Please help! My computer will not start.

[Guest]

When I push the power button the computer starts up but nothing happens. You can hear everything working but nothing loads. The Harddrive LED light stays Light, it does not flicker or flash. It just stays solid and nothing comes up on the screen. At first there 4-Double Beeps from which I am guessing are coming from the BIOS telling me there is a memory error. Is it the Harddrive or the memory? Or what are the other possibilities? I do not have an extra memory stick so I can not test that way. Please help.

P.S. If you know anyone else who can help please link them to this posting. Thank you Kindly

 

[Ijack]

Tell us a little more - in particular, what motherboard. That ought to make the 4 double-beeps error easy to trace.

 

[Guest]

It is an Asus P4C800 Deluxe, with 1GB of Corsiar TwinX3200LL (2X512). And thank you so much for your rapid response, it's greatly appreciated.

 

[Ijack]

The nearest that I can find from the manual for this motherboard (page 3-1) is that 8 beeps mean "Display memory error". That would obviously explain why nothing appears on the screen. Is there any way you can borrow another video card to try swapping it out?

Another thing that may be worth trying is to clear the CMOS RAM - that can often solve strange boot errors. From the manual:

To erase the RTC RAM:
1. Turn OFF the computer and unplug the power cord.
2. Move the jumper cap from pins 1-2 (default) to pins 2-3. Keep the
cap on pins 2-3 for about 5~10 seconds, then move the cap back
to pins 1-2.
3. Plug the power cord and turn ON the computer.
4. Hold down the <Del> key during the boot process and enter BIOS
setup to re-enter data.


Good luck!

 

[Guest]

First of all thank you. I have cleared the RTC RAM and no I do not have another video to try and swap it out with. I dont think it is the video and the reason why I say this is that when I turn the power on, (usually the CD drive light flashes) now the CD player light doesn't even flash, furthermore, if I press the button to open the CD drive it doesn't respond. Hopefully this could shed a little more light on the problem. Is it the Motherboard, Memeory or Hard Drive. But, if it was the hard drive that wouldn't effect the CD drive from opening. So iam guessing its either the memory or the motherboard. Do u agree?

 

[Ijack]

The CD player not opening is very odd. That sounds like no power reaching the drive. From your description you get no display at all. What about disconnecting everything except one memory module and the video card. You should, with that setup, at least be able to get into the BIOS. If that doesn't work try the other memory module. If it still doesn't work then you're only left with the motherboard, video card, and power supply as potential causes. "No-name" power supplies can cause very odd errors, but with everything else disconnected there shouldn't be a huge load. If you get a response under the above conditions try reconnecting things one at a time.

 

[dokk2]

Anonymous,,if you still have your ears on,,take everything out of the case and bench it on a nonconductive surface,that way you will be certain that everything is properly connected and plugged in,it's a PITA but it works,,
BTW sounds like your video card is loose or the ram is loose,also check for dust bunnies..