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GA7N400 Pro (not Pro2) problem - advice requested
I would appreciate suggestions about a problem I am having.
The PC is based around a GA7N400 Pro mainboard with an Athlon XP2700 cpu. It has been used for about 2 years. Now, it sometimes won't boot (not displaying anything on the screen at all), or when booted, will crash some time later, usually when simply idling (i.e. not actually accepting key strokes or mouse input). When it crashes, it keeps the cpu cooling fan (and chipset fan, and case fans) running. After a crash, it definitely won't reboot, but "sulks" for a few hours or a day or so! I suspected originally that it was a video card problem, especially as its cooler was choked with dust, but the cleaned-up Ti4600 (4X) card works fine in another PC, and the problem PC exhibits the same (no boot) behaviour with a different card. I have put the hard drive into a different PC as a "slave", and run a virus check and other diagnostics on it. The problem PC won't display the pre-boot screen without a hdd present either. (i.e. I think I have eliminated hdd and video card as the root of the problem. Am I right to eliminate the psu, on the grounds that it keeps the fans spinning after a crash? It may be my imagination, but the problem seems to have occurred after a Linksys 54g wireless network card was installed - although taking it out hasn't cured the problem. It seems to me that the problem must lie either with the mainboard or the cpu. Can anyone suggest how I might resolve which it is, please (and why that would give rise to the symptoms experienced)? I'm reluctant to dismantle a working PC to provide a spare cpu or mainboard, so the obvious solution (try the cpu on a different mainboard, try a different mainboard with the XP2700) has to be a last resort. TIA Eddie Complete spec: GA7N400 Pro mainboard Athlon XP2700 (333) 512Mb generic RAM (1 stick) fdd hdd IBM/Hitachi 120 Gb PNY GF Ti4600 (4X) LiteOn DVD CDRW combo 400W psu Windows XP Pro Creative SB Live Platinum (with the front panel etc) Linksys 54g network card |
#2
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"Eddie B." wrote in message ... I would appreciate suggestions about a problem I am having. The PC is based around a GA7N400 Pro mainboard with an Athlon XP2700 cpu. It has been used for about 2 years. Now, it sometimes won't boot (not displaying anything on the screen at all), or when booted, will crash some time later, usually when simply idling (i.e. not actually accepting key strokes or mouse input). When it crashes, it keeps the cpu cooling fan (and chipset fan, and case fans) running. After a crash, it definitely won't reboot, but "sulks" for a few hours or a day or so! I suspected originally that it was a video card problem, especially as its cooler was choked with dust, but the cleaned-up Ti4600 (4X) card works fine in another PC, and the problem PC exhibits the same (no boot) behaviour with a different card. I have put the hard drive into a different PC as a "slave", and run a virus check and other diagnostics on it. The problem PC won't display the pre-boot screen without a hdd present either. (i.e. I think I have eliminated hdd and video card as the root of the problem. Am I right to eliminate the psu, on the grounds that it keeps the fans spinning after a crash? It may be my imagination, but the problem seems to have occurred after a Linksys 54g wireless network card was installed - although taking it out hasn't cured the problem. It seems to me that the problem must lie either with the mainboard or the cpu. Can anyone suggest how I might resolve which it is, please (and why that would give rise to the symptoms experienced)? I'm reluctant to dismantle a working PC to provide a spare cpu or mainboard, so the obvious solution (try the cpu on a different mainboard, try a different mainboard with the XP2700) has to be a last resort. TIA Eddie Complete spec: GA7N400 Pro mainboard Athlon XP2700 (333) 512Mb generic RAM (1 stick) fdd hdd IBM/Hitachi 120 Gb PNY GF Ti4600 (4X) LiteOn DVD CDRW combo 400W psu Windows XP Pro Creative SB Live Platinum (with the front panel etc) Linksys 54g network card Since the BIOS will generally peep at a bad AGP or memory, I wonder about the main BIOS chip. Can you boot from the other BIOS chip? JPS |
#3
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"jpsga" wrote in message news:Gj1Bd.829162$8_6.627204@attbi_s04... "Eddie B." wrote in message ... I would appreciate suggestions about a problem I am having. The PC is based around a GA7N400 Pro mainboard with an Athlon XP2700 cpu. It has been used for about 2 years. Now, it sometimes won't boot (not displaying anything on the screen at all), or when booted, will crash some time later, usually when simply idling (i.e. not actually accepting key strokes or mouse input). When it crashes, it keeps the cpu cooling fan (and chipset fan, and case fans) running. After a crash, it definitely won't reboot, but "sulks" for a few hours or a day or so! I suspected originally that it was a video card problem, especially as its cooler was choked with dust, but the cleaned-up Ti4600 (4X) card works fine in another PC, and the problem PC exhibits the same (no boot) behaviour with a different card. I have put the hard drive into a different PC as a "slave", and run a virus check and other diagnostics on it. The problem PC won't display the pre-boot screen without a hdd present either. (i.e. I think I have eliminated hdd and video card as the root of the problem. Am I right to eliminate the psu, on the grounds that it keeps the fans spinning after a crash? It may be my imagination, but the problem seems to have occurred after a Linksys 54g wireless network card was installed - although taking it out hasn't cured the problem. It seems to me that the problem must lie either with the mainboard or the cpu. Can anyone suggest how I might resolve which it is, please (and why that would give rise to the symptoms experienced)? I'm reluctant to dismantle a working PC to provide a spare cpu or mainboard, so the obvious solution (try the cpu on a different mainboard, try a different mainboard with the XP2700) has to be a last resort. TIA Eddie Complete spec: GA7N400 Pro mainboard Athlon XP2700 (333) 512Mb generic RAM (1 stick) fdd hdd IBM/Hitachi 120 Gb PNY GF Ti4600 (4X) LiteOn DVD CDRW combo 400W psu Windows XP Pro Creative SB Live Platinum (with the front panel etc) Linksys 54g network card Since the BIOS will generally peep at a bad AGP or memory, I wonder about the main BIOS chip. Can you boot from the other BIOS chip? JPS Thanks for the advice. I'll have a go at that when I've finished backing up the stuff from the hdd. Eddie |
#4
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"HammerToe" wrote in message ... On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 11:40:20 +0000 (UTC), "Eddie B." wrote: I would appreciate suggestions about a problem I am having. The PC is based around a GA7N400 Pro mainboard with an Athlon XP2700 cpu. It has been used for about 2 years. Now, it sometimes won't boot (not displaying anything on the screen at all), or when booted, will crash some time later, usually when simply idling (i.e. not actually accepting key strokes or mouse input). When it crashes, it keeps the cpu cooling fan (and chipset fan, and case fans) running. After a crash, it definitely won't reboot, but "sulks" for a few hours or a day or so! I suspected originally that it was a video card problem, especially as its cooler was choked with dust, but the cleaned-up Ti4600 (4X) card works fine in another PC, and the problem PC exhibits the same (no boot) behaviour with a different card. I have put the hard drive into a different PC as a "slave", and run a virus check and other diagnostics on it. The problem PC won't display the pre-boot screen without a hdd present either. (i.e. I think I have eliminated hdd and video card as the root of the problem. Am I right to eliminate the psu, on the grounds that it keeps the fans spinning after a crash? It may be my imagination, but the problem seems to have occurred after a Linksys 54g wireless network card was installed - although taking it out hasn't cured the problem. It seems to me that the problem must lie either with the mainboard or the cpu. Can anyone suggest how I might resolve which it is, please (and why that would give rise to the symptoms experienced)? I'm reluctant to dismantle a working PC to provide a spare cpu or mainboard, so the obvious solution (try the cpu on a different mainboard, try a different mainboard with the XP2700) has to be a last resort. TIA Eddie Complete spec: GA7N400 Pro mainboard Athlon XP2700 (333) 512Mb generic RAM (1 stick) fdd hdd IBM/Hitachi 120 Gb PNY GF Ti4600 (4X) LiteOn DVD CDRW combo 400W psu Windows XP Pro Creative SB Live Platinum (with the front panel etc) Linksys 54g network card 1. I don't think you can conclusively eliminate the Power Supply simply because the fans keep running (different/different power demands on PS from CPU and MB). Try another PS. 2. I doubt VERY much it's the CPU. They TEND to go 'all-or-nothing'.. 3. Eliminate the PS, Video card and *Memory* by trying different parts if possible. (At least TRY unseating and reseating the memory if you don't have extra and/or try diff. DIMM slots. 4. Make sure you try safest BIOS settings. 5. Try getting to a DOS prompt with just the MEM, Video Card and Floppy installed. NO HD. 6. If NONE of the above helps, then I suspect you have a MB that's gone bad... Prob. capacitors drying out with age/falling out of spec. Good Luck. Please post your results. Initial results: Well, it isn't the power supply. I bought another, and installed it. The system won't power up, although the psu, cpu and case fans spin up. I was seduced into believing it was a psu problem, because the previous psu was a Q-TEC (!) - the gold 400W - and the consensus appears to be that Q-TEC psu's are dud. I'm having a trawl round for another cpu to try, or another m/b. Shall I go for an alternative m/b because cpus tend to go 'all-or-nothing', and this went gradually? Or just because I can get a m/b cheaper than a cpu? |
#5
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"Eddie B." wrote in message ... "HammerToe" wrote in message ... On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 11:40:20 +0000 (UTC), "Eddie B." wrote: I would appreciate suggestions about a problem I am having. The PC is based around a GA7N400 Pro mainboard with an Athlon XP2700 cpu. It has been used for about 2 years. Now, it sometimes won't boot (not displaying anything on the screen at all), or when booted, will crash some time later, usually when simply idling (i.e. not actually accepting key strokes or mouse input). When it crashes, it keeps the cpu cooling fan (and chipset fan, and case fans) running. After a crash, it definitely won't reboot, but "sulks" for a few hours or a day or so! I suspected originally that it was a video card problem, especially as its cooler was choked with dust, but the cleaned-up Ti4600 (4X) card works fine in another PC, and the problem PC exhibits the same (no boot) behaviour with a different card. I have put the hard drive into a different PC as a "slave", and run a virus check and other diagnostics on it. The problem PC won't display the pre-boot screen without a hdd present either. (i.e. I think I have eliminated hdd and video card as the root of the problem. Am I right to eliminate the psu, on the grounds that it keeps the fans spinning after a crash? It may be my imagination, but the problem seems to have occurred after a Linksys 54g wireless network card was installed - although taking it out hasn't cured the problem. It seems to me that the problem must lie either with the mainboard or the cpu. Can anyone suggest how I might resolve which it is, please (and why that would give rise to the symptoms experienced)? I'm reluctant to dismantle a working PC to provide a spare cpu or mainboard, so the obvious solution (try the cpu on a different mainboard, try a different mainboard with the XP2700) has to be a last resort. TIA Eddie Complete spec: GA7N400 Pro mainboard Athlon XP2700 (333) 512Mb generic RAM (1 stick) fdd hdd IBM/Hitachi 120 Gb PNY GF Ti4600 (4X) LiteOn DVD CDRW combo 400W psu Windows XP Pro Creative SB Live Platinum (with the front panel etc) Linksys 54g network card 1. I don't think you can conclusively eliminate the Power Supply simply because the fans keep running (different/different power demands on PS from CPU and MB). Try another PS. 2. I doubt VERY much it's the CPU. They TEND to go 'all-or-nothing'.. 3. Eliminate the PS, Video card and *Memory* by trying different parts if possible. (At least TRY unseating and reseating the memory if you don't have extra and/or try diff. DIMM slots. 4. Make sure you try safest BIOS settings. 5. Try getting to a DOS prompt with just the MEM, Video Card and Floppy installed. NO HD. 6. If NONE of the above helps, then I suspect you have a MB that's gone bad... Prob. capacitors drying out with age/falling out of spec. Good Luck. Please post your results. Initial results: Well, it isn't the power supply. I bought another, and installed it. The system won't power up, although the psu, cpu and case fans spin up. I was seduced into believing it was a psu problem, because the previous psu was a Q-TEC (!) - the gold 400W - and the consensus appears to be that Q-TEC psu's are dud. I'm having a trawl round for another cpu to try, or another m/b. Shall I go for an alternative m/b because cpus tend to go 'all-or-nothing', and this went gradually? Or just because I can get a m/b cheaper than a cpu? Final results: The machine has gone into a terminal sulk, and nothing will restart it. I eventually weakened, and swapped a cpu from another computer. The motherboard (the only remaining part) is dead. Then I swapped the cpu from the dead computer into the transplant donor. Aha! the cpu is dead also! My mainboard and cpu had a suicide pact. Thanks for the suggestions. Eddie B. |
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