My old supercomputer

[keybear]

A few years ago I built the computer around the MSI K8N neo 4 Platinum. Bought the book and everything went well until 3 days ago. My 4 month old Acer H213H wide screen began saying "input not supported". I changed the cable, put a new MSI MX 4000 card in and hooked up a spare monitor. XP will not boot. I did the list of CMOS settings from the main list on the web page, old ones still there, but can't boot. I don't have a floppy or a cd anymore because we moved etc. I am willing to build a new one that is discussed but I don't want to lose my stuff and pictures. Is there a way to boot into my XP? I've tried everything on the forums but it still won't boot. HELP

[zburns]

I did my entire post without saying this -- Check all connections to be sure they are "fully pushed in" or otherwise "engaged".

Please do not jump to any conclusions or actions based on what I tell you right now; Wise Monkey, Ricky Tick and other forum members might have some helpful "collective" input.

Most important!! Microsoft will stop support of XP on July 13th, I think; this means you should be able to get a disk from them if you act quick. Have no idea how much bureaucratic "stuff" you face in trying to do this; maybe someone else knows!

First quick thing I think of (but it depends on "exactly" the correctness of your descriptions) is some failure of memory, either a single stick or something wrong with the execution of memory in relation to the CPU (external memory controller).

Your monitor or video card would have nothing to do with whether or not the computer boots or not! When you say: " I did the list of CMOS settings from the main list on the web page, old ones still there, but can't boot.", you are certainly saying or implying that you viewed these CMOS settings on the monitor, correct?

Under normal operation your computer has "sounds" that you are accustomed to hearing. Do you think the "sounds" are what your practiced ear says are "normal". I am getting at whether or not the HD is running or not.

Next "Dust". Since you built the first time, how many times have you blown out the dust in the computer and the time interval between. In my case, I have a Antec Sonata III500, 2 years, two months old and I have never cleaned out the dust in the case or on the boards. I have weird but "consistent" symptoms caused by dust (I think) because my crashes and the way the computer refuses to boot are completely consistent in behavior.

Dust contains particles that have the electrical property of "resistance", including "variable resistance" depending on the quanity and "makeup" of the dust, and moisture content of the dust. As the dust gathers around components, the dust can acutally change the performance of your circuits (always detrimental, but not necessarily catastropic). When dust is a factor in a computer problem, it manifests itself in a visible way at some point, if not cleaned out.

I suggest you do not do anything yet; jumping to conclusions and doing "random" things to correct "the nature of a perceived problem" can only lead to more confusion.

I suggest you make some additional comments based on the above and wait also to see what some other forum members can suggest!

My suggestions above are based on what I have learned from this forum and external reading; not actual "repair" experience.

Again, I assume you are seeing BIOS settings on the monitor, correct or not? But XP simply does not boot; this implies problem with HD, memory, mobo circuit (memory controller), possibly of dust caused circuit failure to memory or some other mobo circuit.

Again, all the above is just my input; I think my comments are ok. I would like to hear other forum comments.

The one thing in my comments I am certain of is the effect of dust. So, for starters, tell us the "history" of your "dust regards cleaning efforts and time frames". Also, what type of case do you have?

[keybear]

Hi;

Thanks for the reply. I have a Sonata 2 and lost the power supply 2years ago. Worked fine since it was replaced. I blew out a very little dust when I changed the video card. The only thing that changed was the Acer monitor displaying the " input not supported" box. Somehow before I got a second monitor hooked up with a new cable and card, everything went to the black screen. I did get to safe mode before that and selected vga as someone else suggested, but I would lose everything on the screen. The wife found my XP Pro cd and the several floppy disks we made during the build ( 6 XP boot disks, NVIDIA Serial ATA driver,and Diag 504 f disk). I think I may open it up tonight and clean it out, and check connections. Do you think a cd boot and repair install may do the trick? If I am able to get windows going I can check the system for problems and performance. With out windows I don't believe I can. Thanks again

[zburns]

Sorry for the delay. If you are going to clear out the dust, try to do it in steps. I have not done mine yet and it is two years old. I worry about static when cleaning the boards and case. I plan to unplug the power cord, wear my wrist strap connected to the computer case, use a can of compressor air designed for this purpose. When you start messing around microcircuits that can only withstand very small voltages before they are damaged irreparably and that is the risk you run anytime you go into your case.

I have not done this so I do not know the best distance from the boards to use; maybe you do. I would not put high pressure air right down at the board.

I would remove your memory sticks and blow them off. If dust has accumalated on top of the mem strip sockets, blow them off from an angle (try to avoid blowing dust into the sockets). Try to see with a light if the sockets have imbedded dust inside them; experiment with air at an angle so see if you can get it out but be careful with the amount of air you use. Of course, use the air to completely blow off all dust in sight, particularly off the boards.

Can you see the BIOS on your monitor or not? Is the monitor just black, no BIOS. (The bios is battery operated and stored on a separate chip with its own memory -- self contained)

If your monitor is plugged in and the monitor has a power led that is already lit, has been lit for an hour or five minutes --long enough to be warmed up -- then when you turn on the computer, you should get a beep, several BIOS flashes on the screen, something -- black and white lettering from the BIOS -- shows for a fraction of a second -- you get several pages in a fraction of a second.

If all you have is a continous black monitor screen from when you turn on the computer and no flashes, you probably have a PSU problem. I guess you could have a dead battery on the BIOS but they should last more than 2 years.

When I wrote the first post, I was assuming your monitor showed what I am calling several very fast black and white lettering BIOS flashes or screens. If this is not the case and the monitor is turned on, fully warmed up but a black screen -- could be multiple things but you have to start with the Power supply.

Monitor on for five minutes or more, then turn on computer and my question is "Does the monitor stay black thru this entire process -- nothing shows on the screen?"

[keybear]

I was not clear. I get all the readings on a black screen back ground. But the last thing I get is insert cd to boot, or something like that. No way can I get into the windows start up.

[zburns]

Sorry for the delay. Had a MSE alert for something bad on my comp, then I could not shut it down; had to just turn it off and let it sit.

Regards your problem. I would prefer you wait and let Wise Monkey or Ricky Tick comment on how to proceed tomorrow am. They are much more experienced on what you describe.

I would still clean the computer, just be careful; try to use the ideas I suggested.

[The Wise Monkey]

Can you get to log in if you boot into safe mode? If so, it might be worth uninstalling your graphics driver and seeing if that sorts the problem.