Nothing on initial boot - help!

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jhodgesatmb
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun May 03, 2015 4:02 am

Nothing on initial boot - help!

Post by jhodgesatmb »

I just unpacked and hooked up the Fit-PC4 to a brand new ASUS HDMI monitor. Ethernet hooked up. Keyboard hooked up. Power to the Fit-PC4 shows the front panel light (though I expected green or blue and not yellow-orange). But I am not getting a video signal. I tried the monitor with another computer and the video came up immediately.

I am not sure what to do here. If it had ever come up before, I might be able to see if the Fit-PC4 is up by pinging it but I do not know its IP address and do not know if it is initially set up for DHCP or has a default static address. There are enough other devices on this network that using a sniffer isn't very practical. Any advice would be appreciated.

I saw other posts about the Fit-PC4 here on the forum. My Fit-PC4 came preinstalled with memory (4 GB) and a HDD (320 GB), so I am assuming that someone tested the system prior to shipping. I saw the Fit-PC4 troubleshooting area but I have two questions: (1) I do not see how to remove the SIM, and (2) when I get the SIM removed I do not know how to short the BIOS pins. I am willing to try these things as long as it doesn't mess with the warranty, but I don't want to screw it up either. In previous computers it has been very straight forward to remove a SIM but I never had to do it with a brand new machine so I am a bit squeamish about doing it now.

I figured out how to remove the SIM modules and even found the pins for resetting the BIOS. Assuming that shorting across pins 40 and 41 could be done with a screwdriver I did that and buttoned everything back together again. No change. Solid orange light on the front of the box and no video.

I think it is fair to ask for assistance now. And since I have gone through the troubleshooting guide so I hope someone has some good news for me on how to fix this.

mbirger

Re: Nothing on initial boot - help!

Post by mbirger »

Have you completed with basic troubleshooting steps (pleas make sure you indeed reset the BIOS - use tweezers or some metal clip):
http://www.fit-pc.com/wiki/index.php/Fi ... leshooting

1. What memory are you using?
2. Are you able to boot into BIOS without storage?
3. Have you tried other monitor or play with monitor input settings?

If you gave completed all of the above steps please consider RMA:
http://www.fit-pc.com/web/support/rma/

jhodgesatmb
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun May 03, 2015 4:02 am

Re: Nothing on initial boot - help!

Post by jhodgesatmb »

The Fit-PC4 came with memory and hdd installed (with Linux Mint 27 Mate, though I cannot ascertain until the system boots), so why should I try to answer that question? There appear to be memory modules in both slots, so if it is 4 GB then I am guessing that there is 2 GB in each slot.

I can try again with a wider screwdriver on the BIOS pins.

I can try booting w/o the HDD but why would that help?

I do not have another monitor. I had to buy this one because of the HDMI requirement. But I did try both HDMI and DVI cables, and I tried both of the HDMI ports.

jhodgesatmb
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun May 03, 2015 4:02 am

Re: Nothing on initial boot - help!

Post by jhodgesatmb »

I have the service door open. I removed the 2 2GB DDR 3 1600 memory modules. I used a screwdriver and held it across the BIOS pins 40 and 41 for quite some time.

Is the HDD mounted to the service door? That is, to remove it do I have to unscrew these six screws? Or the 4 screws on the side?

Was the Fit-PC4 tested prior to shipping?

What does an RMA mean to me in this situation? Will you ship me another unit? Will it be tested before shipping? Will you ship from somewhere in the U.S. or from Israel (which would be unacceptably too long)? Would you wait to ship another unit until you receive the defective one (also unacceptably too long)?

I think that your documentation needs a lot of TLC. For example, somewhere should be a clear and unambiguous description of what the lights on the front mean, and every question I am asking, about how to remove and replace memory modules, how to remove and replace an HDD or SDD, how to short BIOS pins, and anything/everything I have asked about. These and the questions i haven't asked should all be in documentation so that you don't have to answer these questions for each person.

jhodgesatmb
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun May 03, 2015 4:02 am

Re: Nothing on initial boot - help!

Post by jhodgesatmb »

This Fit-PC4 Pro Linux was purchased from Amazon and was only just received this week, so I have plenty of time to return it to them. But I do not think that they have a replacement.

Upon reading the RMA site you mentioned, it says that each unit is thoroughly tested before shipping. So how is it that this unit was DOA?

I can remove the HDD and try to boot diskless if you tell me how...

Jack

jhodgesatmb
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun May 03, 2015 4:02 am

Re: Nothing on initial boot - help!

Post by jhodgesatmb »

It occurred to me that I might try to boot with the service door off since the HDD is attached to the service door. that didn't change anything. This unit appears to be DOA. Unless you have more advice/instructions for me to try I'll try to get a replacement.

jhodgesatmb
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun May 03, 2015 4:02 am

Re: Nothing on initial boot - help!

Post by jhodgesatmb »

Even though I have to return the Fit-PC4 Pro Linux to Amazon, they do not have replacements and don't know when they will. I tried to compare to the MintBox and it seems similar, but the Fit-PC4 Pro Linux is a better machine so I'd prefer to get the same one as a replacement.

jhodgesatmb
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun May 03, 2015 4:02 am

Re: Nothing on initial boot - help!

Post by jhodgesatmb »

If there is a way to get this box to boot I won't have to return it. So I need to know what the correct procedure to reset the BIOS is. Also, if the machine isn't booting with the HDD removed, doesn't that strongly suggest that the memory modules are bad?

mbirger

Re: Nothing on initial boot - help!

Post by mbirger »

I believe sales team takes care of your case.

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