Dell Dimension 4300 No Boot

[napa]

Hi all. This is my first request for help in a forum like this, so if I seem ignorant please bear with me. I’m having a boot problem with my Dimension 4300 (P-4, XP Home). When I came home one evening I found my computer was no longer in Windows. It was showing a black screen and a text message. I don’t recall what the message said. I tried to reboot the computer and received the message “Previous attempts at booting this system have failed at checkpoint [Keyb].” I have tried to reboot numerous times with the same result. The error comes up about 14 sec. after the power button is pressed. The Dell splash screen comes up and the progress bar progresses about 1/8 of the way. I then get a single beep immediately followed by the error message. I was using a PS-2 keyboard. I switched to a USB keyboard with the same result. I even went so far to install a new motherboard. I’ve tried pressing F2 and F8 to get into a setup screen, with no luck. I get to the [Keyb] error and no further. In addition I have tried disconnecting all devices except the keyboard and video. Again, same result. Finally, probing the voltage of the power supply pins indicated everything was in order. Any thoughts?

[Mobo]

Tried a single different ram stick yet ?

[napa]

Thanks for the idea. I didn't have any other sticks, but I did take the two that were in place, took them out one at a time and swaped their positions alone and together. I'm still getting the error. Do you think it might be worth buying at least one new RAM stick?

napa

[Mobo]

are you saying that you couldn't get into safe mode with it ?

[napa]

Yes. That is correct. I also don't get far enough to read the CD drive. Once I get to the error screen it keeps giving a single beep followed by a refresh of the error screen. I have let it do this for up to about 15 mins.

[Mobo]

Ok, now open the tower, remove the cmos battery for 5 minutes. Use the keyboard you are typing with now on that system. Try the f2 or f12 keys to enter the setup after the first bootup. Once there try resetting the bios defaults. Then save the changes and reboot the system to see how far it goes.

[napa]

I am unable to use this keyboard because it is a laptop. I did try your suggestion three times using the original keyboard, then the new USB keyboard I bought followed by another PS-2 keyboard I had. Still hangs at the same point.

[Mobo]

Ok so what pci cards are installed in the system?

Also can you get into the bios at all? If so go back in and clear the event log. It should be under system event log.

[napa]

At the moment I don't have any PCI cards installed. I had removed the network and modem cards. I have also disconnected the cd and floppy drives. So far I have been unable to BIOS. It's a mystery.

[Mobo]

Well, its down to one piece of hardware, Video card. Do you have an extra or can you borrow one for a test ?