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Answer» I just built a new computer and the first time i booted i was able to get into the bios, i changed one setting and when i tried to save it froze. I tried again and it froze when i pressed delete to get into bios. I got into bios settings again on the third try and tried uploading the failsafe cmos but it froze again when i tried doing that....now it just plain freezes up when i press delete to get into the bios settings! I've built one computer before and that went smoothly so I don't have a lot of experience troubleshooting these things....where should i start? Or should i just send back the MOBO while i can?Need more info: what kind of processor?
If its AMD perhaps you haven't secured the heat sink well enough.
That's just a guess though.The motherboard is a Gigabyte x38 ds4 and the processor is a intel q3450Have to start with the basics then:
Disconnect everything but monitor and keyboard.
Try the bios. If it hangs, then re-seat the memory. Make sure its in all the way, its a bit tricky.
No dice? Try clearing the cmos.
Last resort, try reseating the cpu. It's unlikely, but possible its not making good contact.
When you unlatch the cpu and PULL it out, look at the pins in the socket to see if any are bent. Its really easy to bend them by accident. I did it on one of my systems. I used a knife to straighten them out and the system is working fine. Its not easy to straighten them so be careful if you have to straighten them out.
Let me know how this goes.I tried everything you suggested and no dice although i dont know if it's of any importance but it seems like the system works longer before freezing now(1 min compared to 30 sec before). All of the pins in the socket look fine and I was able to sit and watch the cpu temp for the 30-45 sec i was in bios and it stayed right around 27 C. I switched my ram to the other two slots just in case that could be causing anything and I unplugged everything not crucial to the motherboard. Have any other ideas?I'm just GUESSING now. Sorta thinking out loud.
Can you try other memory?
I wonder if it will boot long enough to run memtest86.
You could check the mobo manufacturer and see if there's a bios update. Its possible (but unlikely) that the motherboard bios has issues.
There's a problem though. If you can't boot to CD or floppy you might not be able to reprogram the bios safely. It would seriously suck to get part way through reflashing and have it lock up. The system could become unbootable.
So, try this:
1. Let the system boot the windows CD and see if it hangs while doing that.
2. if it seems like it wants to install you can try to install but keep in mind it might all go to *censored*. I suggest you skip this step.
3. find out what version of bios you have (its listed on the boot screen and should be, but sometimes isn't, listed in the system info screen of the bios setup page.)
4. Visit the mobo manufacturer's web page and see what the latest version is. Please note: I have a cheapy motherboard who has the latest bios on their European web site (UK) but not on the US site, so look around and make sure you find the latest.
5. If the bios version on the mobo manufacturer's web site is newer than the one on your board, make a windows XP boot floppy and then put the new bios on another floppy.
6. Then boot the windows floppy, swap floppies and ...
7. MAKE SURE THE SYSTEM IS STABLE FOR A WHILE. I don't know how to do that other than letting it sit and running dir a few times.
8. If all seems good, then go ahead and flash the bios.
This could be the problem if the mobo can't handle quad cores or if some other bios issue is causing the hang.
You can also read the BIOS release notes on the mobo manufacturer's web site to see if they specifically mention your CPU...
Let me know what you decide to do. Its starting to sound like a bad mother board or possibly memory.
My cpu is under the support list. I don't have access to any other memory i could try out and the way its acting i don't think there's any chance that the system would run long enough to risk flashing the bios.....I think i may just send it back for a replacement and if the same thing happens I'll have to resort to that. I remember reading under newegg reviews(a diff mobo than mine) that they had a support problem with quad cores on their board and they were lucky enough to have a diff processor that worked so they were able to pop that in and flash the bios like that....now if i could just get my hands on another core 2 processor hahQuote from: wd1020 on August 28, 2008, 11:37:09 AM I remember reading under newegg reviews(a diff mobo than mine) that they had a support problem with quad cores on their board and they were lucky enough to have a diff processor that worked so they were able to pop that in and flash the bios like that....now if i could just get my hands on another core 2 processor hah
I think I saw the very same post.
If you have two sticks of ram you could try running with just one in the primary slot and see if that makes a difference.
Did you check to see if a bios is available? Just because it says it supports it, doesn't MEAN there wasn't a bug.Well i read all the reviews for my board and some ppl reported having similar problems so I think I'm just going to return it and hope that's the problem. If not my guess would be the bios or the ram and I'll have to deal with it than. One last question for you....i bought the cpu from Fry's and they have a 15 day return policy but by the time i get my board it will be past 15 days. Do you think i should swap it out while i still can just on the offchance it is my cpu? Thanks for all your help by the way.The safe thing is to return it, let them check it and get your money back. Then buy another one when the mobo is replaced.
But that's unethical, I wouldn't do it.
I can tell you that unless you did something dramatically wrong, the odds of that processor being dead are REALLY low. intel processors are really hard to kill unless you way way over voltage them.
If it were me, I'd wait for the new motherboard and then if the proc is dead, I'd RMA it to intel.
Ok well im not an expert but i don't think there's anything wrong with the processor and now that you've said there's a really low PROBABILITY of it being dead im almost positive the cpu is fine. Thanks for all the help Raydude....hopefully i wont be posting again in a few weeks hah.
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