This is a memory check John (your memory)...didn't these boards have removable Bios chips set in a socket?

yep...

would not boot or beep if the CPU fan was plugged into the three pin connector on the Mobo and was not running

Most boards now have this type of feature, saves on cooked cpu's and disgruntled customers.

The CPU could be cooked, though, I am still wondering when exactly was the last time Bryan can verify the sysem was up and running?

Right before packing it up to bring home?
Or, was it all packed up when he got there ready to go?

Not to finger point or anything like that, but because if Bryan packed it up and actually saw it running then something changed between the front door of his friends house and the first time he attempted to boot it at home on his return. Which lends to transit vibrations and possibly shorting out.

If it was all ready to go, or sitting there turned off waiting to pack up, there isn't any telling when it went udder's up. Which lends strongly to a cooked CPU, fault tolerant CPU Fan connection on the motherboard and a dead fan or some such.

btw: I only dropped out before because I needed to go lay down, which I need to go back to doing now. Just thought I'd look in and see if BoXXi found some joy with this computer or not.

Everyone have a great night/day/morning/evening, BoXXi luck with it and see you all some time tomorrow when I check to see of any updates.

Thought so....that's a real stretch that it may have come loose, but you never know. I'm sure if it was loose he would have smelled that big time. At this point if he switches to a new case and adds one thing at a time, I think we'll have the answer in short order....

Thanks John ...sleep tight
[Message Edited]

OK....time to place bets, folks....

I'm going for pickled CPU due to ex-fan....

My bet is on the CMOS being killed by the dead battery.....

..of course, I'm the same guy who said.."Where's the beep!!"

Hmmm, a dead fan and no burn marks...For some reason, I'm gonna say the PSU. Though I'm not sure if he's gonna swap it with another.

any body think that maybe sumone tried to flash the bios and messed it up ? it's not unheard of .. i seen many times where a novice tried to flash the bios and fubard the system .. no boot .. no beep.... no nothing ....... just a thought BoXXi...

His friend has a right to tell him. #102 by IPlural has some real good points and I was wondering the same thing. Since he borrowed it, any changes and/or problems Boxxi should first be notified.
[Message Edited]

As i said in my only post....it has been toasted.....sorry Boxxi

Like I said 5 pages ago (if people would listen to me ) The processor is broken.

#66 by Scribe Fuzzy Logic - 2/16/2004 7:57:25 PM
Without the fan running the CPU will overheat in seconds and bring everything to a stop

This is a good story. Well, maybe not so good for BoXXi. But almost like a good old fashion whodunnit.

btw - my vote is for a shorted HDD

eh, have to go double down not knowing if the system was seen running before transport.

CPU Flambé : not known if system ran before transit

Grounded Fault/Short System : seen functioning before transit

Ah.... we have a fence sitter.

Careful how you dangle those legs IP.

Would'nt want an awful mishap

Just call me Sweden

Hi Hi Eric !

Well, I am not one of the people that would be of any help on this matter but, I just want to say that this is the first thread in a very long time that I have read every word of. So much knowledge and support in here.

BoXXi, I hope everything works out. Worst case that you are at least able to some how retrieve your files.

im still thinking bios got badly flashed or wiped out or possibly the bios chip has been shaken loose....

if the power pops up for a second im not thinking its the ups.,,,,, it could be the cpu but he said there was no burnt smell...a cooked hdd shouldnt stop the rest of the system from getting power.bios would still power the board and u would still get a beep ,"mainly a hey the hdd is fubared beep". hes already replaced the cmos battery, so it aint that...

boxxi my best sugestion would be to take the cpu and baord in to a pc repair shop and have them tested. im almost betting its the bios are gone or the bios chip is not correctly seated. a good many boards are still built with bios chips that are removeable and can be knocked out or shaken loose during transport..check the chip ...

[Message Edited]

If it is a shorted hard drive couldn't you boot from a floppy drive? Those are normally set to boot first. I assume the system isn't XP with a 233 PII, so it is probably Win98SE. Why not get a Win98 boot disk and put it in and try to start the system with that.

#118 by Skinner ChasUGC - 2/17/2004 10:05:02 AM If it is a shorted hard drive couldn't you boot from a floppy drive?

If you disconnect the HDD first, from both power and IDE cables. The 2 times I've seen shorted HDD's, leaving them connected pulled the power down so low the box wouldn't even POST.

My money is on an electrical problem (reference my previous post). $5 betcha!

I'd say someone got hungry and ate something they weren't supposed to.

either that or that same someone decided to use the pc as a restroom.

your friend have a dog?

O.K. Guys.... The computer is FIXED!!!!!!!   Any final bets on the cause before I reveal what it was?

Additional information before you make a decision...hehe.....

I didn't see it running before bringing it home.

I was informed today that it refused to start quite a while ago .

/me would like to thank everyone for their help, and hopes you all get it right!!                                                                                              

Yeah, Im going with a problem with the CMOS and the battery. Been watching this thread, enjoyable at Boxxi's expense though So i'll put $5 on that

hehehe....I don't mind Bones..... all part of the learning experience for me.....

/me hides big hammer........

I can't read all them words one by one but I get the idea here...

so what was it? was it not plugged in? or was the socket on the wall dead?
men!