no booting

Hi and thanks for replies,
Friend of mine called me with his pc not working.
WEll when you start this comes up and it sits there:
ACER
DEL:ENTER SETUP F12 BOOT MANUAL
just sits like that.pressing anything on keybord doesnt work.
Its desktop ACER VERITON 5600G.
Ok now before i start playing around please some suggestions where i should start.
Booting is normal with one bip sound.:)
thanks

Looks like it can't find the harddrive(s).

Go into the BIOS and try to re-detect them. Also check the boot order..

If the BIOS can't detect the drives open the case and have a look to see if everything's still connected properly.

How to go to BIOS?Can not pass that screen.

OK,

Quote:

---

DEL:ENTER SETUP F12 BOOT MANUAL

---

I would say that means that you hit the delete (DEL) key to go into the BIOS setup and F12 to enter the manually selected boot mode menu.

Do the keyboard lights come on? to test this hit the "Caps Lock" and "Num Lock" keys.

Please try another keyboard, preferably a PS/2 one and remove all USB peripheral devices.

The reason I am looking along these lines is that (in theory) you should be able to get into the BIOS (DEL key) even if there were no HDD present.

Another thing I would try is a bootable floppy or CD and try the keyboard on another machine.

Check that the HDD are actually plugged in? I have forgotten to plug in after doing some repairs, however this is just another angle, it will most likely be another problem.

Well,

I don't think it is getting as far as the HDD.

1. You should be able to go into the BIOS setup without a HDD.
2. At that point you should get a message something like:

"No operating system detected"
"No bootable media detected"

Or something along those lines.

I also think that the unresponsive keyboard is a big clue?

ok lets go tru suggestions
i went the same line like you nihil cos whatever i pressed didnt work on keyboard.
so i said to my friend go and buy another keyboard.
When pc boots light comes on on keyboard.once the screen comes on it doesnt.so my clue was on the same line.just cant figure how to bye pass it
i try floopy and cd nothing.
now one new thing had occured.colours started to get little bit blury on the bottom.
mine next move was to open the box and check cables.
The problem with this pc is that it goes to this acer booting crap automatically but hangs on that first screen.
booting sound is passing with flying colours.
as nihil pointed my clue is keyboard but what?i put brand new one in same thing
doesnt recognize the keyboard probably at all

If you press NumLock a couple of times does the light go on and off?

Are we talking PS/2 or USB?

nothing happens regardless what i press on keyboard.
no lights come on
i tried and ps/2 and usb .nothing so far.
Will do the Open surgery now. lol(start looking inside)

Hi unvi$ible,

Can you boot it from a floppy disk or CD?.............. you may need to disconnect the hard drive cable first.

It sounds as if your BIOS is corrupted, or you have serious motherboard problems. If you cannot get in and re-flash the BIOS then I am afraid that means a new MoBo.

Try looking on the MoBo to see if you can reset the BIOS with a jumper switch, please consult the manual. Otherwise disconnect the machine from the mains power, take out the CMOS battery and leave it for a day, then put the battery back. With a bit of luck that will reset the BIOS to the factory defaults, and the machine will work again.

It would be a good idea to test the battery as well.