PC boot problems/will not post

[Bunik]

Hello All,

Here are my specs first:

Intel PIII 1ghtz
Asus CUSL2 Motherboard
Bios Revision 1009
128MB

This problem started sometime last week. I turned on my pc and the only thing that seemed to work were the two CD drives that I have. There was no beep, and no other noises except for the fans were made. All I get on the monitor was a blinking cursor on the upper left corner.

After resetting, i get the same problem. So I turned off and turned on again. This time my pc posted and booted up into the Bios set up menu in safe mode. It claims that there was an improper Internal CPU frequency set that was causing problems booting up. So I set basically everything to it's "default" settings. Still nothing. I go back into the BIOS set up and this time i set the FSB settings to the following:

FSB: SDRAM: PCI RATIO 66:100:33

The same was set for the frequency setting. Now the pc posts and boots up normally, however my system is only running at 500 mhtz...so basically half of what it is supposed to be running.

I'm not sure why this is happening. At first I thought it was due to overheating, but even when i have the pc cool off for 24 hours, it still has no effect to it.

Any help would be deeply appreciated. Please let me know if you need any further additional information.

Thanks.

-Rene

 

[Jakespeare]

ASUS CUSL2-C information from ASUS:

The ASUS CUSL2-C Mainboard is based on the new Intel® 815EP chipset with ATX form factor for the latest support in Intel® Pentium® III Coppermine 450~1GHz+, and FC-PGA Celeron™ 533~766+MHz processors (No support for PPGA Celerons). This magnificent chipset is equipped with 133MHz Front Side Bus (FSB) and provided support for PC133/PC100 SDRAM, AGP 4X, and ultra-fast UDMA/100 Bus Master IDE.


So, I suspect that your CPU should be running at 133 Mhz FSB. At 133 MHz FSB your CPU runs at 1000 MHz. At 66 MHz it runs at half that speed, so 500 MHz.

When you went into the BIOS, you didn't set up your computer settings correctly.

Grab your manual, or Download the manual from ASUS, and go back into the BIOS and correctly set up the CPU and SDRAM settings.

PCI - 33 MHz
AGP - 66 MHz
CPU - 133 MHz
SDRAM - 133 MHz

> This is what you posted from above. (the wrong settings)
FSB: SDRAM: PCI RATIO 66:100:33

They should be as I posted above:

FSB: 133 SDRAM: 133 PCI: 33

or FSB: SDRAM: PCI RATIO 133:133:33

Confirm this by checking your manual.

There is also the possibility that your CPU is a 100 MHz model, but I doubt that, or it would have been booting up at 667 instead. However, you should verify this.
Pop the fan off the CPU and read what it says if you really have to know this.

 

[Bunik]

Hi,

Actually, the settings that is listed above is the only settings that will allow me to use my pc at the moment. I've had my pc running on the appropriate setting for many months now, and this situation only happened last week.

I have not made any changes to My BIOS settings at all, and this just started to happen without any warning.

The problem here, at it's default settings (133MHZ FSB) the pc will not post at all and will not boot up. All i get are the problems that I have listed above.

Hope this helps further. I appreciate any help that can be given.

 

[Jakespeare]

Well, back to the manual.

Disable the JUMPERLESS, and set the mainboard up using the jumpers.

> First I would suggest this though:
Remove the CPU. Check what it says on it, to make sure it is indeed the 7.5 x 133 FSB model. (and not the 10 X 100 MHz model of P-III).
This will also reseat the CPU.
Clean the top of the CPU & the base of the heatsink / fan, and get some heat compound / heatsink grease and apply a thin layer.


> Now you know that you have reseated the CPU.

> Using the manual, try the jumper settings method, and set up your CPU & RAM settings.

> If this doesn't work, you could try to RE-SET the CMOS.
*** READ THE MANUAL.
The key is, have the power UNPLUGGED from the wall.
(it will be a simple jumper, or two little solder spots on the mainboard that you have to short to reset the CMOS).

I will check back.

 

[Bunik]

Hello, me again!

Thanks for the further info.

The problem is that I wasn't the one who placed the processor and motherboard together, also the fan. So when I attempted to see if I could remove it...i couldn't. But this is what I did:

Basically, i disonnected everything, and placed everything back again. For the cpu, i did pull on that lever and then placed it back and made sure that everything was secured in place. When I re-connected everything back together and plugged it in to turn it on...everything started working. My BIOS menu stated that it recognized that i either installed a new cpu or just reset it and to make sure that all settings are correct. So I placed everything at it's default and restarted. Everything loaded up at full power and seemed to be all fine! I had the computer running for a little while since it was detecting "new" hardware...I guess since I unplugged everything...and then it asked me to restart...then....

BOOM! same problems as before.

So basically, i'm running it back to 500mghtz again.

I really don't know what else I can do at this point. I'm not the familiar with how to work the cpu and/or motherboard that well...so any further help would be greatly appreciated.

-Rene

 

[Jakespeare]

I guess, my suggestion is, to take it to a professional.

Have the CMOS reset.
Have the BIOS flashed to the newest version. *** UPDATE **
You have the 1009 - which Asus says is the latest version for the CUSL2-C.
*** NEW BATTERY in the mainboard. This effectively resets the CMOS settings. That is a good option. The little batteries can be bought anywhere, like Fred Myers, or any camera shop.
** COMPUTER MUST BE UNPLUGGED FROM WALL to replace the battery.

You could take a record of your posts here, and print them out for diagnosis purposes, and hand that to any prospective tech.
I have had to take back ASUS mainboards that have failed,
just because they cost about the most, doesn't mean they are trouble free. They ain't.

 

[Bunik]

Hello Jakespeare,

Thanks a lot of all of your help. I'm more then likely going to have to take this to a pro anyway.

One more questions though. In going with motherboards for let's say for a P4 set-up, which board would you highly recommend? And what about a good AMD setup? Just wanted to know further options and such.

Thanks again!

 

[Jakespeare]

Ok.
I will Talk the Walk:

I can, and do, have any kind of computer that I want. (since I build them for a living).

Currently, I own a Pentium 4 2 GHz Northwood.
* MAINBOARD * ASUS P4T-E Intel i850 / RAMBUS

* AMD ATHLON *
> I am building a new, premium state-of-the-art Athlon XP computer starting on Monday........
* Chipset = KT333
* DDR RAM = DDR 333 (same price almost as 266)
** MAINBOARD ** ASUS A7V333
** HD = Maxtor D740X - 7200 RPM ATA/133
*** NOTE: Power Supply is *Critical* ..... make darn sure you get one that is on the AMD approved list:

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_756_759^1039^1053,00.html

For your parts:

http://www.newegg.com

Best prices when you consider honest shipping prices,
and very dependable (they know how to pack hard drives,and are not cheap with the bubble wrap).