No Start, Black Screen - No Signal, New MB, Same Problem

[Tim_Ko]

Hello All,
I have a 5 yr old HP Media Center PC - HP Basswood3G-UL8E Motherboard (ASUS P5BW-LA ). It ran great for years. I turned it off and turned it back on and got a black screen which said "no input signal" then "monitor is going to sleep". I removed everything from the computer except the MB, PS, RAM and Gr Card ... same problem. I removed the all the ram and gr card and got beep codes. That was it. I got a new mb and put in the cpu and ram and ran the a 17" monitor on the built in vga and it started to boot. I added my original hard drive and it booted normally and took me to the password screen. I didnt have a keyboard or mouse so I shut it off thinking it was fixed. I everything back in (2nd hd, cd, dvd, all the usb connections. ... and the same original problem. I disconnected everything and ... same thing. the only i noticed was the cpu was running super fast at one point, then just very slow and quiet at another.

Is this a ps problem? There is nothing else to check as far as I know. (Oh, I took out the cmos battery originally).

Thanks for any suggestions.

Tim

 

[o1die]

It could be the power supply or motherboard; I always keep a spare handy. You might check craigslist for a low end 300-350w ps to use for testing. I've found them for $10, which is cheaper than changing boards.

 

[Tim_Ko]

It could be the power supply or motherboard; I always keep a spare handy. You might check craigslist for a low end 300-350w ps to use for testing. I've found them for $10, which is cheaper than changing boards.

Hello and thanks,
I have an old machine and i dont know ... maybe the power supply would be compatible with this newer one. I hate to fix things by throwing money at them. So, you read me like a book $10 ... I can do. Thats a good idea.

I did buy a new motherboard and like I said, it came up with just the ps, mb, cpu, and ram ... and monitor. i put my c drive on and it came up and took me to the password screen. i didnt have a keyboard on it so i powered down and put eveything back in thinking it was a hardware problem on the motherboard and when i powered up ... same problem ... black screen ... no signal ... disconnected everything and got back to the min config and ... same thing ... same darn thing ... black screen ... no signal ... monitor goes right to sleep.

the only thing i saw was that the cpu ran really slow like a 33 record ... and then really fast with a sense of urgency. so, the voltage was changing I guess ... the cpu fan gets its voltage off the mb. i would have to test the fan to see if it runs slow at 1v and runs fast at 12v or whatever. maybe that is clearly the power supply and maybe it did overvoltage and fry something. Its a definite maybe. : - )

I'll try the ps. but i originally thought it was a virus because it was working fine and then i powered down and when i powered up ... i saw the problem. so maybe the problem is on the c drive. again ... a definite maybe.

 

[Tim_Ko]

I had it in the min config and I plugged it for the first time today and no suprise, no change. I turned it off, turned it back on, pushed the power button on the monitor to get it out of the sleep mode and the cpu and the chassis fans started and were running slow and quiet. I look over at the monitor and it said BOOT ERROR INSERT CD ... so I got something. Then the fans kicked into overdrive and they started running at max speed. So, I used the switch to turn it off and I unplugged it.

So, it seems to me that something (hardware) took 30 seconds to heat up and expand and fail. It didnt seem like software. The system was waiting for the operator to insert a system disc.

 

[o1die]

Good sign. It means that your hardrive operating system isn't installed on the drive it's reading. Disconnect all but one hardrive. Set the boot order to cd>hardrive in the bios, save and exit, and try the windows installation cd again.

 

[Tim_Ko]

Hey .... thanks for the reply. I appreciate it.

Yeah, I thought that was good news. I was really suprised. I was going to get a can of cold air and blow it in the ps and see if kept it from overheating if it was overheating.

So, when it said BOOT ERROR, did that mean it went through and read the bios so the bios is ok. then it what? Did it start looking at the drives for the opsys?

When I did that, nothing was plugged in. None of the drives or the cd/dvd were plugged in. It was just the motherboard with the ram, cpu and monitor.

when i got the new motheboard yesterday, i got to this same stage and i plugged in my c drive with the op sys on it and i got the password screen.

i can try that again. but it seems to me there was a hardware problem because of the fans.

Tell me ... do the fans run at 2 speeds? Do they run at low and high? I never heard of that but I'm not a computer technician. i have no idea. i doubt but would you know? the reason i ask is that ... it just seems to me they wouldn't have a two speed cpu fan. that doesnt make sense to me.

anyway, thank you so much.

 

[o1die]

Also try disabling any floppy settings in the bios, including "floppy seek".

 

[Tim_Ko]

I'm back ...
I've been busy as a beaver. I thought that was a great suggestion to go look for a new used cheap PS to test with. So, I went to craigslist and saw an ad for a new system and emailed him about ps's. Well, he calls me and after i tell him whats going on, he says sounds like your memory ... and I dont think its your motherboard ... and then (what you said) ... I've seen that problem because of the PS. So, I chased down a used OCZ 600 and the guy said it was guaranteed not to be DOA and fully tested ... and i plug it to a min config (mb, cpu, cpu fan, monitor via onboard graphics) and ... nothing. No fans, no beep, no noithing. I didnt the jumpstart and measure all the voltages and they are there. I ohmed out the push button on/off switch (ok) ... and still nothing. So, I put my old PS back in and it doesnt start the fans like it used to pre putting in the new used PS. So, something changed. So, I choked that one up to experience and got a call back from another kid with a PS and got that one to see. The kid said directly - this ps was working in my system and i took it out to put in a bigger one because i upgraded to a better graphiocs card. It was an ocz 500. so , i put that one last night and ... nothing at all. no fans ... nothing on the screen at all. I plugged in a hard drive to create a load and still nothing.

I cant get to the bios to disable the floppy. as far as i know, the only thing i can do is take out the cmos battery in case something changed. the only thing i noticed was when i had the cable plugged into the ps and then plugged the plug into the wall outlet ... I got a little spark so I know it was drawing power ...

Its very difficult for me to search the forum with this netbook. its very slow and its a 10 in screen and its paging every time i hit a key.

thanks for any suggestions.