New Athlon 64 system won't boot

[timmyd777]

Hi guys, I'm new to the forums here. This is my second system build, and for some reason, it won't boot up at all. I checked the standoffs for the motherboard, and I didn't mount extra standoffs. When I plug in the power cord to the power supply and flip the switch, the power LED on my motherboard lights up and the fans on my video card briefly light up. However, upon pressing the power button on the case, nothing happens. No beeps, no POST message, nothing. I ordered a motherboard combo from Monarch, so I assume it was tested before being shipped. Here are the specs:

Case: Antec SOHO File Server with 450W PSU
Mobo: Asus A8V Deluxe
CPU: Athlon 64 3000+
Vidcard: BFG 6800 GT
RAM: 2x512MB Corsair DDR 400 (2-2-2-5)
Hard Drive: the 40GB Western Digital from my old system
Sound: onboard
LAN: onboard
Modem: Lucent Winmodem (crap, I know, but it works in a pinch)

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I just hope it's something stupid I may have missed and not a broken CPU or mobo.

 

[Grimmett]

Hey,
Make sure that the PWR switch plug is plugged in the right direction on your motherboard. I think its a thin plug with either two or three holes that slide onto pins on the board. If you have the plug flipped the wrong way it may not power on.

 

[timmyd777]

I checked that, and I tried putting on the power switch connector both orientations.

 

[Grimmett]

Dumb question but..
Does your motherboard have two different power cords? Like one with a bigger plug and then another cord with the 4 pin connector? Ones shaped like a rectangle and the other is shaped like a square. I think the square one is extra power for the CPU that some boards need. I guess make sure that your board has or doesn't have both, if it does make sure both are plugged in.

 

[timmyd777]

Yeah, my mobo has both ATX power connectors as you desribed and they are both plugged in securely. And they're keyec so they can only go in one way. I'm really at my wit's end here.

 

[mechBgon]

Asus's motherboards are sometimes marked a little weird. Your case's power button should be on these pins (or see page 2-31 of your manual for the ATX Power Switch pins).

Hope that helps Otherwise, tickle those pins with a piece of metal to make a momentary electrical connection between them, which is what signals the system to power on. If that works where the power button was not working, then you may have a bad power switch, or the bezel's pushbutton may not be properly actuating the switch that's behind it. That can sometimes happen if the bezel is not quite clipped on all the way.

 

[Marty42]

Hook up your speakers and turn the volume up. If you hear CPU fail, you more than likely need to update the bios. I had similiar problems and the bios was the 1005. I read some where the 1006 had problems and people were using 1007 to fix the boot problem. Oh and you need to clear the CMOS to get past the no boot situation in order to do the Ez Flash procedure in the manual.

 

[timmyd777]

I tried shorting those pins with a metal screwdriver, and nothing happens. Thanks for the idea, though.

-EDIT-
Didn't think about the BIOS issue. It was a mobo combo from Monarch, so I figured they had tested it for that sort of thing. Also, I changed heatsinks before installing everything, but I made sure to clean the grease off the CPU and I was careful in resocketing the CPU.
-EDIT

 

[Uncle Bob]

Assuming you have the power switch from the case connected to the correct pins on the motherboard (there should only be two pins and polarity doesn't matter for the power switch) then this sounds like a faulty CPU to me. It's possible that the mainboard is faulty or it may be the PSU but I'd bet on the CPU in this case.

Have you connected any speakers up yet? I think that motherboard has vocal POST messages - that may give you a clue as to what is wrong

 

[timmyd777]

Well, Uncle Bob, that's the odd thing. I had both external speakes (via onboard sound) and the case speaker plugged in and got absolutely no POST messages or beeps. Very strange, indeed. I HOPE it's not the CPU. I was using the PSU before with another mobo/CPU, and it was working fine as of a day or two ago. But this CPU is new. But yeah, you'd think if it was the CPU that I'd get some sort of POST message. Only thing left up my sleeve is clear CMOS and do a barebone powerup.

 

[DetroitSportsFan]

This is going to sound wierd .... I wished I had saved the link. I was reading earlier that for some reason, the ANTEC power supply is not compatible with some of the 939 A64 boards. On Antec's site, they explain they have an inline fix they'll provide for you so you don't have to replace your PSU.

So, before you RMA your board or cpu .... give ANTEC a call.


EDIT: Found the link. In this case, its an ABIT board .... but I still think its worth pursuing.

Here's the LINK.

Look towards the bottom where it starts with 10-13-04 Update:

 

[mechBgon]

One other tip that you may already know: use the blue DIMM slots first if you have a single pair of modules.

 

[timmyd777]

Originally posted by: DetroitSportsFan
This is going to sound wierd .... I wished I had saved the link. I was reading earlier that for some reason, the ANTEC power supply is not compatible with some of the 939 A64 boards. On Antec's site, they explain they have an inline fix they'll provide for you so you don't have to replace your PSU.

So, before you RMA your board or cpu .... give ANTEC a call.


EDIT: Found the link. In this case, its an ABIT board .... but I still think its worth pursuing.

Here's the LINK.

Look towards the bottom where it starts with 10-13-04 Update:

True, but that isn't the issue I'm having. Upon further introspection and discussion with some colleagues, it seems as if somewhere on the board is being grounded or shorted because the PSU fan isn't turning, and jumping the power switch pins doesn't work.

 

[mechBgon]

I think you've got the right idea by doing a bare-bones, out-of-the-case-on-cardboard test next. Some causes of short circuits: the springy finger things on the I/O shield getting into network jacks or USB jacks; or the case's front-USB/front-Firewire wiring doesn't jive with the board's pinout.

I have a bigger list of things to check here, the first link there. Might help with the brainstorming, anyway

 

[timmyd777]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
I think you've got the right idea by doing a bare-bones, out-of-the-case-on-cardboard test next. Some causes of short circuits: the springy finger things on the I/O shield getting into network jacks or USB jacks; or the case's front-USB/front-Firewire wiring doesn't jive with the board's pinout.

I have a bigger list of things to check here, the first link there. Might help with the brainstorming, anyway

I always wondered about those I/O shields. Can I just pry off the spring things? Thanks for all the input guys!

 

[timmyd777]

Update: thanks for all the tips, guys. I went ahead and tried adding components one by one, and it turns out it was either a floppy powr connector short or something was gorunding out the motherboard. At any rate, it's up and running now. Now to determine whether I should install XP Service Pack 2...