PC
TROUBLESHOOTING
AND
REPAIR
This section of the manual is
designed to help you with
problems that you may
encounter with your personal
computer. To efficiently
troubleshoot your system, treat
each problem individually. This is
to ensure an accurate diagnosis
of the problem in case a problem
has multiple cases:
Some of the most common things to check when you
encounter problems while your using system are listed
below:
1. The power switch of each peripheral device is turned on.
2. All cables and power cords are tightly connected.
3. The electrical outlet to which your peripheral devices
are connected is working. Test the outlet by plugging in
a lamp or other electrical device.
4. The monitor is turned on.
5. The display’s brightness and contrast controls are
adjusted properly.
All add-in board you have installed is designed for your
system and is set up correctly.
STARTING UP YOUR COMPUTER
1. After all connections are made, close your computer
case cover.
2. Be sure all the switch are of, and check that the
power input voltage is set to proper position, usually
input voltage is 220V~240V or 110V~120V
depending
on your country’s voltage used.
3. Connect the power supply cord into the power supply
located on the back of your system case according to
your system user’ manual.
4. Turn on your peripheral as following order:
a. Your monitor
b. Other external peripheral (Printer, Scanner,
External Modem etc…)
c. Your system power. (check if AT or ATX)
5. The power LED on the front panel of the system
case will light. The LED on the monitor may light up
or switch between orange and green after the
system is on.
If you do not see any thing within 30 seconds from the
time you turn the power. The system may have failed
on power-on self test. Recheck your jumper setting
and connections or may the Mainboard is grounded
with case.
6. During power-on, press <Delete> key to enter BIOS
setup. Follow the instructions in BIOS SETUP.
7. Power off your computer: You must first exit or
shutdown your operating system before switch off
the power switch.
Beep Meaning
One short beep when No error during POST
displaying logo
Long beeps in an endless No DRAM install or
loop detected
One long beep followed by Video card not found or
three short beeps video card memory bad
High Frequency beeps when CPU overheated
system is working System running at a lower
frequency
QUICK TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE:
If the result of your diagnostic is “call service”, please have the
following information ready before you contact for any technical
assistance:
1. Check the CPU or processor you are using along with its
require setting.
2. Check BIOS version (the message on third line when you
turn on your computer).
3. General information about the hardware configuration
(e.g. Modem, video card, and any other Add-on device’s
brand and model number, and system RAM type and chip
brand).
4. Complete description of the problem if possible (What
actually happened to make you think the mainboard is the
problem, any error messages, at what point in the boot-up
process, and any other information you think might help).
Troubleshooting Table
PROBLEM POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS AND OTHER
DESCRIPTION/CONDITION PROCEDURE
S
PC won’t start up 1. Check the power cord to make sure
it is connected and connected
correctly.
PC starts up, but no display 1. Make sure the monitor is turned ON
and properly connected to the
graphics port.
2. Check that the monitor brightness
and contrast controls are turn up.
3. Shutdown the PC, disconnect the
power cord, and make sure the
graphics card is seated properly in
its expansion slot.
No Screen display after 1. Turn off your computer.
assembly or the system 2. Make sure you have properly
prematurely stops booting. connected power cord and VGA card
connector.
3. Make sure both FDD & HDD’s cable
are in correct direction at both
ends.
4. If you have UPS, make sure it has
been turn on.
5. Make sure your monitor switch is
turn on, and its brightness &
contrast are in the correct position.
6. All add-on device (include CPU,
Memory module) are properly
attached into its slot.
7. Make sure the CPU’s Bus Frequency
is set to its correspond requirement.
8. If the problem still exist after you
turn on the system power, please
‘call service”.
Memory Error 1. Check the memory modules to
see if they are of the correct
type and if they are correctly
inserted into the sockets.
Floppy disk Error 1. Check floppy drive configuration
in BIOS setup.
2. Check that the drive cables are
correctly connected.
Hard disk drive or CD- 1. Check drive jumper setting
ROM drive Error (master/slave)
2. Check drive configuration in
BIOS setup.
3. Check that the drive cables are
correctly connected.
4. Check that drive are installed
Can not install Windows At this point if you have any problem
95/98/ME or even Linux with OS installation. Please refer to
OS installation guide for
correspondence information.
Can not install correspond 1. If your add-on device has PNP
driver for relate device function, please make sure it has
been correctly detected at system’s
post period.
2. Make sure there is nothing conflicts
(use same IRQ).
3. Remove any unnecessary driver that
has previously installed in ‘Device
Manager” under your OS.
4. Re-install your device driver.
The system hangs up when 1. If you just update the BIOS, please
running the program or OS try clear the CMOS (refer to CMOS
RAM clear ).
2. Check your fan(s) system and make
sure all of them worked correctly
(e.g. does not contain noise).
Symptom
and
Analysis
Monitor/Display
If the display screen remains dark after the
system is turned on:
1. Make sure that the monitor’s power switch is on.
2. Check that one end of the monitor and other end
is plugged into a working AC outlet. If necessary, try
another outlet.
3 . Check that the video input cable is properly
attached to the monitor and the system’s display by
turning the monitor’s brightness control knob.
The picture seems to be constantly moving.
1. The monitor has lost its vertical sync. Adjust the
monitor’s vertical sync.
2. Move away any objects such as another monitor or fan,
that may be creating a magnetic field around the display.
3. Make sure your video card’s output frequencies are
supported by that/this monitor.
The screen seems top be constantly wavering.
1. If the monitor is close to another monitor, the adjacent
monitor may need to be turned off. Fluorescent lights
adjacent to the monitor may also cause screen wavering.
Power Supply
When the computer is turned on, nothing
happens.
1. Check that one end of the AC power cord is
plugged into a live outlet and the other end properly
plugged into the back of the system.
2. Make sure that the voltage selection switch on the
back panel is set for the correct type of voltage you
are using.
3. The power cord may have a “short” or “open”.
Inspect the cord and install a new one if necessary.
Floppy Drive.
The computer cannot access the floppy drive.
1. The floppy diskette may not be formatted. Format
the diskette and try again.
2.The diskette may be write-protected. Use a
diskette that is not write-protected.
3.You may be writing to the wrong drive. Check the
path statement to make sure you are writing to the
targeted drive.
4.There is not enough space left on the diskette. Use
another diskette with adequate storage space.
Hard Drive
1. Make sure the correct drive type for the hard disk
drive has entered in the BIOS.
2. If the system is configured with hard drives, make
sure the bootable (first) hard drive is configured as
aster and the second hard drive is configured as
Slave. The master hard drive must have an
active/bootable partition.
Excessively long formatted period
1. If your hard drive takes an excessively long period
of time to format, it is likely a cable connection
problem. However, if your hard drive has a large
capacity, it will take a longer time to format.
Parallel Port for the Printer
The parallel port doesn’t respond when you try
to print.
1. Make sure that your printer is turned on and that
the printer is on-line.
2. Make sure your software is configured for the right
type of printer attached.
3. Verify that the attached device works by
attaching. If it works, the printer can be assumed to
be in good condition. If the printer remains
inoperative, replace the printer cable and try again.
Serial Port
The serial device (modem, printer) doesn’t output anything
or is outputting garbled characters.
1.Make sure that the serial device’s power is turned on and that
the device is on-line.
2.Verify that the attached serial device works by attaching it to a
serial port on the rear of the computer.
3.Verify that the attached serial device works by attaching it to a
serial port that is working and configured correctly. If the serial
device does not work, either the cable or the serial device has a
the onboard I/O or the address setting.
4. Make sure the CMOS setting and I/O address are configured
correctly.
Keyboard
Nothing happens when a key on the
keyboard was pressed.
1. Make sure the keyboard is properly
connected.
2. Make sure there are no objects resting on
the keyboard and that no keys are pressed
during the booting process.
System Board
1. Make sure the add-in card is seated securely in the
expansion slot. If the add-in card is loose, power off the
system, re-install the card and power up the system.
2. Check the jumper setting to ensure that the jumper are
properly set.
3. Verify that all memory modules are seated securely into
the memory sockets.
4. Make sure the memory modules are in the correct
locations.
5. If the board fails to function, place the board on a flat
surface and seat all socketed components. Gently press
each component into the socket.
6. If you made changes to the BIOS settings, re-enter
setup and load the BIOS defaults.
