Motherboad/BIOS/RAM problems.. Not looking good.

[somechrisguy]

Hey all, I'm here purely in a matter of desperation to be honest and any contributions are greatly appreciated!

 

At the beginning of the week I started decorating my room.. So I had to move my pc and monitor into another room. The system was running fine while in that other room (my sister's).. But when I lifted it back though into my own room and set everything up, I powered on. All my LEDs and fans started fine, but there was no display. So after a few hours of testing the VGA cable on every laptop and pc on the house.. It was apparent it was a problem with my system.

 

The only problem I had, was I didn't know what the problem was. At first I presumed the obvious and blamed my graphics card. So I looked about the Internet for a solution and came across a rather weird one that I gave a try. It consisted of removing the heatsync and all the other plastic; then sticking it in the oven for 8 minutes. So tried that- so no success.

 

I had a look around the forums and came across a thread with similar problems. One of the replies suggested removing all the cards attached to the motherboard and inserting them one by one.. That wad you can see what is causing the problem.

So I did, and it became apparent that one of my RAM slots were damaged (one of the clips that hold the chip in place were missing), preventing the system to boot - well that's how it seemed.

 

So finally I got some display. It loaded the screen that said the name of the motherboard and the "DEL to enter bios setup" "TAB to view POST message". So I hit tab and it loaded the error screen "CDMOS(or something) error, press f1 to continue" (this is normal!!). I pressed f1 and it changed to a screen I have never seen before that simply had the name, version and manufacturer's name of the BIOS.

 

this is the furthest I have got.

 

 

Again- my pc really means a lot to me so any ideas are GREATLY appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance- Chris

[PseFrank]

Hello Chris, welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help

 

Can you tell us exactly what the error was? See if you can get that screen again, and make a note of the error.

 

Has the clip that secures your RAM stick recently been damaged (Have you removed or reset a Ram module recently)...or has it always been that way?

 

If you can gain access to the bios...Is the bios time and date correct? If not I would suggest replacing the cmos battery. ( Small flat coin like battery, about 20mm in diameter )

[Dalo Harkin]

CMOS depending on what the actual error said as already pointed out is the MOBOs own memory settings and configurations and is powered by the small watch battery.

 

Anything to do with CMOS is normally that the battery is low, and it will advise that, it wont stop you booting to windows though.

 

As for the RAM clip, you can run the PC fine if its just the one clip, as they are more for releasing the RAM as opposed to holding it in place..the clip sits inside a small notch on the side of the RAM technically holding it in place, but I have never had one fall out that didnt have the clips on

[somechrisguy]

hey, thanks for the quick replies and i apolagize for my delayed one :(!

 

Here is an image of the BIOS screen (as far as i can get)

Imageshack - img0184r.jpg

 

Here is the startup screen..

Imageshack - img0186gd.jpg

 

And here is an image of the broken RAM slot (whenever i put a ram chip in this there is a no display)

Imageshack - img0185f.jpg

 

 

Yesterday when i powered on i got access to a setup menu where i could change the boot options etc.. but now i cant get past the startup screen!? (it just freezes and TAB or DEL dont do anything)

[somechrisguy]

come on guyss.... 100 views and 2 comments?

I really need a hand with this :(!

[PseFrank]

Sorry about the delay Chris...

 

Try this:

Turn off the computer, and then switch off the power at the wall socket but leave it plugged in so an earth is maintained.

 

Carefully remove all of the memory modules from the motherboard except for the module in the yellow slot nearest the CPU. This slot should be marked A1.

 

Can you also confirm that you have 4 x 2GB sticks installed.