Did I just break my motherboard?

[ao`]

I made a similar post in the BIOS section of these boards, but it doesn't seem to be getting any attention, so I thought I would post here as well; I hope that someone can help me out. Here goes..

 

I built my computer about half a year ago and basically from the day I bought it, it was giving me the cold boot problem. It annoyed me, but I never bothered trying to fix it, so I would just leave my computer on all the time. Yesterday, I finally got fed up and hopped on these forums to see if there was a fix. I scanned through some threads and saw a few people mention that a new BIOS (704-2BTA) fixes the cold boot problem. I downloaded this BIOS and flashed it without a problem. However, when I restarted my computer, it wouldn't work--it doesn't boot, it doesn't post, nothing. It basically starts to turn on, makes one long beep, and then nothing. I checked the diagnostic lights and only one (the first) is lit when this happens. I believe that this means that the CPU, memory, and video card have all been detected, but that the computer hasn't started up. Again, I hear one long-ish beep, the monitor doesn't turn on, and the computer just sits there. Because the thing doesn't start, I can't flash to a previous BIOS. I'm lost here. What can I do? Please don't tell me that I ruined by motherboard. Someone, please help me. Thanks in advance.

[Reinvented]

CMOS Clears are your friend.

[ICON57]

yes, clear the cmos, and load optimized settings.,

[ao`]

Ahh, I tried to clear the CMOS, but not to the extent provided in that link. Thanks for the info. I hope this works.

[ao`]

Well, I followed the directions supplied in the Reinvested post, but that didn't work. I tried a 30 second, a 15-30 minute, and an 8+ hour complete cmos clear.. nothing worked. It's just the same problem: I power on the rig, the CPU, ram, and video card get detected, I hear one beep, but the monitor doesn't turn on (that first diagnostic light stays lit), so I can't tell if I'm in my BIOS settings or not. What are my options now? This BIOS should have worked with this motherboard, right? Please, if you guys can think of anything, let me know.

[mingyeung]

did you try using a single stick of ram?

[ao`]

did you try using a single stick of ram?

 

Yes. I followed the proper CMOS clear guide provided in Reinvented's post.

[the_lorax]

I can't gather from your previous posts if you're having the same issue as I am or not, but I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents anyway. I have an issue right now where if I'm doing a cold boot, I get 3 lights with the 4th flashing for about 15 seconds and then the lights go off and 1 is left on. I get a long beep and then nothing. If I power off/on a few times (sometimes I use the reset button to mix it up) it eventually boots up like normal. It almost seems like if I actually let it sit in that "running" state after the beep for a couple of minutes that seems to help. Once it finally boots up correctly and I have video, it runs fine even after a reboot. Once I power it down and leave it for more than a couple of minutes I'm back to my "will it work this time?" power cycling adventures. The most frustrating part about it is this system ran fine for a couple of months and then started doing this. At this point I'm working on rebuilding it completely.

 

At one point, I did have an issue where it wouldn't boot at all after I installed chipset drivers. It showed a couple of lines on the BIOS post screen and then would just lock up. Doing repeated CMOS clears eventually cleared this up.

[Tounet]

I can't gather from your previous posts if you're having the same issue as I am or not, but I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents anyway. I have an issue right now where if I'm doing a cold boot, I get 3 lights with the 4th flashing for about 15 seconds and then the lights go off and 1 is left on. I get a long beep and then nothing. If I power off/on a few times (sometimes I use the reset button to mix it up) it eventually boots up like normal. It almost seems like if I actually let it sit in that "running" state after the beep for a couple of minutes that seems to help. Once it finally boots up correctly and I have video, it runs fine even after a reboot. Once I power it down and leave it for more than a couple of minutes I'm back to my "will it work this time?" power cycling adventures. The most frustrating part about it is this system ran fine for a couple of months and then started doing this. At this point I'm working on rebuilding it completely.

 

At one point, I did have an issue where it wouldn't boot at all after I installed chipset drivers. It showed a couple of lines on the BIOS post screen and then would just lock up. Doing repeated CMOS clears eventually cleared this up.

 

I've seen these boot problems on many many many forums. And i had this problem with my last PSU (Seasonic S12) before it burn. I don't know if it's a MB problem or PSUs problem. And Dfi don't communicate about this.

[JVG81]

Boot with the absolute minimum of hardware attached. Use al 4 power connectors on the mobo.

 

If that doesnt solve anything start eliminating components by removing/replacing them one by one.

 

Start with memory (should be easy to get some pc3200 laying around) and PSU (should also be no problem even if it's a 20-pin PSU, if you connect it right and it has more than 300w it should definately work). Take off al optical and hard drives, soundcard. Use a differnt videocard etc. etc.

 

If all this doesnt work youve pretty much determined that the motherboard is the culprit, RMA the thing asap would be my advice.

 

Good luck

[ao`]

Boot with the absolute minimum of hardware attached. Use al 4 power connectors on the mobo.

 

If that doesnt solve anything start eliminating components by removing/replacing them one by one.

 

Start with memory (should be easy to get some pc3200 laying around) and PSU (should also be no problem even if it's a 20-pin PSU, if you connect it right and it has more than 300w it should definately work). Take off al optical and hard drives, soundcard. Use a differnt videocard etc. etc.

 

If all this doesnt work youve pretty much determined that the motherboard is the culprit, RMA the thing asap would be my advice.

 

Good luck

 

The thing is, I know that it's not a hardware issue. Like I said originally, this isn't a new rig. I've been using this system for about 6 months now and it's pretty much been running flawlessly (other than the cold boot issue). I finally got fed up with the cold boot problem, so I decided to upgrade my BIOS (tried going from the 3/10/05 BIOS to the 704-2BTA, which I heard resolved the cold boot problem). It is right after this upgrade that this happened. I would try to downgrade to my previous BIOS, but like I said, my monitor doesn't turn on, so I can't do anything. I guess the next thing to try is a 24-hour CMOS clear, but I really don't think this will work either. What are my other options? I can't RMA this board. Seeing as how I tried to flash a non-DFI official BIOS, I doubt that I could get a replacement. What can I do?

[paradigm]

Have you tired resetting the cmos jumpers on the mB? Try shorting the cmos jumpers and then starting your pc, that should reset your bios.