trouble when computer starts...motherboard, cpu???

[petekroll]

wondering if anyone would know....
this is an older machine...i believe it's in the 500 mhz time era. i start the machine, it will show that the RAM is loading fine, both devices (HD and CD-ROM) are recognized but then it stops on that screen and will not procede to windows. Tried a different HD in there that i know works and same result happened. could this that the processor or motherboard has gone bad??? thank you very much

 

[Scout]

Probably need a little more information in order to help... What kind of machine is it, what kind of motherboard, and other configuration details. Also, was the machine recently working? What change did you make just prior to having the problem? That's usually the first place to start...

Generically, after the drives are initialized, the boot sequence goes down through the various adapter cards and so forth. Will it boot to a floppy? If you're at least getting memory check and drive initialization, you know your processor isn't bad.

Scout
700 Mflops in SETI!

 

[petekroll]

thx scout...i will have to get back to you on motherboard model etc. guess i was just hoping perhaps that could be a common problem that would have a simple answer (i.e. motherboard shot, cpu bad get new). glad to hear cpu is would still be working...was never sure when that component actually starting kicking in...i guess as soon as the power button is hit huh? as far as changing things, nothing had been touched...turned on one time worked fine...next time the problem previously explained occurs. regarding your question, will it boot to a floppy...i was going to fdisk the hd thinking it just needed a clean start and the drive did pick up the disk and it's set as first boot device. so it is probably pertaining to the board eh? sorry for the lack of info.

 

[bluvamp]

Sounds similar to my problem. I've got an ASUS P4B (I believe that's right....I'll have to check when I get home). Had a power outage one night..but the computer is on an UPS. I shut it down myself just fine...but after that it started freezing up. Sometimes in windows 2000, sometimes on startup before logging in, and sometimes in bios. Tried disconnecting drives, cards, etc. and switching out the two memeory modules, but still the same problem. Now I'm shopping for a new board and chip. Tring to find a board with the Sis chipset that includes firewire (and lan wouldn't be bad as well. Seeing all this raving about the gigabyte boards, but firewire doesn't seem to be found on any of theirs.

 

[Scout]

Hi,
Sorry it took me so long to get back to your post, but been outta town this weekend...

I'm a little unclear on your "boot to floppy" answer. Did it successfully boot up completely on the floppy?

One thing I would replace before I took out the motherboard is your IDE ribbon cable. You may have a failure there, and they are really cheap! (I'm just guessing here...)

Scout
700 Mflops in SETI!