BIOS problem ( I think)

[superdupermido]

Hi all,

SO I know when I turn on my PC and the processor fan goes on but nothing appears on the screen (compeltely blank) , this means there is a problem with BIOS, isn't that right ? That what happened with me, I checked the power supply voltages and they are OK, I changed the BIOS battery but no use ... so can somebody advise me with the problem please ? Kindly find below my PC specs :

HW : 3.4GHz, pentium D,4 MB cache, 2 GB RAM , 750 GB HD ... since 2006
OS : windows XP

Thanks

[Allan]

It has nothing to do with the bios. It is probably a bad display or a bad video adapter (or video cable or loose connection to or from the display).

1) What is new or different since the last time everything worked properly (ie, new hw, new sw, virus, error, etc)?
2) Have you tried a different display? If not please do.

[superdupermido]

I forgot to say that I tried the display on a laptop and it's working, that's why I didnt suspect it

[superdupermido]

It has nothing to do with the bios. It is probably a bad display or a bad video adapter (or video cable or loose connection to or from the display).

1) What is new or different since the last time everything worked properly (ie, new hw, new sw, virus, error, etc)?
2) Have you tried a different display? If not please do.

Nothing new, just left the PC for about a week as  my room was being painted

[Allan]

Well, if they moved the pc while the room was being painted I'd check the cables first. Then try the display on a different computer or a different display on your computer.

[superdupermido]

Well, if they moved the pc while the room was being painted I'd check the cables first. Then try the display on a different computer or a different display on your computer.

thanks Allan, the cables are Ok and as I told you, the display works on another computer. what else you think it could be ?

[Geek-9pm]

When they moved it, it may have been dropped.
CPU can be out of socket.
RAM could be dislodged.
Motherboard has come loos.
Hard Drive was damaged.
A small metal, like a bottle cap,  thing fell  onto motherboard and shorted it.

[superdupermido]

When they moved it, it may have been dropped.
CPU can be out of socket.
RAM could be dislodged.
Motherboard has come loos.
Hard Drive was damaged.
A small metal, like a bottle cap,  thing fell  onto motherboard and shorted it.

if RAM is dislodged or hard drive was damaged, at least i would have the BIOS startup screen right ?, CPU is well placed in its socket. How come motherboard can become loose .. please advise

[Geek-9pm]

if RAM is dislodged or hard drive was damaged, at least i would have the BIOS startup screen right ? .... please advise

Who told you that?
The startup  screen works when about 97% of the computer is functional. Any failure of a major component stops the start up sequence.  As for the hard drive, it has to gave the BIOS a message if it is not doing well. But if it is really wasted, the system stalls.
A memory chip that is dislodged, but not all the way out the socket, will short the memory data and address lines, gibing the CPU nonsense code. In some case the BIOS can detect memory failure and give a message with beeps, but not on the screen.

There are a long list of things that can happen if the box was dropped. The mounts for the motherboard can break loose. They are not indestructible.

Inspect everything.

[Allan]

There's no harm opening the case and making sure all cards, boards and cables are firmly seated.

[superdupermido]

There's no harm opening the case and making sure all cards, boards and cables are firmly seated.

I already did so of course . I also replaced the HD and RAM but still same result

[Allan]

Hard Drive Diagnostics:

http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287
Make sure you select the tool which is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive.
Depending on the program, it'll create bootable floppy, or bootable CD.
If downloaded file is of .iso type, use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn .iso file to a CD (select "Write image file to disc" option), to make the CD bootable.
For Toshiba drives, see here: http://sdd.toshiba.com/main.aspx?Path=ServicesSupport/FujitsuDrivesUSandCanada/SoftwareUtilities#diagnostic

To check the ram, download memtest (http://memtest.org/). Burn it to a cd using a dedicated .iso burning utility (http://www.petri.co.il/how_to_write_iso_files_to_cd.htm), make sure the cd drive is at the top of the boot order in bios, then boot to the newly created cd and run the utility.

[superdupermido]

And how am I supposed to do this when all I got is blank screen. BTW, I forgot to mention that the DVD drive doesnt open 

Hard Drive Diagnostics:

http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287
Make sure you select the tool which is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive.
Depending on the program, it'll create bootable floppy, or bootable CD.
If downloaded file is of .iso type, use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn .iso file to a CD (select "Write image file to disc" option), to make the CD bootable.
For Toshiba drives, see here: http://sdd.toshiba.com/main.aspx?Path=ServicesSupport/FujitsuDrivesUSandCanada/SoftwareUtilities#diagnostic

To check the ram, download memtest (http://memtest.org/). Burn it to a cd using a dedicated .iso burning utility (http://www.petri.co.il/how_to_write_iso_files_to_cd.htm), make sure the cd drive is at the top of the boot order in bios, then boot to the newly created cd and run the utility.

[Geek-9pm]

The DVD drive needs to have poswr to open the tray. It would seem taht the PSU is not giving all the voltages retried.  Take your VOM and check the PUS voltages at on of the drive connectors. Black is common, red if +5 and yellow is +12  and should be within  3 %and 5% of nominal.

From 4.85 to 5.15 on the 5 volt line.
From 11.4 to 12.6 on the 12 volt line.

[Allan]

And how am I supposed to do this when all I got is blank screen. BTW, I forgot to mention that the DVD drive doesnt open 

LOL - sorry - right you are. Anything else beside the dvd drive and the black screen? At this point I have to guess either the power supply, display adapter (do you have another you can try?), a bad cable (it's possible) or something more serious (motherboard, etc).