Built My First Computer - Won't even power up! HELP!

[HisDudeness]

Hmm, i hate to say it but i think im out of ideas. All the procedures i know of to fix a pc that won't even POST have been described in this thread and you've done them all. I cant believe it wont even POST. At this point i would take everything out of the pc except the essentials. I would especially make sure to take out everything that was in a PCI slot, because they have been know to be particularily troublesome. After i had all that out i would try to boot again. If that failed and i had another computer and case i would install the motherboard over to it to see if it worked in a different one. If it did then you could be pretty sure your power supply in this one was faulty. Beyond that im not sure.

 

[Relayer]

do you have a Duron or an Athlon?

 

[RustyNale]

Originally posted by: apemanttt
Hmm would my computer be affected if I had loaded the heatsink with thermal paste when I put it on?

Dude, "loaded" is not what you wanted. A VERY thin layer is best, as you want as much metal touching metal as possible for maximum heat transfer. Thermal paste just conducts temps better than air does which is why it's used. If your cpu and hsf had perfectly machined surfaces, you wouldn't need any thermal paste at all. This is really starting to sound like a bad mobo...sorry

 

[apemanttt]

Originally posted by: Relayer
do you have a Duron or an Athlon?

It's and Athlon XP 1800+

I ordered the motherboard retail from newegg, what's their return policy? They would be pretty good about it right?

Okay, I didn't really load it on. What happened was I had a friend come over who had the thermal paste and he knows quite a bit about computers. He put the paste on with me and I thought he was maybe using a little too much, but it was still a slight amount. It wasn't a ton of paste, and we had to rub it around to get it on evenly - so no it wasn't loaded - i was exagerating I guess.

I'd just like to thank all of you who have kept with me through this long challenging post.

 

[Relayer]

I was thinking there is a jumper for the FSB. It would either be 100MHz or 133MHz, but I took a look at the manual and I didn't see a jumper like that. I did run into this once.

I would do like everyone else suggested though and take the board out and make sure that the standoffs align with the holes and try just the video card and the floppy drive connected, along with the power supply and just the power switch.

Did you say the light on the motherboard lights up when connected to the power supply? you may also want to try a tiny screw driver to short the 2 pins that say POW-ON. Also the CMOS jumper should be on pin 1 and 2

 

[apemanttt]

Yeah a friend mentioned trying the screwdriver thing with the two pins. How do I do this? Just touch a screwdriver to the two pins that the power would connect to and my computer should power up while the screwdriver is touching it?

 

[Relayer]

yeah, just touch them together for a second. It's a switch. Don't hold the screw driver there.

I'm thinking your switch on the case may be bad.

 

[apemanttt]

Originally posted by: Relayer
yeah, just touch them together for a second. It's a switch. Don't hold the screw driver there.

I'm thinking your switch on the case may be bad.

Alright I did this and all I did was get the same old flicker. Something must be way wrong with one of my parts or something.

 

[apemanttt]

Would it be dangerous for me to take out my motherboard and try to power it up on a table on a piece of plastic or something?

 

[apemanttt]

YES!!! This is unbelievable! I took the motherboard out of the case and tried starting it up sitting on a piece of plastic. IT worked! The fan ran and everything worked. Now I have to figure out what was causing the motherboard to lose power when I powered it inside the case.

Does anyone have any idea why this would have happened? Was it those plastic strips I mentioned?

PLEASE HELP QUICKLY - I'm going to get this working tonight.

 

[BigMoe]

it a short in the case. check to see if the bottem of the board is touching any metal

 

[apemanttt]

Oh man I'm an idiot. I suppose my motherboard can't be sitting on the metal risers on the chasis? I had a friend over who told me it could the first time I tried putting the motherboard in so I assumed you could. And I didn't see anything that came with the case that you could put there instead. So I should have some type of PLASTIC risers between the board and case?

 

[tsnyder]

If the fans aren't even spinning, my first impression would be the Power Supply is bad, my next guess would be the motherboard... if both those function properly than the system should try to post... if anything is bad, such as your memory you should probably get some kind of warning beeps from the motherboard. I doubt you've plugged the board in incorrectly, I really think it's the PSU or Mobo.

 

[apemanttt]

Well it's all working now! Except there are some complications. I had to screw in brass spacers, but there was a problem with them. After I screwed them in, the board would not fit into the given slots for the PCI slots and USB and stuff on the back of the case - so I removed that panel. Besides that everything is perfect.

Do you think there is anything I can do so I don't have to remove that entire panel?

Thanks.

 

[WarCon]

I don't see why you are using brass spacers(risers) instead of the other metal (both are electrically conductive BTW) spacers. I think as was suggested earlier that you probably had an extra one in. I.E. one that has no corresponding hole in the motherboard. It is possible you didn't center the board and maybe you were shorting because the board was cocked funny on the the risers though.

If your using the correct hole pattern and you have a correct backplate then it should mount right in.

I am just happy for you that it didn't burn out your motherboard or other components.

Good luck finishing the project.

 

[alm99]

I have the exact same problem with the same Mb and case you have. The Evercase 4252 and Abit KR7A, both from NewEgg.

Does your MB lay over the 3 raised spacers closest to the front of the case? I was thinking with mine that is where the short was.

Unless there is someway to remove the spacers(raised bubbles built into the case) already installed I would say you are screwed and get a new case. I RMAed my KR7A thinking it was DOA and exchanged it for another one. I just got the new one back and am ordering a new case. I would suggest you do the same. I also tried putting electrical tape over the 3 raised spacers, but that didn't work, also the MB touches the bottom of the case if you notice, basically the MB is too big for that case.

If you find someway for that MB to work in the case let me know.

 

[WarCon]

I am glad you explained alm99, that it is how its designed that is causing the issue. Did it come with any special mounting hardware other than standard risers (standoffs)?

............edit..............
If its an issue with the design of the case with that motherboard then Newegg might RMA it for you. (Kinda sucks to pay shipping on a case though).

 

[Tbirdkid]

Ok. Go to the store and buy some little orange rubber spacers to replace the ones in the motherboard between the screws and the motherboard. That should take care of the problem. You are shorting against one of the mounts. Hope this helped

 

[alm99]

The case came with screws and metal spacers in a bag, but I think the spacers(raised bubbles) are actually part of the design of the case. Unless there is someway to remove them so you can use the spacers that came in the bag there is no hope. I currently am using an Abit KT7 MB in the case which is smaller than the KR7A, and it?s a perfect fit. I bought the case more than a month ago so I can?t RMA it, at least not that I know of, unless they make exceptions.

 

[alm99]

Ok. Go to the store and buy some little orange rubber spacers to replace the ones in the motherboard between the screws and the motherboard. That should take care of the problem. You are shorting against one of the mounts. Hope this helped

That won't work because the 3 mounting spacers that are built into the case DO NOT line up with the MB. So the actual MB is still going to touch the spacers. Look at pictures 4 and 6, see the raised spacers, the MB actually rests on the three that are closet to the front of the case. Link

 

[owensdj]

apemanttt, sounds like you don't have the power switch plugged into the motherboard in the correct place. I did the same thing once because the motherboard manual had a mistake in it.

 

[Tbirdkid]

I cant tell what you are talking about alm but if it powers up outside of the case... it is a mounting issue right? Therefore, the only things that touch is the screws that go through the motherboard right? Put al the screws in and pulll one out at a time. Make sure you are using the orange rubber grommets for the case screws and maybe even put them on the other side of the mobo too where they mount into the case. I bet you fix your problem.

 

[alm99]

I feel like I am beating a dead horse here, you are right TBird it is a mounting problem. The orange grommets would work if all the holes line up. But the problem is that not all of the mounting holes on the MB line up with the already manufactured spacers(raised bubbles on the inside of the case where the MB mounts). So part of the MB actually rests on the spacers while the other half of the MB lines up with the spacers allowing for screws there, but not where the spacers and mounting holes on the MB don't line up. So the acual MB rests on the case so to speak. Which in turn shorts out the MB.

 

[Deskstar]

Rather than continuing to try to troubleshoot your newly built machine by single question/answers here, why not find a friend who knows about the insides of computers who can take a look at your setup and with a fresh eye try to see what might be wrong. Just a suggestion to reduce your time and prevent frustration.

 

[apemanttt]

Okay isn't there anything I could place over the spacers that are built into the case besides the huge spacers. My motherboard will work fine in the case with the large spacers screwed in, but then the problem is the PCI slots don't line up with the case and the area with the USB and serial ports don't line up either.

Any ideas of what I could do?