help me get this up 'n' running

[tanda333]

i have a p4 1.7ghz (better than my pIII 880mhz)

i cannot get it to run.

when i plug it in a light lights up on the mobo, which means the board has power. when i turn it on, the fans whir up, etc.

i get no image from my monitor. just black, then standby mode.

also, what does it take, space-wise, to install xp pro.

i would like people to suggest potential problems and solutions. i will try to try all of the solutions one at a time to get this machine up 'n' running.

i have some spare parts lying around to swap in and out.

[Sparda]

What happens when you take the CPu and RAm out?

[atmo]

It sounds like the board isnt passing POST.

It could be an incorrect BIOS settings, a faulty board, ram, cpu, video card etc. It may also be a faulty power supply, or that the power supply can't supply enough power, or that something isn't connected properly. There's also the possibilty something's shorted somewhere.

The first thing i'd try is resetting the CMOS, which clears the BIOS data. Disconnect the power and pop the battery out, or use a jumper to bridge the clear cmos header (refer to the motherboard manual if you have one)

If there's still no life, remove/disconnect everything that isn't necessary for the system to POST. You'll need to have the CPU & it's heatsink/fan installed in the motherboard, a video card (with a monitor connected) and the power supply.

No mouse/keyboard, sound card, add-in IDE/SATA cards, hard drives, optical & floppy drives, usb devices etc. They aren't reqiured for the system to POST.

Failing that, remove the motherboard from the case, and make sure there are no misplaced standoffs screwed into the motherboard tray. If possible, try setting up the system outside the case with everything layed out on a bench, but make sure the motherboard etc. is placed on a cardboard box or something non conductive.

At this point, if it still fails to pass POST, it's time to swap hardware. Plugging good hardware into a possibly faulty system can lead to a bigger pile of dead hardware. It's rare, but it can happen.

If you have a good working system, and the hardware is compatible, try swapping the video card & ram with the faulty system.

RAM is usually the easiest to change. Try one stick at a time (unless it's RDRAM which must be run in pairs), then try another video card. If the system's spread out on a bench, or if the power supply is easy to remove, i'd swap that out next, followed by the cpu. If you can swap in another CPU, or install the CPU from the non working system in another board, i'd try that next. The only remaining part is the motherboard, so if you get to this point and it still wont fire up, then you can be fairly sure that's what's wrong with the system.

XP Pro needs about 2-2.5GB for the OS and swap, depending on which service pack, updates etc. are installed. I wouldn't install it on a drive smaller than about 5gb.

[Reflux]

Your first approach should be to replace the video card and or monitor with a known working one or switch to intergrated. Also do you have any POST beeps? One is normal for most BIOS.

And 1.5gb is the official minimal requirement for Windows XP home and pro.

Edit

I also hope you didn't listen Atmo especially the cardboard box you risk firing your motherboard.

[tanda333]

well i have tryed swapping video cards, ive tried the onboard, a geforce2 mx200 (which i know works) and a ati rageII (ya, ive got some really old parts.) nothing.

the ram is ddr, being as when it was bought it only came with one, and it used to work. also it says ddr on the package.

i dont have a manual...

unfortunatly, i dont think i have any compatable parts available at the moment, apart from video card... i dont have a spare cpu, ram, or mobo. but i think i may be able to get ahold of something. a freind has a hp dx2000, its running ddr, socket 478, intel p4 so its just a newer version of same stuff.

im positive the power supply works.. but then again, im not an expert, if need be, ill try swapping that.

but first i think ill try resetting the cmos, i allways prefer to try swapping aout hardware last.

the biggest problem with it is gonna be that ill need a new harddrive.

unless i want to canabalize my pIII

odds are, if it is a hardware problem, ill just gut the thing and leave it be.

im not gonna buy parts to get something that outdated up and running when i dont need to.

but if someone wants to send me parts, i wont complain!

oh ya, i cant figure out how to get a speaker working on this.. cant find the connection for it. i should try to DL the manual.

EDIT: have looked up board on internet, it is 845GRG by intel. i have dled the manuals, and found out two things:

1- the speaker has been set to output to rear speakers as opposed to front speaker.

2- 1 beep doesnt mean ok, 0 beeps means the system is operating properly.

its a little late for me to go hookin up power cords and monitors now, so i will wait till tomorrow afternoon. expect update sometime around 5-6 EST tuesday.

[Reflux]

Since your talking about speakers i assume you dont know what post beeps are since you dont need speakers for them (they beep like right after the fan finishes reving up). They sound kinda like the polymorphic or w/e cell phone ringtones except its monotoned and its coming from the motherboard. Also if you think its a powersupply problem (which is somewhat doubt) just check the voltages on the p1 connector with a multimeter (with it still connected to the mobo). My bet is still on video.

[tanda333]

actually, i found out wat speaker problem was, board was set to output post beeps to rear speakers. i have tried video card swap allready... no luck.

[Reflux]

so do you get any post beeps?

[digip]

What about the hard drive? Is it old/new? Did it come with it and does it have an OS on it?

Tried booting from a live cd to see if you get anything?

[Reflux]

What about the hard drive? Is it old/new? Did it come with it and does it have an OS on it?

Tried booting from a live cd to see if you get anything?

If you read it carefully you would notice that he gets no image from his monitor so a live cd wouldnt help him and a harddrive would be irrelevant to this problem.

[digip]

What about the hard drive? Is it old/new? Did it come with it and does it have an OS on it?

Tried booting from a live cd to see if you get anything?

If you read it carefully you would notice that he gets no image from his monitor so a live cd wouldnt help him and a harddrive would be irrelevant to this problem.

Not if the BIOS is set to the hard drive and the hard drive is bad. I had a Compaq that had the BIOS on the hard drive and someone formatted it and had no way to configure the bios afterwards. I had the same problem and all lights would come on, beep, etc, but no screen would show up. It flickered black and white lines. I eventually managed to put XP on there, but that was after a long bout with a modified install of win98 in order to get xp on there becasue there was no bios and not any way to boot from cd, I had to use an old floppy drive to boot the pc, load a ramdisk, format the c drive and then modify the win98 install to boot from the c drive, not the floppy, then put xp on there. It was a pain in the arse, but I did manage to get it fixed.

[Bouzy210]

I don't know if this is a stupid idea, becuase I don't know how much about computers and stuff you know, but if it keeps not working. Take it into best buy (I cn't believe im suggesting this THEY SUCK BIG TIME) and tell them whats wrong. Depending on what people you have at best buy you could have your problem fixed. I know one best buy that sux by me, but another by my friend has like this computer genius in it.

[Reflux]

What about the hard drive? Is it old/new? Did it come with it and does it have an OS on it?

Tried booting from a live cd to see if you get anything?

If you read it carefully you would notice that he gets no image from his monitor so a live cd wouldnt help him and a harddrive would be irrelevant to this problem.

Not if the BIOS is set to the hard drive and the hard drive is bad. I had a Compaq that had the BIOS on the hard drive and someone formatted it and had no way to configure the bios afterwards. I had the same problem and all lights would come on, beep, etc, but no screen would show up. It flickered black and white lines. I eventually managed to put XP on there, but that was after a long bout with a modified install of win98 in order to get xp on there becasue there was no bios and not any way to boot from cd, I had to use an old floppy drive to boot the pc, load a ramdisk, format the c drive and then modify the win98 install to boot from the c drive, not the floppy, then put xp on there. It was a pain in the arse, but I did manage to get it fixed.

Your BIOS isnt stored on a harddrive it is always on a EEPROM or Flash Memory. Most likely your bootstrap loader was gone.

I don't know if this is a stupid idea, becuase I don't know how much about computers and stuff you know, but if it keeps not working. Take it into best buy (I cn't believe im suggesting this THEY SUCK BIG TIME) and tell them whats wrong. Depending on what people you have at best buy you could have your problem fixed. I know one best buy that sux by me, but another by my friend has like this computer genius in it.

Personally I wouldn't even go near Geeksquad unless i knew the person personally and probably just paid him directly.

[cooper]

Your BIOS isnt stored on a harddrive it is always on a EEPROM or Flash Memory.

Clearly you've never had the (dis)pleasure to encounter old Compaq computers. :P

I think a few old, shitty laptops did this to cut costs aswell.

[digip]

Your BIOS isnt stored on a harddrive it is always on a EEPROM or Flash Memory.

Clearly you've never had the (dis)pleasure to encounter old Compaq computers. :P

I think a few old, shitty laptops did this to cut costs aswell.

Glad someone else knows what hell it is to try and fix one of them. What a pain in the arse those are.

[Reflux]

Your BIOS isnt stored on a harddrive it is always on a EEPROM or Flash Memory.

Clearly you've never had the (dis)pleasure to encounter old Compaq computers. :P

I think a few old, shitty laptops did this to cut costs aswell.

I guess not I never touch budget machines. I guess I'm lucky.

[cooper]

I guess not I never touch budget machines. I guess I'm lucky.

Compaq did it for the vendor lock-in if I'm not mistaken.

They weren't (all) budget boxes by any stretch of the imagination.

[tanda333]

a few things i should establish:

1- its not a name brand, not compaq, dell, etc. its got a sona and/or allaiance sticker on it.

2- it doesnt even have a hard drive in it.

3- i would never send to a tech support / repair guy. because they either treat me like an idiot, or charge out the wazoole.

and, sorry it s late but i havent been able to even try and run it as i cant find a power cable, i may just borrow one from this one that i am using now, or steal one from my schools scrap pile ;)

i have also talkeds to a freind about parts...... a 1.2 gig drive aint gonna cut it, even if i want to run linux on this mofo.

he may get me a 4 gig drive and the power cables i need.

i just need a graphics card and this could be a decent gamin rig, or at least better than my current one : a pIII 880mhz with geforce 2 mx 200

i personally try to stay away from name brand boxes, the custom build or not-quite-so-mass-produced-by-a-company-who-assumes-all-thier-customers-are-idiots boxes are of better quality, plus you dont deal with proprietary bull, inability to OC, and general attempts to force you to use thier services.

also, no worrys about hard drive, i dont even have one in yet.

and im really serious about anybody with spare parts donating them, would be a great help.

if all else fail, i may have to try to sell the parts......

in other news, im trying to get a freind to overclock his pentium 233mhz, its hard to convince him that randomly moving jumpers will work.

anyone know any good sites for OCing with jumpers?

[SomeoneE1se]

...... a 1.2 gig drive aint gonna cut it, even if i want to run linux on this mofo.

um... DSL?

edit: /me is a spelling noob

[tanda333]

... i just finished testing everything.

its BORKED

i cant get it to run, tryed removing battery, cpu, ram, etc. anything uyou guys have suggested, i have tried.

i cant even get a beep code..

the mobo is borked...