PC Peripherals PC doesn't boot up

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Sei

Galvanizer
Yesterday my HTPC refused to start up and was throwing tantrums. The config -

6 year old ASUS P5LD2 motherboard Intel C2D E6300 CPU
ASUS 6670
Corsair CX 430 V2
2 GB RAM

Now, this is what happened. It was working perfectly fine day before yesterday. Yesterday when I switched it on -
- The motherboard LED was on.
- The CPU fan was spinning.
- The GPU fan was spinning.
- The HDDs were spinning.
- The case LEDs were glowing.

But no BIOS screen.

Now, there was an issue a few weeks back with the CMOS battery. So, I removed the CMOS battery from the HTPC and replaced it with the battery from my main PC. Did not start. Replaced the RAM stick with a functional stick from my main PC; did not start. Exchanged the RAM slots. Did not work.

Finally, I removed the GPU and connected the display to my on-board GPU. Did not work.

The thing is that since even the BIOS screen does not load up, I suspect either the motherboard or the Power Supply. But how do I confirm?

Also, does the LEDs lighting up, HDDs and the fans spinning mean that the power supply is fine?

PS: No beeps in my system since the audio has not been working since the beginning; even when I boot up normally, no beeps.
 
Sei, i think the ram socket of the motherboard is faulty. as you told earlier cpu, gpu, hdd & all led's are working fine, power supply should be perfect.
 
The monitor is blank or goes into standby mode?
And try booting without RAM sticks and see if there's any beep.
 
Sorry, I forgot to update this thread.

Okay, I had replaced everything except the PSU and the motherboard and literally gave up and put everything back.

2 days after this incident; in which the PC suddenly boots up fine with all the original components inside. So, I am happy and relieved. The next day, the same thing. Doesn't boot up at all. No matter what I do. The day after, it starts working fine again. I have not changed anything; all the components are the same as before.

What I can think of is that the motherboard is slowly dying out; if that's possible. It is almost 6 years old now and has been running continuously.

Saw this thread -Losing my mind! - Asus A8N SLI premium wont post - General-Motherboard - Motherboards-Memory

It seems that some capacitors may go bad. They bulge a bit. Will try to see if I can spot the problem visually.

PS: Now, I try to apply an approach based on reasoning but my mom (the HTPC is in their room) insisted that you leave the keyboard unplugged. It's an old PS2 keyboard that I bought along with the PC. The PC has been working since yesterday and since I don't have any other valid reasoning for her, I have to nod my head when she says, "I told you, leave the keyboard unplugged, it will work" :|

PPS: I have a small wireless keyboard that I am using, if anyone's wondering.

vishal_k said:
Sei, i think the ram socket of the motherboard is faulty. as you told earlier cpu, gpu, hdd & all led's are working fine, power supply should be perfect.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I am quite sure that the PSU is fine because I replaced it a few months back. It can be the RAM socket though, any way to confirm that other than the beeps? The onboard audio on my motherboard has not worked for a few years now.

Mr.J said:
The monitor is blank or goes into standby mode?
And try booting without RAM sticks and see if there's any beep.
Click to expand...

Goes into standby mode. No signal.

No audio. I know that is the best way but is there any other? Again, nothing happens when I remove the RAM stick and boot.
 
It could be the motherboard but there's no way you can rule out that unless you have a standby board and test it. See if you can get hold of a cheap G31 board from the market or even second hand. New boards used to retails for 2.2k odd few years back.
 
Gannu said:
It could be the motherboard but there's no way you can rule out that unless you have a standby board and test it. See if you can get hold of a cheap G31 board from the market or even second hand. New boards used to retails for 2.2k odd few years back.
Click to expand...

I'm going to wait for a few days and if it still giving problems, I'll replace the whole damn thing - CPU, motherboard and RAM.. Rest all is new.
 
Okay, my stupid PC's back at it again.

Here's what happened -

1. The CPU temps were going quite high - around 60-75 degrees C.
2. Got a thermal paste day before yesterday - removed and applied. PC was working fine day before yesterday with temps near 50 degrees
3. Yesterday the PC didn't start up. Nothing happens when clicking the start/restart button. The motherboard and LAN light is on.
4. I removed the 24 pin ATX connector and reconnected it - no change.
5. I removed the 4 pin connector (http://i-am-fast.com/Pictures/power_connectors_atx.jpg) p4_12V and reconnected -
a. It booted and stayed on till I went into the BIOS. CPU and GPU fans spinning, HDDs were detected. Then it shut down.
b. I removed it and then reconnected - it started for a few seconds, then shut down.


What is going on here?! Is it tripping some place or what?

I'm going to remove everything today and check again. Would love advice on things to check.
 
@Sei Sorry did not catch this for some reason when you posted it initially.

Does the system post OR not?

Does your motherboard have electrolytic caps OR not? If yes are you noticing bulging OR have any of them burst?

Remove your RAM modules, clean the area, and put the modules back in, one-by-one.

Try booting with the aid of a Live-disc.

Hope this helps, Cheerio!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Which mobo do you have currently,Is it the old one?,This might not be problem but still check the PSU by doing the green and black wire test,If that's ok then try few things ALPHA17 said.We will see if that works.
Sei said:
Okay, my stupid PC's back at it again.

Here's what happened -

1. The CPU temps were going quite high - around 60-75 degrees C.
2. Got a thermal paste day before yesterday - removed and applied. PC was working fine day before yesterday with temps near 50 degrees
3. Yesterday the PC didn't start up. Nothing happens when clicking the start/restart button. The motherboard and LAN light is on.
4. I removed the 24 pin ATX connector and reconnected it - no change.
5. I removed the 4 pin connector (http://i-am-fast.com/Pictures/power_connectors_atx.jpg) p4_12V and reconnected -
a. It booted and stayed on till I went into the BIOS. CPU and GPU fans spinning, HDDs were detected. Then it shut down.
b. I removed it and then reconnected - it started for a few seconds, then shut down.


What is going on here?! Is it tripping some place or what?

I'm going to remove everything today and check again. Would love advice on things to check.
Click to expand...
 
Sid, do you have a standby system around (maybe with a friend?) so you can test the memory? I really don't think the memory is acting up though.

I am assuming you must have already attempted most of the regular troubleshooting steps. I think the motherboard may be at fault here (probably too old?). A G31 board is perhaps cheap and uses low-end components compared to the high-end boards and are prone to premature deaths.
 
Thanks for the quick reply guys; appreciate it.


ALPHA17 said:
Sei Sorry did not catch this for some reason when you posted it initially.

Does the system post OR not?

Does your motherboard have electrolytic caps OR not? If yes are you noticing bulging OR have any of them burst?

Remove your RAM modules, clean the area, and put the modules back in, one-by-one.

Try booting with the aid of a Live-disc.

Hope this helps, Cheerio!
Click to expand...

This issue started after I applied the thermal paste.

Like I said,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3. Yesterday the PC didn't start up. Nothing happens when clicking the start/restart button. The motherboard and LAN light is on.
4. I removed the 24 pin ATX connector and reconnected it - no change.
5. I removed the 4 pin connector (http://i-am-fast.com/Pictures/power_connectors_atx.jpg) p4_12V and reconnected -
a. It booted and stayed on till I went into the BIOS. CPU and GPU fans spinning, HDDs were detected. Then it shut down.
b. I removed it and then reconnected - it started for a few seconds, then shut down.
6. Now it doesn't start on clicking the start/reset button.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


It simply doesn't start now. The motherboard and LAN LEDs are on but nothing happens when I click the start button. Can this be something to do with the replaced heatsink?

I remember that when I installed the Ultima 90 (on my main rig with the E8500), a similar issue was occurring. In the end, I put some foam between the motherboard and the cabinet panel and that made it boot up. Do you think it is shorting somewhere?

PS: I forgot to mention that the pins on the older, original heatsink of my E6300 broke and I installed the Intel heatsink that came along with E8500 (since I have the Ultima 90 on the E8500).

Jakob said:
Which mobo do you have currently,Is it the old one?,This might not be problem but still check the PSU by doing the green and black wire test,If that's ok then try few things ALPHA17 said.We will see if that works.
Click to expand...

The mobo is ASUS P5LD2 VM-SE (circa 2006) so it is quite old - http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_775/P5LD2VM_SE/

Sorry but I am not familiar with the green and black wire test. Does this involve opening up the PSU? It is quite new (a few months old) - Corsair CX 430 V2 and I really don't think that is causing the issue right now.


Gannu said:
Sid, do you have a standby system around (maybe with a friend?) so you can test the memory? I really don't think the memory is acting up though.

I am assuming you must have already attempted most of the regular troubleshooting steps. I think the motherboard may be at fault here (probably too old?). A G31 board is perhaps cheap and uses low-end components compared to the high-end boards and are prone to premature deaths.
Click to expand...

I can test the memory on my main system though I had tested it a few weeks back too. The thing is that the PC doesn't boot at all.

PS: The G31 is my main rig's motherboard (thanks for the vote of confidence though :P) and is running fine as of now (touch wood).

The config for the HTPC -

E6300
ASUS P5LD2 VM-SE
2GB RAM
Corsair CX430 V2
 
Here's a link for the video and no you don't have to open up the PSU:PCorsair Video FAQ: How to test a Corsair power supply - YouTubeYou can try the system on G31 mobo but keep that as last option.Check Ram,PSU and then mobo.
Sei said:
Thanks for the quick reply guys; appreciate it.
The mobo is ASUS P5LD2 VM-SE (circa 2005) so it is quite old.
Sorry but I am not familiar with the green and black wire test. Does this involve opening up the PSU? It is quite new (a few months old) - Corsair CX 430 V2.
Click to expand...
 
Jakob said:
Here's a link for the video and no you don't have to open up the PSU:PCorsair Video FAQ: How to test a Corsair power supply - YouTubeYou can try the system on G31 mobo but keep that as last option.Check Ram,PSU and then mobo.
Click to expand...

That's quite neat! I did not know that - my " I'm a noob " moment of the day. :P

Thanks, I will proceed in this order. I do have the feeling that once I get the motherboard out of the cabinet, it is going to start working :\
 
Sei said:
I remember that when I installed the Ultima 90 (on my main rig with the E8500), a similar issue was occurring. In the end, I put some foam between the motherboard and the cabinet panel and that made it boot up. Do you think it is shorting somewhere?

PS: I forgot to mention that the pins on the older, original heatsink of my E6300 broke and I installed the Intel heatsink that came along with E8500 (since I have the Ultima 90 on the E8500).
Click to expand...

If the system does not show signs of life after the green-black wire short test, then I think it might the cabinet panel shorting it, do check if the front panel PCB is fine; It can be the start button / reset switch (circuit) are shorted-out / burnt itself.
 
It just might be the board. Swapping your G31 board might be a pain for testing it but if you have a spare board, do give it a try. I am betting it on the old board though.

PS: I skipped the first post so I thought it must be the G31 board you are referring to here! :P
 
6yrs old have u checked the cmos battery? that might be failing just replace it & see if that solves the problem.
My old pc did something similar after few yrs I was going nuts then one day I changed the cmos battery & that PC since then is working fine, nothing was wrong in it.
 
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