Hello all, and thanks for the interest.

I recently obtained a built machine that has an Intel motherboard. The computer had Windows XP on it, but the owner wanted me to format it completely before I started using it. Nbd, I just used a gparted live cd and formatted the 200gb Seagate it came with.
Well now, I think the drive is dead or something, because whatever machine I put it in, it doesn't boot.
So, being out the 200gb drive I was hoping to use, I just threw in a spare drive I had laying around. (This is isn't the point of this thread.)
I planned to use the machine as a basic server, so I made a Debian install CD and just let the installer run (completing the appropriate prompts). However, usually towards the end of the installation, the machine completely kills itself. It just randomly shuts off. No message about it, just, "Click!" and the machine's dead. I know the installation doesn't complete, I've used the CD on other machines, and Debian will tell you that it's finished and getting your consent before turning off.
Upon trying to reboot the machine, after a few seconds of POST messages, it kills itself again. And again. What I've figured out is pressing the reset button a few times during boot usually gets to go eventually.
I swapped the power supply out, but that didn't make a difference.
I've tried different RAM.
I swapped out the CMOS battery.
Nothing seems to be working..
As of right now, it does not kill itself, but it will turn on and immediately it hangs on a a screen that says Nvidia Vanta VGA BIOS and some other video card info. After it started doing this is when I changed the CMOS battery.

The board is older, an Intel D845BG. The first power supply was 300w, as was the second. I also tried a 250w one with no results. The standby light on the motherboard does go on as soon as it gets power.

I tried a different video card, just as a "why not?", and the machine still didn't boot, however that first POST line changed to 3D Prophet II, etc. or the name of the video and it reflected the change in video memory.

Sorry if this is too vague, but any suggestions are appreciated!
Just ask if you need clarification.

Usually a mainboard beeps in case of a failure. Did you get any beeps? Here you will find more information:

http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support...pboards/d845bg

Nope, no beeping. I know that the speaker works, too, because I removed the RAM and turned it on and got three nice loud beeps.
I have been to that site, and I flashed the BIOS while it was still working using the resources on that page.
Thanks for the response though!

Last time i had a machine do that on me it was do to overheating. Check the bios settings, primarily in regards to processor and system temperatures and what actions it should take at certain temps. Past that the only other thing i can think of is possibly a problem with the motherboard or fan(s).

What's the real age of the mainboard? Afaik it could be up to 10 yrs old. My longest running mainboard was an Asus P2B-F that worked for almost 10 yrs.

90% of the time, that's a Power Supply problem.. You might want to try balancing the rails a little bit to make sure you're not overloading one cable / rail coming out of the PSU.. Other than that, you're probably looking at a new PSU..

I've had two Antec TruePower PSUs go bad, exactly the same way.. Over time they just became more and more difficult to keep running and would require multiple tries/ power cycles before it would come back on and stay on..

wow, that sounds so much like a dead Antec PSU... LOL.. I'd bet a lot it's an Antec PSU, because that's what happens when they lose one of their capacitors. The other circuit gets doubly stressed to compensate and starts tripping the overload protection. The reason why the system suddenly starts working again and gets past POST is because you're power cycling it fast enough that the hard drives are still spinning so on the next power cycle they drain less power and don't trip the overload.

I had an Antec PSU that just slowly got worse and worse until it wouldn't even run a 10 watt water cooling pump without shutting off..

Sounds like you need a higher wattage PSU...

I guess your motherboard is dead then... Don't know what else to say unless you've got more than one problem going on..

Can you post the make/model of the PSU? I bet it's an Antec or Antec design.. Most PSUs go bad, they go bad with a bang.. But the Antecs just start shutting off on you like it's overloaded, even though there's little to no load..

With 24/7 use, Antec Truepower PSUs will die exactly as you described between the 4th and 5th year of ownership, like clockwork..

Well I've felt the CPU myself after a failure and it's been fairly cool for a CPU.. I'm pretty sure the cooling is adequate for this machine..
I can't get into the BIOS, it hangs on this VGA post message, when what it would usually do is show this VGA post message, an Intel Splash(during which you'd enter setup), and then show any new hardware, etc in another post message.

I don't have the age offhand, and I don't see it on the top. I haven't pulled it out of the case though, so perhaps its on the bottom.

That was my first instinct, too... Not sure what to think.
It does the same thing for each power supply. But if the power supply was going bad, would it still hang at the first POST message, or would it just turn off?

It ran as an XP server for awhile with the PSU, would it really be different for Linux?

Nope, I've tried three, none of which are Antec. The 300w ones are seeming off-brand AGI and Enlight Corporation, and the 250w one I tried was from a Dell machine.

Take a flashlight to your mobo and look for leaking or bulging capacitors.. Any kind of dried crud around the caps or pointed shaped caps would be proof the mobo is done..

I looked pretty intently at it for a few minutes and didn't see anything suspicious.. :/

Electronics and so also mainboards have an average life span of approx. 7 years. From the age of 5 years on parts begin to detoriate, but everything keeps functioning.
But at an age of 10 years everything may still work, until changes are made to environment of the mainboard, for instance a new power supply.
Parts that were already critical may die, collaps or stop working ...
About capacitors, try Q-tips to find any leakage or, if you have a sensitive nose: you can even smell leaking caps!