# Bios not starting up



## skippy12345 (Aug 4, 2004)

I'm hoping someone can give me some insight. I have a computer that is not starting up. Power is connected and is working. It apparantly is not getting to the BIOS startup. The system is running on WinXP. I'm hoping theres a way to get this started without having to purchase a new motherboard or if someone can suggest another cause of the probelm outside the motherboard so I don't go wasting money uselessly.

Thanks.


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## greyknight17 (Jul 1, 2004)

Welcome to TSF.

If it's a bios problem, I would suggest changing the battery. This is not very likely, but if the battery is dead, you may experience this problem. It's just one of the flat/button batteries where you can get for about $3 or $4. Try replacing it.


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## Guest (Aug 4, 2004)

Hi,

Some unanswered questions in my mind. You said it is getting power...O.K. but, what exactly is it doing when you power up....is anything lighting up, does the CPU fan spin, do hard drives seem to spin, what motherboard are you using, What CPU, what video card. Tell us exactly what happens when you power up.


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## skippy12345 (Aug 4, 2004)

*Comp not Starting*

Turning power on causes the cd-rom to spin. I can open it and close it. I can't hear any response from the hard drive though I have tried different power connections and have been able to get it to boot up on another system. The CPU fan is spinning alos.

The motherboard is a Biostar U8668-Grand

I was told that the computer was having problems previously where when the use turned it on the red light indicating power came on but the green light that follows for the hard drive would not. The use would wait about 10 min then come back and it was fine. It never shut down on him while he was using it also.

I have swapped IDE cables with one I know to be in working condition also.

On startup nothing is displayed at all at this point and time. Reading through the other threads in the forum I'll try removing the jumper for the BIOS to refresh it. I'm hoping this will clear the problem. Any other suggestions would be most welcomed has I have no way of checking this thread once I leave here today until tommorow, unless of course everything is fixed and it's all good.

So again any suggestions or insight is most welcome and thanks to everyone who's posted to help out already.


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## Guest (Aug 4, 2004)

Hi,

Just a hunch, take a look at your jumper settings and ribbon cables:


The master and slave jumpers must be set up correctly on your drives as displayed on the top of each drive.

DO NOT mix master and slave with CS (cable select) on the same ribbon cable. If one is Master the other MUST be slave. If one is Cable Select the other one on the same ribbon cable must be Cable Select. (Please note that the majority of hard drives are factory default as Cable Select)

Make sure the drive is placed correctly on the ribbon cable as shown below:

M
O
T
H ==Ribbon Cable=== Slave ===Master (end of cable)
E
R ..................................„» OR „º
B 
O == Ribbon Cable==Cable Select==Cable Select (end of cable)
A ..............................( as Slave)……. ( as Master) 
R 
D 


Ribbon Cables and colors of 80 pin cables look and are to be used like this:

Motherboard============Slave==============Master
……….Blue………….……..Gray……………………Black 
.
Make sure a master is always present, because you can not run a slave without a master.

Cables must be the 80 conductor cables for hard drives and never any more than 18” long.

A friend recently told me that with Western Digital if it is the only drive on the cable, the jumper will need to be removed ( try removing the jumper and connect the drive by itself on the IDE channel ) I don’t have Western Digital so I can’t verify this, but might be worth a try

Please note thatt the floppy cable red mark is put on opposite as the regular hard drivers. Otherwise, the red mark faces away from you as you work in the case or you could say it faces the power source for the drive.

Please let us know if you have other questions or need more assistance.

By the way, clearing CMOS might also do the job, so give it a try.


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## Celebryn (Aug 5, 2004)

Hello, this is my first post, so please be gentle :redface: 

I have what sounds like a very similar problem.

I run Windows XP Home, and frequently, when I start the computer the lights come on, the drives are checked, but the monitor goes onto stand-by, it it doesnt seem to make as much noise, as when it loads properly. Turning the monitor off then on makes no differrence. I have to press the reset button, and I am only sure when it loads by the Beep it makes, the monitor stays on and the BIOS loads.

I have recently formatted/re-installed Windows, due to other problems, but I had this problem before the formatting, so I am thinking it is either the BIOS or hardware related. I have not always had this problem however.

I have checked all cables and all seems well. I use the driver that Windows installs for the monitor. I have the latest graphics/sound card drivers. I have made sure all the RAM sticks and other cards are properly inserted and not loose.

My motherboard I believe it also a Biostar. I did install a processor and fan a while ago, could this be a factor? I checked the fan to make sure it was properly clipped over the processor, but should i chk this again do you think as I am loathed to open my computer, I have enough problems without creating more in the process


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## skippy12345 (Aug 4, 2004)

Well, another day same problem. I went through all that I found. I pulled the jumper and switched it then replaced it for the CMOS to clear it according to Biostars instructions has to make sure it was done properly. I also removed and replaced the CMOS battery with no luck. I checked and replaced the IDE cables with cables that were working on another computer.

I assume unless anyone else has a suggestion I could try that I'll go and replace the motherboard this afternoon. I'd like to avoid it has it's a hassle and also it's $70 dollars I'd prefer not to throw away.

Thanks for everyone's help. Any other ideas are deffinitly welcome.


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## skippy12345 (Aug 4, 2004)

I just pulled this off of Biostar's website and thought that anyone watching this thread or who has or will have a similar problem in the future might benefit from this. I can't try it till I get home but when I do I'll let you know how it went.

Question: 
I am getting no beep, no POST, and no video display when I turn on my computer. 
Answer:



Try reseating the CPU and memory modules.

If the CPU cooler fan and power supply fan are not spinning, take the motherboard out of the chassis and test it again. Faulty grounding may be shorting out your board.

Make sure the Frequency Selection jumper (JCLK) is set according to your CPU's Frontside Bus speed.

Be sure the CMOS clearing jumper (JCMOS) has pins 1-2 closed, not 2-3.

Clear CMOS settings. Unplug the power cord, move the jumper cap of JCMOS from pins 1-2 to 2-3 and leave it there for 5 seconds. Move the jumper cap back to pins 1-2. Plug in the power cord, turn it on.

Disconnect all data cables (IDE, floppy, SATA) and remove all expansion cards. Try booting up with just the CPU, one stick of memory, and onboard video (for boards with vidoe built-in; else use a plain-vanilla video card).

Try booting up the system with just the CPU installed, withouy any memory. If the board emits beeps, then the memory is the problem.

Finally, try a different CPU.


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## Guest (Aug 5, 2004)

Celebryn welcome to the forums!

But you should start your own thread describing your problem as you will get resonses to your particular issues.

What you've done here is known as thread highjacking..... :frown:


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## Celebryn (Aug 5, 2004)

I just though that maybe , since they were the same problem, I could say what I had done and compare them to Skippy and together we might be able to narrow down the cause of the problem, kinda hard on a different thread.


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## skippy12345 (Aug 4, 2004)

Well, I tried everything save switch out the cpu which I really can't go and do. I might try grabbing one from another computer to test it out with and see what happens. Otherwise I'll take it to the local comp shop and have it fixed up. They charge to look at it but I don't want to purchase a part without looking into it further to find out I got the wrong item.


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## skippy12345 (Aug 4, 2004)

*All Fixed*

Well, I was lucky enough to have a friend gut his computer to give me a hand in this so I didn't need to take it to the local shop. The power supply apparantly lost a few volts in it and was not able to power the cpu. It was providing power to the fan and the cd-rom but it was still coming up short.

Thanks for everyone who helped me and I hope this will help some one else has well.


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