Motherboard problem...

cman111 · #1 December 31st, 2004, 09:44 PM

Hi, let me start from the beginning. My hard drive crashed and when rebooting, it would just reboot non-stop without ever getting to the end. I removed the hard drive and slipped it in another computer to extract all my info I wanted to keep. So far so good, but when I reinstalled the hard drive the computer wouldn't even reboot... The Bios won'T even come up. How can I fix this problem or can I reinstall a BIOS? Or do i have to do that. I've tried changing the graphics card, i've tried another power supply, i've checked the RAM memory bar and nothing works. Oh, buy the way the fans work and the light on the mother board lights up too. I have a Gigabyte GA-7ZM motherboard with an 850mhz processor.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks alot in advance
cman111

**Snurfen** · #2 December 31st, 2004, 09:55 PM

Welcome to CTH cman111

What does it do without the hdd in? Does it go as far as post?

When it was rebooting repeatedly, how far did it get? (Post, o/s splash screen etc)

cman111 · #3 December 31st, 2004, 10:06 PM

OK, before removing the hard drive, it would reboot to the black screen saying windows XP with the little blue light moving from left to right, then i would get a blue screen for a fraction of a second. I knew i had registry problems because i unplugged the printer while it was rebooting and must of screwed up something. So when I reinstalled the harddrive nothing else was touched. There is carpeting in the room so could static be a cause?? Now when i boot the BIOS doesn't even come on. I've tried it with the hard drive removed and nothing has changed. All the lights seem to be working but it just won't boot. Isn't ther a way to reset the motherboard by moving a jumper pin somewhere?Thanks, cman111

**Snurfen** · #4 January 1st, 2005, 02:21 AM

Yep, there usually is a way of reseting bios. If you have the manual, it'll be in there somewhere. vIf you haven't got a manual, try the gigabyte site (it's a bit of a wierd site, but stick with it), you should find the info there.

You could try the old favourite of removing the mobo battery and leaving it out for a few mins, that'll clear it.

**Spider** · #5 January 1st, 2005, 09:16 PM

Quote:

i unplugged the printer while it was rebooting

That and pulling floppy disks out of the drive while the activity light is still on will blow up the bitmap on the hard drive.

You'll have to reinstall Windows with the partition delete option.

cman111 · #6 January 2nd, 2005, 04:54 AM

Thanks Snurfen, i'll see what I can find out from the site. Sorry for taking so long to reply, had to leave town for the day. I'll get back to you with more details of how it went.
Thanks a million for your help,
cman111

cman111 · #7 January 2nd, 2005, 04:58 AM

I'm sorry Spider but I can't even reinstall because the BIOS doesn't even boot up when I turn on the Computer. That's why I need info on how to reset the BIOS so I can reinstall Windows. Snurfen gave a couple of good suggestions, would you have any more. All is welcome at this stage so feel free to brainstorm if you like.

Thank's, cman111

**Spider** · #8 January 2nd, 2005, 05:16 AM

Have you tried booting to a win98 or winME floppy?

Right near the battery is a jumper. Three pins, the shunt (the plastic thingy)
is over two pins...lift it out and make it connect on the other pin and the center pin then move it back to where it was originally. This clears the CMOS (bios).

p.s.

The link to the winME bootdisk is from http://www.bootdisk.com

cman111 · #9 January 2nd, 2005, 07:16 PM

Hey Spider, IO've tried with an original ME bootdisk but when I turn on the computer, it doesn't even detect the floppy disk. Absolutly nothing comes on the screen. The only thing I see is the tree colored sign bouncing around saying that the monitor is working but no signal from the computer what so ever. Once the cmos is cleared, what do i have to do to reinstall the BIOS or CMOS. And by the way, there is no jumper pin with tree pins at all on the motherboard. I also got the manual for it at Gigabyte.com but it only shows how to use the BIOS when in a working state and says nothing about resetting it. I've even tried replacing the RAM, emptying everything out except the graphics card. The only thing I havn't changed are the IDE ribbons. Could that be a factor?
Thanks, cman111

**Spider** · #10 January 3rd, 2005, 01:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cman111

there is no jumper pin with tree pins...manual for it...says nothing about resetting it

Do what Snurfen said, pull the battery out and leave it out for a few minutes (5 max). Pulling the battery
does the same thing.

If your computer is over 5 years old (not when you bought it, when it was made) don't put the
battery back in just go buy a new one for $5.00.