Bah. Is my motherboard screwed?

[Maezr]

I'm building my first computer..

I bought a KR7a-RAID motherboard, 1700+ Athlon XP CPU, 512 megs DDR registered RAM, and a Geforce 4 MX.

I tried putting it all together a few hours ago.. I went by the MB manual for the whole thing.. When I plug the case in, I get a yellow light, but nothing happens when I press the power butten in the front. I was told to try inserting a paper clip from the green wire to a black one, in the ATX power supply deal coming from the PSU. The fan runs when I do, so the PSU probably isn't the problem.

Is the MB screwed? Is there anything else I can do?

I haven't plugged in the floppy and EIDE ribbons yet, but I should be able to boot and get into BIOS beforehand, shouldn't I?

 

[Maezr]

.. I'd really like some advice, if possible.. X_x

 

[Maezr]

Beh.. sorry to triple post.. but it's already fallen of the first page again..

I'd really like to know what to to.. I spent a fair amount of money on all this, I'd like to get some use out of it.. X_x

 

[ST4RCUTTER]

Looks like you came on a low-traffic morning.


First, make sure the leads are correctly connected to the motherboard risers for power, power LED, HDD LED, speaker etc. If that looks good, go back and do a step by step check of the setup. Check all jumpers, paying special attention to the CMOS clear jumper. If that looks good, pull everything out and verify that the motherboard is not able to short against the case backplate. If everything looks ok, re-install the CPU, RAM and video card. If you're using a HSF, make sure to plug the fan into the first header (most ABIT boards I've worked with in the past won't boot without a fan on header one). This is a failsafe to keep someone from forgetting to plug in their HSF and frying their CPU. If everything looks good, try to reboot with only the above and listen for any beep tones. This is your main diagnostic tool. How many beeps (if any) are you getting?

 

[Maezr]

What exactly do you mean by 'short up against the backplate'?

Yeah, there is a HSF installed, and all the LEDs are there, with the exception of the 'Suspend LED'. That's not anywhere in the case, that I can see.

There are also two GND plugs coming from the front of the case, but there's no apparant place to plug them in, and the MB manual makes no mention of them..

Thanks..

 

[Maezr]

'nother bump X_x

 

[Mavrick007]

Give it a bit of time, you should allow 4-6 hrs wait for a response before self-bumping your topic.

I would have something plugged into the ide controller like a hard drive at least and try going into the bios if you can. Try moving everything inside. Reseat the video card, ram, kb, mouse. Take the connector cables and make sure they are put in the right direction with ground going to the right pole. Try this again and see what happens.

 

[sanz]

General rule of troubleshooting.

1. Don't panic.
2. Don't fret over the problem all night. Sleep over it. It'll look alot better next day.
3. Grab hold of someone (in real life) who knows what they're doing if you can't figure it out. We can try our best to help you online, but it's got limits. It's so much easier and faster if someone can show you how.

Assuming that you haven't fixed your problem by now, a good way to troubleshoot a mobo is to do it by the book. Eliminate the problem one at a time.

All mobos bios comes with beep codes. When used properly, it'll shorten your troubleshoot dramatically.

What exactly do you mean by 'short up against the backplate'?

It is the plate on which you mount your mobo. Sometimes the metal bit where you screw the mobo into can short the mobo, where in general, mobo will not power up at all.

You did say that HDD LED lit up, so I don't think that is the problem. From your description, I'm assuming that your PSU powers up, your HDD spins, fans work, but no boot up, no vid on monitor.

1. Take out everything and re-put in ONLY the CPU, HSF, and your mobo to case connections. Contrary to what many here believe, you don't need video, ram, hdd to find out about dead mobo or cpu.

2. Boot up. 2 possibilities. You'll hear a series of beeps or you wont. If you hear beeps, you're in luck. Your mobo or CPU isn't dead. If you don't hear anything, then the problem is either dead CPU or mobo.

3a. If you heard beeps, look it up on your mobo manual. Beeps will be for either video or ram error. Put corresponding part in. Boot again. If the beep has changed, then that particular part is working. Look up the new code and repeat until you find the cultpit. Hopefully, you'll have isolated the problem and can solve it now.

3b. If you didn't hear the beeps, then there's no easy way. You need to find another working mobo and cpu and exchange them until you know which one is dead.

I'm thinking you got a dead CPU.. but I could be wrong. Good luck.

Another thing.. it's a good idea to turn on PM. Easier for people to help you out.