no response on boot up

[lybush]

Hi All,

I have a problem; that is my son has a problem which gives me a problem.

He just built a new system. This is his 5th so he knows somewhat of what he is doing.
A new Abit motherboard, new P4 1. 5 or 6, I 'm not certain which, socket 478 CPU with fan/sink etc.. a new case and power supply.
After putting it all together with an old hD and 512 DDr ram, one stick, I believe, nothing happens at boot up. Monitor comes on with 'no signal' then goes off. No beeps, nothing!

I asked him to test voltages at motherboard but he didn't do that yet. I thought maybe BIOS was bad on MB. He says BIOS is just 'firmware' and the CPU does the bootup so he thinks CPU may be bad. He has none other to try a replacement.

Any suggestions as to how to proceed?

Some help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Len

 

[foofoo]

hi,
did you get any beep codes from the motherboard?
usually the first thing to do in a case like this is to remove the mb from the case and test it with a minimum of components. try just mb, processor, ram, video card. put it on some insulated surdace and use the powersupply. if it posts here, you can try adding components and installing it back in the case (looking for extra standoffs that may be shorting the traces on the backside of the mb) and installing the other components. if it will not post in thie minimum setup, and you are not getting any beep code errors, it is most likey the mb, power supply or processor. you will have to do some substituting to figure out which one.
good luck.

 

[lybush]

Hi,
Thanks for your interest in this problem.

What I forgot to mention in the original post is that the fans do come on and also, when the 'reset' button is pressed, nothing happens. The only way to restart is to shut off the power and then turn it on again.

This is a min. installation. He just installed the min. necessary to see if it would work.

I guess he will take out the motherboard and check those standoffs. He had said that he had to remove some and add others to get the correct fit. I wonder, if he takes out the ram, would it boot with some beeps? Like I said, there are NO beeps at all now.

 

[foofoo]

hi,
if he removes the video card or ram, he should get beep errors. be sure that the speaker is hooked up since not all mbds have an onboard piezeoelectric speaker. also, if the reset button has no effect, check that the wires to the front panel are correctly hooked up.
good luck

 

[lybush]

Thank you. I e-mailed your gracious reply to him and he will follow your advice.

Buc's play today, and he is going to the game so he will have to try it all tomorrow after work.

Thanks, again

Len

 

[foofoo]

hi,
ho problem. i hope you get it running. let us know if it you need more help.
good luck.

 

[lybush]

Will do. Thank you very much for your continued interest in this problem.

Len