Win 98SE won't boot

I have an old system running Win 98SE which I would like to get up and running again. It used to power up with no problems. One day I tried it out and it would not boot. The power indicator is on, but nothing happens. Where do I start troubleshooting to fix the problem.

 

Something may be overloading the power supply. Try removing the power connector from each disk drive in turn and see what happens (boot from a floppy when the HD is disconnected). Also try removing non-essential cards.

 

Hi Ace,

Do you see any lights flash for the drives?

Can you hear fans spinning?

Nothing happens on the screen? (not from what you say )

I agree it might be a power supply problem.

Shock therapy...remove the RAM stick(s)...it should start "beeping" when you start it. No beeps, PSU or motherboard problem.

It may need to have the CMOS reset (by jumpers, or it will happen when you change the CMOS battery)

After that, it is generally a matter of borrowing/swapping parts until you find the problem.

Matt
PS It has been sitting around for a while? Open the case and "reseat" all the connections.
If you are interested in the hardware side read here:
www.pcguide.com (he has a troubleshooting guide)
Windows only relates to what happens after you see the Windows screen, before the Windows screen the machine is loading the hardware (usually you hear one beep when the hardware is loaded successfully).

 

Not necessarily. I've just had this problem on three PCs. On one I condemned the motherboard and stuck the machine in the loft, though I didn't realise the battery could prevent start-up (thank you Steve) so I'm going to try that. On another I'm pretty sure the battery has just died because eventually the machine starts and tells the wrong time. So my money is on the battery. But a word of caution. On the third machine the evidence pointed at the power supply, albeit with a big "why" which I couldn't answer. So I bought and fitted a new power supply. I hit the t*t, the machine sprung into life, and just as I was congratulating myself on a correct diagnosis there was a loud crack and everything went quiet. The new PSU was dead as a dodo. Then I remembered I had an old AT power supply sitting around doing nothing useful. Using it I discovered that the DVD drive was drawing way too much current (the HD and floppy drive turned out to be dead too). Of course, being otherwise completely useless the AT power supply survived (thanks to proper over-current protection). So if changing the battery and a bit of card jiggling doesn't fix it, tread very carefully.

Oh, BTW, the owner of the third machine later told me that there were brown scorch marks round the mains (USA: line) socket the PC had been plugged in to .

 

Changed the battery (placed a NEW one), no difference. Disconnected the DVD, got a beep but nothing happened. Reconnected the DVD, powered up and DVD light comes on as it should but the floppy drive does NOT light and the HD does not come on. Fan comes on and works just fine. Tried to power up with only the floppy drive connected and the light did not come on. Connected everything, then powered up again, floppy light still does not come on. No DOS post startup display.

 

This sort of problem is best tackled with a voltmeter. I don't suppose you have one do you? Without one you not only don't know if all the voltages are right, you also don't know what is trustworthy so you can substitute known good components.

The floppy drive light wont come on unless the motherboard springs into life. I suspect the 12V line is OK, since the fan is working (do all the fans come on?).

The next thing I need to know is if the machine is AT or ATX. AT machines have a thick (usually black) cable that runs from the power supply to the on-off switch on the front panel.

 

Form Factor is ATX. Only one fan and it works.

Here's what happened. System used to work but was getting sluggish. I decided it was time to reinstall Win 98SE. Inserted the boot floppy and was about to format the HD when it suddly went out (it just cut off completely). Removed floppy and tried to boot. At that time sometimes it would boot other times it wouldn't (just as it does now). For the past few months, when I would try out the machine, it's been doing what it does now absolutely nothing.

 

Think I messed it up more. I was trying to reset the CMOS and moved a jumper (JBAT1...not even sure if this is the correct one) to another position. Now it won't come on at all. Even when I put the jumper back where it was, no light, no fan zilch....DEAD.

Motherboard is VIA VT82C686A

 

The bad news is that ATX is much harder to fault trace than AT, and since this machine sounds very elderly (no processor fan) you have to ask yourself if it's worth the effort. With Win98 and a DVD drive, it's like fitting low profile tyres to a Reliant Robin and filling the back with rubble. I have a friend who has just bought a second-hand c500MHz machine complete with 17" monitor for 100 pounds sterling. Personally I would keep the old machine for spare parts and stick the DVD drive on something that would appreciate it. But just in case you want to persue this...

Does the fan and the DVD light come on when you press the button or when you connect the power cord?

The power supply fan is working, but this may be on a dedicated 12V supply, so we don't know if the main 12V is working. Do you have a fan, that you can plug into the disk drive power supply connectors, and if so, does it spin up?

Do you have an old AT power supply you don't mind getting trashed? We need to check out that HD.

 

As I stated in the post before this one, since I moved that jumper, nothing happens, no lights nothing. It's dead as a door knob.

 

Yeah - your post came in while I was posting. Your choices are limited. You need to establish which components are working, one by one, and that is especially tricky with ATX as there is a feedback mechanism between the power supply and the motherboard. Since you appear to have no test equipment, there is little you can do. I would not recommend connecting suspect components to a machine you need - you may end up with two door knobs.

 

I think the power supply has finally died. Can you borrow another to try? Sometimes the power cables are long enough that you can sit the two machines side by side (or on top of the other) and stretch the cables across.

If it works you could buy a generic PSU for it (although I have replaced my cheapskate friend's one twice, you get what you pay for). Worth it??

Matt

 

A bit off topic, but it is good to know...

VT82C686A is a chipset model number. Do a search of the motherboard, the model number should be printed somewhere on the "board" itself (although I have searched my current (Gigabyte) motherboard and cannot see it, it may be under the CPU heatsink). Places to look are between the PCI slots, in the corners and beside the CPU.
Put the motherboard model number into a Google search, you may find some interesting reading (maybe about your problem). If you get it going search out the motherboard drivers, manual, etc, etc. Good fun (I reckon)

Matt

 

Fun? Fun? No, this is fun (I bumped into this yesterday evening whilst searching the net for something work-related). Take care with that power supply, Ace, or your PC might do this .

 

LOL. That's one "heck" of a power supply for that.

 

Yes Ace, see what can happen by fooling around

Also suggest you get the manual before moving jumpers around next time. If you have the manual you can blow it up a whole lot quicker

Matt

 

Hope you can laugh about it Ace. I've had a few "Gee, I wish I'd read the manual" before as well. If it is smoked you may have to chalk it up to experience.

Matt

 

At this point I don't really mind if I messed up the mobo. I've been kind of wanting to try my hand at putting together a systmen myself rather than paying the labor cost to someone else. This would be just a back up system for me with win 98SE.

 

Those "power supplies" were rated at around 1,000,000V and, to judge from the cables, could deliver peak currents of the order of 500A. But I guess that's what you would expect from "power supplies" called "Bride of Frankenstein" and "Destruct-O-Tron ". I once did some lightning testing for a company I worked for, and it was nowhere near as exciting.

Since you fancy a bit of frying tonight, I would agree with mattman when he suggested changing the power supply. I suggest you start with the disk drives and non-essential cards disconnected. If all is OK, add them back one at a time and be prepared to switch off fast (yank the plug out or use the mechanical switch on the power supply, if it has one). However, do take a close look at the electronics on each component first. You may get lucky and spot something that's clearly been way too hot. Best of luck.

Oh yeah, I keep meaning to say that that jumper you moved almost certainly is the "CMOS clear" jumper.