PROBLEMS with a NEW BUILD? Try This!!

[Alfie]

You can turn it off by the switch on the back of the psu or simply unplug it.

[ur4dr]

You can also turn off pc by pressing powerswitch for 30 second

[mnorris]

Copied this from a separate thread for clarity.

This is my first computer build. Lemme start with the info and then the problem:

P4 2.8C processor

D865PERL Intel Motherboard

Twin Corsair 512 RAM (total 1 gig on 2 sticks)

Radeon 9600 AGP video card

80 GB Western digital HD

Sony DVD Rom drive AND Teac DVD-CDRW drive

Ok so the problem is that my system is failing to post. No video whatsoever. The lights come on, the fans run, the HD and CD lights go on etc. but there is NO system beeps or anything, and nothing is coming up on the monitor screen (fails to post).

What I have done so far: Put in 2 different AGP video cards.. 1 is new (the RAdeon), another i took from my other computer which works fine (Nvidea GEforce 2mx). Neither succeeded in displaying anything on the monitor... and still no system beeps saying something is wrong. (I also checked 2 different monitors, so its not the monitor either).

I thought I might have a bad stick of RAM, so i put each one individually in...and nothing happened. I put them in dual mode (1 in slot 0 for each bank) and that didnt work either.

Ive tried reseating both video cards.. and still nothing is appearing on the monitor, and there are no system beeps.

Since then, I have tried putting in a PCI video card which didnt work either.

SO! I tried Hal's tip, and took everything outside the box. and did exactly as he said in the first post.

After starting it with the screwdriver, the fans came on, but no video.

I checked the video card seating, and even changed to a video card (AGP) from a different machine (one that i know works).

During this, I only had 1 stick on RAM installed, and also made sure that it was properly seated.

Any other things I can try? Or things I can do to find out if it is the CPU?

Thanks again for all your help!

Mnorris

[mnorris]

Aparently there was no problem with any component of my system...

All I needed to do was change the jumper from Normal (pins 1 and 2) to Bios Config (Pins 2 and 3). Once I changed to bios config, it Posted and allowed me to edit Bios settings. After editing them , i put the jumper back to Normal setting, and everything went fine from there.

This is NOT in the motherboard manual, so if you have a similar problem with one of the newer Intel boards, try looking at the bios config jumpers.


Thanks again Hal, your simplification of the situation allowed me to solve this much faster, by eliminating so many variables.


Mnorris

[HAL9000]

That jumper is actually quite common on Intel boards and has been around for some time.

[glc]

Also, on the Intel boards, you can start tapping F2 on powerup and you will get into the bios. The jumper simply forces this if F2 doesn't work for some reason. I haven't HAD to use the jumper yet - but I suppose there will be a first time!

[HAL9000]

G... I had some BX boards that I could get into the BIOS with F2, but if I changed anything... it absolutely refused to keep the settings.

[byfarrthebest]

I have set up this system as you suggest and i have also connected the case speaker to listen for post beebs.
when i short the power switch for 4 secs the CPU fan stops spinning but there is still no post.

[Chester]

Hi,
Thanks for the tip. I know this is posted over 2 years ago. But Still helpful.

I just brought a A7N8X Deluxe nForce2 mother board and AMD Athlon XP 2500 and 2 cruical 500 MB ram. a Thermalright SLK-700 heatsick and a Y.S. TECH TMD 70x70x15mm Fan(5800RPM). I used an old PCI video card from my old computer (Diamand ?)


When I put everything together, it would not post. The case fan and CPU will on for 5-10 seconds and stop, there is no beep from the speaker. I switched to another speeker from another machine and still no beep.

I then follow the procedures in this tread and removed everything except for
memory (2), a PCI vedio card, CPU with heatsick and fan. Now the CPU fan will continue to run, but there is no beep and no display signal from PCI Video card

How do you proceed ? Any suggestions ?

thanks in advance.

Chester

[Looneycooney]

woohooo!!
tnX hal9000 ! it worked..well first time it didnt do anything then we switched cpu again and this did work now..
after that , cause cpu's had to be other way round...we again switched it after the mobo had been running for 5 mins ...and oohh yes now it worked!!!!
*hugs to hal9000* we were getting desparate hehehe
i'll remember this..in fact i stored it in me famous txt-file where i store all my faults or errors i make/get
i also didn't knew a static bag must be used for putting on me mobo...i've done this several times *blush* tnx for the great tips

[Sir]

ok, well here we go:
I originally installed everything in the case, here are the exact specs:
Case = Thermaltake Xaser Lanfire Series VM2000A
Power Supply = Thermaltake Xaser Silent Purepower 480W
Processor = Intel P4 2.8C Ghz 800 Mhz HT
Motherboard = ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe
Sound Card = Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS (not platinum or pro, just the standard)
Video Card = ATI Radeon 9600XT 128mb
RAM = 1GB Kit HyperX DDR 400MHz (2 x 512) (Kingston)
Floppy = Standard 1.44mb
Hard Drive = Western Digital Internal SATA 160GB 7200RPM OEM (WD1600JD)
CD-RW Drive = Lite-On 52x32x52 [Model = LTR-52327S]
DVD Drive = Lite-On XJ-165H 16X DVD-ROM Drive

I then turned it on, everything began running smoothly and it gave me the first screen and told me to press DEL to enter setup...POST then started to take place. It seems to be great, then all of the sudden (without any beeps), it mentions a CMOS error and the computer shuts down. I try to turn it on, no response, i then unplug the power cord and wait 10 seconds. After that, I plugged the power cord back in and attempted to turn on the computer, it then started up (fans included), and half a second later, shut down. I immeaditley tried turning it back on...same result as earlier. This process could be repeated endlessly.
Then I did what HAL told me to do in post #1, same result, the cpu fan began to run for half a second and then shut off. I then tried switching out the RAM with a 64 mb stick, same result, then removing all RAM, same result.
I'm stumped, plz help me

[Cricket]

Try another power supply. I remember reading about Thermaltake power supplies having a problem supplying clean power through the 5v rail.

Cricket

[Sir]

what do u recommend
and does any1 else have other solutions?

[Cricket]

If you have another P4 compatible power supply handy, just swap it in to test with. If the system starts up, you'll need to replace the Thermaltake.

You're working with just the core parts, right...motherboard, CPU, heatsink, RAM, video card, power supply, PC case speaker and monitor. You're trying to isolate the problem so don't connect anything else up yet.

I like Fortron Source and Sparkle Power power supplies...very clean power on the rails and the ability to go beyond their rated wattage.

Cricket

[Sir]

ya, i havnt, just the core parts
*EDIT*: and if it is indeed the PSU, could it have damaged any of my other parts?
*EDIT #2*: are you sure it is the psu, because if that is the case, then I would want to put everything back into the case, and once I get a new one, then i can just install it

[Cricket]

Originally posted by Sir and if it is indeed the PSU, could it have damaged any of my other parts?

That's always a possibility. You'll have to check the parts after you swap out the power supply.

Cricket

[Sir]

k, what PSU do u guys recommend
im going no lower than 450W, and dont try to argue with me
and I obviously want one that will work instead of this PIECE

[HAL9000]

450w is a total waste of money... 350w is more than ample.. look at Enermax and Sparkle.... I'm holding off on Antec for a bit again because I'm noticing a slight downward trend with them again.

[Cricket]

Yeah, I agree with HAL900...450 watts is really not necessary for the system you have, 350 watts from a good quality power supply will easily handle what you have. More doesn't necessarily mean it's better.

Cricket

[Sir]

well im scared here, u guys say it will easily handle it
but how "easily" are you talking...how many Watts is my system really using up, and I do want to ofcourse leave room for upgrades. Also, when I overlcock, the system will overheat, I'm sure there will be effects there. And if all of these are issues are OK, then what PSU do u recommend
two more Questions:
1) difference between digital and analog sound
2) can I go ahead and put everything back into my case and just wait for the new PSU?

[HAL9000]

Well... I run

P4 2.0
512MB
AIW 8500DV with firewire
USB powered receiver for the above card
NIC
USB 2.0 card
SB Live
120GB 7200RPM hard drive
Floppy
CDRW
DVD
USB powered scanner
USB powered web cam
intake and exhast fan
2 fan bay cooler

All easily on a 350w power supply

Not enuf.... I have in the past year REMOVED

Adapted 2940U2W SCSI card
18GB 7200RPM SCSI drive
20GB 7200RPM SCSI drive

So even with that... everything ran fine.

300w will run your system fine... I suggested the 350w to give you that extra headroom.

[Sir]

double posted

[Sir]

well im also running an additional stick of RAM, also a 2.0 card, also a usb scanner/printer, also a usb web cam, 6 case fans, thermaltake's "hardcano", foppy, cdrw, dvd, sblive, radeon 9600xt, and i plan on getting an additional hdd...so wuld i still have ample room (also keep in mind that I am most likely going to overclock at 20%)
that is ofcourse assuming that the computer does eventually work

so if I could plz get reccomendations on a GREAT psu (350W if all i have listed still leaves ample room, if not, then 400 or 450)
ty

and the difference between digital and analog?
and can i put the other stuff back in my case?

[glc]

No, you should not put the other stuff back in your case until you get the thing running on the table with minimums - you do not know for sure that the problem is the power supply till you try a different one - ANY power supply - and I would not go out and buy one until yours is PROVEN bad.

[Cricket]

Originally posted by Sir well im scared here, u guys say it will easily handle it but how "easily" are you talking...how many Watts is my system really using up, and I do want to ofcourse leave room for upgrades. Also, when I overlcock, the system will overheat, I'm sure there will be effects there. And if all of these are issues are OK, then what PSU do u recommend

If I'm not mistaken, this is your first build, right? And you're basing your decision to go with a 450 watt power supply on what? Something you read or heard somewhere? Well, HAL9000 has built over 4000 computers (maybe over 5000 by now) and I think he knows what he's talking about when he says a 300 watt PSU will run your system fine, but you can go with 350 watts for more headroom for future expansion. From my own experiences (almost up to 60 computers), a good quality 300 watt power supply will run a nicely spec'd out computer fine.

Of course, it's your money and you can buy what you want, but you came here for suggestions and we've tried to give you some sound advice to save you a few bucks.

Really good 350 watt power supplies would come from Enermax, Fortron Source, HEC, PC Power & Cooling, Sparkle Power and Verax. I like Fortron Source / Sparkle Power because tests have shown they provide very clean power to the rails and they're actually able to provide more power than they're rated at...and they're very reasonably priced.

Cricket

[Sir]

ok, well yes it is my first build, and I guess all I had to base my decision on was Maximum PC's Gear of The Year
but thanks for the help, and I'll go find a good 350W from one of those companies listed

[Sir]

k, what do you guys think of this one:
http://www.pcpowerandcooling.com/pro...dex_hp_atx.htm
the 350 or 425...I got a few extra bucks this weekend so I have the money for the 425 (so what are your opinions on the two)

and does this look good to you:
http://www.pcpowerandcooling.com/pro...dex_tester.htm
It sure does to me, but I'm not sure if they're just trying to sell it to me

[glc]

PC Power and Cooling power supplies are probably one of the best power supplies on the planet. 350 watts is ample, 425 would give you even more room for expansion.

That looks like a simple go/no go tester, it's not going to test under any kind of meaningful load.

Have you tried a different power supply yet to make SURE that's the problem?

[Sir]

I can't tell with the 425 (which is what I'm going to order)...does it have active PFC?

and if not, how much of a disadvantage will this be?

[Cricket]

What is active PFC?

Did you get another power supply and try to start the system with it yet? If you don't have the new power supply yet, then there's not much we can do for you at this point.

Cricket