Installed new components, now no boot, no beeps

[TheJTrain]

Background:
I'm fairly competent with building systems, replacing components, etc. - I built my system and have successfully replaced the CPU, the HSF later, the video card, case fans, etc. But I'm a little stumped at what's causing my current problem.

Problem:
I put in some new components to try and make my machine quieter, and once it was all back together, it doesn't even try to boot - the LED flickers once and nothing happens, no fans spin up, no mobo beeps, nothing. The components I replaced were the HSF (mounted a SLK-900U using the x-plate on the back of the mobo through the mounting holes around the CPU), added a Zalman Fanmate to the Panaflo fan on top of the SLK, and floppy/IDE cables (went to round cables). To accomplish this I had to remove the mobo from the case and re-mount it.

What I've done so far:
I had a little time to monkey with it - I disconnected the Panaflo fan (which does have an RPM sensing wire) on the SLK from the mobo and reconnected the old fan I replaced, still no activity, so it's not the mobo refusing to start because it can't see the CPU fan spinning. Mounting the HS with bolts through the mounting holes was a new thing for me, but if it was improperly mounted the system should still at least start up, even if the CPU will fry in 10 seconds, right? The PSU is good, I hooked up a tester to the 20-pin mobo connector and it comes on and powers the case fan and drives. So I'm thinking something must be shorting the mobo somewhere. Does this sound like it might be the problem? Even though it's a pain I'll probably have to just pull it back out and see if it starts up from outside the case, then I'll try to remount it. I'm wondering if the x-plate on the back is messing me up somehow. I'll post over in motherboards, see if anyone with an ECS K7S5A has had any trouble with something like that.

Jason

Edit: Oh - I've had intermittent trouble with the CMOS, where once every few months it refuses to boot, and when I open the case, move the Clear CMOS jumper to Clear for a few seconds, then back to normal it boots fine. I bought a new battery and waited for it to happen again before I opened the case to replace it. It happened the other day, so I opened the case, cleared the CMOS and replaced the battery, then decided to put the new HSF and cables in before I turned it back on. Maybe the new battery's a bad one? Would a dead CMOS battery prevent startup or just prevent the BIOS settings to be retained?

 

[GAZZA]

All the CMOS batter does it help retain your CMOS settings, otherwise you'd have to input them everytime you booted your pc.
I would suspect either Ram,CPU or Video card is either got problems or not seated correctly, especially as you removed your motherboard from the case.
It's possible that you killed the core of your cpu when mounting your SLK 900U, I would check the cpu to make sure the core is not chipped.

 

[TheJTrain]

But if there was a problem with the RAM, wouldn't it try to boot, spinning up the CPU fan, and give me some kind of beep code when there was no RAM? Same with the video card?

Yeah, I was a little worried about mounting the HSF with the bolts, but it seemed to me I was careful in tightening them slowly and in a criss-cross pattern - it felt less rough than using the standard clip. I think I'll make that the last thing I check (after mobo shorting & RAM seating), in an effort to try and avoid having to do it again!

Thanks,
Jason

 

[Match]

1. You could try reseating the video card. It's a snug fit in the AGP slot on the K7S5A. I don't know if this problem would produce a beep code or not.
2. Not to offend, but did you plug the PSU motherboard connector back into the motherboard? I forgot to do this once, and took a little while to figure out why my computer was dead. 😉

 

[TheJTrain]

Ok, I tried reseating the video card (twice), no change. Then I tried removing the mobo from the system without disturbing the HS mounted to the CPU - this was an effort to remove any possibility of the mobo shorting to something (just for reference, when people talk about the mobo shorting to something, most of the time they're talking about it shorting to the case through the mounting screws and standoffs, right?). So with my mobo sitting on a piece of cardboard above the case, with everything still connected (power, video card, drives, etc.), it booted and gave me the beeps I expected (plus a double-beep which I think was telling me that the monitor wasn't connected, which it wasn't). So I think I've proven that the HSF installation is ok and the CPU still runs (which means the core is still ok, right?), but that I had the mobo shorting to a standoff or something. Does my logic make sense? Am I on the right track?

So with these standoffs - do people use plastic washers or anything to keep the mobo from shorting?

Thanks,
Jason

 

[Hossenfeffer]

Yep, sounds like you're on the right track.

In the process of reinstalling the motherboard, make sure that you seat it correctly. If it doesn't boot this time, then you could consider some sort of insulating material (I suppose).

I've had a similar problem happen twice. Both times, after removing the mobo and verifying things were ok, reinstalling the mobo gave me satisfactory results.

 

[TheJTrain]

Thanks for the encouragement, Hossenfeffer - that's what I wanted to hear. I'll post back with results - probably after Smallville, though. 😉

 

[TheJTrain]

Well, it's all back together and working splendidly. I found that the short was where the x-plate on the back of the mobo (to hold on the massive SLK-900) was touching the case. It was the last thing I checked because included in the package was a plastic sheet to put between the x-plate and the mobo, so even if the x-plate was touching the case, there shouldn't have been a path to the mobo. Anyway, I just stuck a piece of cardboard to the case where the x-plate would be, and presto, my system is alive again (and a bit quieter, though I can still hear the fans a little).

Thanks for the help!
Jason