Bios not starting on power on/restart

[brianzion]

hi all
need a little advice on when the machine is turned on there is no output from the bios to start the boot-up process its happened about 4 times in the last month the fans/lights are running in the machine so its powering up ok just no BEEP and boot up it has done it today on a normal restart after updating some programs (urging me to post it in this thread) so i power off the machine and unplug the mains input and press power button for 8 secs to drain out power from psu/mboard and re-power up and the BEEP is there and bios kicks in and windows starts ok. now on my own research and looking at the problem i might be looking at having to replace the battery on the motherboard, but would appreciate anyone's feedback and advice many thanks brian

 

[Qdos]

It sounds more like a corrupt MBR issue than a BIOS one.

 

[Dwarf]

Does the screen appear? Is it just the Beep sound that isn't happening? If so, it could be that the connections to the internal piezo speaker have become loose.

 

[brianzion]

the beep sound sounds and machine boots ok normally. but 4 times over a month when the machine is turned on there is no beep and no boot up just blank screen but fans are spinning etc and on a re-boot today it happened

 

[brianzion]

i was due to clean the inside of machine soon so i could check connections on the drive etc over the weekend is it worth repairing the mbr with the repair disc?

 

[Layback Bear]

When it does boot is the time in bios and windows correct? Normally they won't be if the the mother board battery is bad. That being said; those batteries are cheep and easy to replace and reset the time in bios and Windows.

 

[brianzion]

yep checked the time all is correct

 

[FliGi7]

Sounds like a motherboard issue if you're not even seeing the POST screen (the one that displays all the motherboard info before the Windows logo appears). The battery would not cause it to be unable to boot. I would check, clean, and re-seat all of the connections on there to rule out that possibility.

 

[Sbrideau]

Before saying it's the motherboard, I'd first check if it could be the PSU and if everything is connected correctly. How old is the computer?

 

[brianzion]

machine is two years old now over the weekend i will shut it down and check everything connected and give it a good clean inside i will change the battery and see how it fairs and report back to the thread thanks for all your input

 

[Qdos]

Try reseating your graphics card and ensure the cable connections are firmly on too...

Intermittant faults are the hardest to pin down, but I don't think it's your BIOS...

 

[Layback Bear]

That is true a weak battery won't stop from booting but once you are in there cleaning and checking things it would be a great time to replace the battery which most of us forget to do until it dies. Yes it could be a motherboard. If it was my computer I would try another power supply or have a local computer store test it for you. A power supply can provide power to some parts of the m/b and not to other parts.

 

[Sbrideau]

Edit: disregard this message.

 

[brianzion]

UPDATE

hi all
i cleaned the machine and checked all power fixings changed the m/b battery i re-seated all pci adapters i use i checked all the h/drives connectors un-plugged/re-plugged and so far every thing seems fine no booting issues or power issues but will update with any new occurrences thanks to all that gave advice

 

[Layback Bear]

Wish you luck. Aren't computers fun?

 

[brianzion]

@layback bear yes computers are fun

 

[brianzion]

just thought i would update no problems with machine i updated the PSU to 500w coolermaster Elite and things seem to be running more efficiently now.