Computer not booting. BIOS not loading, buzzing nouse

Question

I was installing open Suse 11.2 on a computer which had xubuntu installed. I went through the installation process when the screen went funny, many blocks of different colours. A bit like when a Gameboy cartridge was dirty - the best comparison I could think of!! Anyway it was like this for a few minutes and it sounded like nothing was happening so I assumed it crashed thus I turned off the PC. Only thinking it was a installation failure and I needed to reinstall it again or install something else if the disk was corrupt.

However when I turned the machine back on the computer makes a buzzing noise and the screen is blank - the BIOS does not load. I have absolutely no idea what to do here! If this was a hard drive problem, the BIOS screen would still load right? Would replacing the hard drive fix the issue as I would have no problem doing so if that was a solution.

Answer 1

It sounds like a graphics problem - and a complete failure at that if you're not getting the bios screen.

Can you put another graphics card in or use the onboard graphics chip as a test?

If you're using a graphics card make sure it's seated in the slot properly.

Answer 2

It sounds more like a video display issue, initially. Have you tried turning off the machine, unplugging the power cord, and reseating the video card?

If the video card is built-in, you might want to shut down the PC and let it cool off for at least 20 minutes or so. Try turning the machine on and then see what happens.

Answer 3

Your computer probably overheated. If you are lucky, there was no permanent damage. Try letting it cool off for ~20 minutes. Another possible cause is that you may have just adjusted your BIOS settings in such a way as to make your computer unstable. If so, you have to reset your BIOS. The method for doing this varies from motherboard to motherboard. Most modern ones have a jumper somewhere (It might be screened onto the board. If not, check the manual), but you might have to remove the backup battery (it's the small round one. DON'T try to force it out. On many motherboards, they are soldered down or otherwise permanently attached).

Answer 4

What kind of Buzzing? Is it beeping? If it is beeping, refer to your Motherboard's manual. They list what types of errors/hardware failure is by what kinds of noise is emitting from the case speaker.