Big computer problem....

[Bob Romano]

So i powered down my computer two nights ago. When I booted up this morning i got a long beep followed by three short beeps. Nothing came on my screen so I checked what those beeps mean. I find out that they mean that no video card is being detected. I thought i might have defective vid card so i went and bought another and installed it only to get the same problem. I have unseated and seated every card in my system along with my memory and still no luck.

Any suggestions??

 

[Lucanu]

Sometimes it could be your RAM need to be just "reinstalled" in their slots. Dirty contacts could do this.

 

[Bob Romano]

i have taken out all four of my ram modules and cleaned them and reseated them with the same reults. i have an ASUS 939 socket board and i have read several things abour clearing my cmos but I cant seem to find a battery on the motherboard

 

[Cai Campbell]

I recommend removing all memory modules and expansion cards and cleaning the contacts with rubbing alcohol. Then take a can of compressed air and thoroughly blast the innards of your computer, paying special attention to expansion and memory slots. Reinstall expansion cards and memory. Unplug and reseat all cables, including power cables, etc. Power on and pray. If the problem persists, try reseating the CPU. If the problem still persists, try and narrow down the problem by stripping the computer to basics. That is, remove all expansion cards except for the video card. If you have multiple memory modules, try removing half of them. If the problem persists, try swapping the memory modules (i.e. use the half you removed). If the system comes up, start adding back in components one-by-one until you find the one causing the problem. If you still have a problem after all that, you probably have a bad motherboard (or bad memory in a case where you can't do the "swap half" trick).

 

[Cai Campbell]

i have taken out all four of my ram modules and cleaned them and reseated them with the same reults. i have an ASUS 939 socket board and i have read several things abour clearing my cmos but I cant seem to find a battery on the motherboard

Yes, clearing the CMOS by pulling the battery is a good idea as well. There may also be a jumper on the motherboard that will clear CMOS.

 

[jefe1]

Join the club! I just put together a new computer, had to exchange a defective mother board and installed xp. Happily back to downloading some quad files I inadvertently get a virus and the whole system is dead, stalls at the welcome screen. Can't reboot from a cdrom. How do you clean a virus infected hardrive(brand new by the way) and reinstall windows? And I was running AV software....

 

[sukothai]

You also might try disabling video shadow ram in the bios. Sometimes new drivers can interfere with each other in the shadow ram area.

- Ben

 

[Bob Romano]

found the cmos battery and took it out. they recommend leaving it out for about 10 minutes so we'll see what happens.... could the cmos batery be dead? This computer is about 3 years old or so. I am not sure what would happen if it was dead. i suppose the clock wouldn't keep time etc.

 

[Bob Romano]

You also might try disabling video shadow ram in the bios. Sometimes new drivers can interfere with each other in the shadow ram area.

- Ben

Unfortunately, I can't even get to a screen to see any BIOS settings. i just get beeps and the screen never lights up. it;s as iff there is no signal getting to the screen at all.

 

[emoxley]

Everyday this week, when I got up, I pushed the power button on the computer to let it boot up while I eat breakfast. When I come to use it, it hasn't booted up. It hangs with the green light on, but nothing on the monitor. I push the reset button, and it boots on up like it should. It's a custom built computer that's about four yrs. old now. I mentioned it to the guy at the computer store that built it for me, and he said it sounds like it's the power supply. Maybe that's your problem too. A power supply is about $20, which I'll get and try a little later. You might want to try it. If it doesn't fix your problem, you've not lost a lot. Store may take it back too..........
Good luck!

 

[ArmyOfQuad]

You know, I remember when having issues with the motherboard of one of my computers, the manufacturer had a procedure to go through to troubleshoot it. It went something along the lines of disconnecting everything from the motherboard and hooking up a speaker or headphone to the on board soundcard. The steps had you add things one by one and power up the board with each thing, and instructed you to listen for error codes, and what code you were supposed to hear each step of the way. Does the manufacturer of your computer or motherboard have a procedure like this you could follow?

 

[Bob Romano]

so i cleared out the CMOS. I rebooted with one RAM module and I got the BIOS setup up to come.on the screen. After I saved my setup and hit exit, the computer rebooted at which time i get the same 1 long and 3 short beeps and nothing on the screen then.

 

[sukothai]

Are you saying that you turned off video shadow ram in the bios and then got the same error? Did you change anything else in the bios? If not, it points to a problem with the shadow ram. Some video cards require shadow ram; so you could be getting to the same error through a different path.

Sounds like you need to reset the cmos again.

 

[Cai Campbell]

so i cleared out the CMOS. I rebooted with one RAM module and I got the BIOS setup up to come.on the screen. After I saved my setup and hit exit, the computer rebooted at which time i get the same 1 long and 3 short beeps and nothing on the screen then.

Bob, based on this it does sound like you need to replace the battery.

 

[JonUrban]

Sorry to jump in here late, but I've also seen a power supply cause this problem. Is this a pre-built computer, or one you've built up over time. The reason I ask is that as folks upgrade their PCs, they neglect sometimes neglect getting more powerful power supplies. You could have a single voltage dead out of your PS, as they put out many different voltages. If you have to get a new one, get one with more amperage than you think you need, and definately more than you have now.

Then again, i've also seen this caused by the MB shorting to the case. Take the board out of the tower and place it on a bench and see if it boots.

Just shooting in the dark here, but the above two deals have actually happened to me.

 

[Wagonmaster_91]

Here's a link to a great computer help site. I have used it many times to solve computer problems. Give these guys a try:


http://www.techguy.org/welcome.html