Official GIGABYTE Forum
Questions about GIGABYTE products => Motherboards with AMD processors => Topic started by: Galli on October 08, 2010, 05:52:18 pm
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Hi,
my PC will not start up. It stops at the post screen, I can't enter the set-up and it won't boot from a CD.
Last evening, I shut it down and it started to install 1 of 6 windows updates. When I came back in the morning it had locked up with the screen still displaying the same message of "installiing 1 of 6 updates".
I switched the PC off with the soft off button but when I switched it back on, it only got as far as the post screen and just hung there. The hard disk LED comes on and goes off, hard disks are spinning up OK.
I have the cover off and noticed that the CPU fan starts, runs for a few seconds and then stops.
If I leave it on, the CPU still heats up - so I have not left it running for more than a minute or so.
So far I have tried unplugging the hard drives, resetting the CMOS, moving the RAM to a different slot.
The main board, CPU and RAM were a recent upgrade and have been working fine for a couple of months.
Any suggestions on what else I can try to get it up and running or what might have gone wrong ?
Components are :-
GA-MA770T-UD3 motherboard version 1 with the latest BIOS (as far as I can remember)
AMD Processor
1 x 2gb Crucial PC3 ram
Geforce 7300 graphics card
Running Windows XP SP3
Thanks,
Galli.
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Hi
I would recommend clearing the CMOS again. It sounds like maybe it didn't work the first time. Remove the power cable, remove the battery from the motherboard and press the power button to dissipate any remainiing power in the PSU. now short out the battery terminals on the battery case with a small screwdriver and leave for ten minutes. That should make sure that the CMOS is clear.
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Hi,
I have now tried that, with the boot disc plugged back in. The CPU fan now remains on but the PC still hangs at the POST screen - it won't let me into the BIOS. The hard disk light comes on for 20 seconds or so, then goes off and the PC just sits there humming away.
Any other thoughts ?
Galli.
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Have you got a buzzer attached and if so what beeps does it make?
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Hi,
it currently makes one beep when starting up. I think that is what it usually does but I've not paid that much attention in the past.
One time (while trying to figure this out) it made 4 beeps in a row with a small gap - an so on till I switched it off, but it has not done that again.
Galli.
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One beep means that the POST sequence has completed successfully. One long and three short(four beeps) would mean a keyboard error so maybe it would be worth checking that out by swapping it out for another keyboard .
Another thing to check is that the cooler is tightly fixed down and working properly.
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I checked that, no difference.
Perhaps it is not stopping at the POST but at the next thing in the sequence - not sure what that is though since the Gigabyte screen comes up and I can't see what is happening.
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In that case you have to enter the BIOS and change the option to show splash screen so that you can see what is happening if you can get that far. Try pressing DEL when it is POSTing and see if it will take you to the BIOS
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That is one of the problems - I can't get into the BIOS at all.
I have tried a known working keyboard as I still have bits of my old one but that didn't work.
I just swapped out the PSU to see what effect that had. The old PSU I have does not have an ATX 2x2 connector that the new one has. It is also 250W. Anyway, the PC would not work with that one even with verything but the hard disk un-plugged. I expect it is a bit under powered.
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No I agree 250w even if it is still running at full power isn't enough to boot the system and it definitely wont work without the extra 12v connections. The only thing you could do is to use it as a slave and run them both just to check the power output is enough. What PSU are you using anyway?
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The one I have is 600w and has been working OK.
Just checked the voltages with a multimeter, I'm getting 11.99, 5.12 and 3.36 so that looks OK I guess.
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Were those voltages measured under load?
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Well, I measured them with the system in the hanging state so not under a specific load. The boot disk was spinning and the CD draw opens and closes so they are getting power.
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Probably OK just a little concerned by the 12v line. I would say it's fine if it was taken under load but at quiescent state it might be a little low.
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Hi,
not sure what else to try now other than sending the MB and CPU back to Gigabyte and AMD.
So, all that is attached to the PC and the moment is the boot disc, DVD, graphics card, keyboard (the Numlock LED goes on and off when the key is pressed but the Capslock LED does not) and mouse (the mouse light underneath is not lit), one 2GB RAM stick.
When I press the reset button, I get a quick flash of a screen that says ..
PNY Geforce 7300GS PCI-E
Version 5.72.22 46R6H3
Copyright (C) 1996-2006 Nvidia corp
256 MB RAM
... then into the flash screen and hangs.
(just going out for a few hours right now so will have to coninue trouble shooting later - thanks for your help so far !)
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If you could also post full details of your CPU and RAM modules and all of your attached USB devices it may help with trouble shooting.
Is the CPU Cooler a stock AMD one or have you used a 3rd party cooler?
Have you tried stripping the RIG to it's absolute basics, CPU, 1 stick of RAM and Graphics Card and tried BOOTING? Don't add the CD Drive, Hard drives or any other USB devices apart from keyboard. What happens?
At this stage of things it is really a case of trying to find the part(s) that are causing the problem and there is no easy solution I'm afraid.
Also, having read through this thread again I wondered if you had tried a different Mouse. I've had experience of a similar problem and it was the Mouse that caused it.
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Some parts of the PC are new ...
MB - Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3 AMD 770 Socket AM3 8 Channel Audio
CPU - AMD Athlon II X2 250 Socket AM3 3.0GHz 2MB L2 Cache
CPU Fan - standard fan that came with the CPU
RAM - 1 stick of Crucial 2GB DDR3 1333MHz/PC3-10600 CL9 1.5V
LG DVD
Older parts are ...
PSU - Coloursit 600W PFC 20 + 4 Pin
Graphics Card - PNY GeForce 7300 GS 256GB DDR2 PCI Express
HD - Maxtor Diamond Max 160GB IDE
Standard keyboard
USB Optical mouse
I also have 3 other internal hard drives (one IDE and two SATA), two external hard drives, printer, a couple of case fans.
I have everything unplugged at the moment except the boot disc, graphics card and keyboard. I've also tried it without the keyboard and with two other keyboards I have, one with the purple connector and one USB wireless.
I've tested 2 mice.
I've tried the PSU in my old PC, that seems to work fine, although the old PC works fine with a 250W PSU so that isn't really testing the 600W one at the same load.
At this point I guess I'll be sending the MB and CPU back for a check over - unless there is anything else anyone can suggest !
Thanks,
Galli.
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Actually you are asking a lot of one 2Gb stick of memory. Have you got it running in single channel mode?
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I guess so - is there a way to make a single stick run in dual channel mode ?
Would I be better off with 2 x 1GB in dual channel mode or do you think that an extra 2GB stick is needed ?
Unfortunately I don't have another stick to swap it out with.
If the RAM was bad, would the PC hang or should it report that the RAM was bad - maybe it is doing just that but I can't see it because the flash screen comes up - what do you think ?
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Hi,
what revision is the Motherboard as there are 4 versions of the GA-770T-UD3?
Disconnect the Boot Drive and try starting the PC. What happens?
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Hi,
the version of board is 1.0
I have tried unplugging the boot drive - in fact all of the drives, and still the same thing, it hangs at the splash screen.
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OK, the problem with this kind of issue is that it can be due to many things and it is a process of elimination until we can find out what is causing it. Not what you want to hear, I know and it is very frustrating.
Having gone through all the steps that you have, there are 3 possible problems all of which would mean an RMA I'm afraid. These are a faulty motherboard, RAM or CPU.
If you bought all of the components from the same place then it might be best to RMA all of them and get your supplier to check them out as they will have the necessary parts to swap out and isolate the fault for you.
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Hi,
well, I thought I would just finish off the story.
The components were bought on line from Ebuyer. I contacted them but thought they would just tell me to return the components to the respective manufacturers.
Instead they gave me an RMA number and told me to send in the MB, CPU and RAM, they would find out which was faulty and return the non-faulty parts together with a new or fixed part.
So, they found a fault with the old MB and have sent me a new replacement (probably a repaired board), the old was version 1.0 and the new is 1.4 - so that is either an improved board or a cost saved one ! Either way I now have a new board and everything is working just fine.
Quite impressed with Ebuyer for that.
Anyway, thanks for the attempts at help, much appreciated.
Galli.
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Yes normally Ebuyers customer service is extremely good. I have dealt with them for years and apart from a few teething troubles a long time ago they have been great. ;)
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Hi,
pleased the ebuyer found the problem for you and replaced the motherboard. I have to say that it is unusual for the motherboard to be the cause and wondered if they gave any indication as to what the problem was with it or did they just say it was faulty?
When faced with the kind of issues you were having it can be very difficult to find the exact cause of the problem, which is why I suggested RMA'ing the components so they could all be checked together.
Hopefully now, you can get on with enjoying your computer. ;)
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Hi There,
Pleased that you found and got the problem solved..I am not sure if this would have helped or not in this case but I always Dis-Able the splash screen..I want to see whats happening and I already know whose motherboard I have..
Anyway great you got it going again ;D
jolphil
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I am not sure if this would have helped or not in this case but I always Dis-Able the splash screen..I want to see whats happening and I already know whose motherboard I have..
My thoughts exactly. The splash screen might look pretty but apart from advertising the manufacturer it doesn't do any good at all.
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Funny but I thought everyone disabled this feature. It is one of the first things I do whenever I put together a new system.
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Yep - disabling the splash screen was the first thing I did with the new set-up !
I asked Ebuyer what the problem was but they would or could not tell me.