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mills1972@msn.com · 07-15-2007, 04:21 PM

Hello all,

I have recently purchased new mobo, cpu, psu, ram, and case to build/update from 6yr old pc.

mobo - MSI model# P4M900M2
cpu - Intel Core 2 Duo
psu - Cooler Master extreme power 430W
ram - PNY tech 2 sticks of 512MB DDR2
case - Compusa el cheapo, and tried old gateway case too.
hdd - Seagate ultra ata 160GB approx. 1yr old. can read in case as external drive on this pc.
cd/dvd - original with gateway cdrom-rw and plextor dvd/cd-rw mn: PX-740A
monitor - only 2 months old MAG widescreen

*note - hdd and optical drives worked in old pc and worked good before.

first try -
1. everything installed in old GW case, powered up and no post. Fans working, hdd spinning, optical drives lights on and doors open. Had dad and 2 uncles work with me on this. Cleared CMOS by changing jumpers. PC would post. CMOS checksum bad error. Could access BIOS. None of the drives were detected.

2. tried just mobo, cpu, psu, mouse, keyboard, 1 stick of ram, and hdd only. powered up and no post. cleared CMOS. PC would post. CMOS checksum bad error. Could access BIOS. HDD not detected. (dad reseated everything at this stage as well)

3. Repeat of #2 only swapped out IDE cable. Same results as before.

4. Tried Sata HDD (my uncles, he took out of working pc). All other items same as #2, and got same results as #2.

5. Tried different case. Old GW case had to short out power switch pins to turn on. Different case, used power switch supplied. All other items same as #2 (including hdd). Same results as #2.

6. Dad and uncle checked various locations for voltage with multi-meter. All checked out.

Gave up on this set up. Went and bought another set (mobo and cpu only) that is identical with the hopes that I would bring the first set back as a return. So new mobo and cpu and it does the same exact thing. With almost all exact steps from above repeated. I did try one more thing (with first mobo and cpu), out of case. Same results, no post first. Clear CMOS via jumpers. Post with checksum bad error, access to bios and hdd not detected. Also tried this with only the dvd drive. same results.

any suggestions would be helpful. Tech Support at MSI seems more ignorant about this stuff than I. I believe that this is too coincidental to be either mobo and/or cpu.

07-15-2007, 04:21 PM	#1
mills1972@msn.com Member (3 bit) Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 6	HDD not recognized after build Hello all, I have recently purchased new mobo, cpu, psu, ram, and case to build/update from 6yr old pc. mobo - MSI model# P4M900M2 cpu - Intel Core 2 Duo psu - Cooler Master extreme power 430W ram - PNY tech 2 sticks of 512MB DDR2 case - Compusa el cheapo, and tried old gateway case too. hdd - Seagate ultra ata 160GB approx. 1yr old. can read in case as external drive on this pc. cd/dvd - original with gateway cdrom-rw and plextor dvd/cd-rw mn: PX-740A monitor - only 2 months old MAG widescreen *note - hdd and optical drives worked in old pc and worked good before. first try - 1. everything installed in old GW case, powered up and no post. Fans working, hdd spinning, optical drives lights on and doors open. Had dad and 2 uncles work with me on this. Cleared CMOS by changing jumpers. PC would post. CMOS checksum bad error. Could access BIOS. None of the drives were detected. 2. tried just mobo, cpu, psu, mouse, keyboard, 1 stick of ram, and hdd only. powered up and no post. cleared CMOS. PC would post. CMOS checksum bad error. Could access BIOS. HDD not detected. (dad reseated everything at this stage as well) 3. Repeat of #2 only swapped out IDE cable. Same results as before. 4. Tried Sata HDD (my uncles, he took out of working pc). All other items same as #2, and got same results as #2. 5. Tried different case. Old GW case had to short out power switch pins to turn on. Different case, used power switch supplied. All other items same as #2 (including hdd). Same results as #2. 6. Dad and uncle checked various locations for voltage with multi-meter. All checked out. Gave up on this set up. Went and bought another set (mobo and cpu only) that is identical with the hopes that I would bring the first set back as a return. So new mobo and cpu and it does the same exact thing. With almost all exact steps from above repeated. I did try one more thing (with first mobo and cpu), out of case. Same results, no post first. Clear CMOS via jumpers. Post with checksum bad error, access to bios and hdd not detected. Also tried this with only the dvd drive. same results. any suggestions would be helpful. Tech Support at MSI seems more ignorant about this stuff than I. I believe that this is too coincidental to be either mobo and/or cpu.