Major problem..need insite

[scotto58]

I have a custom built tower that I need some help with. About 6 months ago it came up with a "blue screen" about windows being corrupted.  Reinstalled Windows XP but when I tried hooking up to the internet it wouldn't even recognize that there is an ethernet connector on board. Put it up for a couple months and then  i got a "check signal cable" message on the monitor when I tried to start it. Finally got a new video card the other day and replaced it-same result. Can't really afford to take it anywhere right now and I 'm tired of running my laptop as my main computer. Any help would be appreciated.

Here are the stats(as best I can remember on some)

 ECS NForce3-A motherboard
 2 g DDR400 Ram
 Athlon64 3000 processor
 Antec CPU cooler
 Gainward video card-VGA -GW 10-5(model)/ p/n V10-51  (old card)
 EVGA eGeForce FX5200 (new card)

[patio]

After the WinXP install did you remember to re-install all your Device drivers ? ?
MBoard chipset drivers go 1st...

[dahlarbear]

1.  POST error.  Any diagnostic "beep" code from the Power On Self Test (POST)?

2.  Desktop.  Does the system appear to attempt a normal startup?  Describe the LED activity that occurs and when:
     a.  Front tower case power and hard drive activity LEDs
     b.  Keyboard status LEDs
     c.  Floppy drive LED
     d.  CD-ROM LED

Does tower power stay on or does it shut down on its own (after how long)?

2.  Monitor (Sanity Check).  Test the monitor (with its power and data cable) by hooking it up as an external monitor to the laptop.

[scotto58]

Sorry haven't got back to you  sooner.

dahlarbear;

  1 POST : I get 1 beep every 5 seconds

  2 a: Both come on initially then the hard drive light goes out
     b/c/d: No keyboard,floppy, or cd-rom lights

 Power does stay on.

 Monitor works on the laptop.

 Ideas?

[patio]

What BIOS ? ?
From Our Vast Archives...

[scotto58]

patio

 It has an Award bios. Got the info from ECS website.

[dahlarbear]

  1 POST : I get 1 beep every 5 seconds

  2 a: Both come on initially then the hard drive light goes out
     b/c/d: No keyboard,floppy, or cd-rom lights

 Power does stay on.

 Monitor works on the laptop.

 Ideas?

1.  Not really...  Not my area of expertise, but some questions do come to mind.
     a.  How long does the hard drive light stay on?
     b.  Which fans come on and for how long?
     c.  What happens if you try just motherboard, power supply, and CPU (with heat_sink/fan)?  (Then add one stick of memory, then video card.)  Any change in the symptoms and/or beep code sequence.

2.  Reference:
     a.  Award BIOS Beep Codes

[scotto58]

Okay, I have my problem partially solved!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Turns out I have 1 stick of memory that's bad. So now I have the computer up and running EXCEPT I can not get on the internet . I have Road Runner thru Time Warner cable but the computer does not show an ethernet/LAN connection. The connector is built into the motherboard.

Anyone know where to go from here?

Thank you to all that have helped with this  "project". LOL

Scott

[patio]

Check Device Manager...
Any Yellow ? ?'s ?

[scotto58]

patio

 Yes there are yellow ?s under Other Devices for: Multimedia Audio Controller; Other PCI Bridge Devices: and SM Bus Controller. It indicates that the drivers are not installed in each case.

 Also, there is no category for "Network Adapters" shown like on my laptop. As such, it doesn't show any Ethernet/LAN connections.

Scott

[hodges91]

Sounds like you need a network driver then. There is no Network Adapters section because there are no drivers installed for it. Find out what network controller you need for your mobo and install it. You should be good to go then. I'd also recommend installing the drivers for the other yellow objects in device manager.

[patio]

patio

 Yes there are yellow ?s under Other Devices for: Multimedia Audio Controller; Other PCI Bridge Devices: and SM Bus Controller. It indicates that the drivers are not installed in each case.

 Also, there is no category for "Network Adapters" shown like on my laptop. As such, it doesn't show any Ethernet/LAN connections.

Scott

Re-install the MBoard chipset drivers from the manuf. Driver CD...
Re-boot and double check Device Manager...
Any remaining Yellow ? ?'s ?