No Beep :: Archived

[Rixster]

anybody know what it means when you turn on your pc and there's no "beep" and no boot at all? I've tried another ps and its not that, I also tried another vid card just to be sure and that wasn't it either. I did pull out all the memory and try it and it did do the repitive beep thing like it was supposed to. So I'm thinking either the hd has failed or it's a motherboard issue?

[401RCAF_Jel]

Personal experience... no beep means no HD boot up. Probably followed by a clicking sound as summat in there tries to find it and don't. Hope i'm wrong, sorry.

[RCAF_MadDog]

Even without a HD it should still boot to bios and tell you missing operating system My wifes did that and it was the motherboard.

I hope im wrong

MD

[Rixster]

Yeah I don't get any clicking sound from the had, and I don't get any bios boot when the hd is unplugged..I think I'm going to take the hd to a local shop and see if they can plug it into another machine and see if it boots...if it does then it's a mb issue I guess. Thanks for the thoughts.

[Shades]

Might be worth unplugging the power and just having a look inside to make sure it's not a loose connection between the psu and the mobo.
Also, without touching any, can you see any scorch marks around anything in particular? If you can, it's the motherboard.

[bsmart]

Assuming there is power going into the box Are you getting any lights on the keyboard.

Wait a minute - You pulled the memory out and you got the beep? How many memory sticks do you have? If more than one try putting them in one at a time (in the proper slot of course, that sometimes matters) If it beeps with one but not the other you found the bad memory stick. it could be the motherboard also but if it beeps with the memory out ...

[Rixster]

here's an update, took the hd to a shop and had them plug it into another pc and it booted up fine...started thinking I had some sort of short so I took everything out of the case and hook it up laying on the kitchen counter and low and behold it booted right up, so I put everything back into the case and guess what, yup, no boot...I've got some sort of ground fault happening between the mb and case and I couldn't locate it for the life of me..tried three times, removing everything, boot on the counter ok, put everything back, no boot. I got tired of looking for it so I took it to a local shop, they said THEY could find it, we'll see..at least everything still works, lol..worse comes to worse I'll just lay all the damn parts on my desk and screw the case, who needs it anyway

[bsmart]

look for things on the bottom of the motherboard that could be contacting the case. Lay a plastic bag under the MB (trash bag or grocery bag work good)

DON'T use a mylar anti static bag. I'm still wondering about memory though

[Rixster]

if it was a memory problem would it start up and run when it's out of the case?

[Chuck_71st]

I had that problem a while back and it was a dodgy power supply.

[Shades]

Yep, could be dodgy power supply.

Your mobo will be screwed to the case by means of stand-offs (Screws).
You don't want them too tight because that could crack your motherboard but being too loose might cause your problem as well.
Make sure they're all present and accounted for.

[bsmart]

- Rixster

if it was a memory problem would it start up and run when it's out of the case?

Not sure, depemnds on what was causing the memory problem. If it was a flaky connection or a short under the socket on the MB in the case then maybe. The whole reason I was thinking memory was the comment that you got beeps when you took all the memory out. If that was the case and you didn't get beeps when the memory was in it strongly suggests that putting the memory in stopped it from the POST operation (Which is where the beeps come from)

If it consistently runs when outside the case I would look at the MB/Case interface. do the mounting screws cause some kind of short? Does mounting the MB in the case cause some kind of deflection that would break a signal line in the MB (do you have to force it in place or will all the mounting points line up if you just gently lay the MB in place? Is there something under the MB that would short or cause a bad signal path (any of the solder points on the bottom extend lower than the others?, are there wires laying under the MB that could be a short or signal path?) In general look at what is different in the works/doesn't work condition (Yea I know that is the obvious comment ) And of course I can always fall back to the comment I made a while back (I'm not sure whose problem it was) "When nothing makes sense look at the power" Are you using the same power supply when outside the case?

[Rixster]

ok well it's fixed..not quite sure what the main cause was but we found several contributing factors, each of which might have been the cause. First and foremost it was not the memory, each module checked out fine, it was also not the power supply, no issues there.

Contributing factor No. 1: The motherboard chipset fan had failed, and it was overheating, almot to the point it melted almost all of the paste from behind it, very lucky the board did not fry (thank you god, and amen)

Contibuting factor No. 2: There was a PCI card installed that added 4 USB posts in the back, upon careful examination it was noted that it was shorting out, to the point of discoloring, again very lucky it did not fry the motherboard.

Contributing factor No. 3: Whomever installed the board cross-threaded one of the noutning bolts to the backing spacers and really dug into the board. Not sure if it caused any problems but what a bitch to get out.

All items repaired/replaced, everything back in and up and running fine. I consider myself very lucky I did not have to purchase a new motherboard or any other major components.

[Shades]

Sounds like post might have been prevented by the stand-offs.
But that turns out to have been a good thing as it has saved you a bit of a headache with other problems.
Overheating is never a good thing.
Good job you found them.

[401RCAF_Jel]

Great news, glad we got to the bottom of it lol