New Build Having Problems

[USMDude]

I just bought parts from Newegg for a brand new build. I started it up after everything was in place and nothing came up on the screen. So I read the thread about "having trouble with your new build? try here." and took the advice of trying to start the comp up with just the mobo(ASUS P5LD2 Deluxe 945P LGA775), cpu and fan(Intel Pentium D 920 LGA775), one stick of RAM(Patriot DDR2 667 512MB), the video card (eVGA geForce 6600GT PCI-E), the monitor(Rosewill R912E LCD 19" monitor), and the power supply(Enermax Noisetaker ATX12V 2.0 485W). I know the monitor works because whenever I disconnect it from the video card it says "No signal".

When I short the power switch all the fans come on(mobo, vid card, power supply) and I know that everything is firmly seated. I would try another vid card but as the only other one I have available(parents computer) is an AGP card and this mobo doesn't have an AGP slot I want to make sure that it might not be something else before I go and buy a replacement vid card to test that theory.

Last thing I need to mention is that I'm using thermal paste on the CPU and I know it's getting full coverage from the paste.

Thanks.

[ktkendall]

If it is vid card then you should hear a certain beep code indicating that the trouble is the vid card. Do you have the speaker hooked up, and do you hear any type of repeating 'beep' code?? Most cases of new build troubles like yours are the motherboard, processor, especially heat sink fan, or memory problems. Try clearing the cmos also..

[USMDude]

Originally Posted by ktkendall If it is vid card then you should hear a certain beep code indicating that the trouble is the vid card. Do you have the speaker hooked up, and do you hear any type of repeating 'beep' code?? Most cases of new build troubles like yours are the motherboard, processor, especially heat sink fan, or memory problems. Try clearing the cmos also..

Here's what I've done so far now:

1. Tested a new vid card (one I bought for an upgrade for a client) and nothing changed.
2. Reset the CMOS with the CMOS jumper, and nothing changed.
3. Tried the old card, nothing changed.

Both cards look to be functioning fine, as their fans come on as they are supposed to, but nothing comes on the monitor, unless I unplug it from the card, and then it'll show "No Signal" again.

At this point, it appears that either the CPU or the mobo are the problem. Keep in mind that while I've had a speaker attached to the mobo this whole time, I haven't gotten any beep codes. If anyone wants to PM about this too, feel free since i'm going to be logged in for awhile. Thanks.

[Cricket]

Are both power connectors for the motherboard plugged in?

Is the CPU supported by the motherboard?

Cricket

[USMDude]

glc recommended this board for the 920 presler cpu, so i know it's compatible. Both the power connectors are hooked up.

A little while before I read your new post I decided to try something and pulled the only stick of RAM I had on the board, and I finally got some beep codes: 1 long and then 2 shorter beeps, repeating over and over. According to the manual it's running an AMI BIOS, but the 3 codes they provide documentation for in the manual don't cover these beep codes. I'm going to try a known good stick from another computer, to see it will work.

[alpha432]

how do u know it aint the motherboard that could be messed up

[USMDude]

Originally Posted by alpha432 how do u know it aint the motherboard that could be messed up

It very well could be, but I'm testing everything else that's possible before I make that assumption.

Btw, I couldn't test the other RAM sticks because they are 184-pin and my memory slots are 240-pin. Oh well for that idea, at least for now.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by USMDude A little while before I read your new post I decided to try something and pulled the only stick of RAM I had on the board, and I finally got some beep codes: 1 long and then 2 shorter beeps, repeating over and over. According to the manual it's running an AMI BIOS, but the 3 codes they provide documentation for in the manual don't cover these beep codes. I'm going to try a known good stick from another computer, to see it will work.

1 long beep and 2 shorter beeps mean memory problems (either the system memory or the video card memory). This sort of tells you the motherboard may be good since it does know the RAM isn't there. You may be looking at a faulty or incompatible stick of RAM.

I've had that happen to me...install a stick of high density RAM into a motherboard that uses low density RAM and nothing happens when I boot it up...it just sits there doing nothing...no beeps...no image on the monitor. Replace it with low density RAM and the system boots right up.

Cricket

[USMDude]

Originally Posted by Cricket I've had that happen to me...install a stick of high density RAM into a motherboard that uses low density RAM and nothing happens when I boot it up...it just sits there doing nothing...no beeps...no image on the monitor. Replace it with low density RAM and the system boots right up. Cricket

Ok next question: How can I tell the difference? And from what I can tell the documentation doesn't say anything about it, unless it's written in the name of each sticks' descriptors.

[USMDude]

I think I may have found the problem, or at least one of them. According to some reviews by buyers on newegg, the board doesn't support the Intel P920 Dual Core right out of the box. Instead I have to flash the BIOS with the update that lends it this support. Trouble is, how do I flash the BIOS if I can't see anything of the BIOS to flash? (See above about not getting any display after powering up)

[Cricket]

You would need a compatible processor installed in order to do the BIOS update. Do you have another LGA775 CPU available or can you borrow one from someone?

Another option would be to buy a CMOS chip that already has the updated BIOS. You can get one from here or here. Much cheaper than buying a whole new processor.

Cricket

[Dia]

I have this board in a gaming rig I built for my parents. I had the same exact problem.

The correction for my problem was to use a 24 pin SLI certified PSU. I bought a Hiper type R 580w from xoxide.com

At first I thought it was a bad board, and then a bad VGA card. But what I found out was even though my fans were spinning there was not enough power on the rails for the CPU to power up the board (on the previous PSU i had in). At first I thought they didnt know what they were talking about but once I switched the PSU to the Hiper one, i got beeps and it booted up with no problems after that.

Also make sure your case speaker is connect so you can hear vocal beeps. And also make sure that on the back of the CPU 115 is selected on the switch.

If I was you I would try using that hiper type r since i know it definately powers that board, if it doesnt fix your problem you can return it to xoxide within 15 days and take a 20% return charge but at least your not stuck with that PSU if it doesnt fix your problem but im pretty sure its a PSU problem since your not getting any vocal posts.

(specs on the system using the asus p5ld2-deluxe)

Hiper type R psu
asus p5ld2 deluxe
p4 lga775 630 3.0
2 gigs of pqi ddr2 ram
evga 6800gt
hitatchi 160 gig HD
lite on dvd rom 16x
swiftech heatsink
using onboard audio still

Hopefully your problem is just a psu problem liek mine was.

[USMDude]

Originally Posted by Dia Hopefully your problem is just a psu problem liek mine was.

Definitely not the same problem. I popped a friend's processor into it and tried to update the BIOS to support my dual-core processor, but after some various problems, I've decided to contact ASUS and demand that they send me a ROM chip with the updated BIOS on it. I don't see why I should spend good money to go and get a really cheap LGA 775 processor just so that I can update this BIOS, or to spend money to get an updated BIOS chip myself. ASUS is really pissing me off with this mess, because the box the board came it claims to be dual-core CPU ready, and it's obviously not completely dual-core ready, at their own admission too (if you search deep enough in their site). Grrr.

[glc]

What problem did you encounter trying to update the bios with your friend's processor?

[USMDude]

Originally Posted by glc What problem did you encounter trying to update the bios with your friend's processor?

I can't remember exactly what it said now, because he was in a hurry to get me out of there so he could go to work, but when I would try to flash the BIOS it would give me an error saying something to the effect "Error accessing information". Then when the floppy started giving me problems it would tell me "Bad or missing command interpreter 'C:/COMMAND.COM'", which was kind of odd since I was running a floppy boot disk (MS-DOS 6.22). The boot floppy "worked" for a couple of times before that command.com error came up.

Hopefully, ASUS won't give me too much grief because it find it very aggravating to say something is dual-core CPU ready when it really isn't.

[glc]

Well, it IS ready. It will take 8xx series dual cores out of the box. The board was designed before the 9xx series came out. The bios needs to be flashed.

Make a new boot floppy. You can do this with XP, put a NEW blank floppy in, right click on the A drive, select format - check the box to make a MS-DOS system disk. Then copy the flash utility and the flash file onto it.

[USMDude]

I finally broke down and paid for a new flashed ROM chip for the BIOS update ($40: $20 for overnight shipping and $20 for the chip) and popped it in today. Works like a charm now! It's a beautiful thing when something that hasn't been working for pretty much 2 weeks can be changed by such a small chip. Thanks for the help guys.