!Need A Lot of Help Needed! Please Read, Im Getting Desperate

[KaranG4]

yeah its a pretty crappy power supply lol, but still, I only had the cpu and motherboard connected... I think that maybe your on to something about the powersupply messing up the computer, its the only other possibility I could think of. Do you know if you can rma a product to newegg more than once?

I might just return this motherboard if I still can and get the a7n8x witha new powersupply.... i gotta wait a lil bit tho, christmas is expensive

 

[KaranG4]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
There is also the unfortunate possibility that your power supply is toast and is toasting new boards as you go, somehow. Buy the right thing the first time, that's my motto.

Well, in fact, I didnt buy my current case or power supply recently, but I basically messed up my computer by taking a chipset fan off because it didnt work and put it on upside down, after that it I smelled like burning (yeah i know i said burning) and it didnt work nemore, i blamed the motherboard for that so thats how this whole thing started, but still, the computer does turn on and everything in the comp is rotating and the motherboard has the leds on, its definately getting the power, it just has 'problems' with the cpu, and all the stuff has been tried with seperate parts, so none of this makes sense. What kind of damage could a powersupply do to a motherboard to still make it run but have cpu problems, man this is confusing, i should just go out and buy an hp, they are really nice quality lol

 

[Toymaker]

Karen G4, The problem may be that the Asus COP(CPU overheat Protection) may be enabled in your bios. Simply clearing the bios may not reset it. Sometimes connecting a fan to the CPU fan header on the motherboard will allow you to boot into the bios so that you can disable it. HTH

 

[KaranG4]

You basically mean use a heatsink that will connect the fan to the cpu fan 3 pin thingy right? Well, ive tried using the standard amd athlon 1.4ghz heatsink that came with it and also the 2000xp+'s which both connect to that, if i mistakenly misunderstood it, explain please.

oh btw, my names not Karen, and my KaranG4 has no spelling errors

 

[mechBgon]

The COP function cuts off the CPU's electrical supply if a temperature spike is detected (edit: in particular, a temperature spike from the CPU's on-core thermal diode), to prevent the CPU from frying. I've experienced that effect a couple times (turns out I forgot to take the plastic cover slip off the thermal compound on a stock retail AMD heatsink that's what happens when you assemble 4 computers at once, I guess). The system (an A7N266-VM) would just stop about two seconds after it started. Thank you, Asus, for saving us a CPU.

One of the possible causes of COP kicking in is a reversed heatsink. Notice that the base of the heatsink has a step cut into one end, which must be matched up with the solid part of the CPU socket. The clip is asymetrical too, and the pressure point must be over the CPU core. With either or both of them reversed, you have very bad contact and therefore very bad thermal conductivity. Repeated power-ups in this situation wouldn't do the CPUs any good... have you tried the CPUs in a known working system after they wouldn't run in the present one?

Because the board has separate voice warnings for overheat, and for dead-CPU-fan-no-RPM-signal, my guess is that either the board's been damaged by a bad PSU or other systematic error, or else you still haven't tried it with a PSU that has enough power to get it rolling.

 

[KaranG4]

I dont know where im gonna find a high psu, no local places sell them, so I'm thinking Id have to buy another one and wait in the mail but I dont know how long that will take, also I tried turning the computer on without the cpu installed, I get the errors of No Cpu installed and System failed CPU test alternating. I think I will call asus day after, but im basically busy all the time so I dont know when I'd have time to call them except sometime which would be completely off hours (like now ).

 

[gonzo2k]

Try putting ANY 2500+ RPM (3 pin) fan on the MB "cpu" connector- make sure you have the HS fan connected(doesn't matter where) so it is running, too.
Your BIOS may be affected by a fan RPM setting that is too low for a successful POST.

GL

Apologies to: toymaker- missed your post...we seem to agree!

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: KaranG4
I dont know where im gonna find a high psu, no local places sell them, so I'm thinking Id have to buy another one and wait in the mail but I dont know how long that will take, also I tried turning the computer on without the cpu installed, I get the errors of No Cpu installed and System failed CPU test alternating. I think I will call asus day after, but im basically busy all the time so I dont know when I'd have time to call them except sometime which would be completely off hours (like now ).

Where do you live? Any CompUSA's nearby? They often carry Antec TruePower 430's, that's what I use in my XP1700+ work system (with a 1000VA APC uninterruptible PSU to back it up).

 

[KaranG4]

Originally posted by: gonzo2k
Try putting ANY 2500+ RPM (3 pin) fan on the MB "cpu" connector- make sure you have the HS fan connected(doesn't matter where) so it is running, too.
Your BIOS may be affected by a fan RPM setting that is too low for a successful POST.

Okay about the 3 pin connecter for the cpu, like ive said:

Ive tried the 3 pin connectors for 2 heatsink stock ones that came with the 1.4ghz and the 2000+, it rotated so I know it is getting power and it is connected to the cpu so im thinking that that is not a problem.

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Originally posted by: KaranG4
I dont know where im gonna find a high psu, no local places sell them, so I'm thinking Id have to buy another one and wait in the mail but I dont know how long that will take, also I tried turning the computer on without the cpu installed, I get the errors of No Cpu installed and System failed CPU test alternating. I think I will call asus day after, but im basically busy all the time so I dont know when I'd have time to call them except sometime which would be completely off hours (like now ).

Where do you live? Any CompUSA's nearby? They often carry Antec TruePower 430's, that's what I use in my XP1700+ work system (with a 1000VA APC uninterruptible PSU to back it up).

I live in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, not the biggest city, only retail stores here that I can find computer stuff at are Best Buy, Office Max and staples, the only other places I know are local and I dont really know them, I know that one of my friends went to a local place to ask them to install a pci video card for them because he couldnt get it to work properly, and they charged him like a $100 (thats unbelievibly expensive) for it and it didnt work, they still charged him... thats our local customer service...

Closest place for a compusa is Des Moines (154 Miles), but thats like 2 hours in actual time both ways, I dunno, you think its worth it??? I'd have to take a road trip, on some weekday, i have like no time over for this kinda stuff, and returns would be a pain in the ass lol

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: KaranG4

Originally posted by: gonzo2k
Try putting ANY 2500+ RPM (3 pin) fan on the MB "cpu" connector- make sure you have the HS fan connected(doesn't matter where) so it is running, too.
Your BIOS may be affected by a fan RPM setting that is too low for a successful POST.

Okay about the 3 pin connecter for the cpu, like ive said:

Ive tried the 3 pin connectors for 2 heatsink stock ones that came with the 1.4ghz and the 2000+, it rotated so I know it is getting power and it is connected to the cpu so im thinking that that is not a problem.

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Originally posted by: KaranG4
I dont know where im gonna find a high psu, no local places sell them, so I'm thinking Id have to buy another one and wait in the mail but I dont know how long that will take, also I tried turning the computer on without the cpu installed, I get the errors of No Cpu installed and System failed CPU test alternating. I think I will call asus day after, but im basically busy all the time so I dont know when I'd have time to call them except sometime which would be completely off hours (like now ).

Where do you live? Any CompUSA's nearby? They often carry Antec TruePower 430's, that's what I use in my XP1700+ work system (with a 1000VA APC uninterruptible PSU to back it up).

I live in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, not the biggest city, only retail stores here that I can find computer stuff at are Best Buy, Office Max and staples, the only other places I know are local and I dont really know them, I know that one of my friends went to a local place to ask them to install a pci video card for them because he couldnt get it to work properly, and they charged him like a $100 (thats unbelievibly expensive) for it and it didnt work, they still charged him... thats our local customer service...

Closest place for a compusa is Des Moines (154 Miles), but thats like 2 hours in actual time both ways, I dunno, you think its worth it??? I'd have to take a road trip, on some weekday, i have like no time over for this kinda stuff, and returns would be a pain in the ass lol

Dude... you're gettin' a TruePower! I checked and it is in-stock in the Cedar Rapids Beast Buy store, you could pick it up tomorrow (edit: this is in no way a promise or representation that your system will magically work all of a sudden)

 

[KaranG4]

Sweet... $100, it better be a good power supply (are you sure its the same one, it says its designed for pentium 4 hope its amd compatible)
I got my paycheck today, ill deposit tomorrow so ill prob buy it on monday, tomorrow I'm heading down to buy a radeon 7500 pci for my old computer that I'm currently using, ~ $60 after rebates should be great especially if I cant this computer to work

 

[mechBgon]

Like I said, it's the exact PSU that I use myself at work. They are even better than they sound because the 3.3V and 5V lines are independent, unlike the majority of PSUs. For this reason, the combined 3.3V + 5V outputs total up to 272W, which is darn good. They run quietly too.

If the system won't start with that one, you can rule out inadequate power! (It's a good investment regardless). I sincerely hope it's the magic feather that makes your system fly, however

 

[KaranG4]

BIG *SIGH*, okay, I bought it, $105.99, and guess what, it didnt help... Tomorrow I'm going to call up asus tech support and then ill try to rma it to newegg again or try my luck with asus' rma. I guess the powersupply corrupted the motherboard... or maybe computers just hate me

 

[ReiAyanami]

so if all u got plugged in is:
motherboard
power supply
graphics card
and CPU

and u already got a new PSU, and the graphics cards work in other computers, so its down to CPU and motherboard. do u have any really low mhz socket A processors u can try in the mobo? like a cheap 800mhz duron that runs relatively cooler

 

[KaranG4]

The lowest I have are the two 1.4ghz athlons, but I dont know how cooling could be the issue. I installed in 3 different heatsinks about 30 times total and was careful with it, and with the swiftech, it should definately not get past acceptable levels even if it wasnt installed correctly (which it was) and two stock heatsinks that came with the athlons were both installed and reinstalled so many times with and without artic silver. The only thing I could think of that could affect this computer at this point would be that my old powersupply was really bad and it messed up my new motherboard... other than that, all the stuff is new or I have many of, all known to be working...

 

[CYoung]

Originally posted by: KaranG4
The lowest I have are the two 1.4ghz athlons, but I dont know how cooling could be the issue. I installed in 3 different heatsinks about 30 times total and was careful with it, and with the swiftech, it should definately not get past acceptable levels even if it wasnt installed correctly (which it was) and two stock heatsinks that came with the athlons were both installed and reinstalled so many times with and without artic silver. The only thing I could think of that could affect this computer at this point would be that my old powersupply was really bad and it messed up my new motherboard... other than that, all the stuff is new or I have many of, all known to be working...

KaranG4,

I never saw you post that you had correctly cleared the CMOS on the MBD. Look at page 2-16 in your manual. You will note that the correct way to do this is to use the Clear RTC Ram jumper, which I believe grounds a pin on the CMOS to clear it. I am not sure that simply removing the battery will do this, as people do not like to have their CMOS clear if they have to change the battery. That is why this jumper is there. I would suggest that you try this, as it is easy to do. Make sure you move the jumper to pins 1 and 2, and leave it there for at least 3 seconds. Then, pull it and put it back on pins 2 and 3, which is where it should be right now.

IF you can get the board to POST, you can go into the BIOS and set optimized defaults.

BTW, I would suggest that you quit buying more stuff and concentrate on isolating the real problem here; it looks like you have spent quite a bit of time and money on this already! BTW2, I grew up in Cedar Falls, just up the road from you about an hour.

 

[CYoung]

KaranG4,

Reply #2. In the POST routine, the CPU is pretty much the first thing checked. So, if you are getting the CPU Failed message consistently, it is pretty useless to look at other causes. Basically, with a stripped down setup, any decent power supply gives you enough output to POST. Your startup is not even getting to the memory check portion yet, so it does not seem that memory could be the problem (memory problems CAN cause some pretty strange symptoms!)

Your user manual suggests rechecking the CPU installation - it should fit in easily, no forcing required.

Another thought - are you using a static strap of any type? And, do you work on the PC with the power cord plugged in? Most Power Supplies hav a switch on the back that removes power, but you need the ground from the wall socket, and you should have your static strap attached to the metal frame of the case. You do have a 3-prong power outlet that you are using - right? If you do not have a static strap, you should touch the case with one hand while you are working on a card or CPU, etc., and be careful not to touch the components on the cards - hold them by the edges. Hold the CPU by the edges and do not touch the pins on the bottom!

You probably know all of this, but reminders never hurt!

 

[CYoung]

Originally posted by: KaranG4

Originally posted by: mechBgon
There is also the unfortunate possibility that your power supply is toast and is toasting new boards as you go, somehow. Buy the right thing the first time, that's my motto.

Well, in fact, I didnt buy my current case or power supply recently, but I basically messed up my computer by taking a chipset fan off because it didnt work and put it on upside down, after that it I smelled like burning (yeah i know i said burning) and it didnt work nemore, i blamed the motherboard for that so thats how this whole thing started, but still, the computer does turn on and everything in the comp is rotating and the motherboard has the leds on, its definately getting the power, it just has 'problems' with the cpu, and all the stuff has been tried with seperate parts, so none of this makes sense. What kind of damage could a powersupply do to a motherboard to still make it run but have cpu problems, man this is confusing, i should just go out and buy an hp, they are really nice quality lol

KaranG4,

I just noticed this one - have you replaced this motherboard since you did this? The chipset fan you are talking about is most likely the Northbridge. IF you toasted this, the CPU would not be seen by the BIOS. Now, many Northbridges can be passively cooled, but your burning smell is never a good thing. My EPox mobo uses a passively cooled Northbridge, for example.

 

[ReiAyanami]

installed and reinstalled so many times with and without artic silver

never without! but considering u've tried multiple chips, it seems likes its probably the mobo. got any spare mobos?

 

[KaranG4]

Originally posted by: ReiAyanami
installed and reinstalled so many times with and without artic silver

never without! but considering u've tried multiple chips, it seems likes its probably the mobo. got any spare mobos?

I only installed without for the stock coolers because they have the little thermal thingies on the bottom of their heatsinks already there.

Originally posted by: CYoung

Originally posted by: KaranG4

Originally posted by: mechBgon
There is also the unfortunate possibility that your power supply is toast and is toasting new boards as you go, somehow. Buy the right thing the first time, that's my motto.

Well, in fact, I didnt buy my current case or power supply recently, but I basically messed up my computer by taking a chipset fan off because it didnt work and put it on upside down, after that it I smelled like burning (yeah i know i said burning) and it didnt work nemore, i blamed the motherboard for that so thats how this whole thing started, but still, the computer does turn on and everything in the comp is rotating and the motherboard has the leds on, its definately getting the power, it just has 'problems' with the cpu, and all the stuff has been tried with seperate parts, so none of this makes sense. What kind of damage could a powersupply do to a motherboard to still make it run but have cpu problems, man this is confusing, i should just go out and buy an hp, they are really nice quality lol

KaranG4,

I just noticed this one - have you replaced this motherboard since you did this? The chipset fan you are talking about is most likely the Northbridge. IF you toasted this, the CPU would not be seen by the BIOS. Now, many Northbridges can be passively cooled, but your burning smell is never a good thing. My EPox mobo uses a passively cooled Northbridge, for example.

I replaced the motherboard with an asus a7v8x, my previous one was a ga-7dxr

Reply #2. In the POST routine, the CPU is pretty much the first thing checked. So, if you are getting the CPU Failed message consistently, it is pretty useless to look at other causes. Basically, with a stripped down setup, any decent power supply gives you enough output to POST. Your startup is not even getting to the memory check portion yet, so it does not seem that memory could be the problem (memory problems CAN cause some pretty strange symptoms!)

Your user manual suggests rechecking the CPU installation - it should fit in easily, no forcing required.

I did recheck the cpu, I took it out and installed them about 20 times without forcing them, and the only reason I guessed it was the memory was because someone on another message of mine in this forum suggested that that was the cause and they had the same problem until the memory was replaced.

Another thought - are you using a static strap of any type? And, do you work on the PC with the power cord plugged in? Most Power Supplies hav a switch on the back that removes power, but you need the ground from the wall socket, and you should have your static strap attached to the metal frame of the case. You do have a 3-prong power outlet that you are using - right? If you do not have a static strap, you should touch the case with one hand while you are working on a card or CPU, etc., and be careful not to touch the components on the cards - hold them by the edges. Hold the CPU by the edges and do not touch the pins on the bottom!

You probably know all of this, but reminders never hurt!

I didnt work with any strap but I discharge any electricity with side of the case and I always unplug the powercord before I touch stuff in my comp, unless its just ide stuff, then somtimes I just cut off power to it. 3-prong power outlet... yup!

KaranG4,

I never saw you post that you had correctly cleared the CMOS on the MBD. Look at page 2-16 in your manual. You will note that the correct way to do this is to use the Clear RTC Ram jumper, which I believe grounds a pin on the CMOS to clear it. I am not sure that simply removing the battery will do this, as people do not like to have their CMOS clear if they have to change the battery. That is why this jumper is there. I would suggest that you try this, as it is easy to do. Make sure you move the jumper to pins 1 and 2, and leave it there for at least 3 seconds. Then, pull it and put it back on pins 2 and 3, which is where it should be right now.

IF you can get the board to POST, you can go into the BIOS and set optimized defaults.

BTW, I would suggest that you quit buying more stuff and concentrate on isolating the real problem here; it looks like you have spent quite a bit of time and money on this already! BTW2, I grew up in Cedar Falls, just up the road from you about an hour.

I did follow the instructions for the resetting when I was at my friends but neither of us could completely understand it, I'm gonna try to reset it again, probably now.

I am like BROKE now lol, $100 left and I have to spend it on christmas stuff
Grew up in Cedar Falls? Cool

 

[CYoung]

KaranG4,

I think you may be down to one of two things:

1.) Find someone with an Athlon system where you can try one or more of your CPUs to ensure that they are working.
2.) Find a known good Athlon that you can put into your motherboard.

I would suggest that you first follow the suggestions in the Users Manual, which suggests contacting Asus Technical Support. My opinion is still that the problem pretty much has to be a bad CPU, a bad mobo, or both.