Boot drive led... stumped

D

Darknyt

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 10, 2004
Messages
400
Mobo boot drive led stays lit and won't boot to bios at all. (system in sig) Daughter tried to turn it on and just told me it never came on - she said it had some loading screen and then went off. Not much detail I could get from her - only 9. No other warning signs. System power comes on with fans and such, but no bios and boot drive led stays lit.

I've pulled everything off the system down to 1 stick of ram, mobo and CPU - still get the boot drive led and won't boot to bios. I've actually tried a few drives to see if it would get to bios and it won't - so not sure it's a hard drive issue? I still need to take the boot SSD and get it tested to make sure it's not bad.

Tried to clear CMOS with jumper and then finally battery pull. Maybe I'm dumb and didn't get actually get it. Kid mentioned she typed on some keys as it was loading but I can't imagine she could have really messed up much.

Any ideas here - my thought is either CPU/Mobo is bad?
 
Sounds a lot like what happened to my 7820X, CPU was dead, I did have a couple of BSOD's the previous days b4 it completely went bad.

That's not to say it is not your mobo, but it get's hard to test things without spare parts (I had a pc repair shop test mine)
 
Make sure you have a mobo speaker built in or hooked up and unplug everything but cpu and power supply. (including USB headers, etc. )

You should get a beep code for having no ram installed. If you do start plugging things in one at a time and work your way up from there.

If you don't then PSU, Mobo, or CPU is bad. I would try a PSU if you have one around or can borrow one. If that doesn't work you are left with mobo / cpu, in which case it's almost always mobo.
 
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I've seen the HD LED light up solid like that when a bad drive is connected.

Disconnect all drives (and sata cables from mobo), clear the CMOS again, and see what you get.

It's not the daughter's fault, hitting keys during boot up will not blow it up.

Also, pull the video card and use built-in video if you can.

ETA: Make sure you are clearing the CMOS and pulling the battery with the system unplugged from the wall.


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Mobo might have finally bit the dust. Or the bios got corrupted somehow. I've repaired a bunch of Asus p8Z68s and they're pretty solid boards. Is it a gen3?
 
if you cant get into the bios settings even after a clear cmos...then it doesnt sound good if you already reseated the cpu, ram and or cards.
 
Spartacus said:
I've seen the HD LED light up solid like that when a bad drive is connected.

Disconnect all drives (and sata cables from mobo), clear the CMOS again, and see what you get.

It's not the daughter's fault, hitting keys during boot up will not blow it up.

Also, pull the video card and use built-in video if you can.

ETA: Make sure you are clearing the CMOS and pulling the battery with the system unplugged from the wall.


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thanks for the ideas (to all as well) I did disconnect drives but only at the drives themselves - think I need to actually disconnect at the mobo? Did disconnect video card, and plugged HDMI into onboard video - any chance its not getting activated somehow?

On clearing the CMOS (switching jumper) and pulling battery, I'm disconnecting power from wall - how long do I need to leave the CMOS battery out? I was only doing 15-30 secs per some instructions, but maybe need longer? Is there anyway to know for sure if I got it successfully reset (assuming it might not boot into bios regardless)?

Agree not like daughter could blow it up - I just wish I was there and could see what was on the screen to help diagnose when it shut off.
 
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Kardonxt said:
Make sure you have a mobo speaker built in or hooked up and unplug everything but cpu and power supply. (including USB headers, etc. )

You should get a beep code for having no ram installed. If you do start plugging things in one at a time and work your way up from there.

If you don't then PSU, Mobo, or CPU is bad. I would try a PSU if you have one around or can borrow one. If that doesn't work you are left with mobo / cpu, in which case it's almost always mobo.
Click to expand...

Good idea on PSU, thanks - often overlooked.
 
primetime said:
if you cant get into the bios settings even after a clear cmos...then it doesnt sound good if you already reseated the cpu, ram and or cards.
Click to expand...

Do I need to reseat the CPU? Have done ram and cards but not CPU.
 
May be a good idea. Sometimes a charge will remain holding the bios from completely clearing. Sometimes you may have a bent pin and the chip is not seated properly. Have to sraighten with a razor blade.
 
Darknyt said:
Do I need to reseat the CPU? Have done ram and cards but not CPU.
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well regarding the cpu.....if it was working prior then its unlikely any pins are misaligned now anyway...there comes a point when people check it anyway cause you start running out of ideas. I think the board should at least try and post without ram installed but i think all but the newest still need a working cpu to post...after rereading this thread im thinking you need to run buy and pick up a new power supply local to your house......trust me they go bad all the fucking time....if you have the same problem then at least its easy to return
 
sounds like she was hacked in to the matrix they got scared and blanked your bios chip and nuked the hdd just to be safe.

sorry dude.

take out all the ram and see if you get a different error.
 
Master_shake_ said:
sounds like she was hacked in to the matrix they got scared and blanked your bios chip and nuked the hdd just to be safe.

sorry dude.

take out all the ram and see if you get a different error.
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Maybe easier to just replace daughter .... heh.

Yeah I actually did pull all the ram and it did stop on the mem light if I recall correctly.
 
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