No Video, No Sound

[DivideByZero14]

I am building my first rig, and I seem to have come upon a problem. Here are the specs: (I based it very loosely on this.)

• Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
• Asus P5B
• Seagate Barracuda 300GB SATA/300
• two OCZ Gold 1GB DDR2 800 (PC6400)
• LG GSA-H22L Reads-Everything Optical Drive
• PNY GeForce 7900GS
• Mitsumi FA404M Floppy/Media Reader
• all packed into an Antec Sonata II with the included 450W PSU.
• Keyboard: Logitech G15 (USB)
• Mouse: Logitech MX Revolution (Wireless USB)
• Monitor: generic 19-inch LCD, connected with VGA à la a DVI-to-VGA dongle that came with the videocard

After reading my motherboard's manual, and every build-your-own-PC guide Google could find (including PC Mechanic's), I assembled these components and put them into my case. A thorough triple-checking showed all power, IDE, SATA cables and leads connected--from the ATX power to my Asus to the CD Audio leads from my drive.

When I press the power button, my optical blinks (and eventually settles down to a solid glow), all fans spin up, and the case's blue decorative light and green power LED both glow steadily. However, my monitor, no matter when it is turned on, says "No Signal" for a few seconds, before going into power-save mode until it is turned off. Also, the monitor's speakers, connected to the Audio Out on the rear panel, are silent. The HDD Activity light remains stoically dark.

Insertion of my Windows XP Home SP2 disc, before or after startup, causes the optical drive's light to blink for a few seconds, before reverting to the idle glow.

Could the problem be my videocard, or perhaps my keyboard not being PS2? I sincerely appreciate any advice anyone has. (I have read both pertaining sticky topics in this forum.)

[rjfvillarosa]

I strongly suggest you carry out a "minumum hardware, out of case build" as discussed in this thread: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=132409 and for the time being try using a PS2 keyboard untill you get it all up and running.

[DivideByZero14]

Thanks!

It appears one of my DIMMs is bad. It boots with the other one, but not with both or just the bad one. Now, to get RMA...

Thank you very much--this just became my favorite PC resource.

[DivideByZero14]

Update: It appears that the DIMM is not faulty, it just refuses to sit right. Anyway, fixing that, I have a new problem.

The machine now boots past the Nvidia, Asus, and JMicron (my SATA controller's manufacturer) screens, but then sits silently at the console for a moment, drops a line, and then sits there blinking forever. Putting my Windows disc in, taking it out, and booting with it already in make no difference. What's up?

[DivideByZero14]

Further update: Changed the boot order. All is well again.

[tempus]

Originally Posted by DivideByZero14 Update: It appears that the DIMM is not faulty, it just refuses to sit right.

Sometimes it takes a bit of firm pressure to get the DIMM to sit down into the slot. But not enough to crack the board.

[DivideByZero14]

I am through with drivers and am slogging through Windows Update. I believe I can chalk this first computer up as a success. Thank you all!

[rjfvillarosa]

Well done, don't end your requests for help there, I am sure we can help you with any other issue you come across, let us know how the rest of the install goes.

[DivideByZero14]

Originally Posted by rjfvillarosa Well done, don't end your requests for help there, I am sure we can help you with any other issue you come across, let us know how the rest of the install goes.

Uh oh...I think I'll need to hit you up for that. Flashing my ASUS P5B with their in-Windows utility, I walked away from my comp. When I came back, the monitor was dark. Groan.

When I reboot it (as I have about thirty times), it does one of these two things, seemingly randomly:

• The power LED comes on, fans spin up, and optical drive blinks, but nothing from the speakers or video card.
• It begins to load normally, although after the first screen or so, a message comes up saying something about the BIOS having a bad checksum. It then checks the floppy and CD drives and USB ports for "p5b.rom". I caught on the second time, and I popped in the CD that came with the motherboard. It took a few minutes "erasing" and then another few "programming" and then it said to restart to get my computer back. Upon restart, it assumed the state of the first bullet. The third time this happend, I had a floppy with the BIOS ready, but it ended up the same way. I have since been unable to get the computer to boot this way.

Is my motherboard off to the great anti-static bag in the sky?

This seems relevant.

[rjfvillarosa]

Originally Posted by DivideByZero14 Flashing my ASUS P5B with their in-Windows utility, I walked away from my comp. When I came back, the monitor was dark.

You should never flash firmware of any kind including BIOS from Windows it should always be done from a DOS like environment, the only exception is the Intel flash utility.
Check on badflash.com to see if they have a basic BIOS file for your board and flash from the floppy.

[tempus]

Can you still access the BIOS at boot up by pressing DEL? If yes then enter the BIOS and make sure the boot order is correct as well as the other settings. When you did the "In Windows Flash" did you set it to keep default settings?

[DivideByZero14]

I don't know if I can access the BIOS because it's not communicating with my monitor. Also, I hadn't changed anything in BIOS (except the boot order, but that doesn't matter now), so whether it kept my settings or reverted to defaults, the settings are the same.

[Cricket]

Something to always remember (especially when it comes to BIOSes)..."if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Cricket

[rjfvillarosa]

The best thing you can do right now is try and reset the BIOS to default, do you know how to reset the BIOS via the motherboard jumper or by removing the battery?

[DivideByZero14]

Originally Posted by rjfvillarosa The best thing you can do right now is try and reset the BIOS to default, do you know how to reset the BIOS via the motherboard jumper or by removing the battery?

I see what you're saying, but it's not my BIOS's settings that are the problem--the BIOS programming itself is corrupted.

Originally Posted by Cricket Something to always remember (especially when it comes to BIOSes)..."if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

*simmer* I see that now.

Anyway, ASUS was good enough to give me an RMA, so I boxed it up and sent it out; it's going to take a week or two. I just can't wait to play HL2 without my computer BSODing halfway through Ravenholm...

[rjfvillarosa]

It is never a good idea to update your BIOS before you have your machine up and running, unless it is absolutely necessary and unless it's an Intel board never update from the Windows environment.
http://pcmech.com/show/hardware/1020/