totse.com | New motherboard, Cannot get into BIOS!!!

Kleenex · #1 2008-09-06, 04:34

This is my first time getting a new motherboard, and I'm wondering why I can't get into the BIOS? I thought you could just do it right off the bat... I don't have a boot disk or even a floppy drive for that matter. When I turn on my computer everything seems to be working properly (it sounds fine, no beeps, fans working, etc) but on the screen all I see is a flashing underscore. No words... just the white underscore in the upper left corner and a black screen behind it. I've tried hitting delete... holding delete... hitting delete repeatedly... nothing seems to get me into the BIOS. halp

and yes, in the manual it says delete will get you into the BIOS. and yes my keyboard works! I also tried pounding down the F keys and holding alt with them...
ASUS P5K Deluxe MB
intel dual core processor

SWATFAG · #2 2008-09-06, 15:22

I wonder if the BIOS battery is good. Pull it and then reinstall and see if that helps.

If that doesn't do it then --

Strip it down to barebones. ie: leave only motherboard, powersupply, CPU with HSF, 1 stick ram, graphics (onboard if available but plug-in card if needed), and keyboard.
disconnect everything else including harddrives, floppy drive, optic drives and any extra pci cards etc.

If it still will not POST then you have isolated the problem to one of these components. Even without a stick of ram or graphics card you should still get error beeps as long as PSU,CPU and Motherboard are functioning.

If it does boot in barebones mode then add back one extra component at a time (powering off between each) until you get a failure.

I have seen boot failures caused by faulty harddrives, optic drives, Network cards other failed PCI devices, as well as failed motherboards, CPUs and blown powersupplies.
Identifying what your particular problem might be is a process of elimination.

Kleenex · #3 2008-09-06, 22:18

It's probably my ram. I neglected the fact that I'm still using these old 512 MB sticks from 4 years ago and they're not supported by my motherboard.

SWATFAG · #4 2008-09-07, 03:17

Pull the ram and then boot up. If it is the ram then a beep code for no ram should be initiated.

Kleenex · #5 2008-09-07, 08:00

Yeah I pulled out all the ram and it played the beep code, but unfortunately there are no decent computer stores/chains around here so I need to wait until tuesday for them to get a new shipment of ram (they didn't have the kind my motherboard supported...).

Kleenex · #6 2008-09-10, 20:52

Turns out my motherboard is German LOL. There isn't even an option to change it to English (german, french, or chinese are my only options). At least now I can get into the BIOS.

Unfortunately I am having trouble getting an operating system working. I put the windows XP disk into the DVDR Drive but it doesn't do anything. In the BIOS I made sure it was booting off the DVDR drive. I also tried an ubuntu disk, but it didn't work either. I ensured that the cables were all hooked up (DVD Drive has both power and it's connected to the motherboard with the long fat cable).

When I power on my computer it shows some system info and the splash screen or w/e you would call it. Then it shows a screen that says the type of DVD drive I have (I assume because it's instructed to boot from that). Then it shows my system information again and at the bottom it says 'press f1 to continue'. If I press F1 it says 'DRAM wird gepruft' and just freezes up. I think that means DRAM one examines... according to dictionary.com. I have been letting it sit there for a while now, nothing is happening...
Thanks for your help BTW, I appreciate it.

SWATFAG · #7 2008-09-11, 21:45

You could pull the ram and try one stick at a time in one slot and then the other slot. It could be that one of the Memory slots is bad.

J.P.W · #8 2008-09-12, 07:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kleenex View Post

Turns out my motherboard is German LOL. There isn't even an option to change it to English (german, french, or chinese are my only options). At least now I can get into the BIOS.

Unfortunately I am having trouble getting an operating system working. I put the windows XP disk into the DVDR Drive but it doesn't do anything. In the BIOS I made sure it was booting off the DVDR drive. I also tried an ubuntu disk, but it didn't work either. I ensured that the cables were all hooked up (DVD Drive has both power and it's connected to the motherboard with the long fat cable).

When I power on my computer it shows some system info and the splash screen or w/e you would call it. Then it shows a screen that says the type of DVD drive I have (I assume because it's instructed to boot from that). Then it shows my system information again and at the bottom it says 'press f1 to continue'. If I press F1 it says 'DRAM wird gepruft' and just freezes up. I think that means DRAM one examines... according to dictionary.com. I have been letting it sit there for a while now, nothing is happening...
Thanks for your help BTW, I appreciate it.

I use an ASUS and everytime I had to reinstall my windows I had to press F8 in the start up screen to get to the screen thay says ''boot from disk, cd/dvd drive'' etc.
Trying hitting F8.

R. Kelly · #9 2008-09-13, 22:38

Have you tried contacting Asus? Even if your board isn't under warranty they should still have some sort of obligation to help you navigate through the German Bios to diagnose the issue.