Emachine Powers up But wont boot up

[jwright68]

My dads emachine w2040 It wouldnt power up at all one day. I replaced the power supply with the recomended upgrade from emachine. Now it powers up just fine, the fans are flowing, the cd drive opens and closes, but the HD lights up one time then thats it. Nothing is coming over the monitor nothing is happening as far as the boot up process. I suspect that lightning or power surge has damaged the psu but I dont think the MoBo was damaged. What should I check? Should I try the restore disk? Help?

[TT4Titans]

Is the monitor on?

Have you tried a different monitor.

[jwright68]

Is the monitor on?

Have you tried a different monitor.

Yes the monitor is on and the lights work on the monitor as well the message that scrolls around asking you to check your monitor and plug in.. Something like. The HD blinks one time then the pc acts like it crashed or never booted up from the HD.

[TT4Titans]

Go into Bios and see if it recognizes the HD.it may be your HD crashed.go to the HD's manufature site and get there util to test it.

[larry9510]

I am having a simular problem with my daughter's T6420 E-Machine. I se the light flicker for the CD/DVD combo, HD activity indicator(?) light and the fan runs at a high rate. Then it just sits there like a bump-on-a-log! The PC will go into shut-down; however, it doesn't shut off completly.

I found that I can get it to boot by hitting the F8 key as-soon-as I see the HD activity light come on.

After that, it runs fine.

Summary - It appears that the start-up/shut-down process can't find what it is looking for ( I can relate!), e.g., Boot and/or shut-down instructions.

[TT4Titans]

If it will run in Safe Mode then it sounds like a driver problem. But I seen where you posted somewhere else you D\L all the drivers. Did you go into BIOS and load system defaults? also seeing if there was a BIOS update and flashing it?

[larry9510]

The PC runs in normal when I can get it to boot with the F8 key.

It seems to turn off everything except the PC its self during shut-down/Restart. Receive an immediate “No SYNC” on the monitor and no response from keyboard or mouse. Windows does go through its shut down procedures, at least. I then must push & hold the power button until it actually turns off the power.

I attempted to Flash it with BIOS update; however, it apparently is not reading the CD drive even though I can see that it recognizes it during boot. The monitor went crazy and had to back it (Restore) up after mom’s update.

The F8 key doesn’t always work. Some times, when I push the power button to start it, I get the “No SYNC” immediately. May just be a coincidence.

I tried selecting the NVIDIA Boot Agent (try anything) during boot-up and receive a message "No boot filename received". Does that have anything to do with the problem?

[TT4Titans]

Go into your BIOS and change the boot order to just HDD.

The no sync see if there is a driver for the monitor.

[Beastmanh]

Do you hear any 'beeps' when its failing to boot?

Cheers :)

[larry9510]

No beeps. Just sits there like a bump on a log. I have tried to Flash with no success. I set the CD as first boot sys and it appears that the CD is poled during start-up.

[larry9510]

Talk about wierd!! I have the access panel for after I had cleaned it out. I was looking inside (I don't know for what), so I had leaned it against anothe PC. I reached around to hit the power button to see if the fans were operating. Both fans came on (the processor fan the loudest), and it slowed down and the PC booted up without me having to select the F8 key. I haven't found any proken nor loose connections.

However, it was an apparent one thing. Next time it didn't work.

[larry9510]

Getting wierder. PC was still leaning - would not boot again. Hit the power button and fan came on loud, but nothing! I sat the PC back straight, and lo-and-behold it started to boot.

Any suggestions other than shooting it?

[derp]

Hello, just posting to say I had EXACTLY the same problem as the original poster: PC wouldnt boot power at all, so I installed a new PSU, and booting would now give me the CPU and case fan, and the case lights. However, nothing on the monitor, no POST, no system beeps, no error beeps, no sound of hard drives loading....

I got to the point where I ordered a new CPU and motherboard (an upgrade from my original intel socket 478 to an intel socket 775.. I got a dual core at last ;p). However, I still got the same problem. Everything is plugged in correctly, I am sure of that.

But the same problem with 2 different mobos + cpu combinations is fishy.

Is there any chance that itis the PSU?

Here are my system stats:

Intel Pentium Dual Core 2.4GHz
Asrock 4CoreDual (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/141884)
GeForce 6600 GT
Soundblaster Live! sound card
2x Hard Drives
CD/DVD drive
Wireless PCI card
One case fan
Power and LED lights

I have tried unplugging everything from the power - lights, hard drives, all AGP/PCI cards, case fan... as far as I can tell, this still gets me nothing (Removing my RAM does not give me any error beeps... no other beeps, such as no keyboard error...)

What is going on?!

[Beastmanh]

I would try taking out your memory sticks and re-seating them... (just a shot in the dark)

Then I would unplug the power from EVERY piece of hardware that isn't needed to boot up... CD/DVD drives, floppy drives, sd card readers, ANYTHING that is extra. And if you have an after market graphics card, I would take it out and go back to the integrated graphics on the motherboard... at least for the time being. And then unplug ANY external equipment... anything going into a PS2 or USB port INCLUDING printers, monitor, keyboard and mouse. Try and boot it then... Watch the lights on the case and see if it boots.... give it a few minutes and then plug the monitor in to see if it booted. If it does, then you can plug things back in one at a time, (rebooting in between every device) and narrow the problem down to one thing.

Cheers,

~Mike

[Beastmanh]

Definitely sounds like a loose connection. Make sure your ribbon cables are tight into the mobo and the HD's.

~Mike

[derp]

Definitely sounds like a loose connection. Make sure your ribbon cables are tight into the mobo and the HD's.

~Mike

Is this directed at my problem, or larry's? =)

(To both of your posts, I guess!)

[Beastmanh]

Derp, if I were you I would strip the system down to bare minimals like I described earlier. I usually do this anyways when I change out a motherboard. Every time I have just thrown a machine together completely and then booted, there was at least one problem/driver/conflict that had to be resolved... (or maybe im just unlucky lol)

~Mike

[derp]

I have already attempted something like this, and still get the same problem - no beeps, no signal to monitor etc etc

I could probably try a few more times and try some different combinations, but I am not sure this is a 'barebones system' problem.

[Beastmanh]

Derp, does your mobo have built in graphics?

I would take out all of the cards too.. soundblaster, all that extra stuff... Try to get it to boot with only PSU, mobo, and HD. That narrows it down to HD, or bad memory... (since the mobo is new)

[derp]

Sadly no

My first motherboard (read up for the full story behind my pc ;p) did, and I did try removing the graphics card with everything else, and relied on the onboard graphics to try and get a signal, but as far as I could tell, nothing.

But no, my current motherboard does not have onboard graphics.

[Beastmanh]

Derp, considering your situation, I would start pulling out parts from your "busted" machine and testing them in another WORKING machine... To see if everything works individually.

~Mike

[larry9510]

Derp - sorry I got into your problem. I thought we had the same problem; however, I guess not.

Mike - I Have been able to boot using the F8 key. Then when the leaning it over started the boot process it appears there are more underling problems. The last time I booted it I (out of frustion) hit it on top of the case and it started booting.

What connection could be bad; however, allow me to boot with the F8 key?

Beyond my capabilities.

[Beastmanh]

Larry, here is my suspicion. You have a loose connection to one of your hardware devices, which in turn has a corrupt/conflicting driver. My assumption is that the corrupt driver keeps the computer from booting UNLESS you boot in safe mode (which is what booting with F8 is called), OR the loose connection keeps the device hidden from the motherboard. When you boot into safe mode, the computer only loads the drivers that are absolutely necessary for operation. So therefore your problem is 100% (in my opinion) a bad hardware driver. Where the confusing part comes in is the booting normally when you lean it over or hit it (very amusing btw :) ). Which leads me to believe that there is a loose connection to the SAME device that has the bad driver... (ie. when the connection to the device is LOST, the system boots... or when you boot in safe mode causing the system to NOT load the driver for the device, the system boots). I realize this seems to be about the same odds as getting struck by lightening, but this is all I can imagine not having the machine in front of me...

What I would do to start troubleshooting this issue is disconnect everything in the system that isn't needed in the boot process... If it boots I would plug them in, one at a time, and check to see which device prevents the system from booting... If it DOESN'T boot, it HAS to be one of the devices that are still connected, ie. motherboard, Hard Drive, Memory, PSU, Processor... (which is all that should be connected when you start testing) If this is the case, you're only way of testing the remaining hardware is to put it into a working machine. If everything works in another machine, what you are left with is the motherboard. BUT it does NOT seem like your motherboard is bad, considering you can boot in safe mode. You SHOULD find the problem device before you get down to your motherboard :)

You just have to be willing to do A LOT of work ;)

I hope this helps,

~Mike

P.S. I did NOT forget about you Larry, I just had a small down time while driving home from work ;)

[derp]

Hey again,

One thing I noticed when I took my PC down to barebones: When I press the power button, it immediatly powers up.

Not odd, until I point out that with at least most of the other components plugged in, I have to press the button 2-3 times to get the PC to start up, implying perhaps that the PSU is struggling to get the juice needed to start itself, let alone get the CMOS and BIOS POSTing?

It would also be important to point out that my original PSU that blew was a 500w. I replaced it with a 450w PSU when I got the issue with my old motherboard which had a single core P4. It would start up, although the usual no POSTing, with one button press.

But with my new motherboard, along with its dual core CPU, I have to press the button several times.

The more times I go through this, the more times I think it's the PSU simply not providing enough power.

edit: I assume dual-core CPUs use exponentially more power?

If a PSU does not provide the minimal power needed, is this likely to happen? Is my hypothesis on the right track?

I posted a list of my current hardware earlier in the thread - is a 450w adequate for that setup?

Thankyou for any help :)

[derp]

Sorry, but, bump!

I need guidance!

[Beastmanh]

Well for one, yes a dual core will draw more power than a single. The wattage you are drawing with the new setup is close to maxing out a 450W PSU, but it "should" be able to take it.... Unless there is another piece of hardware you forgot to mention.. ie. another cd/dvd drive or anything else. It might be worth trying a higher wattage PSU though. Almost all PSU's are rated at the MAXIMUM power provided by the BEST PSU the company made in that model... so out of a 450W PSU you probably assume it will put out 350W actual power. Which btw is NOT enough to push your machine.. You very well may be right about the PSU not putting out enough power if you happen to get a "bottom of the curve" rated PSU. From the symptoms you've describe I would give it a shot.

Cheers,

~Mike :)

[Gandolph]

I'm facing a very similar problem at the moment, and through my net research (which lead me here) I have discovered that (in my case) there were some Asus motherboards suffering from hairline cracks from manufacture. Apparently, when you lay the machine on its side, the system will boot, but when the tower is upright, it strains the board and causes the no boot fault.
Fans run, HDD initializes, No beeps, dead system until 20+ resets.
I've only just aquired this motherboard second hand, and the system ran fine for a week with no problems, but this morning, it took 30 min's to get the machine booted.
There is also another fault I have read about which will cause this, and that is a faulty BIOS, so I'm going to flash my BIOS first and see if it rectifies the problem. I have an Asus MB asus m2A-vm-hdmi, AMD 4600+ X2 CPU, with 2GB (2*1) DDR2 Kingston RAM, ATI radeon X600 graphics, Seagate 250GB SATA HDD, 500W ps.

Failing that, new MB AU $75.00

Caution : beware when flashing BIOS, it can crash system for good.

Good Luck!

[derp]

I'm facing a very similar problem at the moment, and through my net research (which lead me here) I have discovered that (in my case) there were some Asus motherboards suffering from hairline cracks from manufacture. Apparently, when you lay the machine on its side, the system will boot, but when the tower is upright, it strains the board and causes the no boot fault.
Fans run, HDD initializes, No beeps, dead system until 20+ resets.
I've only just aquired this motherboard second hand, and the system ran fine for a week with no problems, but this morning, it took 30 min's to get the machine booted.
There is also another fault I have read about which will cause this, and that is a faulty BIOS, so I'm going to flash my BIOS first and see if it rectifies the problem. I have an Asus MB asus m2A-vm-hdmi, AMD 4600+ X2 CPU, with 2GB (2*1) DDR2 Kingston RAM, ATI radeon X600 graphics, Seagate 250GB SATA HDD, 500W ps.

Failing that, new MB AU $75.00

Caution : beware when flashing BIOS, it can crash system for good.

Good Luck!

Hey there,

Could you provide any links to sources you found for this apparent manufacturing error? I'd like to know more, and see if it applies to my board (I have an ASRock, which is a branch of Asus I believe?)

Thanks!

[Gandolph]

I have absolutely no idea where I read the information, it was within a forum like this, problem is I spent hours searching for information, and remember what I read, but have no idea where I found it.
Sorry!

I eventually removed my video card, and now my machine boots with no problems.
The funny thing is, I rebuilt a friends machine for him, and he gave me his old MB, CPU, RAM, graphics card, which is all higher spec than what I already had.
His machine had had the PS replaced around 8 times since new, and once out of warranty, the company he purchased it from, told him it was no longer their problem.
He decided to bite the bullet and get new gear, and gave me his old gear, which ran fine for 3 days, then wouldn't boot.
Now it seems fine.

[scottjetton]

Yes the monitor is on and the lights work on the monitor as well the message that scrolls around asking you to check your monitor and plug in.. Something like. The HD blinks one time then the pc acts like it crashed or never booted up from the HD.

Check The Black/siliver plate that look likes Forks. Shake It just a Little bit then Try again It worked for me