is there a dec alpha man in the house?

[Technomage]

I have a pair of older modem eb164 21164 dec alpha boards. both were working 
until today. both exhibit the same behavior:
1. blue screen on boot up with a single blinking cursor
2. no debug output on com port
3. no reaction from com port or connected keyboard
4. after a reset, video goes black

HELP!

if anyone even has the remotetest knowledge, I would like to talk with them 
PDQ! I have use for these machines (I was planning a complete port of the 
latest opensuse to alpha but thats on hold now).

question, what could have caused the above condition(s)?

someone please help. I am already at the limits of my knowledge and 
troubleshooting skills