My first problems - need help please

[Tarmenion]

Ok I ran in to first couple of problems building my own.

First, I dont think it is a problem. I was told to configue the MOBO with the jumpers except it doesnt list the jumpers. When I go thru the manual the first steps is to put the CPU on and it tells me to configure it thru bios, is this right? I have the MSI K7T 266pro Mobo, I am just doing what the manual tells me.

Next is the Heatsink Fan, the clips are so hard to put on it feels like I am going to rip the thing off the Mobo. I even tried to bend the clips with all my strength to help but it didnt. Are the clamps souppose to be this hard to put on?

One other thing. How much Compound do I put on? Do I cover just that little square in the middle of the chip or cover the whole chip?

ARRRRGGG it begins

[HAL9000]

I'm not totally familiar with that board, but if there aren't any jumpers to configure, then it must be done through the BIOS, so you don't have to worry about it until then.

When it comes to the heat sink, I haven't had too much experience with them, but have heard they can be a real bear to get into place. I'm sure one of the AMD'ers will post to give you some advice with this.

As for the heat sink compound, you only need a small pea sized dab on the small chip in the center. Smear it evenly with an old playing card or something similar (don't use your fingers, some compounds may contain mercury). Then when you apply the heat sink, give it a bit of pressure and a slight twist to seat it down, then comes the fun with getting the clips on.

[Tarmenion]

Thanks Hal,

hehe I am actually using a 2 plyers to bend the clamp, maybe in 15 more minutes of bending i will be able to get it on. Solid clamp hehehe

[DrZaius]

Hi Tarmenion,

Like HAL mentioned, you should be able to configure everything in the BIOS without having to change the jumpers. The jumpers are usually for backup (clear CMOS, etc.) and shouldn't be changed from their default position. If you follow the manual instructions everything should turn out OK.

Which heatsink are you using? I've used some that were a total pain in the... uh, neck... to put on. I finally got it on but it left a big bruise on my thumb. After a while, I found that the best way to install those hard ones is to use a pair of pliers and a screw driver. Use the pliers to hold the side of the clip and pull it over the tab, and use the screw driver to push the clip down. There is usually a little notch on the clip for the screw driver head. Make sure the screw driver doesn't slip though, I've ran one across the motherboard on accident cutting most of the circuit connections. Luckaly the store that replaced it didn't notice.

As for the the thermal grease, I usually just put a little dab (about one drop) in the middle of the core (the little colored square in the middle of the chip) and then just let the pressure of applying the heatsink spread it around. You do not put the grease on the entire CPU.

Hope that helps.

[HAL9000]

Originally posted by DrZaius Hi Tarmenion, There is usually a little notch on the clip for the screw driver head. Make sure the screw driver doesn't slip though, I've ran one across the motherboard on accident cutting most of the circuit connections. Luckaly the store that replaced it didn't notice. Hope that helps.

The ones with the tab on them, I find go on quite easily if you use a rather large blade screwdriver. Seat it in the notch, then you should be able to bend the clip out and push down at the same time. I usually put a firm grip on each side of the blade and clip so that should I slip, my fingers take the pain instead of the motherboard (only did that once, hopefully never again... ouch).

[Tarmenion]

Iam already ahead of you on the screwdriver and plyers bit

I did the Chip, heatsink and memory and am now ready for the next step which think is to put the MOBO in the case.

Another thing I was told by a friend is to hook up the MOBO, Video, Chip and memory and connect the power and the monitor to make sure everything is ok so far, does that advise sound good or skip it and keep going?

hehe keep checking the boards, I am sure I have alot more questions that need to be answer fast

Thanks for your help guys

[Xayd]

That's a good start. All you need to get it fired up for the first time and into the BIOS is vid card, ram, cpu, power, and the buttons on the front of the case connected (be sure to get the speaker plug the right way so you can hear error beeps if you get them).

Xayd

[Hosie]

once you have memory,cpu and heatsink and fan, lay your mobo on something non-conductive(the box is good) make sure the power crod is unplugged from your psu, plug in the wire clip that runs from the psu to the mobo. Insert your video card into the agp slot, or the top pci if it is pci. connect the monitor cable to the video card, making sure the card stays seated properly. connect the power cord to the psu and then take a small screwdriver and short the the two posts on the mobo where the wires for the power switch go. you should get one beep. if not shut down and check to make sure everything is seated properly.
If all goes good you should get text on the screen. If so then install the motherboard and video card, and then install one card at a time. you should have it up and going in no time! Good Luck!

[Smoke24]

Glad you got the sink on without breaking the notch off the socket. They can be tough at times. Your friend is right to fire up the first time with only mobo, processor, memory and video. Once running add each other thing, drives and audio, one at a time so you'll know if it causes problems. I would install the floppy and hard drive first and do fdisk, partition and install Windows next. Be sure the case standoffs for the mobo are in the right places, at each screw hole in the board. If it has any jumpers, check and double check them with the manual. Take your time and recheck everything then power it up.

[Tarmenion]

A stupid question IMO but when connecting the PW, LED, Speaker, etc switches how do I know which is POSITIVE or NEGATIVE?? It doesnt say pos or neg on the plugs, just an little arrow and I am guessing that this arrow is positive, am I correct or it doesnt matter?

[HAL9000]

It doesn't matter in the sense that you won't blow anything up. Yes, the little arrow is positive. The worst that will happen is the LED's won't work when connected backwards, so then turn them around, no biggie

[LawyerRon]

Like Hal said, only the "power on LED" and "HDD activity LED" are directional or require a certain polarity. If they don't work, just reverse them. All the others can be connected either way.

[Tarmenion]

Ok, next problem.

There seems to be alot of plugs come off the power supply that match the fan plug, which go into which? does it matter? Also there are 2 plugs per fan so am I suppose to connect the 2 fans together then to the power supply like Xmas tree lights?

Another problem is that the mother board takes a 3 pronge plug and the fan plugs that I am suppose to put in the Mobo is 4 pronge, amI doing this right or am I missing something?

Example is you have 3 plugs, CFAN, PSFAN and SFAN. Well the proccessor fan when in fine (CFAN) but the other 2 (powersupply-PSFAN & system-SFAN) dont match up as stated above. So what should I do now?

One other thing. When I run this test I should have ALL fans going correct? just want to be sure on this.

Weel until the next set of questions

[HAL9000]

The plugs are all the same voltage specs, just plug them in where they physically fit. This includes your fans (I assume you're talking about the large 4 pin connectors) Yes, make sure that you have the CPU fan running, you don't want to be overheating that CPU on your first run.

[Tarmenion]

Ok Hal I got it with the fans but in this quote:

but Another problem is that the mother board takes a 3 pronge plug and the fan plugs that I am suppose to put in the Mobo is 4 pronge, amI doing this right or am I missing something?

Example is you have 3 plugs, CFAN, PSFAN and SFAN. Well the proccessor fan when in fine (CFAN) but the other 2 (powersupply-PSFAN & system-SFAN) dont match up as stated above. So what should I do now?

I am talking about the smaller pronges, about half the size, one is attached to a set of the larger pronges.

I FEEL THE HEADACHES COMING!! heheh

[Tarmenion]

The small pronge iam talking about is just like the Heatseak fans pronge but has 4 holes instead of 3. So the heatseak fan plugged in the Mobo with no problems but because the others have 4 holes it dont match. I hope this helps on to what I am saying.

[HAL9000]

OK, that one has me somewhat lost, all the ones that I have seen have either had 3 pins that plug into the motherboard, or the larger 4 pin to go directly to the power supply. Hopefully someone else will know the answer.

[Xayd]

The other one that looks like a fan connector, only larger, is the floppy power connector .

Xayd

[DrZaius]

Tarmenion,

There are 3 types of connectors to the power supply. One is the regular big 4 prong connector that connects to the hard drive and CD-Rom drive. Another is a smaller version which is used for the floppy drive. The connectors to most fans are either are a small red one that connects to the motherboard directly (to 3 little pins usually labeled FAN1, FAN2, etc.) or the big 4 prong ones. The point of connecting the fan to the motherboard is so that you can monitor RPM and some mobos have a feature that wont let it boot without a fan.

a) Anything with 4 prongs goes to the powersupply connector.
b) Anything with a little red connector goes to the motherboard.
c) The small little connector coming from the power supply goes to the floppy.

Hope that helps.

[Tarmenion]

Ok, I will try to explain this alittle better so maybe the next person can answer this, maybe Pardegt? he has the Antec SX1030 case I am talking about and take into consideration what I mention aboved.

From the Powersupply I have a total of 4 sets of wires left not including the main powerplug.

2 sets of wires consist of = 2 fan type plugs and 1 small white plug similiar to the heatsink fan plug but has 4 holes instead of 3.

1 set of wires has just 3 fan plugs

and 1 set of wires has a big white 6 hole plug (like the small 3 hole plug from the heatsink but much Larger size compared to a fan plug) and I dont see where it goes in the Mobo.

Thats what I have left from the powersupply, I hope this info helps.

Also when I do the test run what should I plug my Monitor into? the Mobo or the Vid card?

[Tarmenion]

Ok, I think I got it now, thanks guys.

Now where should I plug in my monitor for the test? the mobo or Video card?

[DrZaius]

Tarmenion,

You can't plug the monitor into the motherboard, only into the video card.

[Tarmenion]

Nevermind, Hosie answer this question in his reply.

Well, I am going to do the test now. what am exactly looking for?

P.S. After this I am done for the night

[DrZaius]

Tarmenion,

The computer should POST and beep once. Make sure it shows the correct CPU speed and it counts the RAM correctly (note that it won't be the exact same amount because of the way it is counted). More than one beep usually means there is something wrong, if there is just go back and recheck all your steps.

[Tarmenion]

Ok, this is what happen.

I got 1 beep like you said and the bios came up listing basically everything but the info wasnt accurate like the speed and such as you said it would be. It said not detecting HDD and Floppy and put in boot up disk (or something like that)

There was one thing I was concerned about though and that is after I saw what I had to see I shut the power switch off the PC and the display info left off the monitor but it seems the PC and the fans didnt stop running, I had to unplug it to shut it off but yet it was not displaying any info as it was off. Is there a reason for this? or I screwed up somewhere?

[DrZaius]

Tarmenion,

What info wasn't accurate? Was your CPU speed wrong?

As for the floppy and hard drive, make sure that the connectors are correct, especially for the floppy where the red line on the ribbon must align with PIN1 on the connector.

It will say you need a boot disk because it has no OS installed, you can ignore that until you are ready to install Windows.

As for shutting down, if your MSI board is like mine then you need to hold the power button down for 4-5 seconds and then it will shutdown, it is not instant.

[Tarmenion]

CPU Speed said 1000mhz if I remember right and I have 1.33 ghz

My HDD and Floppy is not installed yet just the CPU, VID card, Mobo, memory and Heatsink and fans.

You want me to start it up again to give you all the info? what exactly we looking for?

[Smoke24]

You've done real good so far. Don't worry about the CPU speed as you can set it later. The first thing I try to find in the bios is the CPU temp monitor and see if it is OK and the fans are being monitored if they are the three prong type powered from the mobo.
You can then try to reset the CPU speed and all other bios features the way you want them, if you don't know what it does don't change it in the bios, it may cause it not to boot. The manual should tell you most of the settings.
Then you can hook up the floppy and hard drives and reboot and fdisk, format and load your OS. Sounds like it's fine so far.

[Tarmenion]

Ok, I will type all the info

I got the one beep and this is what came up after trying to detect the IDE HDD and BOOT.....



Main processor :AMD Athlon (tm) Processor

Math processor: Built in Base memory size: 640kb
Floppy dr A: 1.44MB 3 1/2" Ext. Memory size: 511mb
Floppy Dr B: NONE Serial Port(s): 3f8, 2f8
Display type: VGA/EGA Parallel Port(s): 378
AMBIOS date: 3/15/2001 Processor Clock: 1000mhz
External Cache: 384KB, enabled Power Management: Enabled
DDR at DIMM(s): 1,2

PCI Deviers:
Onboard Raid, 1RQ12 Onboard multimedia device, 1RQ10
Onboard USB controller, 1RQ5 Onboard USB controller, 1RQ5
Onboard USB controller, 1RQ5 Onboard IDE, 1RQ14, 15
AGP VGA, 1RQ!!

Searching for boot record from floppy....not found
Searching for boot record from SCSI...not found

Boot Failure
Insert Boot diskette in A:
Press any key when ready



There you have it, we ok? or know?

This is what i have

MSI K7T 266pro
1.33 Tbird
2 x 256 ram
2 x 40 gig HDD
Geforce 2 64mb
and a bunch of other stuff I dont think you need right now

[Tarmenion]

DOH!!!

The above post was spaced out just like the PC displayed it but is now all mushed together

For example:

Math processor: Built in Base---------- memory size: 640kb


Oh well, do your best to read it is all I can tell you