So -- what should I check next?

[struggle4progress]

A while back, as a lark, I decided to see how fast a machine I could build without spending too much money

Thought I did ok. It hasn't been booted all that often. I've futzed around with it some: every now and then, I try to see if I can come up with a trick to make it a bit faster, including playing with different OS. Latest idea was to see if I could RAID5 some small cheap SSDs for a speed up

So, I crack the case open: disconnect the three existing drives and the optical, SATA and power. In the course of this, I accidentally disconnected and reconnected the beepcode speaker. Connect the four SSDs to new SATA cables and to the power -- and now the damn thing won't boot at all

I looked up the beep code -- approximately: beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep PAUSE beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep PAUSE ... ad nauseam -- but frankly I never trust the beep codes: it suggests a power problem. I've disconnected the monitor and keyboard and mouse, pulled out the SSDs, disconnected most of the fans, double-checked the two power connectors to the mobo &c. I guess I can pull the graphics card, reseat the memory, then try about psu -- but that's a pain, cuz I neatly cable-tied everything down during the original build

psu fan is turning and mobo diodes are lit. cpu and memory fans were turning, though I've pulled the memory fan

what the hell should I be looking for?

[PoliticAverse]

1. Pull and reseat memory and all cards. n/t

[struggle4progress]

4. Yep. That's on my list now.

Thanx

[Duer 157099]

2. First thing I would try is the mobo battery

Just take it out for a minute and then put it back and see what happens.

Next thing I would try is to reset the bios (there are usually some jumpers on the mobo, but you'll need the mobo documentation to find it)

[struggle4progress]

3. I wouldn't have thought of that! I have all the mobo docs

Thanx

[PoliticAverse]

5. Unplugging the computer and removing the battery for a few minutes should cause the BIOS to be reset

[lastlib]

6. It should reset to factory defaults. You may have to do some manual resetting...

...for your configuration, system time/date, etc.

[HopeHoops]

7. The beep codes are tied directly to the BIOS. Which one is installed?

[struggle4progress]

8. It's some version of the Award BIOS -- whatever came with the mobo originally

I never reflashed it. Mobo manual has a list of beep codes: suggested interpretation seemed at first to be power problem. But sometimes there's an additional beep-speaker-screech now that's continuous and may be some alarm. I'm not sure what it is though

I built the machine about 2 years ago, have hardly used it. Was trying to put Gentoo on it for a while, but had trouble in Gentoo associated with the software raid

Right now I get the memory error beep if I pull all the ram. Then I have trouble getting it to post when I add ram back in. When it seems to boot, adding the graphics card back gimps everything. Can't use a monitor without the graphics card

Tried resetting the CMOS by jumper, by onboard reset switch, and by removing battery for several hours

About to do a complete teardown and breadboard, building up from scratch and maybe trying a different power supply

[grok]

9. You probably did this but....

perhaps something IS shorted. In particular, a memory stick/slot or graphics card. I have a laptop with a fried slot that acts the same(T30)

You shouldn't need all the memory to boot or post. I would try a stick at a time in different slots. best bet would be a slot that you hadn't used before.

As far as a graphics card, maybe a cheapie off of craigslist would suffice. for testing purposes.

Doing this of course bare bones. no power/cables to drives.

[struggle4progress]

10. yep. tried each stick of ram separately in each slot

[HopeHoops]

11. Just a thought. The motherboard battery (the 1/4" disk) is often the cause. They die.

[struggle4progress]

12. I replaced the CR2032 lithium battery after pulling the old one to reset everything last week

Is that what you mean? It's nearly 1" across and about 1/8" thick

[HopeHoops]

13. A CR2032 is a good start. It didn't change the behavior? Hmm.

Okay. Try with no hard drive and two SIMMS (or DIMMS if that's what you use). Just get it to boot the the "WHAT THE FUCK DO I DO NOW?" stage. If you can get it there, you've got hope. Use different combinations of available memory chips. Do NOT change more than one thing at a time. If you change one thing, you know what changed. If you change more than one you can't be sure.

On Edit: With a CR2032, that indicates you might have a floppy connection. Try that before a hard drive. It doesn't matter what version of what OS you boot into. It's a shitload easier to diagnose with a hard-wired floppy.