[jr2]

Already done that; first thing.  I also tried the hold power + reset buttons, then let power go and keep holding reset for 15 seconds, as this is also supposed to clear DFI CMOS'es.  No go.

[diceman111]

Already done that; first thing.  I also tried the hold power + reset buttons, then let power go and keep holding reset for 15 seconds, as this is also supposed to clear DFI CMOS'es.  No go.

Hmm ok here are a few other things you could do aswell

- Thretening it with a burning stick (note: please do this outside since its a fire hazard)
- Yelling at it
- Insulting its mother (this one especilly works well for socket A motherboards since they are a bit touchy when it comes to their family)
- Pouring Coca Cola in it
- Yelling at it some more
- Hitting it (Note: some items in the case are sharp)

Just a few things you can try ....... however after you have treied this you normally get a working computer ....... since you must get a new one


/Dice

[peterc10]

i find people who flash anything are either brave or stupid. im neither

[jr2]

...Or obsessed with having the most features in their BIOS...

[diceman111]

...... Or getting new hardware to work with their motherboard ..... my Geforce 7950GX2 still dosent work properly with my Asus P5B Deluxe mother board.

[jr2]

Hmm, if anyone runs across a DFI PT880 ALF mobo used or new for cheap, let me know... that way I won't have to re-install M$ winDOwS all over again.   Too bad there was no integrated recovery feature, or it would have been back on-line within an hour or two...

[diceman111]

Hmm, if anyone runs across a DFI PT880 ALF mobo used or new for cheap, let me know... that way I won't have to re-install M$ winDOwS all over again.   Too bad there was no integrated recovery feature, or it would have been back on-line within an hour or two...

Well sometimes you can change the motherboard and still have the same Windows XP installation, if it manages to start you must first uninstall all old drivers the first thing oyu do then install the new one

[jr2]

...That's true, but I've never been able to successfully do that.  (Besides once; and then, it was so screwed up that I ended up just re-formatting and installing again.)  You have to boot into Safe Mode usually (unless your hardware is almost identical).  Even then, if you have a different chipset (I think), it won't work unless you screw around with your system32 & registry... which is next to impossible from the Recovery Console.  UBCD4Win might be able to do that; I haven't tried before.

[Nix]

This MAY work, then again it may not...  I know on my old MSI Socket754 motherboard I had, had a neat little trick.  I believe that if you turned off the system, held down a certain key combination, turned on the system, if there were any low-level BIOS left in the system, it would scan the floppy drive and/or CD drive for a BIOS image, and automatically apply it.  You'd hear the PC Speaker beep after it was done.  This might not apply to your board, but if you perhaps poke around the manufacturer's forums, you might find something like that. 

I thought the key combination was F4+Delete, but it's been three years since I had to do that last and I couldn't tell you if it'd work or not.  Besides, mine was an MSI, might be different for a DFI board.

[jr2]

What was your chipset?  If it's the same, maybe... Chipset?  Is that the part that would determine this?  Oh, and what was the BIOS, AWARD?

[diceman111]

Just a stupid question you might already have answered it already but have you tried flashing it with a floppy disk?????

[MP-Ryan]

Just a stupid question you might already have answered it already but have you tried flashing it with a floppy disk?????

He'll only be able to do that if the BIOS is still slightly functional and is set to boot to floppy.

From what it sounds like, the BIOS is dead, meaning it won't even detect the floppy's presence.

[jr2]

...right.  You turn the comp on.  Nothing turns on except the hard disks spinning up, and the lights I have installed in the case.  No monitor, no beeps, no hard disk head moving besides the initial warm up.  Essentially, it acts like the motherboard isn't even there, except the fans plugged into the mobo do work.

[diceman111]

Ok tried with unplugged harddrives and/Or cd/dvd drives?
Taken out and reinstalled the ram?

[jr2]

Hmm, no; it was working perfectly; the only thing I did was flash the BIOS & restart... instant death.

[diceman111]

Yes but sometimes when your motherboard dosent respond it can "reset" itself if it notice that the harddrives / memory models have changed, this depends on how far the BIOS get in the startup sequense before it freezes, I would recomend you first try unplugging all HDD and DVD/CD drivers and starting it, if nothing happens try removing some of the memory (or if you have say 4 memory slots and only use 2 try the other 2) this can cause the BIOS to start and enable you to enter setup and perhaps be able to reset the CMOS from there.

Note this might also not work but if you have tried everything else then maybe.......

/Dice

[jr2]

Ok, I'll try that... But I don't have much hope

[MP-Ryan]

Ok, I'll try that... But I don't have much hope

Did you try yanking all the devices but the mobo and CPU to see if you get POST error codes?  That'll tell you at least if the BIOS is partially intact.