unable to access bios

[Mal7]

my pc fails to start saying boot drive error - insert system disc regardless of their being a system disc in the drive. Went access the bios to check the boot up priority and cannot get to it. Pressing delete does nothing. Tried different keyboards and ports. POST test still beeps once even without a keyboard plugged in. Is this mobo failure?

[Mal7]

Sorry, should have said it's GA-970-A-D3 board

[chilliman]

Some boards have different keys for entering bios, there quite a large list here >>> http://www.mydigitallife.info/comprehensive-list-of-how-key-to-press-to-access-bios-for-various-oem-and-computer-systems/ See if one of them will  work on yours.

Also seen somewhere that if your machine is connected monitor via hdmi cable this can lead to a compatibility problem and cause trying to access the bios page, removing hdmi and connecting the vga cable temporarily might help.

[dmdilks]

What keyboard are you using if it is a USB try a PS2 keyboard.

[Mal7]

Haven't had any problem accessing bios before and 90% certain boot priority is DVD drive then hdd.

[absic]

Which Revision is your motherboard?

Do you know which BIOS version you are running? If you do what version is it?

Have you tried removing all USB devices except for keyboard/mouse? Are keyboard & Mouse plugged into the two USB ports above PS/2 connection?

Have you tried pressing F12 during POST to bring up BOOT Menu?

Do you have Fast Boot enabled in BIOS? Try clearing CMOS to see if that resolves the problem of getting into BIOS

[Mal7]

Mobo is rev 1.1. The splash screen etc are loading much quicker than normal so difficult to see details. Managed to video it and the bios is award modular v 6.00. Cleared the cmos but still unable to get into bios. Video of start up shows it appears to check the cpu and memory and then stops.

[absic]

Is this a new build or was everything working and then it went wrong?

Sadly you have not seen the actual BIOS Version that you are running just the fact that the BIOS is using Award Modular Version 6.

Can you list all of the parts that you have in this build, as there may be something in there that is causing the problem?

[Mal7]

Pc is about 4 years old with no previous issues. Was working fine until yesterday. Nothing installed or updated immediately prior to problem so conflicts unlikely.

[absic]

Without knowing your system specs it's hard to offer any real advice. Possible issues could be CPU, RAM, PSU or any manner of hardware problems, even if things have been working fine they can go wrong.

Another thing to consider is, were there any Windows or driver updates just prior to the problem manifesting itself? I just had to repair a laptop for a friend,  that got screwed after installing a Windows update and wouldn't start.

[Mal7]

Thanks for your assistance. Fx-4100 cpu. 16gig ram ddr3. Psu is corsair 750w  only 1 month old. Has worked ok since last Windows update which was last Thursday (win 8.1,)

[absic]

OK, you don't say if your RAM kit is two or four sticks but remove all but one stick of RAM and see if that helps. If it doesn't try swapping with a different stick.

At this moment in time all we can do is try and find out what is causing the problem for you so I am afraid it will be a bit of guesswork and trial and error until we can locate the culprit for you.

[Mal7]

4x8 gig sticks. Tried each stick in slots ddr3-1 and ddr3-3. No change

[Mal7]

Managed to test hard drive on another machine running Linux and it appears ok just to add to things!!

[absic]

Can you try the RAM in the other slots DDR3_2 or DDR3_4? I know this is not what is recommended in the user's manual but doing so won't cause any harm and it might show if the CPU is a possible cause of the problem.