C90 help desperately needed

Okay I searched to see if this has happened before and I couldn't find another problem quite like this one so here goes

My C90 no longer posts when I try to boot it.But it seems random. Sometimes it just sits there. Other times it will shut off as soon as the HD starts to spin. SOmetimes i can hear what sounds like the MB booting but nothing, just a screen that doesn't startup.

Here are the symptoms
-Screen won't turn on
-MB not booting
-Can't do this on battery (sometimes)
-Will randomly shut down when trying to boot

A few other notes: Pressing the reset button for the MB forces it to attempt to boot which results in two beeps from the internal speaker. If I just press the power button, nothing. Also on one boot the turbo engine kicked in full blast then died. I have no clue what's going on here. These are unlike any MB issues I've had with any other computer and these are the first issues I've had with the C90 that were not windows related.

Please help ASAP, this is my sole computer and finals are two weeks away. I can not afford to be without a computer and sending this thing away is the last thing I want. I was planning on waiting until march or so to get a new laptop or desktop but after christmas it seems I'll be getting one.

 

It could be your RAM... try opening it up and reseating the RAM modules. You might also need to reset your BIOS settings.

It could *ALSO* be a short of some kind, caused by repeated stress on the components... that would suck because it is obvious hardware failure. Usually it won't beep when there is a short it will just turn off really quickly so I'm more suspect of RAM.

Edit: Also ur name is hilarious

Edit edit: also could be a short from a loose cable but as I already said you usually don't get beep codes with a short... could be a dead fan also now that I think about it, does your fan turn on?

 

Feel your pain, finals starting here next week. This sounds like your shafted and need to send it into Asus. The sooner you get the RMA taken care of the sooner you should have it back for your finals.

 

I alreayd tried swapping out the various ram sticks, no changes, tried taking out the HD, nothing.

Now when i hold down the reset button nothing really different happens at first, I now get a single beep but after a few seconds the fans slowly spin up faster and faster...I never held it down for too long but I can only guess itll go until it explodes.

Also I'm out of my warranty period...how much will this cost to fix? Just the price of a new MB?

 

It could be your temperature sensor bugging out or CPU overheating... got any thermal paste?

 

I checked the cpu, it looked fine, no bent wires, the thermal paste layer seems fine.

I think it's the wiring, it seems to be incredibly sporadic and I've had a PSU issue in the past so maybe the true problem finally came out. Every time the MB seems like it could be booting the power just cuts. I'm contacting Asus soon but I'm pretty sure this is gonna be a few hundred dollars to fix, if they even have the C90s boards in anymore, they probably only carry the C90p boards.

 

Yeah, if you aren't getting those beeps consistently it is probably a short (anywhere from psu to mobo to components). The beeps usually point to a memory problem or corrupted CMOS settings.

 

thanks for the help

I also got a response back from Asus tech support, you guys will love this one.

"Please update your BIOS to latest version"

...W...T....F....

 

BAHAHA... "please bash your head against the wall" is just as much a solution in that case. Good luck with that, sometimes just opening up the thing and jiggling stuff around will do the trick. It's as close to magic as I think you can get, which is about what you need at this point.

 

If it looks like tech support isn't going to be of any help I'm going to probably just buy a new computer. Best Buy has an Asus G50 alphabet soup model out with the 9800m and a p8400 and 4gigs of ram for 1250. If all else fails I'm going to just complain to asus to find a way to get me that laptop for a grand or so for having monkeys work tech support.

I really doubt getting a new MB for this thing will be under 300 at my expense. It needs two way shipping, the part itself is probably 200ish dollars, and thats all assuming they have it

 

Yea that's a pickle. It's going to sound lame but did you try dusting out the inside with a can of duster? Again I am talking about magic... but sometimes these things work out with minimal effort.

 

Theres quite a number of c90s problems after a year of release, that are due to the faulty NIVIDIA GPU. I dont know if its the same as your problem, but mine wont boot as well. It would start up, have the lights flash for a few seconds and just die down. I had a hint it was the GPU because it was mentioned in the forums that resellers are frequently receiving repairs for the c90s due to the GPU. ( by gentech ? )

Try the GPU first. I bought a new one for 200 USD, and its now working.

 

Yes it's either GPU or MB, 90% of C90S RMA are GPUs, metal plate on the GPU is the cause of the problem, they should've use copper instead.

 

When I had the C90S, I had the GPU fail on me too. I ended up getting it RMA'd but the replacement ASUS sent me seemed gimped(it would downclock automatically if it hit 90 degree core, I couldn't override it even with Powermizer).

 

If I remove the gpu, will it boot so that I know it can't be the MB? Or has the metal plate caused an issue where the MB has shorted out and I need a new board? Also how much is the motherboard and do you think they have many left?

 

I think the issue with the GPU plate has to do with overheating and thus damage to your GPU instead of a short in a contact. If you take the GPU out there is no way for it to power on.

Edit: There is some backstory on the GPU failures here: http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/09/01/why-nvidia-chips-defective

 

By metal plate he means heatsink, copper is better then the aluminum that they used. We are not talking about a short, but rather a heating issue (and money saving on Asus part).

 

nope. but by testing the GPU first, u can rule out if its a GPU or MB issue. and as per the resellers, 90% it might be the GPU. and given that most c90 issues are almost similar, and almost within the same timeframe ( a year after purchase of the notebook ) , most probably you would experience the same issues that we have. goodluck !

 

Try removing the door and booting with a high speed fan at the back. If you go a little further then you would know that it is temp related.