Fans run, everything else unresponsive - Page 2

dmoldovan · 05-09-2008, 01:41 PM

Did you try the "Clear CMOS" thing ?

Dark Jedi · 05-14-2008, 08:04 AM

Yes, I did, if you mean taking the battery out for a few minutes. I did that a couple of times on different days. No effect, but thanks for the reply. Is there another way to clear CMOS?

dmoldovan · 05-14-2008, 11:14 AM

Well, usually, a clear CMOS means, changing the Realtime cluck jumper from position 1-2 to position 2-3, while the PC is disconnected from the wall outlet.

You can avoid moving the jumper abovementioned, and instead taking out the battery. But, in this case I suggest that you put in shortcircuit the two metallic poles within the battery socket, which are visible after you remove the battery.

dai · 05-14-2008, 11:42 AM

turn the computer off
remove the power lead from the back
take the side off
remove the cmos battery
move the cmos jumper from pins 1 and 2 to pin 2 and 3 and the back to pins 1 and 2
replace the battery
put the side on
replug in the power lead
boot the computer

Puertus · 05-14-2008, 02:23 PM

Hi there,
please keep me updated if you could solve this problem. I have the same issue with my computer ( gateway, same than emachines ), it was in stand by and only fan runs now. I have tried all the suggestions posted here and nothing.
I have removed the battery from bios and nothing.

maybe is the motherboard, but gateway computers have an exclusive design, and I can not find a cheap one but only the original.
Thanks:

dmoldovan · 05-15-2008, 04:31 AM

After re-reading the entire post, something just popped into my mind:
It could be the BIOS itself. You just might need to re-flash the BIOS.
The fact that the PC does check the floppy if inserted at boot time, points me to that direction.
There are several ways to flash the BIOS in such cases, depending on the BIOS manufacturer.

If you had an AWARD BIOS, the procedure is pretty simple:
1. identify the BIOS image on the PC manufacturer's site
2. make a system floppy disk
3. find the flasher utility for the BIOS
4. edit or create the file a:\autoexec.bat to contain a line like this:
flash_program /[switches] bios_image

the switches are different from a flashing program to another, BUT, what you should try to accomplish is that:
make the utility to auto-answer "YES" to any questions it might ask the user. That is because in these situations, you don't see the screen (it's blank) and you usually cannot use the keyboard.

the switches should be found in the readme.txt that accompanies the flasher program.

Good luck

However, I don't know exactly how to perform the flashing of the BIOS in these circumstances if it is not an AWARD/Phoenix BIOS

PS: if you need further guidance, i'll try to provide it for you

Dark Jedi · Yesterday, 11:43 AM

I actually did think about flashing the BIOS, but I don't know how to do that without anything on the monitor and with unresponsive drives.

05-09-2008, 01:41 PM	#21 (permalink)
dmoldovan Registered User Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Romania Posts: 30 OS: Win XP SP3; Vista Ultimate 32 bit My System	Re: Fans run, everything else unresponsive Did you try the "Clear CMOS" thing ?

05-14-2008, 08:04 AM	#22 (permalink)
Dark Jedi Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 12 OS: xp	Re: Fans run, everything else unresponsive Yes, I did, if you mean taking the battery out for a few minutes. I did that a couple of times on different days. No effect, but thanks for the reply. Is there another way to clear CMOS?

05-14-2008, 11:14 AM	#23 (permalink)
dmoldovan Registered User Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Romania Posts: 30 OS: Win XP SP3; Vista Ultimate 32 bit My System	Re: Fans run, everything else unresponsive Well, usually, a clear CMOS means, changing the Realtime cluck jumper from position 1-2 to position 2-3, while the PC is disconnected from the wall outlet. You can avoid moving the jumper abovementioned, and instead taking out the battery. But, in this case I suggest that you put in shortcircuit the two metallic poles within the battery socket, which are visible after you remove the battery. __________________ Regards, Dan

05-14-2008, 11:42 AM	#24 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 35,879 OS: vista 32x ultimate retail	Re: Fans run, everything else unresponsive turn the computer off remove the power lead from the back take the side off remove the cmos battery move the cmos jumper from pins 1 and 2 to pin 2 and 3 and the back to pins 1 and 2 replace the battery put the side on replug in the power lead boot the computer __________________

05-14-2008, 02:23 PM	#25 (permalink)
Puertus Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 2 OS: windows xp	Re: Fans run, everything else unresponsive Hi there, please keep me updated if you could solve this problem. I have the same issue with my computer ( gateway, same than emachines ), it was in stand by and only fan runs now. I have tried all the suggestions posted here and nothing. I have removed the battery from bios and nothing. maybe is the motherboard, but gateway computers have an exclusive design, and I can not find a cheap one but only the original. Thanks: Last edited by Puertus : 05-14-2008 at 02:25 PM.

05-15-2008, 04:31 AM	#26 (permalink)
dmoldovan Registered User Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Romania Posts: 30 OS: Win XP SP3; Vista Ultimate 32 bit My System	Re: Fans run, everything else unresponsive After re-reading the entire post, something just popped into my mind: It could be the BIOS itself. You just might need to re-flash the BIOS. The fact that the PC does check the floppy if inserted at boot time, points me to that direction. There are several ways to flash the BIOS in such cases, depending on the BIOS manufacturer. If you had an AWARD BIOS, the procedure is pretty simple: 1. identify the BIOS image on the PC manufacturer's site 2. make a system floppy disk 3. find the flasher utility for the BIOS 4. edit or create the file a:\autoexec.bat to contain a line like this: flash_program /[switches] bios_image the switches are different from a flashing program to another, BUT, what you should try to accomplish is that: make the utility to auto-answer "YES" to any questions it might ask the user. That is because in these situations, you don't see the screen (it's blank) and you usually cannot use the keyboard. the switches should be found in the readme.txt that accompanies the flasher program. Good luck However, I don't know exactly how to perform the flashing of the BIOS in these circumstances if it is not an AWARD/Phoenix BIOS PS: if you need further guidance, i'll try to provide it for you __________________ Regards, Dan Last edited by dmoldovan : 05-15-2008 at 04:34 AM.

Yesterday, 11:43 AM	#27 (permalink)
Dark Jedi Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 12 OS: xp	Re: Fans run, everything else unresponsive I actually did think about flashing the BIOS, but I don't know how to do that without anything on the monitor and with unresponsive drives.