AMD/Asus New-Build No Video

[Robo21]

Components:
AMD 1.4Ghz/266
Asus A7M266 (AMD 761chipset)
2X256mb Corsair PC 2400 DDR SDRAM
Geforce
350W ATX power supply
Silverado Heatsink/Fans

I am experienced building systems (heretofore only Intel CPU based systems, however) and have a real problem here I just cannot resolve. I assembled the components described above and did a test before going any further and found that I had no video on the monitor. I checked all of the connections and the CPU seating, the video card seating etc. All checked out fine. I then went out and bought a new, identical motherboard/processor/memory (this time Kingston PC2100) and tried changing one component at a time until all of the components were new. Still no video.

The power supply is fine and the fans come on both in the power supply and on the heatsink but still no video. I swapped video cards with my other system and still no video. I am about to try yet another motherboard (MSI K7 Master) thinking that this may be an issue with the AGP Pro slot on the Asus mobo.
Anybody have any ideas? I am stumped. Thanks.
Robin

[afr0ninja]

I've found in the past that if you are trying to set up a new board with an AGP card, that it's sometimes necessary to first start it up with a PCI video card, and change the settings in the boards BIOS to AGP. After you set the BIOS to look for an AGP card, then you can take the PCI out, and install the AGP.

[glc]

Have you tried it with the motherboard on the table instead of mounted in the case? The Tips and Tricks forum addresses this - "problems with a new build" right up at the top.

[mike breck]

As glc suggested, try Hals tips.

Also have you tested the monitor and video cable with another PC.

Also check the jumper on the mobo is set to DDR and not SDRam.

Multiplier 10.5 x 133?

If you're able to to get into the bios - what's the CPU temp?

I know you think the PSU is working fine, but try another PSU anyway.

[Robo21]

Yes, I have the Asus installed on a mounting tray which slides out of the case. I have not tried it separated from the tray however. The power supply and switch have been removed from the case and they do rest on the table. One thing that I didn't mention in the post is that I even tried a different heat/sink fan combo. Nothing has helped so far.

Thanks for considering my problem, I am so frustrated that I am considering giving up on AMD and going back to Intel's CPU.




"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent."

[ASRAAM]

I have been having a similar problem with an Athlon 1.2Ghz processor and a KT7a raid motherboard. After completing the new system it ran, albeit slowly. However on shutdown windows 98 appeared to be sending corrupt info to the BIOS and when the computer was restarted some extra beeps came out of the speaker and all I got was a blank screen. I got the video back by using the CMOS discharge jumper to reset the CMOS.

The videocard which was an Elsa Gladiac AGP (using a gforce2mx chip)was eventually tracked down as the cause of the problem. For some reason the card will only work if it is allocated a set IRQ, unfortunately doing this caused pretty much everything else to grind to a halt with conflicts.

It all got beyond my level of technical ability and I put my old ATI rage pro AGP back in, the system is still not completely stable but working much better.

Anyway, maybe a CMOS reset will help.

[Robo21]

Thank you you very much Ninja, glc, Mike and ASRAAM, lots of good ideas that I hadn't thought of nor tried. I am working on the problem with these possible fixes and will update with results soon.

I am really impressed with, and grateful for, the responsiveness of the community here. You guys and this site are great!