Everything was was running great and then the PC acted like it was going into sleep mode. The monitor went off line and the optical mouse went dead. The PC kept running and no matter how much I wiggled the mouse around it would not wake up. I performed a soft reboot as well as a hard reboot... nothing. When I start it up from being powered down I do not get the POST beep. The power supply fan is turning and so is the CPU heat sink fan. Everything appears to be functioning, but it never beeps after the POST and never boots up.

I have unplugged all accessories to just the minimum; power, video, mouse.
I have cleared the CMOS.
I have removed the PCIe video card and reverted to the onboard video.
I have tried a different power supply.
I have moved the RAM to the other slot.
I have removed the CPU fan and reinstalled it.

I built the PC w/ brand new parts in Jan 07.

- Gigabyte 945GZM-S2 Intel Socket 775 MicroATX Motherboard and an Intel Pentium D 940 3.20GHz OEM Processor
- WIN XP PRO
- 1 GB 533 MHz RAM
- 600W CoolMax power supply

I have tried everything I can think of. I'm not sure if the problem is with the MB or the CPU or something completely different. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

How long did it run after you completed the build, hours, days, months?

I built it in mid January and had zero problems until recently. It did this two other times in the past two weeks. I powered it down completely and then brought it back up w/ no problem. It ran for a week and then did it again. I powered it down like before and was back up and running until this morning. This time nothing works.

What to Do When XP or 2000 Won't Boot

My first thoughts are a bad memory module. Do you have access to a different module for testing?
Have you attempted to boot from a CD or Floppy? I don't think it will make a difference. It sounds like a hardware problem.

I agree, it does sound like a hardware problem. Can you move this post into the Hardware section? I do not have another memory module to test. I know a bad memory stick can cause one to think the failed item is something else. I tried to boot to a WINXP CD but the CR ROM will not respond. This makes me think the MB is bad. Doesn't the POST start w/ the MB before a signal is even sent to the monitor where it displays the BIOS? If it will not even pass the POST wouldn't that point toward the MB? I do not feel the IDE HD spinning either which tells me the MB is not sending the signal to the HD. I also have a SATA HD that I tried to boot to, but it doesn't spin up either. I do not want to go buy a new MB w/out being sure that's the solution.


Moved to the Hardware Forum, at member's request. ~acklan~

OK, try this hardware stripdown procedure to see if you can isolate the problem: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic70216.html

Hey bud,
Let us know what you found after trying what John suggested. The procedure worked for me, traced a bad MOBO causing my boot problems on my new build. Brand new doesn't mean it works !.....lol

I was not able to use the suggested stripdown method since I could never get it to POST. I did however use logical deductions and determined the cause to be the MOBO. I replaced the MOBO and everything came back like it was before the crash. Thanks to everyone for all of your time and suggestions.

Sucks your MB died. Glad to hear you figured out your problem. Was the MB under warranty I hope?

I'm glad that you were able to determine the cause of the problem. Mobo problems are a real PITA - because they affect everything! Good work in isolating it!

I've got the same MB (Gigabyte 945GZM-S2) and have been having similar problems right out of the box. I was using it with a 270W PS (my Intel E6320 Core Duo CPU claims to be 65W) and I think it killed the PS. Got a new 500W PS hooked up now, no video card, just one stick of memory, one HD, and one DVD-R drive. I had to try clearing the BIOS a few times just to get it to POST again. It worked for a while, but now it's just locking up randomly.

The little black cubes around the CPU get awfully hot, and the North Bridge chip, which has a decent sized passive heatsink, also gets a little warmer than I care for.

I suspect that this motherboard is simply crap, and I'm thinking of saving $100 and just getting an AMD X2 system instead. I had kind of liked Gigabyte until now. "Made in China" MBs never seem to be as dependable as Made in Taiwan MBs. I would have exchanged the MB and given another one of the same model a try, but it just runs too hot. If I'm not overclocking, and I'm not using power hungry (or any for that matter) PCIe video card, then I just shouldn't need extra case fans to cool my PC. (So far, I've been running with the case open, and it's been fairly cool here where I live)

Crito since you can get the your components to work try the strip down procedure and make sure its the mb. If its definatly the motherboard I have had great luck with MSI.