No Post, No Display, No Fun

[bill2250]

I've been viewing these forums for quite a while and have solved quite a few issues I've had before just from reading other threads, so now it's my turn to start one I suppose.

I'd originally thought about posting this is the "crashes" section, but feel it is definitely more of a hardware problem.

I recently bought a new 500gb Caviar Black WD drive and installed it rather painlessly. I'm not even sure the drive has anything to do with my problem (I dont think it does, but who knows). After about 24 hours I'm surfing the web, listening to some mp3's, when I get a BSOD. It was very unexpected and I didn't have time to look at the error # or much of anything. So, I rebooted and when Windows 7 loads, the "let Windows search for a solution" window came up and I clicked "yes" and as soon as I did this, I got the BSOD again. Now, whenever I turn the power on, I get no display, but all my case fans, vid card fan, CPU fans, PSU fans all come on, I can hear my hard drives quietly spinning (no clicking, etc) but I get no post beeps, and nothing appears on my screen.

I've tested my monitor on an extremely old machine I had lying around, and it works fine. I've removed both hard drives just to see if I could get a post from the computer with no luck. I've swapped memory, memory slots, tried different memory with no luck either. I had been using a 300w power supply, and thought maybe it had finally bit the dust but was still putting out enough power to start my fans and stuff, so I bought a brand new 350w Diablotek psu, but am still having all the same problems, and I went through and disconnected and reconnected everything I'd previously done with the other psu. My monitor led stays orange when I power the computer on, whereas it normally switches to blue once the computer starts to boot. I've disconnected my vid card and plugged the monitor into the onboard video as well and still the same. I've also removed the CMOS battery and left it out for 20 mins or so and put it back in, and have also tried a new battery, with no change. I removed my CPU fan and heatsink and inspected the processor and everything looked normal. The motherboard looks fine from visual inspection, no leaking transistors or anything of the sort.

I guess it's also worth noting that everything worked flawlessly before I installed the new hard drive and fresh copy of Windows 7. But like I said above, I even tried taking the new drive out and just using the old one with no luck. I have no real way of testing my processor/mobo since I don't have another system capable of switching components in and out.

I've always bought my own components and installed them myself with no problems, although I'm far from being a professional.

Very frustrating to say the least, I'm guessing its my motherboard or processor. This is a last ditch effort before I go spend cash I dont really have on a new mobo/cpu.

Thanks in advance.

 

[NoN]

Hi there & welcome to the SevenForums,

Did the BSOD camed while you were on an IE page watching videos with window media player active X ? it does happen to me quit some times while installing the Active X control. It can be a corrupted install.

Maybe troubleshoot before:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=3db356d3-527e-433f-8c41-5295789ec8fe

 

[Mike Connor]

Remove everything from the machine. Just a naked motherboard left.

Start the machine. If you get no beeps, the motherboard probably has a fault.

http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm

If the board does not get to the POST ( Power On Self Test ), then it is almost certainly faulty.

It is often tempting to assume that some recently installed hardware caused the problem, but this is not necessarily the case. Some things just give up the ghost occasionally.

Regards....Mike Connor

 

[Shootist]

I'd agree with Mike but there is one more thing to check.
You said you switched out memory. Did you try just one stick at a time in each slot to see if you get a post.

I recently built a new PC and had the wrong memory for it. I got the same thing, fans running, lights on the board come on but no post. As soon as I got the correct memory everything is working.

If after using one stick in each slot and you still get no post then it is the board. And that was what was causing the BSODs. Board failing.

 

[neo101]

As you reset your bios - did you stick it back on 'ACPI' or whatever setting you had it on when you stuck Win7 on?

 

[Mike Connor]

Good point! Also check that your power supply can supply what your system needs. The symptoms are similar if the power supply is inadequate. The system will try to start, and then simply fails.

Can also happen with some power supply faults.

Regards....Mike Connor

 

[bill2250]

I was using WMP when the first BSOD occurred. I have tried 1 stick of mem in both slots, tried the other in both (one at a time), no memory at all, and even tried a 1gb stick I'd previously upgraded from months ago. I didn't reset my bios until after the display quit working, and nothing changed afterwards.

The power supply worked fine for more than 5 months with the same hardware components with the exception of the new hard drive. My vid card specs were 300w minimum. Which is what I was previously using.

I stripped everything down to the bare motherboard, powered on and I hear no beeps.

 

[Mike Connor]

I was using WMP when the first BSOD occurred. I have tried 1 stick of mem in both slots, tried the other in both (one at a time), no memory at all, and even tried a 1gb stick I'd previously upgraded from months ago. I didn't reset my bios until after the display quit working, and nothing changed afterwards.

The power supply worked fine for more than 5 months with the same hardware components with the exception of the new hard drive. My vid card specs were 300w minimum. Which is what I was previously using.

I stripped everything down to the bare motherboard, powered on and I hear no beeps.

In which case it is more or less certain that your motherboard has ceased functioning.

This is somewhat akin to the behaviour of dead parrots.

For more information:

YouTube - Monty Python - Dead Parrot ( Just trying to cheer you up a bit! ).

( I don't recommend the diagnostics used in this case).

OK. You still have no POST, no display, but at least you had a bit of fun !

Regards...Mike Connor

 

[neo101]

GeForce GT 430 - 22A 12v rail and a 350W PSU minimum

I reckon you overloaded psu adding xtra HD and something got zapped when psu freaked!

The only 300w I would trust is an uber expensive top end built one like OCZ where they quote continuous power not peak output!