Freshly installed MSI K8N Neo-FSR won't power up, gives me flashing power LED

[yukichigai]

I just installed an MSI K8N Neo-FSR after my old mobo stopped working, but the damn thing won't power up. I'm 99% sure I installed it properly, no shorts to the case or anything, but it refuses to stay powered for more than a second. I'll turn on the PSU and it'll start powering up -- lights come on, drive activity lights flash -- then it shuts down. After that the power LED will flash on and off, very slowly. The power button is unresponsive and it won't do anything else until I disconnect the power, then reconnect it. The manual is, of course, no help whatsoever, containing no troubleshooting section. The online Troubleshooting guide only covers errors with non-POSTing boots, but this thing won't even try to boot. I'm pretty sure the slow blinking power LED is supposed to indicate some sort of error, but unless I want to wade through tech support on the phone I can't find out what error that is.

Now personally I suspect the power supply is the problem. I haven't noticed anything wrong with it in particular, but it came with the case and it's not made by a company I consider well-known. (PowerMax). I just wanted to see if anybody happened to know offhand what that error code meant.

 

[Rent]

try re-mounting your HSF on your cpu. It sounds stupid, but try it. Its happened to me before ;x

 

[orangat]

Is the small power cable connected the wrong way around?
I just fixed something like that with a Neo Plat - same exact symptoms you're telling.

 

[Krypticus]

I have encountered something EXACTLY like that! I just got a MSI K8N Neo (Platinum?) Mobo yesterday, and i hooked it all up, and it would act really funny! it would shut down, wouldnt come back up, sometimes just restart, wouldnt turn off, just mobo would shut off, other times EVERYTHING would shut down. me: "WTF MATE?!". so i went and bought a cheap 420W power supply, cuz i thought it was the PSU too! but no! wouldnt work, my older 300W worked better than the new one! so today, i went and bought a nice 350W antec, and it stilll didnt work! so, i tried all these different htings with memory, checking the HSF was mounted right, blah blah blah... but i finally figured out that my keyboard was the common factor, and a USB keyboard made it work! my old one was PS/2 . so i just figured it out like 30 mins ago. Now the new power supply and old PSU work with my new usb keyboard, not hte old one. im probly gonna have to return this mobo, since it seems the ps/2 port is defective. but try unplugging/getting a new usb keyboard, and see if that works for ya! lemme know! and ill try to keep you up to date on my new board, if i return it.

OH yeah! mine came with a D-Bracket? its a USB/LED indicator plate you can mount on your PCI slots, and it can help you diagnose the problem. a LED chart is available here: http://www.msicomputer.com/support/sup_tshoot.asp

- Good Luck!
Krypticus

 

[SpamMagnet]

Wow, thanks for the information about the PS/2 keyboard port!

I bought a K8N from Newegg that had the same symptons described in this thread, so I RMA'd it and the replacement has the exact same problem. I grabbed a USB keyboard from the office, brought it home, and now everything works normally!

Being the curious type, I also tried a number of other PS/2 keyboards. So far I've had about a 50% success rate. I'm beginning to wonder if the "feature" that allows you to hold the insert key while booting to reset CMOS is the culprit...

 

[imported_Smithy]

wow ... bright ones @ MSI. If they cant get that right what other problems might they have. Seems like a basic easy check before they ship. MSI Q&C non-existant i guess

 

[Delbert]

FYI, I just assembled a K8N machine. Had the same problems, came to the same conclusion on my own about the PS2 keyboard being the problem. Did a google search for K8N keyboard problem and it lead me here. Weird. Anybody found a fix?

 

[SWWPope]

I had a similar problem with my K8N Neo Platinum, I think. The PC powers up and reaches the BIOS bootup screen, giving me the option to pres <DEL> or <TAB>, but the PS2 keyboard is unresponsive. I guess I need to get an adapter or a new keyboard to get it to work.

 

[Delbert]

I?ve got my keyboard connected to a PS2 to USB adapter so it works now, but I don?t want to tell the person I was building the computer for that they must use a USB keyboard. On the other hand I hate to go thru the whole RMA process for something so trivial.
Since it seems to be a popular fault, I wondered if there was a BIOS fix or something that MSI had reported.

 

[imported_pak9rabid]

boo on MSI. i bought one, no post. in the process of RMAing it. didn't try a USB keyboad, but I did try just unplugging the PS2 keyboard and still got not POST. did MSI just fall off? I mean, didnt't they USED to be a good comapany?

 

[imported_pak9rabid]

welp, my faith in msi has been restored. the replacement board i got today works fine. installing XP as we speak.

 

[Bitchfi]

Hi

I was helping a friend installing his new comp with this MSI mobo and we had exact same problem.
His keyboard was some old IBM one. http://www.vtama.com/shopu/sou...bmkb9910j/DSCF0004.jpg
We managed to get it work with "newer" keyboard with PS2 connector.

So no need to buy USB keyboard to get the board to work.

 

[dacull]

This problem is still apparent on the MSI K8N Neo2.. they STILL havent fixed it!