Problematic pestilence.

[Wimpyburger]

Hello, it's been a while.

I'm not quite sure this is the right subsection for this kind of post, but it at least has something to do with my motherboard. (I think.. I'm no expert)

I have an Asus p5ql-pro, a 250 gb sata hardrive, windows 7, and a dual core processor that have served me well for about a year. No problems, no hiccups.

Today I got the bright idea of installing an older IDE hardrive for some extra space to dump some files. So I broke out the necessary cables and hooked it up.

Nothing happened. Windows couldn't even see it.

Called up a friend who suggested I remove the jumpers instead of having them in a slave configuration.

So I removed them and tried again. Powered up fine, I could hear both hard drives spinning. But it froze in boot. Thinking it a problem with the older hdd, I removed the IDE hdd and tried firing it up again.

Nothing. hdd was spinning, lights were on. Nothing.

Significantly bummed, I unplugged everything and left it there for a while to go do something else. Came back a little later and tried again.

This time it posted, but froze at, "Initializing USB controllers."

Now I've heard of prolonged boot sequences because of this so I gave it some time. Again I went away and did something else. Came back... nothing.

Tried plugging and unplugging several usb devices I might have had installed the last time I booted up successfully. (to no avail)

It was about this time I noticed I couldn't enter the BIOS. ( I even tried using several keyboards) The buttons were unresponsive.

frustrated I looked online for possible solutions for the, "Initializing USB controllers." problem.

the general consensus seemed to be removing the battery and resetting the CMOS. then going back into the BIOS resetting the data.

With nothing to lose I did just that. And was excited to see the blue Asus setup appear on my monitor.

Nervous... I hit delete to enter the BIOS...

...

and nothing happened.

tried with a different keyboard....


nothing.

And here I am.

Any suggestions? Ideas?

If it were any earlier in the day I would go postal, but as of now I'm just too tired.

 

[Psi*]

Is the original keyboard USB?

Are the keyboards you tried all USB? I'll guess not, but just in case try one that isn't.

... and thinking ...

 

[Wimpyburger]

Nope. Both were PS/2.

I'm guessing that, on top of the other problems, the Keyboard port crapped out on me.

 

[DarkStarr]

Wow.... looks like its time for a new board there.

 

[Psi*]

What DarkStar says may be the case.

I have a new "P5Q SE Plus" m/b sitting to the side waiting to replace a failed earlier version labeled just "P5Q". I have had a bad bit of luck with failing power supplies taking out m/bs over the past 3 years. That's what I get for buying cheap PSUs, I guess. Anyway, my approach and expectation is replacing the old board with a similar version shouldn't cause any driver compatibility issues ... just a drop in replacement in other words with a probable driver update. The new board was $100 from buy.com

AND, I would advise figuring out how to test/check your PSUwhile you are at it!

 

[Wimpyburger]

New Mobo eh...

That's what I feared. If I had the time and the funds I would go ahead and replace both the PSU and the mobo.

As it stands, my family isn't too keen on my hobby. This led to it being stuck in storage for months. So in earnest, it shouldn't surprise me that it has developed problems.

I have a friend who really wants the graphics card, and has offered to buy up most of the other parts, so I'll at least get something out of this.