Hi everyone,
So a while back I dropped my computer while cleaning it, and who knows, maybe I even shocked it with static. Ever since then, I get a black screen with a flashing underscore on the top left when I boot up the computer. This screen comes after the option to go to BIOS goes away, so I still have BIOS access. All my hardware is properly detected, and everything seems jolly good. Except it's not.
I have the Linux Live CD, so I thought I would go try that. It didn't work; I made sure that the first boot is the DVD drive, but no-go: after restarting the computer, the drive flashes a bit, then stops, then black screen.
BUT!!! Yesterday, I fiddled around with the connections of the hard drive, the dvd-rom, and the power supply (as in unplug-replug). Much to my surprise, the system booted up fine, with my Windows XP and all the right files. I promptly continue to work on the computer for another few hours, restarting several times with no problems. Then, on the fourth restart, same black screen, same underscore. I retried the unplug-replug, and nothing works.
So, dead motherboard? Any other ideas? Thanks in advance.
So a while back I dropped my computer while cleaning it, and who knows, maybe I even shocked it with static. Ever since then, I get a black screen with a flashing underscore on the top left when I boot up the computer. This screen comes after the option to go to BIOS goes away, so I still have BIOS access. All my hardware is properly detected, and everything seems jolly good. Except it's not.
I have the Linux Live CD, so I thought I would go try that. It didn't work; I made sure that the first boot is the DVD drive, but no-go: after restarting the computer, the drive flashes a bit, then stops, then black screen.
BUT!!! Yesterday, I fiddled around with the connections of the hard drive, the dvd-rom, and the power supply (as in unplug-replug). Much to my surprise, the system booted up fine, with my Windows XP and all the right files. I promptly continue to work on the computer for another few hours, restarting several times with no problems. Then, on the fourth restart, same black screen, same underscore. I retried the unplug-replug, and nothing works.
So, dead motherboard? Any other ideas? Thanks in advance.
