Building a computer for a friend...PROBLEMS!!

[kamel]

I'm having a little problem, maybe someone here can help me.
I'm using an ECS K7S5A mobo, 1Ghz Athlon(266fsb), 1 stick 256 Mb PC2100 DDR, Enermax PSU(everything is brand new).

After I assembled the system, I powered it up, and it POSTed. I didn't hit delete fast enough to get into the BIOS, so I restarted it. Nothing. I could hear the CD drives spinning, but I got no beeps, and it would not POST.

The next day:
OK, so I thought there might be an incompatibility with the RAM, or even a bad stick, so I took one from my system (Crucial PC2100). Powered up the system, and it POSTed, and I went into the BIOS. Looked around, and changed the order for devices to boot from, checked the temps for a few minutes, and checked the drives (1 HDD, CDRW and CDROM), and everything was fine. Saved the changes, and exited. Again, it would not POST.

I unplugged the power cables from the mobo, cleared the CMOS, and tried to boot again, and got nothing.

I put the RAM back in my system, and it works fine.

I tried unplugging all cards except the vid card(I also checked with 2 different cards), and unplugged all drives. Still wouldn't POST.

I am at a loss here, so if anyone has any ideas, I would be happy to hear them.

I may try to get my hands on some SDRAM, since this board takes both kinds, but if there are any other ideas, I would appreciate hearing them.

Would a dead or dying mobo battery cause these problems? It is a new mobo, but perhaps the battery is faulty. If the battery is bad, could that cause the comp to not POST?

 

[narzy]

I am a man on a mission, a mission to direct people to the correct forums...

a dead battery COULD do it...I'm not quite sure tho...very interesting problem...I have never run into it before...I guess you could try replacing the battery. other then that I don't know what to tell you...

 

[Demonicon]

I think I read somewhere that some ECS boards had bad CMOS batteries.

 

[kamel]

Thanks for the replies. Any idea if CMOS batteries are a standard thing? Do I need a specific brand, or just the same type...and are they expensive?

 

[MrHelpful]

Is the motherboard grounded properly (only the isolated metal rings on the mounting rings should touch any part electrically attached to the case)?

If not, the motherboard may be dead. Time to RMA.

 

[HereThereandEverywhere]

I just had to return a EcS K7S5A for a similar problem to yours, although mine started like a week after I built the system, and not only wouldn't it warm boot, but it crashed about every 15 seconds.

 

[Looney]

Any update to this? I appear to have this exact same problem as well! It won't POST, i don't even get an error code or video signal. The fans, hdd, etc is getting juice, but other than that, it doesn't come on.

 

[kamel]

The mobo is grounded properly. The thing that gets me is that if the mobo is dead, why has it POSTed twice? I tried it only 2 times, about 24 hours apart, and each time, it POSTed once, but after I saved the changes, I got nothing.

I'll try clearing the CMOS 1 more time, but if it doesn't work this time, I'll RMA it.

 

[Duvie]

Cmos batteries will cause bootup issues but shouldn't cause errors once into the program....

 

[Looney]

Kamel, your problem seems to be the 'cold boot' problem that everybody talks about. Go over to this forum to take a look at your problem and solutions for it: AMD MB ECS forum

 

[Challenger]

Like Moralpanic said but especially this thread.

 

[kamel]

Thanks for the links...my problem is exactly the same. I'll most likely return the board...the people getting the computer aren't very computer literate, and I don't feel comfortable giving them a buggy machine. Thanks again for the info.