First build won't POST

[sentinelomega]

Hello

I have been trying to build a computer for the first time and have run into problems. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

When I boot up the computer, the MB gives a single beep which I believe means that everything is going correctly. When the monitor powers on it quickly shows the graphics card information and then switches to the "Abit" screen prompting to press Tab or Del. Unfortunately this is the farthest I have gotten. There are no additional beeps from the MB or anything else to indicate a problem. The POST code displayed on the MB when it hangs is 4E.
Sometimes - but not always - the "Abit" screen will have small white lines scattered around it or the bottom 1/3 of the screen will be a big strip of black and white lines. The CDRW and DVD Burner both receive power and can open/close and all the case fans and the Abit Guru seem to work.

Here are my system specs:

AMD Athlon X2 4800+ Processor
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro Cooling Fan with Heatsink
Abit Fatal1ty AN8 Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard
ABIT Guru Panel (GP-02) Controller Panel
CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel TWINX2048-3200
XFX Geforce 7800GTX PVT70FUND7 Video Card
ENERMAX EG465P-VE 24P 460W Power Supply
ThermalTake Armor VA8000BWS Case
ViewSonic G225fb CRT

The following are additional system items that I disconnected and removed after unsuccessfully trying to boot the system a few times. There was no change to the problem after removing them.

Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Pioneer DVR-110DBK / 16x8x16x DVD+RW / 16x6x16x DVD-RW / 8x DVD+R DL / 40x32x40x CD-RW / OEM DVD Burner
Sony CRX320E DVD/CD-RW Writer
Dynatron DH1205SO-C 3.5" Aluminum Multi-Color LED HDD Cooler

When I ran into the problem I checked all hardware power and data connections and when that didnt work I disconnected and then reconnected everything. When that failed to work I removed all but the graphics card, cpu/fan, and RAM. I tried with each stick of ram individually and also tried hooking up an old PCI graphics card and monitor that I know work but the exact same problem continued. I have reset the CMOS using the jumper and also have removed the battery. I also removed the MB from the case and hooked graphics card, cpu/fan and RAM back up on a piece of cardboard and performed all these steps again but the problem continued.
I dont know anyone with a PCI-Express slot or compatable RAM to independently test these items for me.
I should also add that I tried connecting a working 3.5 floppy drive but it never received power before the hang. Also the MB did not seem to come with a jumper on the CMOS so I tried booting with the Guru's connector on it (with the Guru both on and off) and I also used another jumper. I originally used an ASPIRE ATX-AS520W 520W Power Supply but replaced it with the Enermax one listed above when I thought that it was causing the problem.

Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

[ktkendall]

Follow the instructions here:
http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=132409

[sentinelomega]

I have tried everything and used a different video card and power supply. I think I must have either a bad MoBo or CPU but I am not sure which.

The POST code 4E definition is the following:

1. Program MTRR of M1 CPU
2. Initialize L2 cache for P6 class CPU & program CPU with proper cacheable range
3. Initialize the APIC for P6 class CPU
4. On MP platform, adjust the cacheable range to smaller one in case the cacheable ranges between each CPU are not identical

As I have an AMD dual-processor CPU would this mean there is a problem with it adjusting the cachable ranges (assuming "MP" means multi-processor) and if so, is that the job of the CPU or MoBo?

[glc]

For X2 processor support on that motherboard, it requires bios version 20.

[sentinelomega]

Wow thank you!
I checked the BIOS revision and version 1.5 dated 2005-06-16 added support for dual-core CPU. The latest revision (2.0) was dated 2006-02-13 but my MoBo seems to still be on the initial 1.0 version even though I just bought it a week and a half ago.
Now the question: is there a way to flash the BIOS when the BIOS will not support the processor and thus will not POST?
I assume I will have to borrow a socket 939 processor to do this or somehow get a physical BIOS chip and replace it. Is replaceing the BIOS chip recommended?

[glc]

Your only choices are to borrow a processor or replace the chip. Contact Abit, they may send you a chip.

[sentinelomega]

My Abit MoBo has the NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra chipset. My roomate has an AMD socket 754 with an ASUS nForce3 150 chipset. Would it be possible to pop out my BIOS and place it into his MoBo, flash it with the updated version and replace it back in my machine?

[glc]

Not likely. I wouldn't chance it.