PC boot problems and diagnosis?

Question

My pc will not boot past the opening BIOS screen. It identifies the bus speed then hangs (Just before the memory test) and shows a message "State 50" If I reboot it seems to work past the state (stops on 52, next reboot stops on 74 then finally gets to the O/S) It did this once to where I was able to complete a full system back-up before it turned itself off.

This is not a heat problem, as it happens on initial boot. If I do get past the 50 state, and into the O/S it will run 5 to 10 minutes then turns off as if unplugged.

I am assuming this is a mother board problem, but not sure.

NOTE: this is a AMD 64x2 mother board with 2GB memory.

Answer 1

try to swap out the RAM or just boot with one chip and try both individually. You may just have a bad RAM chip...

Answer 2

If you're not familiar with PC repairs, use a camera and take photos of everything attached to the PC [external equipment and internal parts and cables] use a marker to ID the internal cables.
Always have PC off when installing/removing parts/equipment.
You might need a #1 and #2 Philips screwdriver.
Remove ALL external equipment and devices.
Open up the PC.
Unplug or remove every internal part EXCEPT the power supply, motherboard, ram, cpu, cpu fan, and video card.
If the PC internal is very dirty then it must be cleaned. Use an anti-static vac and clean everything inside the PC. You might have to remove the MB as well. I always remove and vac the MB regardless. Vac the power supply too. Do not use liquid of any kind.

Turn on the PC.

Choose a path...

Path 1,
If the error continues, replace the cpu fan; if continues, reseat the ram; if continues, replace the power supply; if continues, replace the video card; if continues replace the MB/RAM/CPU.

Path 2,
If the error stops then it has to be something else. Re-install all internal parts one at a time EXCEPT the hard drive. BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN RESEATING CABLES AND SEAT THEM FIRMLY. The hard drive should be the very last thing to re-install, so wait until the end.(if it's a Maxtor drive;;; replace it!!).
Re-install all external devices one at a time.
The last thing to re-install is the hard drive.

Let me know what it was.

Answer 3

Could be a heat problem in that the system may recognize a fan is not running or a chip not being cooled properly.

Could be a memory problem which is what I suspect since that'
s where your fun begins. I'd open the box and reseat all the memory sticks and connections. Then make sure the memory is recognized or selected in the BIOS.

If that fails I'd google state 50, , state 74, etc.

Good Luck

Answer 4

Well... it looks like you're in a motherboard problem here. If it was memory, it won't start at all, not even BIOS screen. If you have another motherboard, test it on the computer to see if it loads. If you don't have other board, well... take the computer to a professional who can test it for you.

Answer 5

try resetting the bios by removing the jumper..search it for a tutorial on how to reset the bios.. or try removing the ram and put it back again...