All connected, but no power getting through!

[MRW]

Ok, the problem is, after several attempts, i cannot get any power into the machine. All compulsory stuff is connected (Power/Reset switches etc, including power sockets to the mobo), but when I come to switch it on, theres absolutely nothing. I tried it with another PSU, still no luck. No fans spin, and no lights come on.
I have an Xblade case (With a 460W PSU), AsRock 939Dual-VSTA mobo, & a AMD Athlon 3500+ CPU.
I haven't got any HDD or GFX connected at the moment, as I stopped building it when I realised no power was getting through.

Any ideas would be greatly appreiciated!

Thanks for your time.

[freakitchen]

Follow the instructions in this thread. It's the only way to isolate a faulty component

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

FK

[MRW]

Thanks Freakitchen, but still no luck, everythings...just...dead.

[Underhanded]

Have you made sure the power switch on your psu and all surge protectors etc is on? Usuaully, even if something is fried, you will see a light of some kind.. Figure its always good to check the basics eh?
Also - I notice you live in england? perhaps if you purchased your PSU from a different country, you may have to manually set the power rating in the back of the PSU to the rating your country uses. I think I recall England uses the 230w AC power? most psu's come stock with it set to the 115w. There should be a little red switch in the back that can be slid over. I highly reccomend researching that a bit though before you try anything, because i'm just going off my memory, which at times can be very rusty.

[freakitchen]

A completely dead system is unusual, but would most likely point to a DOA power supply. Most PSUs that come with cases are of low quality, and XBlade is no exception. I'd replace that with a quality unit of similar wattage from one of the manufacturers listed in Blue in this thread:

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195

Just before you do, check the obvious things. Make sure the voltage switch (if there is one) on the back of the PSU is set to 230w. Switch to a known working kettle lead, and even check that the rear switch is actually turned on!

FK

[MRW]

Thanks for the replies.
I checked the back of the PSU, and the 230w part is showing, so I take it that is what it's set to. I bought the case & PSU from England. I swapped the PSU for another similar one that i know for sure works, however, all I get is a slight buzz from the PSU, still no fans, lights etc.
The system is all brand-new, could it still be a fault with the MoBo or CPU?

Edit: Tried another kettle lead, still no luck. And yeah, the back switch is on.

Thanks again!

[freakitchen]

Again, it's unususal for a known working PSU not to even start the system. With the motherboard out of the case, are you sure you're shorting the correct pins on the front panel header to start the system up? (the ones that would normally connect to the power switch when inside the case).

If you are, then I'd think about RMA-ing the motherboard at this point. ASRock is not a quality manufacturer, and I'd actually get it replaced with an ASUS.

Don't forget that you need a quality ATX2 power supply - with a 24 pin main power connector, for a PCI-Express build.

One final point; you are connecting both the main power connector, and the 4 pin auxiliary power connector to the motherboard, aren't you?

FK

[MRW]

Ok thanks for your help. The pin-shorting definatly didn't work. I'm gonna arrange for it to go back to where i bought it all from so they can take a look at it and tell me whats wrong with it & what may need replacing. I'm not going to go out & buy another mobo, considering only i got it yesterday, and that it should work fine.

Thanks again for your help. If you think of any more suggestions, feel free to post them.

[tempus]

Do you know for sure the powerswitch is working? I would try and short the 2 pins with the blade of a screwdriver and see what happens. If everything is connected then when the power supply is plugged in there should be an LED that lights up on the mother board.

[MRW]

Originally Posted by tempus Do you know for sure the powerswitch is working? I would try and short the 2 pins with the blade of a screwdriver and see what happens. If everything is connected then when the power supply is plugged in there should be an LED that lights up on the mother board.

I'm not sure if the powerswitch works, as everythings connected, & when i try to short it, nothing happens, no lights, no fans, nothing.

[tempus]

There is not much left to suggest. I was looking at a picture of your MB and it requires a 20 pin connector and a 4 pin connector from the power supply to work. I assume that you have not overlooked some connections. If the 4 pin is not connected then there will be no power to the board. At this point I would suspect a dead board.

[freakitchen]

I'm not going to go out & buy another mobo, considering only i got it yesterday, and that it should work fine.

Just because the board is new, doesn't mean It's definitely going to work. All manufacturers have a small percentage of Dead-on-Arrival components, and it looks like you have one here. Lower quality brands, like ASRock, have a higher percentage of DOAs than higher quality brands, like ASUS.

I'd just return that motherboard for a refund, and buy an ASUS with an Nforce 4 chipset - like the A8N5X or A8N-E.

You'll need to buy an ATX2 spec power supply for a PCI-Express based system.

FK

[Cricket]

You tried the out-of-case troubleshooter with just the core components and you still got nothing? You probably have a DOA motherboard on your hands.

Try pulling the video card and RAM off the motherboard and then try to power it up. You should get BIOS error beeps because the RAM and video is missing but if you don't get any beeps then the motherboard may be DOA.

Cricket