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ahh! computer wont turn on! has to work tonight! help please!

MrDudeMan

Lifer
i have this new computer i made for my girlfriend's parents (bad idea in the first place) and it WONT WORK AHH!!

system specs...

p4 1.6a
gigabyte 8IRXP
geforce2 mx400
WD300 Western Digital 30gb hard drive (7200rpm ata100)
mushkin PC2100 basic DDR ram
chieftech server case 420w PSU
and that is all that is plugged in right now, but it wont post anything


for a second i didnt have that aux 12volt thing plugged in, but when i saw it, i turned the computer off and plugged it in, but it still will not post

the monitor cable is plugged in, everything is snapped in place



also, the hard drive WILL NOT spin up unless there is NOT, i repeat NOT an IDE cable in it...when i connect it to the motherboard, it WILL NOT spin up, i cant figure out why

please help! thanks
 
Are you sure that board aint an 8X-RIP? 🙂

Take the board out of the case and lay it on a nonconductive surface and then give it a try. Iva had the same thing happen and found that the board was grounding against the case...
 
Do your fans come on? If not, check the 115/230 volt switch on the back of the power supply to make sure it is in the correct position. Also make sure your front-panel switch connector is plugged into the correct place. Try it with no drives hooked up - just have the CPU, RAM and vid card in. (IDE cable on backwards can cause some systems not to power up)
 
Hopefully you didn't short out your mobo. Make sure you are using the copper stand-offs that come with the mobo... When you're working on the computer, make sure you touch the PSU before you pick up any computer parts, to discharge any static electricity. If I were you, I would check the connections from the front panel (power switch, reset switch, HDD LED, etc.). Most people don't get these right on the first go round (positive and ground are sometimes switched around). Thus, when you push the power button, nothing happens. Also, I'd try and reseat the vid card, reseat the RAM (and make sure it's in the right DIMM slot, like DIMM 0, or DIMM 1, depending on your mobo), and reconnect your IDE cables. Check your PSU and make sure it's set on the right voltage (115W). Hopefully, this will get ya running. If that don't work, you might have to start swapping out parts and try to narrow it down (although it's likely a shorted out mobo, if none of this other stuff works).
 
the computer turns on, but it wont post anything

the computer physically turns ON, but it wont actually post on the monitor

fans spin up

HOWEVER, when the hard drive is plugged into the motherboard via IDE cable, the hard will NOT spin up

i tried the hard drive in another computer and it worked fine

this will be the 3rd dead mobo ive gotten from newegg in a week, i wear an electric discharger on my arm when i work on computers so i didnt shock it

i got the iwill xp333, RMA'd it, TWICE! why am i having such bad luck?
 
This is yet another example of how no good turn goes unpunished.

Also, you seem to be plagued by a streak of bad luck.

Sorry I'm of no help.
 
would getting thermal compound on the CPU pins hurt it at all? i cant see if i did, but that might be a possibility
would that hurt it?

i used ASII, but i think i may have used too much

i thought this stuff was non-conductive though....

any ideas?
 


<< This is yet another example of how no good turn goes unpunished


i dont understand...what does he mean by that
>>



I believe that he means that this is what you get for trying to help your GF's parents. And, really, you were just setting yourself up for some serious karmic payback in building a box for them. I know the gods would pick that kind of moment to take their revenge on me.

Anyway, if you got ASII where it didn't belong, that could possibly be a problem. It *is* conductive enough to damage things, despite the company's claims to the contrary. I'd check the case/mobo connector cables first, though, as has been suggested already.
 
First of all, get that drive completely out of there and don't even think of putting it back untill you've got the system posting. Second, unplug all of the front pannel plugs/cables except the power switch and SPEAKER. Double check that the video card is fully seated and try to fire it up. Do you get ANY beep codes at all?

 
must be karma😉

If you haven't already; take out everything except cpu, 1 stick of ram, and vid card. see if it will post like that. if it does try adding components one at a time.
if it doesn't post, try a different cpu and ram if possible.

lets start there
 
i took everything off except the ram cpu and video card

im going to take all the crap off the front except the power connector and the speaker...ill go try to fire it up and tell you if it beeps at all


and i know i was setting myself up, but you have to admit, it will be serious brownie points when it works right =)
 
not working still...dunno whats wrong with it, i cant figure out why it wont post, anyone have another idea or is it fried...?

hm i hope its not, that wouldnt go over well with the parents i dont think


thats ok though, im not worried about that really, i just want to get this thing working
















does anyone know why the hard drive wont spin up unless the IDE cable is UNPLUGGED??



thanks
 
does anyone know why the hard drive wont spin up unless the IDE cable is UNPLUGGED??

Try making it a slave and try plugging to the secondary IDE controller.
 


<< i took everything off except the ram cpu and video card

im going to take all the crap off the front except the power connector and the speaker...ill go try to fire it up and tell you if it beeps at all


and i know i was setting myself up, but you have to admit, it will be serious brownie points when it works right =)
>>


sounds like to mobo maybe, do you have other componenets you can test on it?
 
unplug the keyboard and mouse. Unplug the power connector to the motherboard and reset the BIOS. While you are at it make sure the BIOS jumper is on normal and not on reset. Do not plug in the keyboard and mouse for the next bootup. Are you sure that the fan on the cpu is plugged onto the right place on the MB some motherboards will not boot if it not plugged into the one marked cpu.
Bleep
 
i took the keyboard and mouse off...im looking at the board and i dont even see a clear cmos jumper, and the only jumper i do see is only 2 pins! this board has dual bios chips, dunno if that means anything...


im thinking the board is fried....

i have other components to test on it, and i have


tried a PCI and AGP video card

tried two western digital WD300's (30gb) on all 4 channels (IDE and RAID)

hard drives, as a matter of fact, STILL wont even spin up if the IDE cable is connected to them


i took it out of the case and put it on an anti-static bag to make sure it wasnt grounding on the case


il try different RAM tomorrow morning, maybe the RAM is dead

can the 8IRXP support pc2700? thats the only other kind i have...the one installed right now is pc2100

does it matter what dimm the memory is in??
















please answer as many of those questions as you can....thanks
 


<< tried two western digital WD300's (30gb) on all 4 channels (IDE and RAID)

hard drives, as a matter of fact, STILL wont even spin up if the IDE cable is connected to them
>>



This will happen if the cable is backward. I've also seen situations where the IDE plugs were ground out on a standoff.



<< l try different RAM tomorrow morning, maybe the RAM is dead >>



If you remove the RAM completely you shoud still get some POST beeps (assuming the speaker is plugged in). If you don't then it's probably not RAM.

 
I had a similiar thing happen with 2 Abit MB's, then I tried an Intel board. The Intel board would post outside of the case, but when I put it in the case, nothing. I finally set the non-conductive-bag the MB came in on top of the stand-offs and screwed the thing down. I've had no problems with it since. It seems that somehow the case was at fault.
 


<< I had a similiar thing happen with 2 Abit MB's, then I tried an Intel board. The Intel board would post outside of the case, but when I put it in the case, nothing. I finally set the non-conductive-bag the MB came in on top of the stand-offs and screwed the thing down. I've had no problems with it since. It seems that somehow the case was at fault. >>



Did you ever consider that the problem might between the keyboard & the chair?

That's always a possibility.




<< I've had no problems with it since. It seems that somehow the case was at fault >>



badly made & designed case are a very very rare thing,most of the time it's user error,even the cheapest cases usualy work fine.
 
i put the hard drive on the anti static bag, the hard drive still wont spin up when plugged in, and the cables can only go one way. they have the little piece sticking off that is about 1/8 an inch wide on the side of the plastic part of the IDE cables. i tried 6 different cables, no go.


the speaker also will not work, i tried plugging it in both ways and it didnt make any beeps


i got it from newegg...can i call them and ask them to send me a new board and to make sure they test it?
 
Like someone already suggested DO NOT do anything with drives.

Remove MB from the case - must do this.

Put CPU into MB, connect speaker only if you have no on-board buzzer,
connect PS connectors (ATX and ATX12V). NO memory, NO Drives, NO Video.
connect ON-Switch connector.

If no bips - one of 3 components is bad,
Replace PS first - you will get only 2 components MB and CPU.

If you getting bips, add memory.
Add Video card after that.
 
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