Right, so something has gone horribly wrong. On Saturday night I shut down my PC and went to bed all eager for Sunday gaming. Sunday morning, went and found the computer still on but in some sort of weird limbo. HDD and Power light were on (not flickering), all the fans were motoring but the HDD wasn't actually running, the screen was blank and the the HDD activity light on my broadband modem was off. So. I tried to turn it off using the power on switch at the front of the case to no avail. I had to switch off the PSU at the back. Then I turned it back on (after waiting the exact amount of time it takes to make coffee) and things got wierder. As soon as power is allowed into the PSU it is flowing into the MB. The fans immidiatly switch on, the HDD and PWR lights go on and thats it. I unplugged everything, reseated and tried again, no change. I tried just adding power to the MB without anything plugged in and still no change. I switched out the power switches, tried different HDD and DVDs still nothing. I only found 1 thing that might provide a clue in a couple of hours tinkering (I had no internet connection (spare comp dnt support my broadband ...) to help me either. My HDD is SATA but my DVD is IDE. When I plug in the DVD It doesn't get power BUT when I unplug the IDE cable, just leaving the power cable, the DVD gets power (I can open it and the light goes on). I'm not too sure what this means as the comp still works strangely without the IDE plugged in at all. I don't want to RMA the MB unless it is really my only option (its just over a year old) Thoughts?
Have you tried putting the IDE in one of the other IDE ports on the motherboard? Have you tried a new IDE cable? Does the system do anything with out the without the DVD drive, i.e. does it do more than when its connected? See if that helps. Sam
Yeah, sorry if thats not clear. Tried the IDE cable in different ports, tried two other cables and with or without the DVD and/or the HDD the system does the same thing. Tried using one or the other of my RAM and still nothing. I'm just confused as to how this could suddenly happen. I didn't update, upgrade or anything... Would/could a flat CMOS battery do this?
how do you update the bios if the pc wont boot? Don't get to post, don't get to anything. It seems to stop at the 1st second that power enters the MB...
Hi, ive been chatting to sc4mpi as he a good freind of mine, could possibly be the ram, basicly the ram could have fried its self, that would stop it from posting, one way to find out is to take a stick out and try it, then remove the other and replace it with the previous stick, keep trying with the RAM, had another freind with a similar problem, turned out to be the RAM which was Brand new taken out of the box 40mins earlier while building the machine. Try that, im hear all day to help if need be. Sam
At the moment I'm at work so can't try it until this evening, but I did alternate the two ram sticks I have (corsair) to no avail. As far as I knew (please correct if I'm wrong) but if the RAM is faulty (or even removed) the computer will still POST but it will (obviously) find fault. I'm just a little worried about how I am explaining this... Perhaps I'm fixating on the wrong thing, and I will try any and all suggestions (well, as long as they aren't potentially damaging) but I can't understand why the computer bypasses my power button.... Even if the button is removed, everything connected to the MB starts recieving power. Surely this is a serious problem? I really am grateful for any and all help and advice, but I'd like to cover as much ground as possible today so that I can fiddle tonight. I'll not be able to ask questions as I try different things, so I'd like to go home with a bunch of options. I'm dying without my computer! Don't use it all the time when it works (maybe 1.5 hours a day?), but when it doesn't I just can't seem to find anything else to do! on second thoughts, it's only been a day...I have problems
Im hoping you have a speaker for a motherboard in your case, if you do, connect it up and when you turn it on, there may be some beeps, if you can find out the series of beeps it will help to find out what the problem is. There are a number of different beeps, warning about RAM, GFX etc, (http://www.bioscentral.com/beepcodes/awardbeep.htm) that site has a list of the beep codes from asus motherboards, other wise i cant think of anything else. Sam
yeah, thanks. I was just looking at the code. I do have a MB speaker but its not making any noise at all... heh its a problem Maybe I'll use a speaker from another comp MB...just in case...
Im affraid i cant think of anything else at this point to help you, i find it harder to help via text form, i prefer to get insode the machine and hit it and shout at it, saying that, shouting at it might help Sorry otherwise Sam
heh, no worries. I think its almost impossible to understand a problem without looking at it/remembering the thrice cursed day it happened to you Will try getting another MB speaker, trying a friend's RAM and swearing loudly
I've been looking into the CMOS option. can you explain the process please? I don't think it is in the manual (most sites say it will be...) Thanks though
Ok.... On the bottom of the board (normally near the CR2032 battery) there should be a little jumper which says CMOS or BIOS Reset. Unplug the PC from the mains, move the jumper so it connects the unconnected pin to the middle pin (normally) and wait for 10secs. Then move the jumper to its original position. in this picture, the jumper is just to the right of the battery
roger wilco. so everything is done with the pc unconnected? No power even in the 10second wait right? (just checking...)
What brand of powersupply you got? A8N is known to have issues with atleast Antec Neo He, I think some others too.
Right, an update. Tried resetting the CMOS, and reseating the battery. Nothing changed. Tried switching the RAM about, another speaker, reseating everything again (yeah...) and nothing changed... I'll look into the power supply. It came with my Icute case. Has been working fine for over a year, but still. Also think it might be a good idea coz I did notice something else. The MB has two power connectors for the PSU. The small four pin one "has to be connected for the computer to boot". Now as far as I know, without that cable plugged in, the computer will get to POST but no further. So in the interest of science and understanding, I unplugged this cable and turned the PSU on. Interestingly enough, nothing changed. It doesn't make a difference whether that four pin plug is in or not. Could that be the problem?
This is interesting: I contacted Asus and they also suggested resetting the CMOS but their suggestion was rather strange... I found a manual for my motherboard that said remove the battery and switch the jumper for 5-10 seconds. But Asus has instructed me to removed the battery, flip it over and insert it again. Wait 30 seconds. Then remove the battery again and insert it right way up... It doesn't even mention the jumper. Anyone else find this wierd? Also, I can't find what type of PSU comes standard with an Icute case...
Still having problems? Ok, as i dont know what your motherboard is exactly, im going to asume its the A8N-SLI Premium, mainly as i have it, and i like it Power to connect onto the board are a 4pin Molex, above PCI-E slot 1, one 4 pin 12v ATX and the big old 20+4PIN ATX, make sure these connections are not loose, other wise, i would recomend RMA with Asus, unless the shop you bought it from are happy to RMA it for you, saves you P&P costs Sam
