Hi,
My computer won't boot. I turn it on and theres power, and the cd&Dvd roms turn on, the fan turns on, i hear the hard rive start to spin, but the screen stays blank. The motherboard gives off a continuos loop of beeps lasting about 3 seconds in length(beep, pause, beep, etc.) I checked the bios beep codes but all of the errors they suggest can't be the reason why.

I'm using a MSI Km2M combo-L using awards bios, I installed new Ram into it and it worked fine, i then turned it off to put in my geforce2 but when i went to turn it back on it just gave me the beeping error.

The bioscentral site said it was either bad ram or video card error. I've tested the ram in another computer and it worked fine. I even switched in ram from another computer but still i got beeping. I tried taking out the geforce2 and using the onboard graphics chipset and still get beeping. I know the geforce is working b/c i tried it out on another pc also. I checked the cables, cleaned the fans...now i'm out of ideas. Is this something i can fix or is my motherboard gone bad?

"The bioscentral site said it was either bad ram or video card error"

It's 'amost' a sure thing that the above is correct. Did you move the monitor back to the internal connector when you changed adapters?

Do yourself a favor BACKUP!

Well I would imagine that if you havent changed the RAM at all lately, or even tampered with it for that matter, that it would be the Video Card. I've had this happen to me several times before.

If you've got another compatable video card laying around, try hooking it up and see if it kicks on then. If so, you know what your problem is.

Otherwise I'd wait for more opinions in this topic, since I'm still somewhat of a nooby :-P

well if you go to bios central and go to the awards bios beep codes you'll see the

Unknown Codes:
If you know what these codes mean, plese let me know. If you have an unknown code, please let me know so I can get it added here.

1. One beep, starting out low, then ending high. Submitted by Stu.

2. Continuous beeping, each lasting about three seconds. The beeping does not stop. Seems to be CPU related. Submitted by baders.

my beeping code is the second unknown code. that why i'm pretty sure its not the video error, or the ram error.

I did switch back to the internal video output but i got no luck there either.

Check to see if the processor fan is spinning.

yes the processor fan is spinning

Beg, borrow or steal another video card to try.

Do yourself a favor BACKUP!

Might not hurt to examine the board for any bad caps - I've had a few MSI boards go due to those

Saying that XP is the most stable MS OS is like saying that asparagus is the most articulate vegetable

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On several mboards I have that have an Award bios a beep lasting about a second, silence for about a second, a beep lasting about a second, etc. continously is no ram, improperly seated ram, improper ram contact (dirty), or incompatible ram.

You did say the ram worked before you turned off the computer so it's probably compatible.
Are you SURE you still have the same ram in it? Are you sure you have never installed a ram module backwards and started up the computer?

Did you remove the power to your power supply when you plugged in / unplugged the ram and/or the video card? ATX mboards are always powered in some places even when Windows is in Shut Down or Standby or Hibernate modes. If you didn't remove the power you may have damaged the mboard ram slots or the video slot or the mboard.

"I've tested the ram in another computer and it worked fine. I even switched in ram from another computer but still i got beeping."

That doesn't prove that it will work in your mboard and it is compatible with your mboard - it only proves there is nothing wrong with it when it is used in the other mboard and it is compatible with the other mboard.

Remove the power to the PS and make sure the ram is properly seated, and clean the contacts on the module(s).
Try one module at a time.

You may get weird symptoms because of a bad PS, or if your mboard is older than about 3 years, lots of MSI mboards have defective capacitors that eventually fail and you can get weird symptoms from that.

Bad power supply, poor connections, faulty capacitors.
See response 1 and 3 in this:
http://www.computing.net/hardware/wwwboard/forum/44984.html

Well i've done all the things you have suggested and nothings helped. I've even gone back and switched back in the old ram that i was using in the pc before. so i think the only thing left on the failure problem list is just that my msi board has gone bad, and i'll have to get a new one.

thx you guys for all your help, if you have any other suggestions i'm willing to try those too.