Not booting after mem upgrade???

[blacktankofhopelessness]

Hi y'all!

Today I bought miself a new memory module and a heatsink and fan for my processor,

::SAMSUNG 256MB DDRAM pc2700 333mhz (Same as the other module I have installed)
::Thermaltake Volcano 9 80mm fan

My system was working just fiiiine before I added the new mem module and put in the new fan/heatsink. But when I power on my system now the harddrive never starts to read and I don't even get to the BIOS setup! The box just sits there humming (all fans are on full blow!) and my monitor turns on for two seconds and then goes to standby mode....
I tried clearing the old bios settings (removed battery on motherboard and shorted jumper -as instructed), I tried removing the new mem module and just running with the old one installed, but no. I'm beginning to worry if I somehow damaged the CPU or motherboard when switching fans.

Could someone pleeaase help me out here!? My girlfriend has some unfinished work on my harddrive which is due pretty soon!!!!

Sys specs:

ASUS A7V 333 motherboard
AMD XP 1800+ Palomino fan: Thermaltake Volcano 9
256 MB DDRAM PC2700 333mhz (x2)
IBM Deskstar 60GB 7200rpm
Gainward GeForce 4 ti4200 128MB RAM

 

[foofoo]

hi,
did you install the heatsink correctly? (the side with the step goes toward the base of the lever that locks the cpu)
did you use proper heat sink compuund like arctic silver3?

if this is all ok, try re-seating everything including the video card, ram, cables, etc and try booting with a minimum system i.e. cpu, vid card, 1 stick ram, floppy. if this makes it into the bios, then try adding the hd and go from there.

good luck

 

[Harvey]

You have two problems, getting your machine working and saving your gf's files. I sense panic in your post, so the first thing to do is slow down and deal with both problems carefully.

1. Your gf's files are safe as long as you don't wreck your hard drive. Whenever it is convenient, you can remove the drive, install it in another machine, and copy the files to another hard drive, floppy or CDR. If you have two machines at hand, all you have to do is place them next to eachother and connect your drive to the other machine without even removing it from your case.

2. You may get the symptoms you describe if your vid card or any other card is not well seated. Take a deep breath, relax, and take the time to be very sure everything is plugged in correctly and well seated. If necessary, remove every card, and re-insert it. Do the same for every connector.

No guarantee that will fix your machine, but it's a good first step. Good luck.

 

[blacktankofhopelessness]

Yup, installed the heatsink correctly. And put some cooling paste on the copper base of the heatsink that that faces the processor.
Will try the minimum system start though... thanx!

Are you guys sure that I haven't wrecked my CPU or motherboard while installing the heatsink? Would the thing even power on if I had?

 

[Harvey]

Originally posted by: blacktankofhopelessness
Are you guys sure that I haven't wrecked my CPU or motherboard while installing the heatsink? Would the thing even power on if I had?

Of course we aren't sure. The machine is at your place. We're just going through the things you need to check in case you missed any of them.

Add one more thing to the list -- Remove the hs/fan, and reseat the CPU. Verifyy that you have it oriented correctly. Some CPU's can be inserted when rotated 90 or 180 degrees if you accidentally bent one of the pins that should keep it from going in the wrong way. No guarantee, but at least it's one more thing to check.

 

[blacktankofhopelessness]

*Sigh...!*

I tried removing everything "non-essential" including hard drive soundcard, etc and reinserted my videocard and checked every connector I could think of and put in my old memory in DIMM1. I even switched my heatsink from "autoadjust fanspeed" to "always max"(4200rpm) to see if it helped. But I ran into the same brick wall!!! It powers on, but the monitor shuts off after a couple of seconds and it just sits there........ humming.
These situations tire me...

Any ideas on this? help REALLY appreciated!

 

[blacktankofhopelessness]

I never removed the CPU when switching HS/fan, and it worked fine before so it's oriented correctly alright. Thanks though..

 

[CaptnKirk]

I just went through a simular problematic senario with the installation of a stick of Crucial RAM.
Turned out there is a software glitch in WinXP Home that corrupted the HAL.DLL File.
There is a way to fix it by setting the computer to 'Boot-from-CD' and repair.re-install the file

DESCRIPTION & FIX
Way down at the bottom, read and see if it applies.

 

[blacktankofhopelessness]

The thing is, I can't get to the bios setup since my monitor just shuts off a while after I power on. That way, I can't set "boot from CD". My hard drive never starts reading either... but thanks anyway!

More suggestions? Anyone? Please???

 

[CaptnKirk]

Can you clear the CMOS and reset ? In most cases it is done by moving the PIN/JUMPER over for about 5 seconds (with power OFF) then
returning the jumper to thr 'RUN' position. I see you mentioned you tried that, but check to see if the jumper pin is back on securely.

Sometimes you can force a CMOS clear by holding the 'Insert' key down when you turn the power off,
this feature is quite mother board specific - some do & some don't.

There has to be a way to get back to the BIOS and re-set the DEFAULT, this is before anything even is handed off to the Hard Drive.
The BIOS is not dependant on the Hard Drive at all. You may even have lost the BIOS, so you may need to make a Floppy "BOOT"
copy of the most current BIOS program, and start with the floppy to boot and run the replacement BIOS.

Did you connect the wire from the Heatsink fan to the correct header? Some motherboards will not allow anything to progress if there
is not a report of fan speed through the 3-pin CPU fan header.

 

[blacktankofhopelessness]

Well, yes I did clear the CMOS. (Though I have an ASUS A7V mb where you have to remove the battery, put a metal object between the two CMOS clear pins and then insert the battery again.) Not sure about the "insert" button option... at least on my mb.
I am well aware that BIOS is NOT hard drive dependant, I was just pointing out that the boot process doesn't even come to or pass BIOS and into hard drive read, i.e loading an OS, in my case WIN XP. My problem is probably some sort of motherboard "power on test" failure. According to the manual: "If you see nothing on your monitor or hear no sounds 30 seconds after power on, the motherboard has failed one or more power on tests." I'm beginning to think it's more of a hardware problem and not a BIOS problem...
And yes, according to my mb manual I've connected the 3-pin CPU-fan connector to the right header. The same header I connected my old fan to. But I will check again to be sure. My girlfriend is sleeping so I'll have to check that out tommorrow though...

Thanks so much for the help fellas!!! Any more ideas, feel free to post them!

 

[foofoo]

hi,
have to bring this up since it happened to me once.
have you tried another monitor?

and if this doesnt do it it may be time to start swapping parts.
do you have a speaker connected? do you get any beep codes?

good luck

 

[skyking]

You may have had an ESD event (ElectroStatic Discharge). If you were not grounded, and touched the wrong place on the way in with your new RAM or heatsink, you may have cooked something with static. Harvey's advice is good, get your girlfriend's files to a computer where she can work on them, then try to test out components to eliminate all the possiblilities.
Good luck!

 

[altonb1]

Have you tried running the system with just the new stick of RAM? You said you tried running just the old stick, but have you removed it and put in the new stick only? Have you even touched the orignal stick of RAM at all? the reason I ask is that you may have knocked the old stick loose and that is shorting the board out and keeping it from booting. if you by chance fried that stick in the process, the new stick may save you.

Any beep codes at all?

 

[blacktankofhopelessness]

Whopee!

Finally! Got it working... though I had to get a new processor in the process! It turns out I must have damaged the processor when mounting my new fan. I tried switching everything: 2 different graphics cards, tried both mem modules together and separately, tried another monitor and even switched back to my old fan. As I ruled one error out after another I realized it must be the processor, so I got a new one.. and it's all gooood!

I'm happy, my girlfriend's happy and my itchy trigger finger is happier than ever!

Thanks everyone for trying to help me out, I'll be coming back to these forums for sure!!