Posts by willcomp

I'd try another power supply first. Borrow one from another PC if possible.

Looks like a sticking power switch. Power switch is a momentary contact switch and if it stays depressed, PC will shut off after about 3 to 5 seconds.

Disconnect power switch from motherboard and use a jumper to short power pins. Remove as soon as CPU fan starts. You can borrow a jumper from an optical drive after disconnecting drive.

Using a small flat blade screwdriver to short the pins will also work. Exercise caution if you use this method.

Use PSU recommended by 4th&3wood.

Any luck with ATX PSU?

Re PSU form factors:

Realized that HP has used both uATX and SFX PSUs in their PCs. If PSU has 3 mounting screw holes it is SFX and uATX if it has 4 mounting screw holes. uATX is same as ATX except shorter.

How about posting the beep code (pattern) along with BIOS installed. Beeps can mean a lot of different things.

You need a rear exhaust fan otherwise the PSU will suck in CPU cooler exhaust. While CPU and ambient temps may be OK, PSU will run hotter affecting its life and stability. You'll probably be OK as long as side panel is removed.

You very well may have a failed motherboard or CPU rather than power supply. Although a standard ATX power supply will not fit inside your case, the connectors are identical and one can be used for troubleshooting.

First, check capacitors on motherboard for signs of swelling or leakage. Pay special attention to those near CPU socket. Here's a link with more information:
http://www.badcaps.net/pages.php?vid=5

If caps look OK, connect another power supply of higher wattage for testing. Borrow one from a friend if you can.

Clean CPU fan and heat sink as previously suggested.

Unless there are physical signs, it is very difficult to differentiate between a failed motherboard and a failed CPU. Given the symptoms you described, I'd lean heavily toward the motherboard.

Here's a good quality replacement power supply if needed:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103507

It is actually an SFX form factor although many call it a uATX.

Connect a monitor to VGA port on notebook and see if you get a display.

Is there a flashing cursor in upper left hand corner of black screen?

Windows is failing to start because it cannot recognize SATA hard disks -- possibly due to boot sector corruption.

Connect each SATA hard disk singly (no other disks connected and SATA controller not in RAID mode) and boot from a UBCD disk. Wipe both SATA drives using DBAN.
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

Then rebuild array and install XP.

Is power LED blinking amber? If so, you have either a faulty PSU or motherboard.

If display freezes rather than blank screen or reboot, problem is likely caused by video card. Overheating of video card will produce those symptoms (frozen display).

Try a basic boot. Disconnect all drives (signal and powe cables), remove PCI cards, disconnect all external devices except keyboard and monitor. Use one stick of memory at a time.

Have you replaced CMOS battery? That system is several years old and battery may be weak.

Can you read controller chip information? Manufacturer and model.

Most inexpensive cards use SiI chips. Generic drivers are available on SiI website and elsewhere.

I've already given you my best advice which you apparently ignored.

Those voltages are fine. You cannot change them (either up or down). You can only change CPU voltage and memory voltage on motherboards that support tweaking and overclocking.

What about CPU temperatures and CPU fan?

Success!! - I've got it working!

I took the battery out and left it out. When I came back to it a couple of hours later I popped the battery back in, switched it on and it worked. Thanks to Willcomp for suggesting this!

I'm still a bit of a novice when it comes to building computers. So any chance of someone answering these questions:

1. I presume taking the battery out reset the CMOS? If so what is the purpose of the jumper which the mobo manual says is for clearing the CMOS - I've not touched this jumper.
2. Why did the CMOS need to be reset in the first place when the computer had worked fine for two weeks since building it?

Many thanks.

Mike

1. Yes, removing battery clears CMOS. The Clear CMOS jumper does the same thing. CMOS is volatile memory and flushes when power (battery) is removed. CMOS is powered from 3.3VDC when PC is on.

2. Stuff happens. CMOS can become corrupt at any time.

If CMOS reset doesn't work, it wouldn't hurt to try another CMOS battery just in case yours is faulty. They are cheap and easy to replace. Available at Wal-Mart and Radio Shack (CR2032 coin cell).

Since motherboard is rather new, a dead battery would not be expected.

P35 chipset mobos start for a few seconds, turn off for a few seconds and restart on initial boot. BIOS plays a role in this behavior.

Try resetting CMOS. A BIOS update would probably help, but appears you probably can't boot from a floppy to flash BIOS.

Yes it does have to be a 1333MHz or 1600MHz FSB motherboard to support that CPU.

Motherboard I recommended uses DDR2 RAM.

You will need a Socket 775 motherboard that supports 1333MHz FSB CPUs.

I prefer this one (for non RAID):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059

Very nice mobo at a reasonable price.

Hard to say exactly what cause is, but I'd start by replacing CMOS battery. It's cheap and easy to replace. You may be losing CMOS settings.

SMART test failure means HDD is failing. I've never seen SMART return a "false positive" failure message.

Looks like you have it narrowed down to PSU or motherboard. If swapping PSUs doesn't resolve the problem -- well mobo is left.

Inspect capacitors on motherboard for signs of swelling or leakage, especially the ones near CPU socket. Absence of damage does not mean they are good, but visible signs of damage does indicate they are failing.

I agree with New Normal that E6600 is best CPU for your mobo considering currently available CPUs. Second choice is an E6400.

Now how about marking previous question solved?

XP and Vista install differently - Vista uses an image file.

Test memory before going any further. Memtest86+ and other handy utilities are on the UBCD.
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html

According to eMachines web site, you have an Intel i810 chipset. Install Intel i810 chipset and video drivers from following links first. Install in order listed.

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=N&ProductID=178&DwnldID=8178&strOSs=18&OSFullName=Windows*%2098%20SE&lang=eng

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=N&ProductID=178&DwnldID=4666&strOSs=18&OSFullName=Windows*%2098%20SE&lang=eng

After you have those drivers installed, use SIW to determine what sound chip, NIC, and modem you have.
http://www.gtopala.com/

Post back with SIW info. Look under Hardware then PCI devices.

Test memory using Memtest86+. DOS only uses the first 1MB of memory and memory above that may be faulty.

If it's a memory issue, Linux will fail as well.

As I said before, motherboard LED lit only means 5VDC standby power is present. It does not indicate that motherboard is functional.

Odds of a single faulty CPU are very small. In 90+ percent of cases when problem is narrowed down to either CPU or motherboard, it's the motherboard.

Disconnect power switch and use a jumper (borrow one from an optical drive if necessary) to power on system. I really don't think you have a stuck power switch, but won't hurt to try.

No, the motherboard was manufactured by BCM (GVC) and rebadged to a Micronics -- I was wrong about that being video card.

BIOS manufacturer code shows actual manufacturer.

Both manuals are for the same motherboard with a different name.

Interesting little exercise though.

I recommended trying each stick of RAM in first response. Why didn't you try that instead of asking more questions?

I'm all out of ideas at this point. I don't understand why BIOS is seeing keylock enabled with keylock pins unjumpered.

CMOS batteries usually work fine at 3.0V or above. A fresh battery should be between 3.25 and 3.3 volts.

PSU or motherboard in all liklihood. Take bobbyraw's advice and try another PSU first. Disconnect all drives and remove PCI cards while testing.

Inspect capacitors on motherboard for signs of swelling or leakage. Pay special attention to those around CPU socket.

A long shot -- try a USB keyboard if you have one or can borrow one. A USB keyboard may not work on a PC of that vintage, but it's worth a try.

What was voltage on CMOS battery? If less than 3.1V, replace. CR2032 batteries are inexpensive and widely available -- including Wal Mart and Radio Shack.

See this link:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/fastFaqLiteDocument?lc=en&cc=us&product=18703&dlc=en&docname=c00809678

Make your next purchase -- after a PSU -- a battery backup (UPS). Inexpensive way to protect a PC from voltage fluctuations.

No time outs that I'm aware of. Try removing battery again and leave out for at least 5 minutes. Maybe clearing CMOS again will help.

Jumper across keylock pins is only active when PC is powered on.

I've got naturally straight hair and I'd like to keep it that way.
(about mid-page)

I don't think low amperage 12VDC will give you too much of a curl :)

What have you tried so far?

Yeah, the board I thought it was is a 440LX, I must have just misread a digit or 2.

So taking the battery probably reset the lock to its default. Shouldn't then shorting the pins change it to unlocked, or does it need to be plugged into a cable run to a lock and then unlocked (2nd option sounds silly to me).

Unshorted is unlocked and vice versa. Keylock switch is not needed. Remember, I recommended jumpering and then unjumpering pins. Wouldn't hurt to try with PC powered on as well. Just use caution.

Note: one can borrow a jumper from an optical drive if necessary.

See my earlier post again -- edited to add last sentence.

BIOS string also tells you that it's an Intel 440LX chipset motherboard.

Yes, keylock pins are for a physical keylock that was used on most AT style cases and a few early ATX cases.

My bad -- I forgot to post link. It's a GVC OEM board.

http://www.bcmcom.com/tech/kr632/KR632-man.pdf

Manufacturer code in AMI BIOS string is 1540 which translates to BCM. BIOS string is on bottom of screen that shows error messages. Now you know :)

Have you tried booting jumpered and then unjumpered as I recommended earlier? BIOS thinks a keylock switch is closed.

I'll be interested to see if anyone is curious about how I determined what motherboard you have. It's a process familar to many of us old timers.

This should be the manual for your motherboard.

See page 28 for power LED/Keylock pins. Verify that keylock pins are not jumpered or that nothing is connected to them.

If they are clear, try installing a jumper, reboot, shutdown, and remove jumper.

Incidentally, Diamond Multmedia is the video card rather than motherboard manufacturer.

The reason it's shutting off after about 5 seconds is because you "hot wired" the power switch. Power switch is a momentary contact switch. When it stays closed (as in your case), the PC will soft power off after the preset time delay which is usually 4 or 5 seconds.

Disconnect power switch and use a jumper or small screwdriver to short power switch pins on front panel connector.

7e maybe?

Defrag should always be run in Safe Mode otherwise it may have trouble starting and/or will restart before finishing resulting in an endless loop.

If one set of memory works without errors, Windows is not the problem.

Test. If both modules cause errors, return and exchange for a different brand.

Ok, thank you. But that wont solve my problem.
Why didnt memtest show that I had a faulty module?
How do I change timings? Do I need to do that?

Memtest is not 100% accurate and may not catch errors which cause problems in Windows. Did you use memtest 86+ and let it run for at least 5 passes?

There are probably no memory settings you can change in your BIOS. If you can, lower memory bus speed (underclock RAM).

A Stop 8e error is usually memory related.

Try using your new memory modules one at a time and see if problem is related to a specific module.

You may have a faulty module or timing issues with new memory.

Corsair manufactures quality memory, so your choice of brands was OK.

I haven't contacted Asus yet because I didn't buy the board. My brother did. Hopefully, I will not have to provide a receipt.

Could the symptoms be something else, like bad RAM or bad video cards? When post fails the lcd is reading "det dram."

Very well could be another problem besides mobo. In fact, I'd be a bit surprised if it isn't. Have you tried booting with 2 of 4 modules and swapping them around? Ditto with one video card at a time.

Warranty is based on serial number (date of manufacture) AFIK.