PCI slots stopped working

[Breaker]

Hello all,

Here's a hardware issue (I think) that has me stumped. I recently moved and had to pack up my computer (which was in pieces). When I unpacked the motherboard and all the other bits, and reassembled them,  I found that my computer wouldn't boot when my sound card or network card was installed in its PCI slot. With further testing I found that any card put in a PCI slot would prevent the computer from booting (ie. the system powers up and the HD spins up but I get no video signal or POST). The system runs fine using the onboard sound and network but I have no idea why all the PCI slots would stop working. Could the board have been damaged in some way during shipment?

Anyone have an idea?

Thanks,
Breaker.

[SavannahLion]

Moving sucks. When I moved, every fan and the CMOS battery died in one PC and checking my UPS, four that I checked wouldn't power up. That leaves me three that may or may not be viable as soon as I locate which box I put them in. So basically speaking, I have no functioning UPS and my only functioning PC is my laptop

That said. It would be helpful if we knew what model motherboard you have.

Without knowing, there are a few things you could check. Take a really bright flashlight and look down into the PCI slots. Look for any inadvertant crud that may have got trapped down in there, such as hair or dust bunnies. Clean them out if you find any, I prefer using those plastic toothpicks you can get from the pharmacy department. Be sure to take great care not to bend any of the pins which you should also be looking for.

Another thing you might check is the BIOS settings. I have an old IBM Aptiva that would refuse to utilize any additional card on the PCI bus until the onboard hardware was disabled. For instance, a PCI video card would not work unless I disabled the onboard video. Same went for the onboard audio.

Bizarre enough, the same motherboard has settings to disable individual PCI slots. No idea how that's useful, but check for something similar on yours. You didn't specify what model you have, but I did find one "antique" board that used jumpers to accomplish this. I think it's really unlikely, but check your manual just in case. A jumper may have gotten loose or fallen off during the move causing problems.

I don't remember if the PCI specification calls for some sort of fuse but check the board traces and components for burned out parts. Unlikely, but it wouldn't hurt to look the board over. Check the cards for damage as well.

[Breaker]

Thank SavannahLion,

The board is an ASUS P4S533-MX

I have checked the BIOS a few times and didn't see anything that would indicate PCI disabling or a conflict with the on-board components (in fact, until I had this problem all on-board components were all turned off). However, I haven't checked the slots that closely so I'll have a look (that could be a great tip).

I'll let you know.

Thanks,
Breaker.

[NOP]

You could also try getting into the BIOS setup and if you can find the plug-n-play area, there may be a field called "reset configuration data" or some such.  Telling the BIOS to flush that out might bring it around. 

-jeff!

[FrizzleFried]

Pull the battery from the motherboard for a minute,  reseat it...go in to BIOS and reset all settings... try.

[eccs19]

If you have not done this, try putting in one card at a time, and boot the system. (assuming you have more than 1 PCI card your trying to use)  Also try it / them in different slots.  Could just be conflicts between slots.  If you've got an AGP slot, and it's working, make sure you don't put anything in the PCI slot next to it. Some boards share those slots, and can sometimes cause issues.

[Breaker]

Thanks to all for your help,

Well, I'm out of options. Here's what I've tried:

a) checked PCI slots for dirt or foreign object (found none)
b) tried one card in PCI slot, then the other (no change)
c) checked BIOS (no problems there)
d) pulled battery and reset default setting (no change)
e) checked motherboard and PCI cards for damage (found none)

I think I'm stuck with it unless someone has any new ideas...

Thanks again,
Breaker.

[SavannahLion]

Doing a quick Google, I discovered that you're not the only one. Describes similar symptoms as yours. Note the date, it's all the way back in 2004:
http://forums.devshed.com/computer-hardware-103/pc-doesnt-turn-on-127649.html

Unfortunatley, no solution was found. I did find a slew of other problems with the board, but nothing striking. I found one with corrupt RAM and another that describes incorrectly set jumpers causing the board not to boot. However, neither symptom sounds like what you have.