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How does one diagnose specific board failures?
    #4573105 -

Here's the story:  Close by lightning strike to a transformer, blew power.
Got home, turned on the puter, got into the BIOS startup a bit when it FROZE.
Waited like 15 minutes, tried hitting delete to enter setup (cause that's where it froze) nothing.
Reset the computer, to get only a blank screen and a 4 second long beep with a silence afterwards that just keeps repeating itself.

Everything's running, as far as i can tell....could i be lucky and have only killed the bios?
How would i go about testing the components to determine if i really need to outlay for a whole new board/processer combo?
I've got till this weekend to figure this out, so any help is appreciated.
Thanks in advance. :smile:


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"..all those molecules thrashing their kinky little tails, hot for destiny and the street."  Gibson


Nuke baby seals for Jesus!

(This has been a +1 production.)

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Re: How does one diagnose specific board failures? [Re: Randolph_Carter]
    #4573131 -

Have you tried resetting the jumper on the motherboard?


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"Buy the ticket, take the ride" --long live the great Gonzo

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Re: How does one diagnose specific board failures? [Re: ManicDelirium]
    #4573189 -

resetting the jumper will switch it back to the defaults...It sounds like though it fixed it self on restart...If your really worried about it you can flash upgrade the bios...This will fix any problem if it exists


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"Buy the ticket, take the ride" --long live the great Gonzo

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Re: How does one diagnose specific board failures? [Re: ManicDelirium]
    #4573196 -

I've reset the jumpers, i've looked at the processer to see if there was anything amazingly out of whack, i inspected the power source on the off chance it was a problem in there.
It's definitely a hardware failure.
I'm thinking the bios chip died, but like i said, i need some testing procedures to figure that out.
It's not something easy, unfortunately. :sad:


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"..all those molecules thrashing their kinky little tails, hot for destiny and the street."  Gibson


Nuke baby seals for Jesus!

(This has been a +1 production.)

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Re: How does one diagnose specific board failures? [Re: ManicDelirium]
    #4573199 -

The problem lies in the fact that it WON'T START.
It just sits there beeping at me.
Not something i've ever come across.
It just won't boot.


--------------------
"..all those molecules thrashing their kinky little tails, hot for destiny and the street."  Gibson


Nuke baby seals for Jesus!

(This has been a +1 production.)

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Re: How does one diagnose specific board failures? [Re: ManicDelirium]
    #4573218 -

Check out this page http://www.pcmech.com/show/troubleshoot/14/3/ (and if no good...search more specifically for the manufacturer's web site and check out the post beep codes)
The only thing I saw was the Phoenix BIOS list and the page states
"1 Long Beep indicates a problem with memory in the first bank, usually an unseated memory module"
Dunno what type of bios you have so I can only suggest googling for "bios beep codes" and find the one pertaining to your specific BIOS manufacturer....


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Erowid
Every individual reacts differently to every chemical.
Know your Body - Know your Mind - Know your Substance - Know your Source.

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Re: How does one diagnose specific board failures? [Re: Randolph_Carter]
    #4573222 -

Who is the BIOS made by and what does the beep sound like? (example: long continuous beep, repeating short beeps, one long 3 short)


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"Buy the ticket, take the ride" --long live the great Gonzo

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Re: How does one diagnose specific board failures? [Re: ManicDelirium]
    #4573260 -

I believe it's a Pheonix BIOS, altho i can't state that with absolute certainty, and it beeps for approximately 5 seconds, stops for about the same period of time, then beeps again.
Cycles like that.

It's a Duron processer, if that's of any help, altho i couldn't find a name imprint on the board and all of my documentation is buried underneath a mountain of books at the moment. :tongue:


--------------------
"..all those molecules thrashing their kinky little tails, hot for destiny and the street."  Gibson


Nuke baby seals for Jesus!

(This has been a +1 production.)

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Re: How does one diagnose specific board failures? [Re: Randolph_Carter]
    #4573275 -

Pheonix BIOS's are more precise on their problems...It has 3 sets of beeps..1 set pause 2nd set pause 3rd set pause...For example you can have a 1-3-3 or a 1-3-1


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"Buy the ticket, take the ride" --long live the great Gonzo

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Re: How does one diagnose specific board failures? [Re: Randolph_Carter]
    #4573327 -

Take out the RAM (and perhaps all the cards) and take a clean pencil eraser and rub the connectors..essentially cleaning them....blow off the old rubber and stick back in slot .  It works magic sometimes.  Sounds like something may be dislodged somehow or has a bad connection.
On a few occasions I have had your problem and reseating and cleaning everything off usually works...

And it could just be that something was fried... :hissyfit:


--------------------
Erowid
Every individual reacts differently to every chemical.
Know your Body - Know your Mind - Know your Substance - Know your Source.

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Re: How does one diagnose specific board failures? [Re: ParanoidAndroid]
    #4573392 -

If you don't know what the BIOS brand is...then I suggest checking and cleaning all your hardware connections.  Also switch the hardware with a different computer and if nothings wrong then it's the motherboard itself...Time buy a new one :smile: their dirt cheap nowadays anyways

Iv'e had shit I couldn't ever figure out and it usually was something fried on the motherboard...Even the smallest thing screws up the whole board..

I'm out for the night I hope you figure it out! gl


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"Buy the ticket, take the ride" --long live the great Gonzo

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Re: How does one diagnose specific board failures? [Re: ParanoidAndroid]
    #4573475 -

Yeah, thanks guys....but i'm pretty bloody sure it's the board.
I mean, i had her all closed off, hadn't played with the internals for like, 3 weeks.
Everything was running fine, then i try and turn it on after a power outage and BLAM shit goes wonky.
Everything i could test elsewhere works, so i guess i'm in the market for a new board. :tongue:


--------------------
"..all those molecules thrashing their kinky little tails, hot for destiny and the street."  Gibson


Nuke baby seals for Jesus!

(This has been a +1 production.)

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Re: How does one diagnose specific board failures? [Re: Randolph_Carter]
    #4573910 -

Listen to ManicDelirium, he knows what he is talking about. If the logic board is fried, then you typically either get beeps or nothing at all (doesn't power on). Very seldom, though it does happen, does a bad logic board start to work for a while, then fail. Nine times out of ten, when I see a computer lock up in BIOS, it is the CPU. However, you might be the 1 in 10 case, because of the lightning. Look at the electrolytic caps on the board (little cylinder shaped guys about the size of the last digit of your pinky finger that stick up off the logic board) and see if they have swelled. The tops are supposed to be flat, but if they take a large over voltage, the tops will curve upwards... if so, then the motherboard is shot. It only takes one of them not working to mess up the board, so look at them all.


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Just another spore in the wind.

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Re: How does one diagnose specific board failures? [Re: Seuss]
    #4574535 -

ummm can anyone see my posts?
or is it just me?


--------------------
Erowid
Every individual reacts differently to every chemical.
Know your Body - Know your Mind - Know your Substance - Know your Source.

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Re: How does one diagnose specific board failures? [Re: Randolph_Carter]
    #4574710 -

Doesn't sound like the BIOS, otherwise you wouldn't be getting the POST code.

Unplug everything from the back of your computer and take out anything you don't need from the inside like modems, soundcard, etc. Then try to boot up again.


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Kira: What do Klingons dream about?

Worf: Things that would send cold chills down your spine, and wake you up in the middle of the night. No, it is better you do not know

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Re: How does one diagnose specific board failures? [Re: Worf]
    #4575864 -

Android:  I'm hearin ya, but that memory module shtuff makes no sense given the circumstances.
And it's a cheapo board, so i'm having a rough time finding the imprint, let alone the specific BIOS.....so i think i'm fucked on that.

Output:  I tore it DOWN man....pulled the drives, pulled the CD rewriter, checked it all for any sign of burning/overload that i could think of, yanked the modem which i've never used out, and tried to boot it with just the hard drive and the disk drive.
Didn't work, so i tried booting from a bootdisk.
Nothing.

SOmething serious got killed.
Seuss is probably right....i mean, i've been running the processer fullbore (that folding at home shtuff) for nearly a year and a half now, and i haven't taken nearly good enough care with the cooling and cleaning as i should have.

SO maybe i can just get away with a processer upgrade. :wink:

But from what y'all are saying, and what i can think of, checking every bloody connection on the board is a waste of time.

So right now i think i'll buy a processer and shove that in, see if it works.
(it was a BITCH to get the heat sink off tho.....it's got that metal band holding it down, and it took me about 15 minutes to pry it loose....anyone got any advice on that?)


--------------------
"..all those molecules thrashing their kinky little tails, hot for destiny and the street."  Gibson


Nuke baby seals for Jesus!

(This has been a +1 production.)

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Re: How does one diagnose specific board failures? [Re: Randolph_Carter]
    #4576654 -

Hell ya those retention clips suck to get off...

My suggestion would be to push down on the top of the clip and with a screwdriver push out and then slowly push the clip out of the holder...

here's a nice pic I found :smile:


If the processor still has a hard time coming off..don't try and force it up ...It usually means the gel has stuck to the cpu and the heatsink or theres a bubble in between that's creating a suction...

The best way to get around this is to wave a blow dryer back and forth over the cpu to allow the gel to warm up.

If it still resists...It probably means that someone used a type of epoxy thermal gel in between it.  Which if that's true that thing ain't coming off.

Spring loaded retention clips are so much easier...they pop right off

hope this helps...


--------------------
"Buy the ticket, take the ride" --long live the great Gonzo

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Re: How does one diagnose specific board failures? [Re: ManicDelirium]
    #4581667 -

Figure out what the bios is, and then look up the beep code. Most bios have fairly specific beep codes.


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This is the only time I really feel alive.

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Re: How does one diagnose specific board failures? [Re: Seuss]
    #4583500 -

So after a few calls and some nice words with the place i bought this from back when, i ran down the bios, and the beep code is an unknown one but appears to be CPU related.

Suess:  There are two of those dealies you were talking about that are distended to both the touch and the eye...am i to assume ANY distention is fatal?

Looks like i gotta go buy a new combo  :mad2:

Thanks for the help. :thumbup:


--------------------
"..all those molecules thrashing their kinky little tails, hot for destiny and the street."  Gibson


Nuke baby seals for Jesus!

(This has been a +1 production.)

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