help pc would not start anymore!

[dalegen]

i have a sony vaio pcv-e314ds windows 98. one day it just would not shutdown and when i powered it down by pressing the power button, it would not boot anymore. here's the last screen i get.


phoenix bios 4.0 release 6.0.5m
copyright 1985-1998 phoenix technologies ltd.
all rights reserved
copyright 1998 by sony electronics, inc.

cpu = pentium II 400 MHZ
640K SYSTEM RAM PASSED
255M EXTENDED RAM PASSED
0512K CACHE SRAM PASSED
SYSTEM BIOS SHADOWED
VIDEO BIOS SHADOWED
UMB UPPER LIMIT SEGEMENT ADDRESS E927
MOUSE INITIALIZED
FIXED DISK 0: MAXTOR 91080D5-(PM)
FIXED DISK 1: MAXTOR 96147U8-(PS)
ATAPI CD-ROM: HITACHI DVD-ROM GD-500-(SM)

ENTERING SET-UP....

[Sylvander]

Are those 3 disk drives on the end of that list the only 3 you have connected?
If so this could be a clue.
In my startup sequence, the next item is:
"Initialising Plug and Play Cards"
In my case the only one is my sound card.

What PnP items do you have connected?
I'm wondering if one of them has gone bad or the connection come adrift.
So the BIOS is sending you into the BIOS Setup to reconfigure the settings to suit the changed PnP hardware arrangement it has detected.

Go into the "BIOS Setup->PnP/PCI Configuration", take a look and and consider the settings:
PnP OS Installed : Yes [or No][This setting is not critical]
Resources Controlled by : Auto [This is important]
Reset Configuration Data : Disabled
You see, at some time in the past, the configuration data [as recorded in the ESCD] was "reset" by this being "enabled".
When that was done, all the hardware connected to the PCI bus was detected, their resource requirements detected, non-conflicting resource allocations made to meet their needs, and the settings recorded in the ESCD [Extended System Configuration Data] table, and those settings locked, to then be used at every subsequent startup.

I speculate that perhaps:
If an item of hardware had ceased functioning or come disconnected [or the opposite], then the resource allocations would no longer match the hardware needs. The BIOS may treat this as serious or potentially damaging and take action to protect the PC.

So you need to figure out what is the cause of the problem.
I think you should "Enable" the "reset" of the Configuration Data.
Then "Escape" and "Save and Exit Setup".
The BIOS will re-detect the hardware etc, reset the ESCD, and lock the new settings by automatically making "Reset Configuration Data" "Disabled" again. You may then find that a PCI PnP item of hardware no longer functions, but the PC completes startup.
That's because the item is no longer connecting or is no longer functioning.

[dalegen]

thanks for the reply. my other problem is that i could not get past this post screen to get to any setup screen. it hangs on this power on self test screen.

[dalegen]

oh by the way, i dont have a plug and play card

[dalegen]

just want to let everyone know my pc just started working now. my friend said that maybe the memory cards and processor were just loose.