Nothing on screen

[corndog]

Hello everybody. I'm in the process of my first build, that I'm doing for a friend. To say I'm overwhelmed is a bit of an understatement, but I'm getting through it.

After about five hours of work, I have been able to power up. All fans are spinning, hard drives emit slight vibration (which I assume would mean they're spinning up), and blue cathodes light. That is all. I can't get a BIOS, and have tried different monitors (which I've determined work), different DVI-VGA converters (working). The video card fan spins up by all appearances. I can't determine what the problem is, nor can I begin to troubleshoot. I've tried the card in both PCI-E slots, and neither work. I've tried the monitor in both DVI slots, and neither work--the monitor remains blank.

I have read a post that advocates removing everything from the case and seeing if I can get BIOS with minimal components, but I'd rather not undo that work, if there's a simpler solution.

Components are as follows:

ASUS A8N32 SLI Deluxe mobo
eVga 7600 GT vid card
Soundblaster XFi Fatal1ty sound card
Zalman CNPS950 cpu heatsink/fan
Corsair XMS pc3200 platinum 2 gigs (1 stick in now)
OCZ 520 watt PSU
Thermaltake Armor Full tower atx case
LiteOn DVD 16x burner

I don't really know where to start, though here a few other details. I get no LEDs lit, though I've rechecked the connections several times, and believe them to be solid. I get no POST beep(s), though I wasn't sure if this mobo has an onboard speaker. I cannot eject the DVD drive and no indicator light appears on it.

Where to go from here gurus? Any help is greatly appreciated. I'm about to order myself $4000 worth of components, and thought that I could get his PC up and running before I had to build mine, and am afraid I may have gotten in over my head.

Thanks again for any assistance. I work 12 hours tomorrow, but will post back with any results/details, if I can get help.

[corndog]

Oops, I forgot to list that the HDs are 2 WD 250 gig drives, that we'd like to be running in RAID 0. Sorry about the self-bump, but I can forsee that I'll be re-posting with RAID questions, if we can get this thing running.

Thanks again, all.

[J1978]

Hi

It could be a defective mobo or cpu.what psu are u using that could be a factor too.
the best way really is to do the out of the box test.




good luck



J

[freakitchen]

the best way really is to do the out of the box test.

And that test can be found here

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=132409

Post back with the results of this. Also check you've connected both the 24 pin main power connector AND the 2x2 Auxiliary power connector to the motherboard. Forgetting the latter is a common cause of the problem you're having.

FK

[glc]

I have read a post that advocates removing everything from the case and seeing if I can get BIOS with minimal components, but I'd rather not undo that work, if there's a simpler solution.

I do a quick out of the case check on every system I build before mounting anything. It's saved me a ton of work over the years.

[corndog]

Thanks for the responses, all. I have to head to work, but might take off early, so I can try some of this stuff out late tonight.

The processor is an AMD 64 3800+

I've double-checked both the 24 pin connector and the 2x2 auxillary, and both appear to be seated properly, but I will re-check this evening.

Thanks again for the responses. I like to consider myself technically inclined, so I didn't anticipate problems, which I now know was egotistical and shortsighted.

[corndog]

Hey everybody

I ended up having to do the test outside the case, after attempting everything else I could think of. I don't want to sound too excited (or jinx myself). I was able to determine that the CPU was not fully seated, though it was by all appearances. After re-seating, and reattaching the CPU fan, I was able to get both a POST beep and BIOS screen.

Thank you so much for your help. I'll update this post (in case anyone cares) as the build gets rebuilt.

yay

[glc]

Been there, done that - and I've been building computers for over 10 years.