hey all,
my parents have decided to buy a cpu so that the main family computer would function. Through testing/checking i figured the problem was the CPU.

My problem now is that they have gone and bought a socket 462 amd sempron 2200+. I inserted it into the mobo and it fits in fine. However, when i go to boot the computer, the computer gets into some kind of loop...the harddrives power up then a second later they stop and power up again/repeat forever. I did a bit of research, and it seems the mobo needs a bios update to be able to support the sempron processor type. Im assuming that i require this bios update before i can run it using the sempron processor? Also, has anyone experienced a similar problem to this in their experience working with computers?

thanks heaps and i hope im not being to vague.

jump on ocau - there's prolly a local who'll help you out (via the n00b forum) with an old duron or something.

you could always take it to a pc store and get the situation sorted. minimum $45 if it's just the bios update. this could get expensive though dude :(

we duron ron ron we duron ron

hey blackey,

Yeah on some motherboards, when something stuffs up and it doesn't boot correctly, they'll automatically reset the bios and then reboot (really handy if you're overclocking). Of course if the bios was already reset when the boot failed, then it just gets stuck in a loop.

To check if you need to update your bios or not, disconnect/remove memory, video card, hard disks, cd-rom, etc. Then double check the pc speaker is hooked up correctly, and try to boot. You should then get a beep code from the m/b complaining about missing RAM/video. If there's no beeping and it still does the loop thing, then yes you'll probably have to update the bios using a different cpu first. If you do get the beeping, then try reconnecting the stuff one by one and see what happens. If you're lucky there'll be jumpers on the motherboard for manually setting the clock rate etc., you could try underclocking it to get it to boot.

r

i got a amd xp2000+ cpu if you wanna buy it. 40$

last edited by WhiteWolf at 01:25:14 11/Dec/05

habib u fool :P

Flashing the bios is really pretty easy, I do it many times everyday at work and these days its virtually impossible to f*** one up unless you reset/turn off the comp while its in the process of flashing.

Every bios flash util I have used checks if the BIOS matches the board model and if not it won't flash and f*** it up.


I have never killed a board doing a flash.


What kind of board is it and I'll have a look at their website and give you some instructions on how to do it.

Sounds like your mobo doesnt support sempron chips.

If you check their website, you can easily see if it is supported, and download a BIOS update if need be. Most old 266 based mobos dont support, and will not support sempron chips with a bios update. So you are best off just checking the manafracuters website to see what the go is.

If only he could get the computer to turn on to do the bios update.

Are you sure your original cpu is dead? I have repaired thousands of computers and to this day I have not come across 1 dead CPU. Not saying it is not possible but CPU's are the toughest part of your system and unlikely to ever fail.

I've had plenty fail when building them :) Repairing them would be a little different though, cause generally if its going to fail it will do so straight out of the box not months later. So if the builders are doing their jobs properly and testing systems properly you would very rarely see them fault.

That said most do actually turn on just f***up in testing later. I think I have only had 1 or 2 out of many hundreds that just make the system do nothing which I'd class as dead.


However I do agree they are generally the least common thing that causes comps to fail, its usually always crappy generic memory or cheap nasty motherboards.


Strangest thing so far has been a faulty modem that completely stopped a PC from posting, just a blank screen and removing it walah computer = alive!

hey rubber - flick me your resume?


koopzy at hotmail dot com

habib u fool :P

hahaha

yeh I have seen a fair few computers not post just because of faulty pci devices. pci modems are great for breaking in lightning storms and stopping the pc from booting.