New Comp Troubleshooting

[kapnesq]

I am building a computer at work but I am having a problem getting it to start properly.

I am using a MSI K7N420 Pro motherboard, Athlon chip, 256MB corsair Ram, but I am using an HD from an old computer.

When I power everything up, powersource/system/processor fans and lights work properly, however, nothing really happens. The comp tries to access the floppy, and just continues accessing. I can hear the HD drive spinning, accesses once right after startup and then does nothing else (but remains powered and spinning). The monitor is dead and the light never switches from orange to green. Any ideas on what this could be?

 

[GroundedSailor]

If the floppy light remains on, check the floppy cable to see that it is connected the right way around.

 

[kapnesq]

Thanks for replying. Yes, I checked and the cable is connected properly. At this point I am concerned that the monitor is not receiving any information. The video card is built in to the motherboard. Since I don't hear the HD accessing except once right when I start up, I am kind of worried that the motherboard is bad. What do you think?

 

[scottrico]

Upplug everything except for the monitor, cpu and ram (one stick), it should be able to boot into the bios.

If not,
1st, clear the cmos, it is a jumper on the motherboard(read the manual).
2nd, if you have a agp slot, try using a video card(if you have one).
3nd, I dont have that mother board but there might be a jumper for the onboard video(back to the manual).
4th, check to see that your cpu is set to the correct speed(100,133), it should be a jumper on the motherboard also.


Question?
Do you hear a beep? More than one beep?

Your screen would come on even if there is a floppy drive problem, you would just get a missing floopy drive error(older boards). newer motherboards dont care if the floppy drive is not working.

It sounds like a video problem.

hope that helps

 

[kapnesq]

Thank you Scottrico for your reply. I tried all of the things that you suggested (except there was no video jumper), but still no luck. I tried using an old video card and the monitor was still dead. Any of thoughts? Does anyone know if either the motherboard, the ram or the processor is malfunctioning, which one it would likely be? Thank you all for your time.

 

[compudog]

Try taking the board out of the case. It's possible it may be shorting to something on the case. You may have to take all of the components out of the case as well if the cables aren't long enough. All you need to get it to boot should be a stick of RAM.

 

[GroundedSailor]

Have you checked the monitor with another computer to see if it is working? I had that problem once and was going aroundn in circles with CPU, RAM, motherboard, video card etc till I figured out the monitor was bad.

 

[kapnesq]

Yes I have checked the monitor. It is one that I use on another comp. I will try disassembling it later this afternoon. Thanks. I will report back.

 

[Woodchuck2000]

Yeah, try stripping it down to just Mobo, CPU and RAM. Unplug absolutely everything else.
If it won't post, try using a PCI graphics card.
If you've got spare parts lying around, try using the CPU and RAM in a different system. It's a matter of trying different combinations of components until you can pinpoint the fault to a particular one.

 

[kapnesq]

Ok, silly question. when I take the mobo out of the case to make sure that nothing is shorting, what should I sit it on? Thanks a lot.

 

[scottrico]

He might be right about a short.

You can sit the mobo on the box it came with, It safe i have done it before.

To be honest, it starting to sound like a bad mobo.

 

[ddeder]

What is the FSB of your Athlon - 200 or 266MHz? A jumper on the motherboard may be set incorrectly for the FSB of your CPU.

EDIT

OOPS! I see someone already mentioned this...

 

[kapnesq]

Ok, guys. Update. I swapped out all the parts last night with duplicates in the office. Turned out that it was a bad CPU. Just wanted to thank you all for your help.