powerspec PC line problems

[pcmac]

Can anyone help me with power spec PC line customer bought at Micro center stores in US? Then took it out of the country , the web site has no info at all

http://www.powerspec.com/

cant get it to boot from CD or drive , guessing problem is
related to RAID settings, this machine is set for 2 SATA drives, and is only amonth old, however, the user downloaded something that made it unable to boot, I have tried all kinds of rescue boot CDs with no success, so cannot even reinstall OS

 

[14049752]

There's nothing special about Power Spec systems. They're just regular hardware, with an oem label. The only thing custom about any of the hardware is that the Bios is flashed with DMI information.

Have you tried checking the boot order? Tried a new cd drive? There's nothing to really help you with without knowing anymore more specific. How would you troubleshoot the system if it were a custom build instead of a branded system?

 

[pcmac]

when tried to reinstall XP from CD,got a blue screen of death

when tried to reinstall XP from CD,got a blue screen of death

went into BIOS,selected restore default settings,set CD as 1st device, one SATA drive as 2d, on reboot it stalls,with flickering light ,at top left screen

now, after an hour ,I cant even get into the BIOS(delete key)

know any other way to get into BIOS or reinstall OS?

There's nothing special about Power Spec systems. They're just regular hardware, with an oem label. The only thing custom about any of the hardware is that the Bios is flashed with DMI information.

Have you tried checking the boot order? Tried a new cd drive? There's nothing to really help you with without knowing anymore more specific. How would you troubleshoot the system if it were a custom build instead of a branded system?

 

[14049752]

Have you reset the bios, removed hardware, tried test components? It sounds like you need to diagnose the problem correctly.... asking for shots in the dark isn't going to help.

 

[pcmac]

Yes I did remove drives and attempted to boot from spare drive

ran diagnostic hardware boot CD, all tests passed


I reset bios to "restore factory settings".


I have not yet removed the CMOS battery. or altered configuration of jumpers

 

[NYJimbo]

now, after an hour ,I cant even get into the BIOS(delete key)

this is really pointing to a dead cmos battery. Might be wrong but I have had this happen several times this year. Last week one of our servers would just get stuck at "Checking NVRAM..." or whatever it does at boot. So replaced the CR2302 and up she came. I've learned to keep a few around. Couple of bucks and good for years.

 

[pcmac]

at a dead end here

at a dead end here



replaced the CMOS battery. re configured jumpers ,still no boot

 

[NYJimbo]

Does anything come up on the screen at all, any text ?. Before you said you couldnt get into the BIOS, but do you see anything?

Also do the jumper short thing on the mobo just to be sure the cmos is dumped. I know the battery pull should do this but just to be sure.

Eyeball the mobo for bad/swollen capacitors or any odd looking chips.

 

[pcmac]

did all that,

only thing comes up on the screen is RAID configuration ,which doesnt accept changes,

this is a new machine

Does anything come up on the screen at all, any text ?. Before you said you couldnt get into the BIOS, but do you see anything?

Also do the jumper short thing on the mobo just to be sure the cmos is dumped. I know the battery pull should do this but just to be sure.

Eyeball the mobo for bad/swollen capacitors or any odd looking chips.

 

[ThreeC]

RAID issues

A: Is the RAID contoller onbaord?
B: What is the RAID controllers access keys? ctrl-f, ctrl-h, etc. Are you sure you have retried these access keys over several reboots? Sometimes you have to go into the units BIOS and reset boot order in order to regain access to the third party RAID controller. This can be a trial and error approach that will work eventually. Make sure you find the BIOS setting for the onboard/external RAID/SATA and enable/disable and save and try again to access the RAID. Especially if you have disconnected and reconnected the attahced hard drives to the RAID contoller. I have seen similar issues using an HP XW4100 while using it to create mirror RAID images using Ghost from a master image drive. When I replaced the two new drives on the RAID controller to be imaged, sometimes the PC BIOS would reset and would no longer recognize the RAID or allow me to access. With a reboot and BIOS access to reset the onboard controller feature, sometimes it took two times, I was able to regain access to the RAID controller. Hope this helps.

 

[pcmac]

problem solved

problem solved

had to look all over the web to find a solution a real TREASURE HUNT

key to get it to boot to CD to reinstall is DISABLE GIGABYTE BOOT AGENT
(the network boot agent,)

looking at these sites, I see others have been stumpted by the same problem.

http://www.techimo.com/forum/motherboards/168955-realtek-rtl8139-b-c-rtl8130-boot-agent.html

bottom line :
I'd stay away from power spec, or any other bargain PC, that has no documentation or support, or you will waste hours of your time trying find a solution & end up with a P*** off client

 

[14049752]

To be fair, it's not really a powerspec issue. As I mentioned, it's essentially just a custom build (that is mass produced) with a brand name on it. You would have had a similar situation if it were a custom built system using the same motherboard and configuration.
Powerspec actually has pretty good support, so long as you live near a Microcenter store....and they also guarantee something like a 2-day warranty repair if it's taken to the store.


But...glad to know that it's working!