any chance make a change in your BIOS (save and exit) and then turn off power to the computer (before BIOS was done saving)?

Barton 2500+
Abit NF7-S v 2.0
Maxtor 60GB ATA 133 7200RPM
512MB Corsair Twinx 3200LL
9600 Pro
Enermax Noisetaker 420 watts
Win98SE