Computer powers on but no beeps

[berserkfan]

I have a problem with an old computer. Core2Duo bought in 2008.  250gb hdd. 4gb RAM. Whole setup is as I bought it a few years except for Deck Legend keyboard. I just took this computer out of storage to work on cherry keyboards.

When I turn it on, the monitor is blank and there is no beep. All fans work – PSU, graphics card. Hard disk vibrates. Internet cable light is on. Deck Legend keyboard does not light up. Unplugging Deck has no effect. Still no beep.

I have checked all connections, vacuumed to get rid of dust, reseated everything. Monitor, HDD, work elsewhere. There is nothing else connected (Ie no excessive number of things to put strain on PSU.) No dvd reader connected.

Computer does seem to have some difficulty powering up during some runs. IE fans work and then die down. Then on some runs I get past the fans working stage but no beeps.

What do you guys think could be the issue? Right now I’m thinking:
CMOS battery (dunno how to check for that)
PSU
Mobo
I need to get this old computer working because it has winXP on it (necessary for working with Cherry Corp stuff)

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

Was the system squeaker disabled in BIOS before you put it into storage? It could be trying to beep at you but you'd never know if it's disabled or damaged. Try removing one particular component(s) altogether (i.e. remove ALL the RAM, or the GPU) and make sure it doesn't beep at you then.

Not sure if a CMOS battery is necessary to boot, I always thought they just kept your time/settings stored when you power off/unplug the machine.

Mobo could be an issue, but it could just as easily be the CPU. Have had several computers present with similar symptoms where it turned out to be a CPU problem...

Also, it could be the GPU, considering it's not displaying anything.

Can only suggest you continue eliminating possible causes, once you've exhausted them all, that's when you know it's something serious.

[berserkfan]

Was the system squeaker disabled in BIOS before you put it into storage? It could be trying to beep at you but you'd never know if it's disabled or damaged. Try removing one particular component(s) altogether (i.e. remove ALL the RAM, or the GPU) and make sure it doesn't beep at you then.

Not sure if a CMOS battery is necessary to boot, I always thought they just kept your time/settings stored when you power off/unplug the machine.

Mobo could be an issue, but it could just as easily be the CPU. Have had several computers present with similar symptoms where it turned out to be a CPU problem...

Also, it could be the GPU, considering it's not displaying anything.

Can only suggest you continue eliminating possible causes, once you've exhausted them all, that's when you know it's something serious.

System speaker: definitely working. On one run today I got into windows and did some programming on a cherry board. Since it is ps2, I had to shut down to disconnect the keyboard, and after that the system could not start up again.

I have no idea how to eliminate a CPU problem.

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

Was the system squeaker disabled in BIOS before you put it into storage? It could be trying to beep at you but you'd never know if it's disabled or damaged. Try removing one particular component(s) altogether (i.e. remove ALL the RAM, or the GPU) and make sure it doesn't beep at you then.

Not sure if a CMOS battery is necessary to boot, I always thought they just kept your time/settings stored when you power off/unplug the machine.

Mobo could be an issue, but it could just as easily be the CPU. Have had several computers present with similar symptoms where it turned out to be a CPU problem...

Also, it could be the GPU, considering it's not displaying anything.

Can only suggest you continue eliminating possible causes, once you've exhausted them all, that's when you know it's something serious.

System speaker: definitely working. On one run today I got into windows and did some programming on a cherry board. Since it is ps2, I had to shut down to disconnect the keyboard, and after that the system could not start up again.

I have no idea how to eliminate a CPU problem.

WEIRDNESS.

The only true way to eliminate a CPU problem is to either swap it for another CPU or test it on another mobo. Guessing neither are options in your case...

Pretty much applies to all components, swap and test if you can.

Now, I'm guessing that when you shut the computer down, you shut it down properly?

[inanis]

I have had this happen before on several occasions. Bad motherboard, bad RAM and bad CPU were the three causes, on three separate occasions. A fourth time I had a bad riser card, but I doubt that is the issue here. To eliminate the simplest option though, did you validate the cable (VGA/DVI) is connected properly? I once spent an hour trying to figure out why I couldn't get my system to work, when I had the VGA cable plugged into the wrong card. Yes, I'm that dumb.

If you need XP, perhaps you could try to run in through Virtual Box, or VMWare on a newer machine. I assume that as long as your host machine has a PS2 port it will work for you.

[Lingj]

You should try doing a cmos reset by removing the battery for a couple of hours and then putting it back in. You should also see if your ram is still working. If you have multiple ram sticks only put one in to test it and try the other as well. if you have ram that you know is working try those.

[berserkfan]

I have had this happen before on several occasions. Bad motherboard, bad RAM and bad CPU were the three causes, on three separate occasions. A fourth time I had a bad riser card, but I doubt that is the issue here. To eliminate the simplest option though, did you validate the cable (VGA/DVI) is connected properly? I once spent an hour trying to figure out why I couldn't get my system to work, when I had the VGA cable plugged into the wrong card. Yes, I'm that dumb.

If you need XP, perhaps you could try to run in through Virtual Box, or VMWare on a newer machine. I assume that as long as your host machine has a PS2 port it will work for you.

Yes I definitely need XP. So if I only have one hard disk with win7 on it for my good computer, if I install vmware it can run winxp in some kind of sandboxed environment without screwing up win7 or requiring a partitioned drive?

[berserkfan]

You should try doing a cmos reset by removing the battery for a couple of hours and then putting it back in. You should also see if your ram is still working. If you have multiple ram sticks only put one in to test it and try the other as well. if you have ram that you know is working try those.

tried removing both ram sticks and the computer never gave me the 'no memory beep'. so the prob is cpu, psu or mobo right? since system never cycled to the stage where it tested the ram?

[inanis]

Yes I definitely need XP. So if I only have one hard disk with win7 on it for my good computer, if I install vmware it can run winxp in some kind of sandboxed environment without screwing up win7 or requiring a partitioned drive?

You can run VMWare on a single drive, there is no need for another partition or disk. It also won't harm anything on your existing machine. You just need enough space to house the VM File, and enough RAM and CPU to share between the machines while it is running. XP requires very, very little of both, so I can't image that being a problem. It is an excellent solution for running multiple OS's on a single host. I use VMWare extensively at work using ESXi, which is their enterprise solution. At home I use Virtual Box https://www.virtualbox.org/, which is free. VMWare Workstation has a cost associated.

I am a huge fan of virtualization solutions. It saves you money, time, effort. Also, if you ever need to do something sketchy online do it in a VM. If something goes awry you can roll back to a good version, or you can just blow it away and start over.

[tp4tissue]

sounds like mobo..

check for blown caps..

[berserkfan]

Yes I definitely need XP. So if I only have one hard disk with win7 on it for my good computer, if I install vmware it can run winxp in some kind of sandboxed environment without screwing up win7 or requiring a partitioned drive?

You can run VMWare on a single drive, there is no need for another partition or disk. It also won't harm anything on your existing machine. You just need enough space to house the VM File, and enough RAM and CPU to share between the machines while it is running. XP requires very, very little of both, so I can't image that being a problem. It is an excellent solution for running multiple OS's on a single host. I use VMWare extensively at work using ESXi, which is their enterprise solution. At home I use Virtual Box https://www.virtualbox.org/, which is free. VMWare Workstation has a cost associated.

I am a huge fan of virtualization solutions. It saves you money, time, effort. Also, if you ever need to do something sketchy online do it in a VM. If something goes awry you can roll back to a good version, or you can just blow it away and start over.

I installed Virtual Box fine, but couldn’t get it to install a 32bit WinXP operating system. Kept getting error codes: “failed to open a session… the virtual machine ‘WinXP’ (my name for it) has terminated unexpectedly during startup with exit code 1.”
Result Code:    E_FAIL (0x80004005)
Component:    Machine
Interface:    IMachine {480cf695-2d8d-4256-9c7c-cce4184fa048}

Do you know what’s wrong? I am running win7 64bit. I’ve tried reinstalling VirtualBox and restarting the computer and it didn’t work.

[Oobly]

I'd suspect mobo or PSU, with a faulty capacitor in the PSU the most likely candidate. Open it up and check for puffy capacitors.

[inanis]

Try to disable 2nd and/or 3rd acceleration in the guest settings.

[microsoft windows]

Perhaps if you used Windows 98 your problem would be solved.

[berserkfan]

I'd suspect mobo or PSU, with a faulty capacitor in the PSU the most likely candidate. Open it up and check for puffy capacitors.

Oobly, I don't have any puffy capacitors in the PSU, but it's obvious that 3 of them are leaking (the top of the capacitor is not shiny metal but stained brown). Is that the main reason why the PSU is suspect? None of them are puffy-fat like the nightmare photos you can find online, though.

The motherboard's capacitors look ok. (I can't see all of them because some of them are blocked by other things).

[berserkfan]

Try to disable 2nd and/or 3rd acceleration in the guest settings.

they were disabled to begin with. You're referring to video settings 2D and 3D, right?

[berserkfan]

My computer problems have persisted.

Since the old 360W PSU had 3 leaking capacitors, I bought a new 500W PSU.

When I try to start the system, again the same problems. System seems to ‘struggle’ to start up, with fans and network cable lights on, then it dies down. Then it tries to start again. It cycles through this start up multiple times without being able to have anything show up on the monitor, or posting any beep codes.

I notice my Ps2 Cherry keyboard at least showing a light, whereas the Deck Legend keyboard does not light up.

Could anyone advise?

[bear95]

Could it be that the heatsink came loose? It could be heating quickly and then shutting down automatically when it reaches max temp. Or could it be a short somewhere? Something touching the motherboard that it shouldn't or seated incorrectly?

[Zombly]

Sounds like CPU/Mobo, sounds like CPU is loose, as if it's starting up and then dies, and turns off or restarts CPU can't process anything could be bent pins, partially fried CPU/Mobo socket, or it's just loose due to storage, and you may need to apply new thermal paste..

[Turkishrambo]

I'd suspect mobo or PSU, with a faulty capacitor in the PSU the most likely candidate. Open it up and check for puffy capacitors.

Oobly, I don't have any puffy capacitors in the PSU, but it's obvious that 3 of them are leaking (the top of the capacitor is not shiny metal but stained brown). Is that the main reason why the PSU is suspect? None of them are puffy-fat like the nightmare photos you can find online, though.

The motherboard's capacitors look ok. (I can't see all of them because some of them are blocked by other things).

Those are blown caps son. Its ****ed

Blown caps can be very settle and sometimes hard to spot. such as

[berserkfan]

Those are blown caps son. Its ****ed

Blown caps can be very settle and sometimes hard to spot. such as

Rambo, I have since abandoned my power supply and gotten a new one only to have computer still not work. Since there is really no blown capacitor on the mobo (even opened up the heat sink to have a better look at capacitors lurking near it) I can't do anything.

Deciding that I couldn't figure it out I got myself a new mobo with on board graphics and CPU and PSU, and I still have problems. See other thread. Yes, I have a working OS now, but it is Ubuntu 14.04 which I only installed in desperation to see if I can get hardware working. I totally cannot find ways to boot up or repair with Windows.

Am guessing that mobo's drivers are too new for Win7 and WinXP installer CDs to handle. But I have no way to figure out how to copy these drivers manually to Win7/WinXP after starting up with ubuntu. So as far as I am concerned, I still have a functionally useless computer.

[tp4tissue]

Those are blown caps son. Its ****ed

Blown caps can be very settle and sometimes hard to spot. such as

Rambo, I have since abandoned my power supply and gotten a new one only to have computer still not work. Since there is really no blown capacitor on the mobo (even opened up the heat sink to have a better look at capacitors lurking near it) I can't do anything.

Deciding that I couldn't figure it out I got myself a new mobo with on board graphics and CPU and PSU, and I still have problems. See other thread. Yes, I have a working OS now, but it is Ubuntu 14.04 which I only installed in desperation to see if I can get hardware working. I totally cannot find ways to boot up or repair with Windows.

Am guessing that mobo's drivers are too new for Win7 and WinXP installer CDs to handle. But I have no way to figure out how to copy these drivers manually to Win7/WinXP after starting up with ubuntu. So as far as I am concerned, I still have a functionally useless computer.

why do you resist argg matey software...


I got a z68 that works perfectly fine with the win7 build on tpb.

[berserkfan]

tp4 I am not resisting pirated software. I just don't see it as a constructive solution. Do you really think downloading something crammed with trojans, malware, worms and viruses, burning it to make a bootup CD, installing it as an operating system on a clean and new HDD is a good solution?

That hasn't changed the fact that my WinXP and Win7 installation CDs don't work/ can't help with the software repairs to the OS. If they don't work, how will a pirated CD mysteriously work? And why will someone who owns un-pirated software download pirated software in the hope that the pirated software works better?

If software piracy could solve my current seemingly intractable problems, I would be on it like a dung beetle on sxxx. I am THAT fed up.

I am also very fed up with reading unconstructive one-liner solutions preaching someone's ideology and not addressing the problem.

[tp4tissue]

tp4 I am not resisting pirated software. I just don't see it as a constructive solution. Do you really think downloading something crammed with trojans, malware, worms and viruses, burning it to make a bootup CD, installing it as an operating system on a clean and new HDD is a good solution?

That hasn't changed the fact that my WinXP and Win7 installation CDs don't work/ can't help with the software repairs to the OS. If they don't work, how will a pirated CD mysteriously work? And why will someone who owns un-pirated software download pirated software in the hope that the pirated software works better?

If software piracy could solve my current seemingly intractable problems, I would be on it like a dung beetle on sxxx. I am THAT fed up.

I am also very fed up with reading unconstructive one-liner solutions preaching someone's ideology and not addressing the problem.

I sent you PM

[berserkfan]

OK, I got to a next stage because I read the motherboard manual and there was a one liner saying that WinXP drives need a setting of IDE not SATA in the BIOS, even though actually there was no IDE slot on my new motherboard.
(It didn't change the fact that WIn7 wasn't starting up/ couldn't be repaired either, but that's another story).

I managed to start up WinXP in Safe Mode. There was no USB access. All USB devices failed to work. (Luckily I had ps2 devices.)

I put in the motherboard driver CD hoping to install suitable motherboard drivers. Got a bunch of error messages:

First Error Window:
ausuhwio.dll           Can't execute kernel mode driver

Second Error Window after the first is closed:
ascddmi.dll             Can't load asushwio.dll

Third Error Window
support cd setup program: can't load ascddmi.dll


I also noticed the 'kernel mode driver' problem reported in Ubuntu when I tried to do anything with a CD. (EG I'd started up in Ubuntu and tried to use my WinXP installation CD to install WinXP on another HDD). Does that have something to do with my new DVD drive?

[Oobly]

With XP, if you replace the Mobo you need to do a reinstall. It doesn't play well with massive hardware changes. Graphics card, sound card, new drives, memory, even CPU you can play around with drivers. Motherboard is too much.

What I would do:

Remove the drive with XP install on. Put clean drive in (or any drive you can format). Install XP / Win7 from your DVD drive to the clean drive. Pop the old drive back in, ensuring that you select the correct boot order in BIOS. When in Windows access whatever you want that's on the old install.

But first, go through the BIOS with a fine-toothed comb and set it up to match your hardware exactly.

[Lanx]

OK, I got to a next stage because I read the motherboard manual and there was a one liner saying that WinXP drives need a setting of IDE not SATA in the BIOS, even though actually there was no IDE slot on my new motherboard.

this is how old winxp is.

when xp came out SATA wasn't around and not even a standard.

so when the first SATA drives and controllers came out, they were in IDE mode (which is what you have to put your controller into) which basically what you're changing.

also, what are you doing? taking an old xp boot drive and putting in a new mb? that's gonna be hard.

are you installing 32 bit or 64 bit drivers? sounds like you might be trying to install 64bit (which wouldn't work)

[berserkfan]

OK, I got to a next stage because I read the motherboard manual and there was a one liner saying that WinXP drives need a setting of IDE not SATA in the BIOS, even though actually there was no IDE slot on my new motherboard.

this is how old winxp is.

when xp came out SATA wasn't around and not even a standard.

so when the first SATA drives and controllers came out, they were in IDE mode (which is what you have to put your controller into) which basically what you're changing.

also, what are you doing? taking an old xp boot drive and putting in a new mb? that's gonna be hard.

are you installing 32 bit or 64 bit drivers? sounds like you might be trying to install 64bit (which wouldn't work)

Actually I solved my problem by setting to IDE.

Strangely that worked for the SATA hard disk with win7 on it also, as well as the Ubuntus. I have no idea why.

But a new problem popped up. Seeing that the system was working, I disassembled it and put it in the casing. And then? It did not work. This time it could not even power up. Most things are new, the HDDs got the mother board drivers installed. But when I switch on the power, it doesn't turn on. No fans, no POST beep, no sound of the hard disk powering up. I even tried another power switch just in case, and still not working. Am guessing there's a short somewhere but can't find it.

I have no idea what is wrong but I've put it aside for a few days. Very frustrating.