PC won't boot, green light on mobo

[ephenidine]

Took my GPU out to clean the fan and now my PC won't boot. The green light on the mobo is on.

 

[terry4536]

What is the model of PC? Or what are the components of the system?

 

[terry4536]

Here are two troubleshooting checklists.

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-1893016/post-system-boot-video-output-troubleshooting-checklist.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2041564/troubleshoot-boot-display-issue.html

 

[terry4536]

Where is the LED? The motherboard manual will define the LED location and function.

Are the fans spinning? Any other signs of life?

 

[ephenidine]

Specs are an Asus Z97-E motherboard, 8gigs of ram, i5 4690k, a GTX 750 TI, and some corsair psu I can't remember the name of

 

[terry4536]

Here is the link to the Asus webpage to download the motherboard manual. You can select the language.

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/Z97E/HelpDesk_Manual/

 

[terry4536]

Where on the motherboard was the LED that you mentioned. Diagnostic LEDs are often near the problem area (CPU, RAM, etc).

The manual will detail the LEDs meaning.

Try reseating the RAM. Remove the RAM stick one at a time, clean the contacts with iso-propyl alcohol, blow out the dimm slot, firmly reinstall the RAM stick, and repeat for any remaining RAM.

Try unplugging each power supply cable connection and then plugging it back in to confirm that there are no loose connections.

Try clearing the CMOS and reboot the system.

Here is a video on clearing the CMOS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdp_L5IxaNI

 

[ephenidine]

It only has one LED according to the manual which is the green standby LED i'm seeing. Gonna try to reset the CMOS

 

[ephenidine]

Resetting the CMOS (there was no noticable jumper so I had to remove and reinsert the battery) did nothing, as did reseating the RAM

 

[terry4536]

Have you confirmed that there are no loose power connections? For example the CPU power cable? That one seems to get missed a lot.

Are the fans spinning too? Is the green LED the only sign of life?

 

[terry4536]

Try removing the graphics card and use the motherboard video outputs for the monitor. Then reboot the system.


It is possible that the system is booting up, but you are just not seeing any display.

 

[ephenidine]

Green led is the only sign of life, no fans or anything.

 

[terry4536]

Green led is the only sign of life, no fans or anything.

Have you verified that there are no loose power cables??

 

[terry4536]

Have you tried removing the graphics card ,using the motherboard video outputs, and the rebooting??

 

[ephenidine]

update: it randomly started posting last night when I was at work, one long beep then two (or three?) short beeps. I'd check it again but the beeping annoys my family. apparently this means it's either a memory or a gpu issue?

 

[terry4536]

update: it randomly started posting last night when I was at work, one long beep then two (or three?) short beeps. I'd check it again but the beeping annoys my family. apparently this means it's either a memory or a gpu issue?

For an AMI BIOS, one long and two short beeps indicate "Failure in video system. An error was encountered in the video BIOS ROM, or a horizontal retrace failure has been encountered ".

One long beep and three short beeps is " Memory test failure. A fault has been detected in memory above 64KB ".

http://www.bioscentral.com/beepcodes/amibeep.htm

Try rebooting without the GPU installed. Switch the monitor cable to the motherboard video output.

 

[ephenidine]

Took the GPU out and fans aren't spinning again lmao

 

[terry4536]

Then I would breadboard the motherboard. It will help narrow down the problem.

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2176482/breadboarding-stripping-basics-troubleshooting.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2041564/troubleshoot-boot-display-issue.html

As I mentioned above before, a problem like this is usually a cable that was loosened during the earlier removal of the GPU. Additionally there is the possibility that the motherboard was damaged by static discharge.

From your post, the GPU was the only thing that was removed or changed just prior the onset of this problem. Is that correct?

 

[ephenidine]

that is correct, yes

 

[terry4536]

If you haven't started breadboarding, remove the GPU and transfer the monitor cable to the motherboard. Then remove both the CPU power cable and the 24-pin power cable. Then remove the CPU cooler. Remove each stick of RAM at a time, clean the contacts with iso-propyl alcohol, blow out the dimm slot, firmly install the stick, and repeat for any remaining RAM. then unplug the SATA data and power from the drives. Remove the CPU and examine both the CPU and socket for any excess thermal. Examine the socket pins with a magnifier for any bent pins. If none are found, note the correct orientation of the CPU and install.

Next install the CPU power cable, install the CPU cooler with fresh thermal paste, install the 24-pin power cable. At this point the motherboard should have both power cables installed, the CPU and CPU cooler, and the Ram are installed. The monitor is plugged into a motherboard video output port.

Plugin the power supply and start up the PC. Does the PC boot up to the BIOS?

If it doesn't move the RAM to different slots or try with a single stick in various slots.



If it does boot up, power down the PC and reinstall the SATA data & power. Does Windows load?

 

[terry4536]

If the above doesn't help, breadboard the PC with the instructions above.

 

[ephenidine]

removed the GPU again and it'll still only beep when posting, monitor plugged into mobo, fans spin and everything

 

[ephenidine]

switching my ram to 2 other dimm slots worked. fixed. sorry for the hassle

 

[terry4536]

I'm glad you are up and running.