Think some hardware might have died [SOLVED]

[gibbs1984]

Running Linux Mint 14 Cinnamon and it runs perfectly fine, recently I've been noticing that it takes ages to get past the boot screen (screenshot below) and today it just won't go past it at all.

My computer started up fine today, I was browsing on Firefox when suddenly y computer restarted all on its own.

I can't even run a LiveCD because I can't get past the boot screen.

Could my hard drive have died or some other hardware?



EDIT: Managed to get into the setup and this is what it shows:

[DrHu]

1394 is a firewire device name, so I might (unless you do have a firewire deivice turn it off in the BIOS) and check boot performance
--also disk type and power down type (platform, suspend etc ?)


Also, checking drivers (asus site..) might be useful, here is an Fedora Linux forum that board..
http://www.fedoraforum.org/forum/showth ... p?t=228020

[gibbs1984]

Thanks, been to a local computer shop and the outcome was basically I need a new computer as my hardware is so old now that replacing the parts might not be possible or compatible and put that together with the cost it wasn't worth it.

I can't seem to remember the name of the website that sells Ubuntu computers?

[dcihon]

I'd get a second opinion.
From what I can see there that computer is fine.

[gibbs1984]

Really?

OK cool, I'll have a search round for some other computer companies.

If I was to get a new PC would this be OK for £346 including VAT and delivery?

[dcihon]

I'm in the us so I don't know how much 346 is in the UK.
If you can spend the money I would try to get the fastest processor you can afford and the best graphics card you can afford.
If you are going to play games you will need a better video card.

[gibbs1984]

I'm in the us so I don't know how much 346 is in the UK.
If you can spend the money I would try to get the fastest processor you can afford and the best graphics card you can afford.
If you are going to play games you will need a better video card.

Cheers, OK I've upgraded the processor to a Intel CORE i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3470 (3.2GHz) 6mb cache.

I have a GeForce 9600 GT graphics card in my computer now which I only bought a couple of years ago so should be fine so would this be OK to go in the computer?

£370.00 for this (without a graphics card) which is $586.97.

[dcihon]

I haven't bought a computer online in a while but Now that you have your specs is there anywhere else you can shop to get a price comparison.
Does Dell ship to the UK?
CDW has good prices.
Your graphics card is probably fine I would just check to make sure if it is a PCI Express that the motherboard has a pci express slot on it of what ever type of slot it needs.

[gibbs1984]

I haven't bought a computer online in a while but Now that you have your specs is there anywhere else you can shop to get a price comparison.
Does Dell ship to the UK?
CDW has good prices.
Your graphics card is probably fine I would just check to make sure if it is a PCI Express that the motherboard has a pci express slot on it of what ever type of slot it needs.

Erm, I'll have to have a look round because it's been about 5 years since I've bought a computer.

I'm still going to get a second opinion on repairing it though, bit hard at the moment because nowhere is open because of the snow and I don't get paid until next Friday to can't do anything until anyway.

Dell do ship in the UK, are Dell OK to buy through?

Cool, I'll check.

Appreciate the help.

[dcihon]

No problem.
I use Dell and HP at work.
Both are fine. HP can be pricey.
Good luck.
Does your computer you are trying to use not boot?
Have to tried to use a LIve Iso and tried to install it?

[gibbs1984]

No problem.
I use Dell and HP at work.
Both are fine. HP can be pricey.
Good luck.
Does your computer you are trying to use not boot?
Have to tried to use a LIve Iso and tried to install it?

Nah just gets stuck at the boot screen.

I've tried a LiveCD but doesn't go any further either.

[dcihon]

Check your bios settings boot options to see if it is set to boot to CD.

[gibbs1984]

Check your bios settings boot options to see if it is set to boot to CD.

I can't get into my BIOS though as it just freezes at the boot screen.

[dcihon]

I have to leave right now but you should be able to hit del or esc.
keep tapping one of those keys as it is starting up and it should take you to the bios screen before it finishes trying to boot.
If you can't do that you may have a memory or chipset issue. Generally if you did the computer would beep when it starts up.
If you have a motherboard manual you might be able to see what key you need to press to get into the bios if it is not one of those 2.
Dell uses F2.
Good luck.
I will check back tomorrow or maybe someone else could help you here.

[gibbs1984]

I have to leave right now but you should be able to hit del or esc.
keep tapping one of those keys as it is starting up and it should take you to the bios screen before it finishes trying to boot.
If you can't do that you may have a memory or chipset issue. Generally if you did the computer would beep when it starts up.
If you have a motherboard manual you might be able to see what key you need to press to get into the bios if it is not one of those 2.
Dell uses F2.
Good luck.
I will check back tomorrow or maybe someone else could help you here.

Cheers, appreciate the help.

I'm out myself tonight but I'll try tomorrow

[DrHu]

Unless the BIOS has crashed or corrupted, you can always get into it

• It is also possible to re-flash a BIOS, if it is a little flaky in use, but you need some boot device, either a diskette(floppy) or other that the PC can boot from..
• --you can remove parts that hinder the BIOS boot, such as RAM (memory chips or slugs), the connections (physical ribbon cables) to the hard drives

Then you run the BIOS setup and check it out!

[homerscousin]

Maybe you could pull the battery to reset the BIOS. Remove it, leave it out for a minute and reinstall it. Very simple first step to try. I don't like Dell. I would check Newegg or Tiger and build my own.

[monere]

Maybe you could pull the battery to reset the BIOS. Remove it, leave it out for a minute and reinstall it. Very simple first step to try. I don't like Dell. I would check Newegg or Tiger and build my own.

Won't removing the battery cause loss of data?? Here's what I mean (reading first paragraph only is enough to see why I say this):

http://billconner.com/techie/install.html

Also (@ gibbs1984), I am not sure about this (since I am newbie when it comes to techie stuff), but I do remember that 15-20 years ago I had about the same issue as you and - and this is what I don't remember exactly what the culprit was - the issue was either the monitor, the PSU, the graphics card or the RAM.

Sorry for not remembering specifically what the culprit was but in my case was one of the 4. And I did have the same issue as you, ie. was turning on the computer and it would just freeze at the start-up.

So check those 4 individually if u can and see where the problem is. Changing monitors (screens) and RAM might be easy. For the other 2, I don't know how you can do it, but if you can do it then do it and see if/which one is at fault

[homerscousin]

I'm no computer guru. But I have pulled the battery more than once on various mobo's. All this has done for me is reset the BIOS to factory defaults. When I do this I always have to enter the correct time and maybe a few other basic things. It only affects the BIOS, not your harddrive or OS. I just thought if there was something whacky in there, this operation is so simple and free, why not try it before you buy new stuff. Overclockers will do this when they adjust something beyond the limits of their hardware and the system no longer boots. I know, I've done that. Batteries don't last forever either. They should be a little over 3 volts. I always try the simple (free) things first including completely dismanteling , cleaning and reassembling my rig before buying new stuff.

[monere]

I'm no computer guru. But I have pulled the battery more than once on various mobo's. All this has done for me is reset the BIOS to factory defaults. When I do this I always have to enter the correct time and maybe a few other basic things. It only affects the BIOS, not your harddrive or OS. I just thought if there was something whacky in there, this operation is so simple and free, why not try it before you buy new stuff. Overclockers will do this when they adjust something beyond the limits of their hardware and the system no longer boots. I know, I've done that. Batteries don't last forever either. They should be a little over 3 volts. I always try the simple (free) things first including completely dismanteling , cleaning and reassembling my rig before buying new stuff.

Hmm, I never pulled any batteries out of my computer. As a matter of fact I don't even know which the battery is

But anyway, if only BIOS is affected, then that's not too big of an issue. I thought HDD (SSD) might get automatically formatted or something, and THAT is too big of an issue