comp boots no video

[hydratee]

well all of a sudden after moving my comp back from my local LAN center to my house my comp stopped working. so, I went and checked everything I knew and tried 3 diff processors and 2 diff video cards and 2 different everythings for everything in my comp, but it still gives me the same problem. the problem I am getting is it will boot up fine and everything seems to be running ok but will put out no video. also, the power led had all of a sudden stopped working. the indicators on my main mobo that I use in this comp shows FF (boot attempt) and never goes past that. I tried another mobo and still got the same exact problems. after working on this for countless hours I decided it'd be a good idea to ask you guys. please help if you can I am completely stumped!

I have an Epox 8RDA+ mainboard with a AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Barton processor and 2 sticks of 256mb pc2700 Corsair XMS RAM. I also tried moving everything to another working case using a separate power supply AND my current one, but that also failed, PLEASE HELP!

 

[hydratee]

no ideas?

 

[mechBgon]

8RDA+'s sometimes die with no real reason. Mine did and I've seen sprinkles of other people have the same problem. So it could be coincidence.

What I suggest at this point:

• Take the board out of the case and lay it on cardboard like I'm showing here: fourth photo from top
• Give it nothing but the essentials: video card, one memory module, CPU/heatsink, keyboard, and power supply. Verify these parts in another working system so you know for a fact that they do work.
• Unplug the power supply, take out the CMOS battery, move the Clear CMOS jumper to clear it, move it back, replace battery, plug in PSU
• Begin holding down the Insert key on the keyboard and continue to hold it while you start the system up
• If it doesn't come on, unplug it, smile, and order yourself a nice Abit NF7-S, or a Shuttle AN35N Ultra if its reduced features still meet your needs. I can elaborate on the differences if you don't know them but want to hear.

Good luck, but don't beat your head against the wall too much further with it before declaring it dead.

 

[hydratee]

one question about your suggestion : what is the reason that you take the board out and lay it on cardboard to do this?

 

[hydratee]

thanks. we have tried 2 different motherboards so we dont think thats the problem, we testing what u said now

 

[hydratee]

yea this didnt work either, it wont recognize keyboard, give video, let alone get to the POST =/ i really dont think the motherboard is dead since we moved it out of the case and tried it with a different one, the processor also works because i tested in the computer im on now. any other suggestions? the computer is turning on and running, but no video comes out

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: hydratee
one question about your suggestion : what is the reason that you take the board out and lay it on cardboard to do this?

The reason is that it's isolated from the case that way. So if something's shorting it out (maybe a stray screw came out from hiding and lodged someplace bad, for instance), then this would eliminate those unknowns. I just today began working on a whole troubleshooting guide, you can grab its skeleton here and it's the top link there. Might give you more ideas to try.

Do you have another system where you can verify that your own power supply is still working properly? I wasn't sure if you'd taken that step yet.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: hydratee
yea this didnt work either, it wont recognize keyboard, give video, let alone get to the POST =/ i really dont think the motherboard is dead since we moved it out of the case and tried it with a different one, the processor also works because i tested in the computer im on now. any other suggestions? the computer is turning on and running, but no video comes out

Ok hmm. Just to think outside the box for a minute... does the monitor that you're using work with another computer? Maybe it's gone poof or maybe its connector has a bent pin? I've seen it happen

 

[hydratee]

we also tried a separate monitor and 2 differentnvideo cards, one AGP one PCI, i think i have basically eliminated all possibilities but wanted some other input

 

[mechBgon]

Ok, so if I understand right, you have another system there that's SocketA as well. What brand and model of motherboard does that one have, if you know (or is it a Compaq or something)?

 

[hydratee]

the other motherboard we tried it on doesnt support the processor or ram speed, but we know it all works by trying it in the computer i am currently on, it should have justunder clocked the ram and processor to match what it can support but i dont know, we got the 2nd motherboard because we thought the first one was dead, which its evidently not because we are getting the same problem on the 2nd :/

 

[hydratee]

it is a custom built computer motherboard is a k7s5a made by elitegroup http://www.ecsusa.com/products/k7s5a.html

 

[mechBgon]

I'm not sure a K7S5A would give you video output with a 2500+. Shoulda tried it with my own K7S5A before it died, I guess

What I would do is this: verify one DDR memory module, one video card, the CPU from the K7S5A, and the power supply from the K7S5A. Now put them all onto the 8RDA+, including the power supply.

If the K7S5A's CPU is designed for 100MHz bus speed, like an older Thunderbird or Duron, then set the 8RDA+'s JCLK jumper to the 100Mhz position. Clear the 8RDA+'s CMOS again.

So this is the acid test. All the parts except the 8RDA+ are confirmed good and also are known to be compatible with the 8RDA+. If it doesn't work now, and you put the parts back into the K7S5A and they still work afterwards, then you can be pretty sure it's the 8RDA+ that's gone *poof* on you.


I just remembered one off-the-wall thing to mention: certain low-rpm fans will bogglize the motherboard and it will go and not POST. My Asus A7N8X Deluxe is like that with my Enermax low-rpm 80mm fan. Unplug the fans as a last resort and try starting it like that too.

 

[hydratee]

the cpu in the k7s5a is an athlon xp 2000+,and we already took it out to test the motherboard so im not sure what more wwe would do there

 

[mechBgon]

What you want is for the 8RDA+ to be the only unknown in the equation. If you've taken high-school math, you know how much easier it is to solve for one unknown than multiple unknowns. And that's why you would verify a batch of core components as working, and then make the 8RDA+ the only thing in the assembly that's not verified to work. If the assembly doesn't work, then you know what the problem is.

It's worth noting that I managed to shock my 8RDA+ back to life for a while. I slipped with my digital multimeter's probe and shorted one of the CPU's power-switching components, and what do you know, the board worked on the next POST :shocked: But it died again overnight and never came back. My Magic 8-Ball thinks your 8RDA+ has gone to the Great ATX Case In The Sky and it's time to get that NF7-S ordered up

 

[hydratee]

thanks for your help, but i havent even gotten past 2nd grade math yet :/

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: hydratee
thanks for your help, but i havent even gotten past 2nd grade math yet :/

Well don't feel bad I made it all the way to Math 350 as a Chemical Engineering student, dropped out, and forgot it all again. But I still had to pay back those student loans :roll: Anyway, I think you see the general game plan here... narrow down the list of suspects to one, and set up a test where that one suspected item can be conclusively passed or failed.

 

[hydratee]

I was j/k btw, thanks a bunch for the help