When booting freezes on the first BIOS screen

[andrei186]

My PCs stopped booting by freezing on the first screen - the one which shows information about BIOS:
==============================
Award medallion BIOS v6.0, An Energy Star Ally
....
ASUS P4S800MX ACPI BIOS Revision 1010
CPU:*Intel(R) Celeron (R) 2400 MHz Processor
Memory test: 262144K OK
Award Plug And Play BIOS Extention v1.0A

Press DEL to enter SETUP, Alt+F2 to enter EZ Flash utility
09/02/2004-SiS661FX/SiS963L/W697-P4S800MX
==================================
Does not respond to any input from keyboard

Where should I look into?

 

[Hawkeye22]

I'd make sure the cpu/socket has no bent pins and try booting with just one stick of memory installed. Also make sure your vid card has power connected to it.

 

[andrei186]

Thanks.

1.What is the cpu/socket and where is it? What does go into that socket?

2. I have just one memory chip installed on this PC and that BIOS screen confirms that it passes memory test. You probably link this thread to another thread of mine about PC failing to boot with additional memory - that was another computer? we do nor discuss it here

3. How do I check that vid card has power connected to it? It has not got any cables attached and I can see no sockets on it. I guess it takes power from from that slot it is inserted into. If it was the videocard, I thought I would not see that BIOS screen too, would I?

 

[Hawkeye22]

1. The CPU is on the motherboard. If you didn't build this machine and it worked before, we can assume the CPU is fine.

2. I didn't see the other thread.

3. Most newer cards require power. If your video card doesn't have a power plug on it, then it gets it's power via the video slot. Also, you are correct, if the video card was a problem, you would be getting beeps from the motherboard.

Have you added any other new devices or plugged in any new USB devices? If so, try removing the device or unplug the usb and see if that makes a difference. Also, make sure all memory and cards are seated properly. A loose connection can cause the boot procedure to hang or fail.