Cant get this build to POST. Am I missing something here?

[hoorah]

Recently put together an older build for my sister. Its an AM2 board from ASRock that I bought refurbished. Board is here: ftp://174.142.97.10/manual/ALiveXFire-eSATA2.pdf

Short version: Tried plugging board in, noticed a burning smell out of the PSU. Unplugged everything. Tried 2 new PSUs. Board will turn on (fans spool up) but no post. No beeps with/without video card, with/without ram. Using a 4850 to test with (requires a 6 pin PCIe connection that I don't have), but will have a low power graphics card that does not require additional power tonight.

If I have a board that powers on and LEDs light, but not post and no beeps, even without a graphics card, does this sound like a bad board?

Long version:

I put the build together and connected all of the cables. The first power supply I used was the one I was using in her previous athlon XP rig. Its some computer-store-special 350W that has a 20pin connector and no +4 12V CPU connector.

As soon as I connected the cables, I noticed a faint burning smell. I unplugged the setup as fast as I could and sniffed around. Smell was definitely coming from the PSU. So, I removed that and put in one of my 250W test units that DOES have the additional +12V connector.

Nothing happened. Board wouldn't power up at all. No post beeps with/without video card, or with/without ram. So, I took the board down to the barebones. I unplugged a PATA IDE card and a USB pci card and a front USB header off of the motherboard. Once I did that, the board started to power up. Power LEDs work, fans spin, but no post beeps.

For S&G, I decided to plug in a USB stick to one of the USB ports to see if it had power. It seems to light up intermittently. Sometimes when I connect the power cable to the power supply, the USB key lights up and stays lit. Other times it lights up and then quickly goes out. Either way it seems to have no effect on the system posting or not. Not sure if that info helps with the diagnostics or not.

I have a lower power GPU I picked up from work today that I can use for testing tonight, but I would have thought that even without a GPU plugged in I would either get the system to post or some sort of error beep indicating no GPU.

I expected that using the older PSU might cause the system not to boot up, but I would have expected that to be the worst case scenario, not burning up components.

One more thing - the PSU that I noticed the burning smell from? Tested it with the old components from her previous computer. Works fine!

I can't think of any other way of testing this system. Its beginning to look like a DOA board to me. Any ideas? Am i missing something obvious?

 

[Charles Kozierok]

Sounds like board or CPU to me, though it's obviously tough to tell over the Internet.

 

[mfenn]

A discrete GPU that requires supplemental power won't work without it and will cause the board not to post. Some sort of VGA adapter is required for a successful POST, so I'm not surprised that that board doesn't do anything meaningful without one plugged in.

So yes, you might have a bad board, but you won't really know until you test with a known good graphics card.

 

[hoorah]

Tested with two good low power graphics boards. No dice on either.

 

[mfenn]

Did you try some different RAM?

 

[hoorah]

Yeah, I've tried several different sticks of ram. I was hoping that even without the RAM, I would get some sort of error beep, but nothing.

I've tested it with multiple power supplies, however, TWO of the three I tested with that I was sure were good, when put back into the systems they came out of, are now dead. I wonder if it was just a coincidence, or if that board is eating power supplies. I could see it being either.

In any event, the third power supply I tested with is now safely back in the computer it came from and running fine, so I know I tested the board with at least one good power supply.

 

[mfenn]

Sounds like you've narrowed it down to either the board or the CPU to me.

 

[hoorah]

Right, I thought so but sometimes I miss stuff.

Anyway, I don't have any more time for this headache. I'm RMAing this board and picking up one in the FSFT section. If it goes back and they claim it works, I'll pay the 15% restocking fee (even though I wont believe them).

Sillyness this project has been.

 

[mfenn]

Right, I thought so but sometimes I miss stuff.

No prob, glad to help.

 

[hoorah]

Well I appreciate the response anyways. I'm mailing the other board back today.

Set my sister up with my old 939 X2 4200+ and a 6600GT. Installed the sims this morning, when I get home I'll see how well it does.

For an old 939 system, its actually not bad.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Set my sister up with my old 939 X2 4200+ and a 6600GT. Installed the sims this morning, when I get home I'll see how well it does.

For an old 939 system, its actually not bad.

Lol I've got a 4400+ cpu and asus a8n 32 sli deluxe mobo with 2 gb RAM & an 8800gt sitting in my closet not doing anything. I would just need a psu and case and I'd be able to use it for something but I'm not sure what.

 

[hoorah]

I would either put the stuff up on ebay/craigslist or build a computer out of it and sell it. I cant tell you how many times I've hung onto last generations computer components "just in case I wanted to do something with them" for years until they became 3 generations old and worthless.

Theres a computer recycling center by me that you can drop off old, busted electronics for proper recycling of e-waste. I regularly see older whitebox tower cases dropped off there. Every once in awhile if I need to sell come core components, I'll grab one just for the case and make a cheap computer out of it and sell it on craigslist.

 

[hoorah]

It ended up being the CPU. Got a new motherboard, still no post. Picked up an AM2 X2 chip on FSFT for $15 and it fired right up.

Aggravating, because I would have preferred the original board that I RMA'd (and lost 15% on restocking), but we're not talking big sums of money.

Stupid sempron chip. Wonder what happened to it?