Catastrophie - System won't even post- Update

[imported_RobJ]

I don't know what to say right now. I had that problem with the low temps (see my other post from today), but it later went away after a restart.

But just now I had a catastrophie. I had built my system without some of my extra components at first because i wanted to get up and running. So just now, I added my second hard drive, which has all my music on it, my second CD drive, and I also connected the USB leads from the case. Everythign booted up fine, but the USB ports weren't recognizing plugged in hardware. My second hard drive was recognized perfectly and all of my music was there.

And then out of nowhere, my system shut off. And I can't get it to turn on! The powerbutton and reset buttons are completely unresponsive. I checked the power and reset leads on my mobo and they are correct (they better be because they've been working the past few days!). The mobo power connector is firmly seated, and has been working all along, but i reinserted it just to be safe.

The powersupply is switched on. I don't see any broken wires. I didn't smell any burnt components, nor did i do anything to burn them. I tried clearing the CMOS, but the computer just wont turn on. I'm at a complete loss.

What should i do now????

 

[cbehnken]

Sounds like you need to try another power supply if possible. Either that or your mobo died.

 

[cbehnken]

Also... check fuses/breakers in your house

 

[Toro 45]

Try unplugging the usb leads, the extra hard drive and the extra cd drive.

 

[Toro 45]

If you don't have another P/S you can test your current one by using a jumper wire and connecting the green to the black pin and if your p/s is working the fan in your P/S should kick on.

 

[cbehnken]

oh, one more thing to try

1. Leave power plugged in
2.Unplug keyboard
3. Plug keyboard in
4. Push power

I've seen motherboards that have flaky keyboard ports like that

 

[imported_RobJ]

First of all, thanks for replying. I feel better just knowing that people are trying to help.

Ok, i tried the following:

Unplugged the USB leads, CD drive, and 2nd HD. ==> no go
Unplugged, then plugged in Keyboard while system plugged in ==> no go

Don't think there's anything wrong with my apartment's power -- plus i plug my monitor and tower into a UPS, and the monitor is working fine.

I don't have another powersupply to try, nor do i have a jumper wire, but I might be able to ask a friend.

I was thinking that my problem might be the processor too because on the MSI forums, a guy with a very similar system had the same problem as I have -- computer won't even start up at all, let alone post. He unplugged his processor, and the mobo did at least start up in that it attempted to turn on and started spinning the fans.

The only thing i can think of is to try my powersupply on a friend's computer and see if it works. It's brand new, and 480 watts, so i am really confused as to what is the culprit.

One more bit of info:
My processor is a 3500+ OEM. It shipped with a bunch of bent pins, and I bent them back under the suggestion of the tech support from Monarch Computer, which is where I ordered the processor from. I fear that even though the processor worked for a few days, there is something wrong with it from shipping or from bending the pins back. I had to touch the pins a lot with my fingers and with a pair of tweezers to bend the pins back.

 

[Megatomic]

Bent pins? You should have RMA'd that chip immediately. That's what you need to do now anyways. That was unacceptable the way you received the chip.

 

[imported_RobJ]

Originally posted by: Megatomic
Bent pins? You should have RMA'd that chip immediately. That's what you need to do now anyways. That was unacceptable the way you received the chip.

You're right. Actually, I did request an RMA, and i recieved a confirmation email, but i already had my system running, and i thought that it'd be OK. To tell you the truth, I don't know how much faith to have that RMAing the processor will fix my problem, but I'm going to do it now anyway.

And if it is possible that my PS is the culprit, i have two questions:

1) Can i RMA or return the bad one? (I bought it in august from NewEgg)
2) What should i buy that will be very high quality and very stable?

 

[mechBgon]

Leave the USB cable unplugged. MSI apparently has some goofed-up header pinouts. Turn the power supply's rocker switch to the Off position and unplug it. Make a sandwich. Eat it. Come back and plug the PSU in, turn its rocker switch On again, and see if it resumes function

 

[Megatomic]

RobJ, just request an RMA from NewEgg, it's free to try. If you can't get one from NewEgg, try getting one directly from TT.

If you wind up needing to replace it yourself, get an Antec True series power supply. Go for at least 400W, I would get 480W myself.

 

[imported_RobJ]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Leave the USB cable unplugged. MSI apparently has some goofed-up header pinouts. Turn the power supply's rocker switch to the Off position and unplug it. Make a sandwich. Eat it. Come back and plug the PSU in, turn its rocker switch On again, and see if it resumes function

This sounds reasonable. I mean, after all, i plugged the headers in as i was supposed to, and the system was not recognizing my USB keychain, or even a mouse through the extra USB ports. So I just switched off the PS, and I'm going to have that sandwich. The USB headers are all unplugged.

Fingers crossed ... will update on any progress. Thanks again you guys, it really means a lot.

 

[imported_RobJ]

Darnit. The sandwhich break didn't work. This is what I'm going to do:

RMA the processor due to the bent pins issue. I'm going to have a friend who's more knowledgeable help me install the new proc to make sure everyting is OK.

Test different power supply either by swapping my PS into another system or getting someone else's PS.

If both of those options do not work, then I'll have to RMA the motherboard.

thanks again, and if i find the solution to this problem, I'll post it.

-Robert

 

[imported_RobJ]

Originally posted by: Megatomic
RobJ, just request an RMA from NewEgg, it's free to try. If you can't get one from NewEgg, try getting one directly from TT.

If you wind up needing to replace it yourself, get an Antec True series power supply. Go for at least 400W, I would get 480W myself.

Ok, i'll try to RMA the PS. If i need to replace it myself, does that mean just buy a new one and hold on to the TT? And ya, I think i should buy that Antec NeoPower so that i never have to deal with power issues again. I mean, this is 480 watts just like my thermaltake, but at twice the price, it must be the best quality. Antec Neopower?

 

[Megatomic]

That is an awesome power supply. If you can afford that it is worthy indeed.

 

[imported_RobJ]

I was about to send my power supply back to NewEgg today, but I first tried it on a friend's computer (athlon XP based), and the computer booted up perfectly. Now, i'm pretty sure that the motherboard is the culprit. Because if the processor or the ram was bad, at least *something* would happen when i pressed the power button.

While i'm relieved that the power supply is not bad, i'm more upset that now i have to remove the processor and RMA the motherboard

Based on this post and the posts above, do you guys think that the mobo is the problem?

 

[cbehnken]

I think it is probably the motherboard then. Did you confirm the switch works on your case?

 

[Falloutboy]

I had something like this happen to me when I built a duron rig for my self. My PSU blew (literally sparks and flames cameout the back of it) and didn't have anything to test the other components with so to be safe I RMA'd it all back to newegg. (I even told them what happend and they were fine with it). by this time the mobiles were the hot thing so I went with that instead of overclocking a duron

 

[Tiamat]

Take your mobo out of the case.
Take compressed air and spray the back of the mobo. Get the system up and running (try) with ram and gpu with your mobo on a cardboard box (no joke!). Your mobo might be shorting with one of the case screws. Or, maybe, shorting with some random piece of metal.

I hope this works!

 

[imported_RobJ]

Originally posted by: Tiamat
Take your mobo out of the case.
Take compressed air and spray the back of the mobo. Get the system up and running (try) with ram and gpu with your mobo on a cardboard box (no joke!). Your mobo might be shorting with one of the case screws. Or, maybe, shorting with some random piece of metal.

I hope this works!

OK, so these are my next steps:

1) Based on cbehnken's suggestion, i'm going to see if the switch on my case is working by connecting it to another computer and seeing if it will turn that computer on. (haven't found a test computer yet ... maybe my old dell will do)

2) I got a crappy PS from a friend that i know works -- so i'll just plug it into the mobo and see if anything happens when i try to power up.

3) Then, i'm going to follow Tiamat's suggestion and see if my mobo is shorting with something in my case. This actually sounds reasonable because the mobo seems to bend a good deal when i have to force the IDE and powerconnectors into it. It may have made contact with the little metal tabs that stick out from the rear panel IO shield or with something else.

This way, by monday i'll know if the mobo is still the problem in which case i can send it back to NewEgg with confidence that it is the problem.

thanks a lot for your suggestions. I've not only learned a lot about my particular situation, but i think that in the future, i'll be able to troubleshoot my problems better, and maybe help others out as you have helped me. Sorry for the sappy talk, but i really do appreciate all of your help!

 

[cbehnken]

I hope some of our suggestions actually help

 

[imported_RobJ]

Update:

I removed the motherboard and set the computer up on top of the anti-static bag, and still no response to the power button -- rules out a short between the motherboard and case.

I already confirmed that my power supply is working by trying it on another computer.

I also tried turning the computer on with the following components installed

vid card, proc, and ram
proc and ram
ram
nothing

In all cases, absolutely nothing happened when i hit the power button, so i'm pretty sure that either something on the motherboard is broken, or the power button on my case is broken.

To test the case, i'm going to have to bring it over to my friend's apartment, and connect the power button to his mobo and see if it will turn the computer on. However, based on the nature of my problem, i believe that the mobo is at fault, because initial problem was that the computer was on and then suddenly just went dead -- so the power button wasn't even being touched when the computer first died.

I already packed my mobo up and will be sending it back to NewEgg on Monday.

Can someone confirm the following assumption?:
If I just connected the powersupply and the power button to the motherboard and nothing else, then when i pressed the power button, at least someting would happen, even if it was just the spinning of the motherbaord fan.

 

[Tiamat]

Hmm, this is a long shot, but inspect the mobo.
Are any of the capacitors leaking, bloated?
Are there any noticeable scratches on the traces near the cpu hs, or any of the screw holes?

Also, you probably have tried this but...
Are you plugging the power button's connector into the mobo abiding by the correct polarity of the wires?

Good luck... it may seem that you will have to rma the mobo, or at least contact the build manufacturer to see if they can send you a replacement.

 

[Falloutboy]

you don't have to use a power button to get the board to book. just use a penny and touch both the leads on the header for the powerbutton it will trigger the cirucuit and the system should boot or start to boot if the board is good

 

[imported_RobJ]

Originally posted by: Tiamat
Hmm, this is a long shot, but inspect the mobo.
Are any of the capacitors leaking, bloated?
Are there any noticeable scratches on the traces near the cpu hs, or any of the screw holes?

Also, you probably have tried this but...
Are you plugging the power button's connector into the mobo abiding by the correct polarity of the wires?

Good luck... it may seem that you will have to rma the mobo, or at least contact the build manufacturer to see if they can send you a replacement.

Nothing looks out of place on the mobo. I have tried the header in both orientations to make sure that it wasn't a polarity issue.

As per Falloutboy's suggestion, I wish i hadn't already taken everything apart. The mobo is already packed up and the processor and HSF are disconnected and cleaned. I'm gonna have to stick with connecting the powerbutton to someone elses mobo, but thanks for the suggestion -- i'll keep that one in the back of my mind in case i ever need to do that again. I guess to power the board up, you just have to complete the circuit and that will boot the board -- never thought of that.