Home Built PC Won't BOot

[jammyman34]

Hello,

I can't figure out why my PC won't boot up and I really hope someone here can help?

A few months back I was having some overheating issues so I cleaned out all the dust, removed the heatsink from the CPU, cleaned off all the thermal paste, put new stuff on and reseated the heatsink and booted up and was good to go.

A little while after that my girlfriend had to shut the PC down, Since then I haven't been able to get it booted back up consistently. Well, really I've only gotten it booted up once after pulling a Fonze on it while it's in the boot cycle and it actually booted! Haven't been able to get it booted up since though.

The post code it seems to get stuck on is 34, but I haven't been able to figure out what that stands for anywhere. Then it goes to 98 and finishes on 99, which is the shut down sequence. It's difficult to see all of the other codes because they fly by fairly quickly, I did see a C1 prior to the 34 though.

I have an Abit AA8XE Fatality Mobo with an Intel P4 CPU, 2 GB's of 2 DDR2 sticks of RAM.

I had given up on the PC and removed the HDD's and reformatted them for other purposes, but since then I have decided to try to get it working again. So currently the HDD that's in the machine has no OS installed and has been formatted to work with a Mac. I was going to have it boot to the DVD so I can install Win7 on it again.

The CCMOS's batter has been replaced as well, just in case. It is an old machine after all...

So, any ideas?

Thanks for reading.

- Justin

 

[roald]

Try factory restting the bios with the jumper on the mobo. If that doesnt help it's the usual procedure to see what's wrong. Testing with only 1 memory module installed, differend videocard etc.

 

[inzone]

Have you taken the time to go through all the npower cable connections and I do mean all , every wire that is supposed to be connected in your computer. Then start with the components making sure they are seated , ram sticks , video card hdd. If every thing checks out then the hdd being formatted for a Mac could be an issue because the bios might not be recognizing it.

 

[jammyman34]

First off, thanks for your suggestions and help.

Here's what I've done so far. The PSU is brand new. When I reseated the thermal paste/CPU I took the entire PC apart and made sure everything was clean and removed the RAM, GPU and all other cables. Upon attempting to boot it up it did the same thing it's been doing. The post codes go through the boot up cycle, hit 34 and then begin the shut down cycle, 98, 99 off.

Prior to the above I pulled out my 2nd stick of RAM tested the boot up, same thing. Pulled the stick I left in and replaced it with the stick I removed prior and tested it and boot up did the same thing. I also turned off the PSU via the back switch (still plugged into the wall) switched the CMOS jumper, waited for a minute, switched the jumper back, flipped the PSU power switch and attempted to boot it up, same thing. I then did the power thing again, switched the cmos jumper and pulled the cmos battery, waited a minute. Put the batter back, switched the jumper back, turned the power stuff back on and tried to boot, same thing.

If only the damn manual or the internet could tell me what the heck the post code 34 means I might be able to determine what component is causing the problem!

Incidentally, or not, I should also mention that as soon as I switch the PSU's back power switch on the PC immediately begins to boot up, without having to hit the front Power button. The front of the cases power button also seems to be acting a little strange... seems to be getting stuck pushed in etc. I made sure I had all of the front of the PC switches and LED cables plugged into the MoBo correctly just in case that was the issue and as far as I can tell it's all setup right. I did not plug in the restart cable however because that button is completely messed up and won't even function as a button. The computer was not booting up properly prior to disconnecting the restart button though...