Antares 531 wrote:
On Sun, 28 Feb 2010 12:15:36 -0500, "glee"
wrote:

"Antares 531" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 28 Feb 2010 11:04:53 -0500, "glee"
wrote:

"Antares 531" wrote in message
...
I have an older computer with a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L motherboard that
I home-built a few years back. I recently built a new computer and
have been keeping the old one alive until I get the new one all
checked out and settled in.

Yesterday the old computer wouldn't boot. It makes a BEEP about one
second long during the boot process but won't go any farther. The
drive lights flash and the monitor goes through its first sign of
lighting up, after I turn the computer on, but this is as far as it
goes. The monitor goes black and the activity lights on the front of
the computer flash a few times, then everything stops.

I've tried using the original Windows XP Pro installation disk, and
also a second boot disk that I slipstreamed with SP3 on it. Neither
boot disk will initiate a start-up process. The CD drive light
flashes
a few times then quits and nothing more happens after the BEEP.

Any ideas as to what I might try next?
That model mobo apparently has an Award BIOS. One LONG beep from an
Award BIOS often indicates a memory error. I would start by
re-seating
the RAM. If there is more than on stick of RAM try using just one,
then
the other (in the first RAM slot).
If no improvement, try reseating the PCI cards and other items
connected
to the motherboard (power connectors, etc).

It could be other things, but that's where to start.

Thanks, Glee, I followed your suggestion but didn't get any favorable
results.

I powered down, pulled the power cord then removed the RAM stick out
of the DDRII 2 slot then booted and still got the beep.

I then powered down pulled the power cord and removed the RAM stick
from the DDRII 1 slot and replaced it with the one I had removed from
the other slot. Still beeped at me.

I powered down again, pulled the power cord, then put the second RAM
stick into the DDRII 2 slot. This had the two RAM sticks switched
around from their original positions. Still got the beep.

Something I noticed...the CPU cooling fan seems to be erratic. That is
it will start running as soon as I click the switch to boot up, but it
stops then jiggles intermittently when the beep sound occurs. After
the beep sound, this fan starts running normally without further
interruption. Could this mean that the CPU has failed?
It's hard to say, Gordon....it could be the power supply, or the mobo or
the CPU too.

Have you removed all the peripherals and cards except video, re-seated
absolutely everything, and tried again?

Try with the optical drives disconnected and only the hard drive
connected (and floppy drive if you have one).
Try with only the floppy drives connected if one is installed.
Try with NO drives connected.

A single long beep *usually* does not indicate a display problem.
This is a long beep, not the short beep one often hears during a normal
start-up, yes?

It's a slow process of re-seating, and disconnecting/reconnecting
everything to see if you get different behaviour...namely, if you can
get anything on the screen.

Does this have integrated video, or a separate video card?

If I had to make a total guess, I'd bet on a power supply problem. Do
you have a simple power supply tester, or a spare PSU you can try?

ATX PSU Tester
http://www.buy.com/prod/startech-com...202973591.html
and
http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-PSUTE.../dp/B000HVFBX8

I've gone through the process of removing and re-installing all the
add-in cards and interconnection cables. This didn't produce any
noticeable changes other than the CPU fan now runs in short bursts of
about 2 or 3 seconds whereas it was just jiggling like it was starting
to run but never actually rotated the fan.

To answer another question...I do have an nVidia e-GeForce 7600 GS
graphics card installed. This is a 512 MB PCI-E video card. I'm not
using the motherboard's graphics output.

I've not yet tested the power supply (PC Power & Cooling Silencer 470
ATX 12V, Ver 2.2), but it seems to be working okay in that all the
drive activity lights blink on and I can hear the drives spin up and
the read/write arms move.

I'm wondering if maybe the BIOS memory chip or battery has gone bad. I
built this computer in October, 2007. It shouldn't be near the point
of battery failure, I wouldn't think. Also, even if the BIOS battery
is dead, wouldn't the boot CD still work? Should I buy a fresh battery
and do a change-out?

Find the beep codes for your BIOS and your questions will be answered.
Glee says that the board has an Award BIOS so possible starting points:

http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=...p&fr=yfp-t-501
http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=...p&fr=yfp-t-501
http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=...p&fr=yfp-t-501

John