New build, Post/bios problems? Fixed

[waitman]

system specs, Abit nf7s versio 2.0, xp2500 barton, 512mb pc2700.

I have been having trouble getting this thing to post. I finally cleared the cmos and took out the batterty. sometimes it will come on momentarily then shut off, sometimes it will post, i hit the del key and it goes into the bios, then shuts down. I noticed the first time it posted the screen showed it was an xp2500. Now it says athlon 1100 when i go to the soft menu, but underneath, it says xp2500. I have taken loose everything but the video card, harddrive and floppy. The heatsink doesn't seem to even get warm at all, it is cool to the touch. What have i done wrong? help please.

thanks
waitman

EDIT: It was the power supply. Put in an Enermax and boom. Thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated

waitman

 

[johnjkr1]

If it is shutting off within a few seconds, you sound like you have a heatsink problem. Double check and make sure it is not on backwards....and did you use thermal paste?

If it shows up as an athlon 1100, don't worry, that is just because the cpu fsb/ ram speed is not set correctly. Your first step is to get the machine to not shut down while in the bios.

 

[waitman]

Thanks for the quick reply. the heatsink is on the right way, finally got to the temp settings in the bios and it said 176F. Haven't used thermal grease, but am using the thermal pad. My fault, I believe I moved the heatsink around a little and kind of messed up the pad. guess i'll go find another or some grease. Where can i get the shin etsu?

 

[johnjkr1]

HAHA 176!>!!!!@ I think you definetly found your problem, and you may have fried your chip. Is there a fan? Did you actually hook it to the socket? because I have never seen temps that high.

 

[waitman]

yes the fan was spinning.

 

[Tango57]

Originally posted by: waitman
Thanks for the quick reply. the heatsink is on the right way, finally got to the temp settings in the bios and it said 176F. Haven't used thermal grease, but am using the thermal pad. My fault, I believe I moved the heatsink around a little and kind of messed up the pad. guess i'll go find another or some grease. Where can i get the shin etsu?

holy smoke! 176F is 80C! man you might have fried your chip by not making sure the heatsink was seated properly. AMD athlon xp's have a max die temp of 85C. hopefully it wasn't damaged but you should also monitor your temps even after you boot into windows. use motherboard monitor program or some other diagnostic utility too make sure it's still not overheating.

 

[waitman]

update, I was looking at the wrong temps. I actually got it to stay powered up long enough to see the temps in the bios. It says the system temp is 23C and the cpu is 34C.

What to Do? I have a cheap power supply, think that might be it?
thanks

waitman

 

[Tango57]

 

[waitman]

anyone ? bump ^

 

[Tango57]

by the way artic silver recommends removing the thermal pad before you apply thermal compound to your cpu. Arctic Silver Instructions what kind of power supply do you have? it could be your psu and although your hardware is new you should also check your other components to see if any hardware might be faulty or defective.

 

[waitman]

I finally pulled out the board and tried to get it post. the fans would start to come on then everything would die. I put it all back together and powered up, it booted. I went into the bios, now I have the cpu at 3200+. it stayed on for two hours, then shutdown. I noticed the +12v would fluctuate between 11.97 and 12.04v. Shouldn't it not go under 12.0v? The power supply is a cheap 400 watt When it first started to boot it sounded like the fans were under some stress then after a couple minutes they seemed to sound ok. loud but ok. the temps 41C Last night, this morning 44c with only cpu/hsf, hdd, floppy, pci video card.

I did completely remove the thermal pad and cleaned it all up, then added the thermal grease. I 'm thinking new psu as i need a better one anyways. Thanks for your replies, guys and thanks tango57 for the replies and bump.

Anyone care to add some more knowledge here?

thanks

waitman

 

[Tango57]

so your chip is overclocked...what are your overclock settings? what were you running on your pc at the time of the crash or did it just shutdown during idle? if you have some spare parts i.e., extra psu, cpu, etc. you might want to try swapping out parts and as a process of elimination try to find the culprit 'causing the random shutdowns. i had similar experiences with my pc a few months back. my pc did the same thing, it would post and boot into windows but after a few minutes it would just shutdown. it would particularly shutdown when i tried to run games as these are more cpu intensive programs. eventually it stopped posting and wouldn't boot at all. with some spare parts, i tried swapping out the video card, memory, motherboard, and psu, but still the problem persisted but once i replaced the cpu the problem was solved. it turned out i had a bad cpu so that's why i think you'll still have to try to eliminate the other components as the source of your problem as well and not just the psu, although i still would rather invest in a high quality psu. going for higher wattage like 400 w or more is fine especially if you plan on adding more hardware in the future but it should be high quality as well.

 

[waitman]

Originally posted by: Tango57
so your chip is overclocked...what are your overclock settings? what were you running on your pc at the time of the crash or did it just shutdown during idle? if you have some spare parts i.e., extra psu, cpu, etc. you might want to try swapping out parts and as a process of elimination try to find the culprit 'causing the random shutdowns. i had similar experiences with my pc a few months back. my pc did the same thing, it would post and boot into windows but after a few minutes it would just shutdown. it would particularly shutdown when i tried to run games as these are more cpu intensive programs. eventually it stopped posting and wouldn't boot at all. with some spare parts, i tried swapping out the video card, memory, motherboard, and psu, but still the problem persisted but once i replaced the cpu the problem was solved. it turned out i had a bad cpu so that's why i think you'll still have to try to eliminate the other components as the source of your problem as well and not just the psu, although i still would rather invest in a high quality psu. going for higher wattage like 400 w or more is fine especially if you plan on adding more hardware in the future but it should be high quality as well.

This is a brand new pc, doesn't even have an os yet, yeah I don't have any spare parts to work with, so I guess it could be a long slow road. When it shuts down I am just monitoring the temps and voltages. Might run 10 minutes or the longest was 2 hours. Thanks Tango 57 for your input

waitman

 

[Fern]

You don't want your cpu set to 3200+ yet. Only some 2500+ can run stably at that speed w/o a voltage (vcore) increase. Many won't run stably at that speed no matter how much voltage is increased. Set cpu in BIOS to the auto 2500+ setting.

Also so your ram is pc2700, not pc3200. It s/b set up to run stock, use "optimal" settings (BIOS) as this for stability.

In other words, No OCing till it runs stably at stock speeds.

There are two places in the BIOS (I'm going from memory here as my manual is at home with the rig in my sig, so I can't even look at my BIOS now) for overheat protection for the cpu. If it's set too low, your computer will shut down. (see below)

When making changes in the BIOS do NOT power down til your sure it has saved. Otherwise you'll hose the BIOS big time.

The voltage fluctions you posted above seem within normal range.

Re: the 80 degrees. What other temp could you have possibly been looking at? AFAIK, there's only temp reports for cpu and system. I'm thinking that was your cpu temp and that why it shut down. (see above).

Until you feel it's stable in BIOS, I wouldn't install anything but cpu (with HS+F), ram, and vid card. After all those check out OK and your stable in BIOS, then go on to add HD and install OS (and chipset drivers and vid card drivers). If that goes OK then put in other cards/devices.

Have you received any warning beeps form the system/mobo? If so, let us know what they are.

Does your PSU have the 4 pin 12v. molex connector and is it attached to the mobo (goes near near the 12 pin 12v ATX connector, it's for increased stability)?

I'll post back with different sites that have good info on the NF7 boards.

A good all-around site Note the BIOS section

NF7 Beep Codes

 

[waitman]

Originally posted by: Fern
You don't want your cpu set to 3200+ yet. Only some 2500+ can run stably at that speed w/o a voltage (vcore) increase. Many won't run stably at that speed no matter how much voltage is increased. Set cpu in BIOS to the auto 2500+ setting.

Also so your ram is pc2700, not pc3200. It s/b set up to run stock, use "optimal" settings (BIOS) as this for stability.

In other words, No OCing till it runs stably at stock speeds.

There are two places in the BIOS (I'm going from memory here as my manual is at home with the rig in my sig, so I can't even look at my BIOS now) for overheat protection for the cpu. If it's set too low, your computer will shut down. (see below)

When making changes in the BIOS do NOT power down til your sure it has saved. Otherwise you'll hose the BIOS big time

The voltage fluctions you posted above seem within normal range.

Re: the 80 degrees. What other temp could you have possibly been looking at? AFAIK, there's only temp reports for cpu and system. I'm thinking that was your cpu temp and that why it shut down. (see above).

Until you feel it's stable in BIOS, I wouldn't install anything but cpu (with HS+F), ram, and vid card. After all those check out OK and your stable in BIOS, then go on to add HD and install OS (and chipset drivers and vid card drivers). If that goes OK then put in other cards/devices.

Have you received any warning beeps form the system/mobo? If so, let us know what they are.

Does your PSU have the 4 pin 12v. molex connector and is it attached to the mobo (goes near near the 12 pin 12v ATX connector, it's for increased stability)?

I'll post back with different sites that have good info on the NF7 boards.

A good all-around site Note the BIOS section

NF7 Beep Codes

Thanks Fern
will try to reset it to 2500. The other temp I was looking at was the cpu temperature warning which was 167 i think. was shutting down to fast to know what i was looking at.

When I first power on i get a really sort beep, or blip i guess. then in about 3 or 4 seconds i get a long beep, then the screen which shows the ram,etc... then I hit delete and go into the bios.

Yes the psu does have the 4 pin 12v connector and it is connected

I do make sure i don't shut down until the bios has saved. It is just scary because i am afraid it will shut down on its own, before everything is saved. Thanks again for your reply, I appreciate it. i will try your suggestions this evening and post back, thanks

waitman

 

[waitman]

OK, I reset it to 2500, saved it, then shutdown. Still the same thing basically, sometimes it will post and I can boot into the bios, sometimes it will just shutdown a second or two after I press the power button. I did notice that sometimes the spdif has a light that shines and sometimes the light doesn't come on.

Also if I take loose the floppy or the hdd it won't post at all.

 

[Tango57]

waitman according to the bios beep codes fern provided it sounds like your problem might be with your cpu. can you still RMA any of your new components for replacement?? or do you know someone that has spare parts you can borrow to troubleshoot the problem? another last resort option is to take your pc to your local computer store. ask them what their diagnostic fee is to check out your pc. usually local pc stores don't charge as much as best buy or comp usa would to diagnose the problem.

 

[Fern]

Somethings wrong. Take the mobo out of the case (to eliminate possibility of shorting, however remote) put it on newspaper, or phonebook etc, next to the case. Hook up psu (I leave my ps mounted in the case, hopefully your wiring will reach), install only cpu (with HS+F), ram, vid card (hook up monitor). No HD or floppy, they aren't neccessary to boot. If it won't boot, listen carefully for the beep code, it's a good diagnostic tool.

If it won't boot or beep, remove ram (or cpu or vid card) and try to boot. At this point your just trying to get the mobo to repond with the correct error/beep code. If you don't get the correct beep code, it's prolly time to RMA the mobo.


Even better if you can get other parts for diag help. Try another PS in your pc. Also, put your cpu into another pc to see if it checks out. Etc.

What PS (power supply) do you have?

 

[waitman]

I took the motherboard out and tried what what you suggested, It will not boot outside the case, it will not even come on. The red LED comes on when I hit the switch on the back of the power supply, then when I hit the power button the fans start, but stop immediately and the green led on the MB lights for an instant and goes off. Seems it doesn't matter what I connect or disconnect, it will not post or boot outside of the case.

I have it laying on cardboard and it is not touching anything else. I emailed abit and they said to test it with another power supply, which I don't have. I think I will just tell them it didn't work, because i am about to pull my hair out.

Any other ideas people before I shoot this thing? Thanks for all the replies.

waitman

 

[Fern]

The red LED is normal. Even when the pc is powered down. It only goes off if you unplug the pc or turn off the psu with the rocker switch in back.

The green LED comes on when the pc is powered up ( and goes off when you down). Funny how they don't clarify this in the manual.

Yup, sounds like mobo or PSU at this point. You never did say what PSU you have. Is it new or a "known to be working" unit ? Too bad you can't test the mobo with another psu, or the psu on another system.

Did you recently purchase the mobo? If so, can you return it there for another brand new unit? I'm afraid if it's RMA'd thru abit, you may get another "RMA'd' mobo in return, as opposed to another brand new one. Although acceptable, I prefer another brand new unit if possible.

Anyway, sounds like something needs to be returned. Hope it is indeed the mobo so you won't have to go thru the process again for the psu later. Not to mention bearing the shipping and down time.

I think someone earlier mentioned a local pc shop. Maybe a quick call to one to see if they would test the psu (or mobo) for a small fee w/b worthwhile.

It just sucks when new parts don't work.

 

[waitman]

Fixed, runs great. Thanks for all the replies.

waitman

 

[Fern]

Great! happy to hear it.

Could you post and let us know what the prob was; how you fixed it? It will be helpful for others with similar prob.

 

[waitman]

yeah, it was the psu, now i can't get past the raid setup to format and install the os, it enters raid setup and then says verifying dmi pool then system disk failure or something like that. about had it with this board RMA?