Can't boot to bios

[Scott Davis]

Sorry if this is going to be a bit long winded but I'll start from the start of this problem.
I recently brought two 1 gig ram sticks and put them in my pc, and I know this was a stupid thing to do and I don't know why I did it, flicked the 230volt to 110 volts switch on the psu causing a very satisfying sound after which my pc would not start.
I replaced the psu and fuses in the kettle cord and expected my pc to work fine after however when I turn it on now it doesn't boot to the bios page and there is just a black screen with a flashing line in the top left corner of the screen and I'm a bit lost of what's wrong and what can be done to fix it.
Thanks if you've read this far and I hope you can help me.

Oh and it's a dell dimension e5150 although the harddrive isn't the original one.

[caperjack]

flicked the 230volt to 110 volts

just doing that should not have cause any problems ,i have seen many tower get switched to 220 and just not boot up until switched back .maybe you were just on lucked ,also you don't mention if you try putting you old ram back in ,that is if you had old ram to but back in .and then try booting computer

[Scott Davis]

It's got 4 ram slots so all the old ram is in as well as the new ram.

[caperjack]

It's got 4 ram slots so all the old ram is in as well as the new ram.

OK, did you remove the new ones then at least ,to try it with the old ram

[rubberman]

So, you switched from 230v to 110v, or 110v to 230v? If 110v to 230v then cooked motherboard is what you have. Do you want fries with that? :-( When you switched it and turned it on, it is likely the voltage to the system was too low and as a result, a HUGE surge of current hit it. The technical term for this situation is "letting the smoke out". I think it is time for a new computer...

If you were running on 230v and switched to 110v, it may have only cooked the PSU, but chances are a surge hit the motherboard before the fuses/circuit breakers reacted, resulting in same situation of "letting the smoke out".

[rubberman]

BTW, didn't you disconnect the system from the mains before you installed the RAM modules?

[bobbyraw]

switching you power suply to 230 or 110 does not affect your motehr board. that switch is only for the power suply. the output cables from the power supply are not afected. example if you moley is designed to vive 12Vdc that would not change if youe switch the poerw switch on the PSU. that voltage is regilated inside the PSU with capacitor and transformers. they keep the voltage regulated to the output cables. now on to the memory issue. did you buy compatable memory module. same clock speed and wattage.

lesson dont ever buy momory base on the same length and pins. do a memory scan at crucial or 4allmemory. it will tell you what you have and whats compatable with what you have.

take out all the memory, put back the PSU to the original voltage. restart the PC with the original memory. listen for beeps. if any search google for the error that correspond. then shut down and try and new memory. listen for beeps again.

[rubberman]

Actually bobbyraw, that's not quite true. I have seen this trick blow motherboards in the past, and FWIW, I was a factory trained tech by Apple, IBM, Compaq, AT&T, and Zenith in my past (with certs to prove it), and I am an EE and 20+ year member of the IEEE... It won't hurt the power supply in this case, most likely, but it WILL wreak havoc with the system in most situations. Switching power supplies vary quite a bit in their capabilities and safeguards. Yes, they can deal with a fairly large range of input voltages, and still provide a stable output voltage and current. However, they are NOT designed to deal with a 2x delta between design input voltage and actual input voltage, which is what happened when he applied a 110v input to a power supply set to handle 230v. It may well cause a surge in the output current before the circuit breaker or fuse trips that can damage the mobo, and it is the current that kills you!

[benmar]

just examine your motherboard very well look for a burnt ic's or capacitor...