Thinking it's a bad board!

[Crashman]

Friend's system refused to boot.

I pulled the drives, it booted once, then refused to boot again.

I removed the TV card, it booted once, then refused to boot again.

I installed a different power supply, it booted once, then refused to boot again.

I replaced the RAM, it booted once, then refused to boot again.

I tried another video card, you can guess what happened.

Every time I change something, it boots once, then refused to boot again. After replacing everything else and testing his CPU in another system, that only leaves the board!

No blown capacitors or anything appearing out of the ordinary. I told him it must be an electronic glitch. It's an MSI board and I've seen MSI BIOS chips go bad...

What do you guys think?

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[snotling]

what's the model?

What's the Bios Revision?

are you booting from HD, Floppy or CD root-kit?

 

[Crashman]

Hell if I can remember the model, I think it's one of their 655 boards. I know it has an SiS chipset and 3 DIMM slots.

No, I can't remember the BIOS revision either. It's the most recent for the board.

d00d, it won't even POST half the time, forget what I'm "booting from".

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[endyen]

Have you tried an out of the case basic post?

 

[Crashman]

No, because he's had it for almost 2 years without removing it from the case, a short would have become appearant earlier than this.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[endyen]

Ya, it's not like carbon tracking could be a problem, or of course nothing ever falls down there either.

 

[Crashman]

Hmm, never seen cabon tracking, but then again I've only refurbished 1100 or 1200 systems 3-5 years old...

I have seen problems with intermittent contact on certain pins on some very old systems, but considering his components were removed and replaced several times (RAM, cards, drives) I don't see that as the problem.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[Crashman]

Oh, another clue:

Most of the time, when the system DID POST, it would say "CPU or RAM has been changed, please enter BIOS and check your configuration" or something like that...even when neither had been changed. And every time it would report the same amount of RAM and the same CPU speed.

Funny thing, the two or three times it posted after changing to MY RAM, it DIDN'T report the CPU or RAM had been changed, it just gave me the intermittant "no POST" problem.

I could never get far enough to run Memtest, but it had the intermittant "post/no post" condition even with my RAM.

His CPU worked perfectly in my system, his voltages were:

12v=12.15v
5v=5.05v
3.3v=3.36v

All stable, tested with a voltmeter.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[snotling]

I slept on your problem aqnd sleep always brings wisdom. In my dream a leggy blonde told me "get back to the basics"

and I woke up all wet and scared as hell! Never happened to me before, I always dream of brunettes!

I have a hunch you may be dealing with more than one hardware failures here witch cause the BIOS never to be able to realy auto detect everything properly.

Before telling your friend his MB is toast I would get it out of the case and test it somewhere else. Yup, on a diferent power outlet, in another case or even outside of any case, clear it's CMOS and fire it up with NONE of it's usual components.

it's kind a basic but if it worked for a n00b it might as well work for hardware gurus.

 

[Black_Cat]

You may remember I had a similar problem with my<A HREF="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=563388#563388" target="_new"> IS-10</A> after what I thought was a bad flash. I even sent the BIOS to <A HREF="http://www.freewebs.com/tmod/index.htm" target="_new">Tmod's</A> and when I got it back it still did the same thing. I wound up RMAing the board and all is good.

You've tried and failed. The lesson here is, never try again. -- Homer Simpson.

 

[mozzartusm]

Did you ever figure it out?

 

[endyen]

Did you check the battery?

 

[Crashman]

I didn't check the battery because the thing kept perfect time even after being unplugged for a day.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[ChipDeath]

Last system I had do that was because the BIOS wouldn't work with the chip properly (an old Socket A board (KT133) with a Newer Duron (1.6Ghz, 133FSB). I knew it would never work at full speed, but I was happy for it to work at ~1.2Ghz (100FSB).. It would keep getting confused, boot once in 'safe' configuration (500Mhz), and then never boot again until CMOS was cleared. Latest BIOS for the board fixed that though.

Although you seem to suggest he had the system for a while before this became a problem, so it's not that, but maybe it is a dodgy BIOS.

You tried flashing a new one, just in case it's maybe gone a little fubar?

---
"Sex without love is an empty experience...
But as empty experiences go, it's one of the best" - Woody Allen

 

[Crashman]

Couldn't get that far. Last BIOS update was 2 weeks before bad behavior.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[ChipDeath]

Not even if you 'force' it into booting by removing/replacing parts, and/or resetting CMOS?

---
"Sex without love is an empty experience...
But as empty experiences go, it's one of the best" - Woody Allen

 

[Crashman]

No, because after several cycles of booting/not booting I got to the point where it wouldn't boot at all.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[ChipDeath]

Ah well, I know what to do...

"PULL!"

*BLAM*

---
"Sex without love is an empty experience...
But as empty experiences go, it's one of the best" - Woody Allen