Constant reboots with new case

[Brambory]

I just transferred all of the guts of a homebuilt computer into another case. The computer components in that case were working fine, so I know the case itself was okay before the transfer. On the first startup it reboots as soon as the desktop is displayed after going thru what looks like the usual POST, and does it over and over again. Any ideas about where to start? Thanks

Intell 875PERL, Celeron 2.6, 1024, XP Home

 

[wpshooter]

Make sure ALL of the connectors coming from the CASE power button are on the correct pins on the motherboard and ALSO that ALL the connectors are on in the correct direction/polarity.

 

[Brambory]

I checked those connections. I unplugged and reversed polarity on the three that are the seven pin header (hdd led, reset sw, and power sw) and no change. I didn't think that it mattered which way they went, since they fit on both ways, and most mainboard connectors are made so they can only be put on one way. Any other ideas?

 

[wpshooter]

Have you referred to the motherboard manual regarding the correct positioning of the connectors ?

 

[wpshooter]

Are you using the power supply that was already in that case ? If so, what is brand and capacity ?

 

[Brambory]

I checked and double checked, and I've got them right. Plus, I have an almost identical computer that is set up the same way. I took the mainboard, hard drive, and dvd burner from case A and put them into case B. I also did the reverse--swapped the guts from case B into case A. I left the floppies and the power supplies, which are the same. The power supplies are identical Nexus NX-3500. The other computer works. I got the problem one (case B) to boot in safe mode, and am trying to figure out wht to do with that! Thanks for your efforts.

 

[wpshooter]

Try switching the power supplies.

 

[madthumbs]

Originally posted by: wpshooter
Try switching the power supplies.

-and look for shorts. I've seen a computer fixed by sandwiching cardboard between the motherboard and case. (bottom side).

 

[Brambory]

I haven't tried switching the power supplies yet. I googled the problem and came up with the idea to go to safe mode and disable the automatic restart on error message. So then when the reboot cycle started again I could read the error message BAD__POOL__HEADER. So now I'm trying to find out what that means. If you guys know, clue me in.

 

[Powermoloch]

Had you used standoffs?

A standoff is a screw like component with a hole in it. It is use to be screwed on the case (metal plate) in which the mother board sites on it. While the mobo's corresponding holes must align with the stand offs and screws can be in there to be secured. With the stand offs, the motherboard wont be touching the case itself without shoring itself out, so it is important to keep in mind about these things.

 

[Brambory]

Yes, I have the mainboard sitting up on standoffs. It works fine in safe mode. I think that if it was shorted that it would not work. Going into system information and device manager turns up with everything looking fine. But it still reboots automatically after the welcome screen or just when the desktop appears.

 

[Brambory]

Well, the problem is solved, by a move that I never would have thought had anything to do with it. I swapped the video cards from case a to case b. The two cards in question are Matrox G400 and a Matrox G550. When I checked through all of the system information stuff and device manager everything had been ok. Go figure.