DFI Lanparty nf4 ultra-d won't start up after switching cases

[starnsey]

I just moved all of the guts of my pc from an Antec case to a new CoolerMaster CM 690 case. After plugging everything back in I cannot get my computer to boot up whatsoever. The 4 red LED lights are lit up on the motherboard indicating "System Start-Up" but the computer will not start at all. I've checked all my connections more than five times and everything seems to be plugged into the right place and it seems that the motherboard is getting power. Now I've got everything unplugged except for the essentials to boot the motherboard but I still cannot get it to start up. When I press the power button on the motherboard I hear a quick "squeak" sort of beep noise as if its trying to start up but can't. I've tried everything I can think of to try to get the motherboard to start up but nothing is working. I know everything works because it worked fine in my other case just a few days ago. Does anyone have any idea as to what may be the problem? Thanks in advance.

 

[Towndog]

The dfi nf4 have a cold boot problem sometimes.. since you had it unplugged you might have to do a long cmos clear.


The following directions come directly from DFI tech support.


Remove power from the rig by pulling the plug or switching the PSU off.

Move the PC Speaker jumper to the ON position.

Remove the Battery.

Move the CMOS jumper to CLEAR.

Press the Start Button on the case or motherboard to drain the capacitors.

You may leave the board in this condition for as long as it takes to clear the CMOS. If a short 30 second clear or a 15 minute clear doesn't work, try an 8 hour clear then a 24 hour clear.

Plug in a PS2 Keyboard.

Put one stick of RAM in the top orange slot marked DIMM2.(may vary on Infinity boards)

Replace the Battery.

Move the CMOS jumper to Normal.

Press and hold the Insert Key on the Keyboard.

Apply power to the rig by plugging the power in or using the switch on the PSU.

Press the Start Button to power the rig up.

When you hear the BEEP, release the Insert Key and press the Delete Key on the Keyboard.

Once you enter the BIOS set the DATE and TIME then Load Optimized Defaults.

Save and Exit.

Enter the BIOS again and set it up the way you want for your particular rig.

NEVER load any saved CMOS settings from CMOS Reloaded once you have a new BIOS installed

 

[starnsey]

Wow I wasn't expecting such an in depth response. Thank you very much for your help, I will try that immediately.

 

[Towndog]

I just had a similar problem with my lanparty. It didn't fix mine though but it does on most.

 

[KF]

A pretty common problem is an extra or misplaced stand-off shorting something on the back of the motherboard. They recommend setting the mobo on a box (or something) beside the computer case to eliminate this possibility. Don't laugh. Everybody screws up sometimes.

Myself, I just had a similar situation, having to take out the mobo and put it right back to change the power supply which couldn't get past the big CPU heatsink. Since NOTHING at all was changed, it was baffling. However just taking the memory out and putting it back made everything normal. You see I had decided to re-seat the memory while it was convenient and very visible outside the case, and forgotten I'd done it. The memory looked properly seated, but evidently was not making good contact. Old stuff develops a little corrosion. So doing it a second time "wipes" the contacts. People are unaware of this, but every metal, including gold, develops a layer of corrosion in seconds upon contact with oxygen. Therefore all connectors are designed to make a sliding contact and therefore "wipe" the contacts to make good contact more likely. It doesn't always work the first time.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: KF
A pretty common problem is an extra or misplaced stand-off shorting something on the back of the motherboard. They recommend setting the mobo on a box (or something) beside the computer case to eliminate this possibility. Don't laugh. Everybody screws up sometimes.

QFT...also I have seen someone have a screw between the board and tray.

 

[starnsey]

Well I've done everything. I've done the first process on here a few times, including for 24 hours. And I've also removed the motherboard from the case to see if there is any small short but no luck. I've checked all the connections many times over and it does the same thing. It just won't turn on. Is it possible I somehow fried the motherboard even though all the LEDs show that it should be able to turn on?

 

[starnsey]

Also...I have noticed that the quick squeak noise is not coming from the motherboard but from the power supply. And you can only hear the squeak when you switch the power supply on from being off. And as I said the squeak sounds like its trying to start but can't

 

[snor]

The squeak noise is common to PSU's. I would suggest you pull out everything besides the memory, cpu and a video card. If it still does not work, try exchanging each component. If it still fails, then the problem most likely is the motherboard.

 

[sxr7171]

Originally posted by: KF
A pretty common problem is an extra or misplaced stand-off shorting something on the back of the motherboard. They recommend setting the mobo on a box (or something) beside the computer case to eliminate this possibility. Don't laugh. Everybody screws up sometimes.

Myself, I just had a similar situation, having to take out the mobo and put it right back to change the power supply which couldn't get past the big CPU heatsink. Since NOTHING at all was changed, it was baffling. However just taking the memory out and putting it back made everything normal. You see I had decided to re-seat the memory while it was convenient and very visible outside the case, and forgotten I'd done it. The memory looked properly seated, but evidently was not making good contact. Old stuff develops a little corrosion. So doing it a second time "wipes" the contacts. People are unaware of this, but every metal, including gold, develops a layer of corrosion in seconds upon contact with oxygen. Therefore all connectors are designed to make a sliding contact and therefore "wipe" the contacts to make good contact more likely. It doesn't always work the first time.

Yeah it happens.