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Thread ID: 86943 2008-02-02 06:37:00 PC sudden death! No longer boots heni72847 (1166) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
636515 2008-02-02 06:37:00 My computer has been acting weird over the past few days
and now it..well.. completely died.

It crashed randomly a few times before, and a few hours ago everything just froze and decided not to work at all. I've kept the cpu temperature under control, and I've been away on holiday so this pc hasn't been used for a while, also I haven't changed anything after I got back.

Right now, after the computer is turned on, it'll only go as far as telling me what cpu I have. The ram test doesn't even run!

Three things I've tried:
Remove hdd
Remove extra RAM, only keeping one stick
and lastly I've just reset my CMOS but the problem still exists

Not sure what else to try, don't see how my computer can kill itself while I was on holiday, especially how the problem gets worse and suddenly it stops working completely even before I had a chance to figure out why it was randomly crashing.

Just some extra info:
no error beeps from computer
post code shown is "50"
heni72847 (1166)
636516 2008-02-02 06:50:00 That post code 50 error may have something to do with a USB card reader.

Or a USB device

Is one connected or installed?

Whats USB thats connected to the system?
Speedy Gonzales (78)
636517 2008-02-02 07:06:00 nothing is connected via usb
I've googled and found out about that too
I did try removing the printer which usually goes into the usb port but problem still exists

and if it did cause a problem, I should've got this error a long time ago...
heni72847 (1166)
636518 2008-02-02 07:12:00 Does this sounds familiar:

I've been reading about this "problem" in a few threads. I am having the same problem as others. I get to the Abit screen with two choices : "TAB to show POST screen or DEL to enter SETUP." Hitting DEL or TAB does nothing. Then I read that if I hold down TAB while booting, the processor boot screen appears - mine too. But the keyboard still doesn't do anything. Also, it keeps stopping on Post Code 50 (initialize USB) ... Ok, but I'm using PS/2 Keybaord & Mouse. I reset the CMOS several times, yanked the cables to both the HDD and the CDROM. Still get the Post Code 50 and the same Abit screen.

UPDATE: First off, I removed the motherboard from the case, disconnected every power source, and set the jumper to clear the CMOS for 30 minutes. So now the only thing I have on the motherboard is RAM (1 stick of 256MB) and a video card - no hard drive no CDROM. I tried both enable & disable on the USB-PWR1 & 2. Same problem. Post Code 50. I truly believe this board is either D.O.A. or I hosed it while installing.

Confirmed!! AX8 is DEAD!! Called Abit Tech Help - He suggested eRMA ... Oh well - could have been my fault. Probably not your fault, at all. I am convinced that the Abit AX8 is very touchy when it comes to memory. First, they are extremely hard to seat properly. In my case, I had exactly the same symptoms as you.. Until I got hugely lucky and put my good stick of ram in dimm3, it just hung on code 50. When I finally figured out that ONE of my modules was faulty, I returned BOTH to Corsair and got a good matching pair..

Amazingly, it booted up like a good thing. The matched-compatible memory modules made all the difference. I spent hours taking things out, putting them in, resetting the bios, etc. Anybody who has done it will relate. Everything was attributable to one bad stick of ram.
beeswax34 (63)
636519 2008-02-02 07:18:00 okay time to try some different RAM configurations then
I've suspected RAM problem due to the ..randomness of the problems

the last hardware upgrade was adding RAM
but that was several months ago

worst fear would be a damaged motherboard
so a bad RAM might be more acceptable
..now just need to make a convincing story on how hardware fails when I go on holiday...
heni72847 (1166)
636520 2008-02-02 08:31:00 What about USB mouse/keyboard?

Did you swap around each RAM stick rather than just remove the extra one?
Jen (38)
636521 2008-02-02 08:50:00 I'm now back with sore thumbs but a working computer

moved RAM around different slots
tried having only one stick in different places
suddenly worked..tried again failed
then tried two sticks..etc..

now everything works..weird thing is..
all 3 sticks went back to the slot they originally came from
but now they work

yea..

running memtest now
probably should leave it for a while
heni72847 (1166)
636522 2008-02-02 09:47:00 So it was the RAM? Thank God for Google :lol: beeswax34 (63)
636523 2008-02-02 18:45:00 left memtest runing for 8hrs
went through 5 passes and no errors
so I guess it's safe for me to go back into windows

..would be nice to know what exactly went wrong yesterday
don't really want this to problem to show up again..

UPDATE:
ARGH! quit memtest to reboot
and I'm stuck at the boot screen again
this is getting rather frustrating..
heni72847 (1166)
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