P4C800 E-Deluxe won't post! I need help!

[baldyguy]

Hello everyone,

hope you guys can help me!

I got an Asus P4C800 E-Deluxe board with a 2.8C Chip. My case is a Lian Li PC-75, I cannot get this to post at all! I'm getting the green standby light on the mobo, so that's a good sign that at least I'm getting power. I dont know what else I can be doing wrong? I put the Power into the ATX Power Connector and the ATX12V. What else am i doing wrong? Is it a grounding issue?

 

[mechBgon]

That should be a sweet rig once you get it debugged Is your four-pin square ATX12V cable plugged in as well? This is the one with two yellow wires and two black ones. It powers the CPU power circuitry. edit: Oooops, I see you did do that already, nm

If that's not it, could you describe the symptoms explicitly? For example, when you hit the case's Power button, do the fans run but you get no video, or the system just sits there and does nothing, or does it start and then die after a moment....?

Also, a full list of all the parts could help

 

[baldyguy]

Thanks for the fast response!

Asus P4C800 E-Deluxe
Intel 2.8C
Generic 2100 DDR RAM <=== Until I get my Corsair TWINX1024-3200LL
Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB
Antec True Power 480Watts

Yes I have the four square ATX12V plugged in....

None of the fans turn on at all, no video, just sits there and does nothing... it doesn't start at all, and no it doesn't die after coz it doesn't start LOL!

Originally posted by: mechBgon
That should be a sweet rig once you get it debugged Is your four-pin square ATX12V cable plugged in as well? This is the one with two yellow wires and two black ones. It powers the CPU power circuitry. edit: Oooops, I see you did do that already, nm

If that's not it, could you describe the symptoms explicitly? For example, when you hit the case's Power button, do the fans run but you get no video, or the system just sits there and does nothing, or does it start and then die after a moment....?

Also, a full list of all the parts could help

 

[mechBgon]

Ok Alex, I'll take Motherboards for $200

Check your case's Power Button plug to ensure it's on the right pins on the header. Asus has a sort of a "Backwards-Day" silkscreening on their two-row headers and it might throw ya. The manual is the one to look at. It might take a couple minutes to hunt down the diagram but it seems like a strong possibility and an easy one to correct.

 

[mechBgon]

Also, you still may get wonky results with PC2100, so brace yourself for that

 

[baldyguy]

mechBgon,

I did check to see if the pins were in the on header and i even reversed them too (neg and pos) I even did like you said in your guide.... what else?

Also, nothing turns on at all

the only thing that is on is the green standby light on the mobo

None of the fans turn on either.

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Ok Alex, I'll take Motherboards for $200

Check your case's Power Button plug to ensure it's on the right pins on the header. Asus has a sort of a "Backwards-Day" silkscreening on their two-row headers and it might throw ya. The manual is the one to look at. It might take a couple minutes to hunt down the diagram but it seems like a strong possibility and an easy one to correct.

 

[mechBgon]

Hmmm... and since it's a Lian-Li, do you definitely have the case's quick-disconnect plugged in (in the correct orientation)? Is there a chance that your power button is simply not getting fully depressed due to the bezel not being on quite all the way, perhaps? (long shot on those ones, I know )

You could jump to full-blown troubleshooting mode by taking the motherboard out of the case and laying it on cardboard, with just the essentials: video card, one memory module, the CPU and its heatsink/fan unit, the monitor and the keyboard. No case wiring except the Power Button lead, no drives. This eliminates as many variables as practical without actually substituting parts.

If you'd like to look for the most likely suspects before moving to that out-of-the-case scenario, check your rear I/O panel to ensure that none of the I/O shield's springy finger things got into your USB or network jacks; that your case's USB wiring is on the correct pins (red wires on the left for Asus + Lian-Li, typically... if in doubt, disconnect the case's USB wiring entirely from the mobo); that the PSU's 115V/230V switch is correctly set for your region; and try tripping the motherboard's Power BTN pins with a piece of metal to make momentary contact between them, signalling the board to signal the PSU to power up. And your video card's got a power line from the PSU, right? And it's fully bottomed in the AGP slot?

If you get nowhere, you might try a different high-quality PSU if you have one in the 300W+ range. I don't know for sure but this could even be the mobo's reaction to PC2100 RAM. If I get a chance later tonight I'll try to look that up.

 

[baldyguy]

I dont get what you mean by full depressed due to the bezel not being on quite all the way? Are you saying that the Power ATX switch on the header isn't full pushed in? Not sure??

I just took out the motherboard and layed it on the cardboard box it came in with the essentials like videon card, RAM CPU and it's heatsink... it's still doing the same thing...

Yes the AGP video card is fully flushed

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Hmmm... and since it's a Lian-Li, do you definitely have the case's quick-disconnect plugged in (in the correct orientation)? Is there a chance that your power button is simply not getting fully depressed due to the bezel not being on quite all the way, perhaps? (long shot on those ones, I know )

You could jump to full-blown troubleshooting mode by taking the motherboard out of the case and laying it on cardboard, with just the essentials: video card, one memory module, the CPU and its heatsink/fan unit, the monitor and the keyboard. No case wiring except the Power Button lead, no drives. This eliminates as many variables as practical without actually substituting parts.

If you'd like to look for the most likely suspects before moving to that out-of-the-case scenario, check your rear I/O panel to ensure that none of the I/O shield's springy finger things got into your USB or network jacks; that your case's USB wiring is on the correct pins (red wires on the left for Asus + Lian-Li, typically... if in doubt, disconnect the case's USB wiring entirely from the mobo); that the PSU's 115V/230V switch is correctly set for your region; and try tripping the motherboard's Power BTN pins with a piece of metal to make momentary contact between them, signalling the board to signal the PSU to power up. And your video card's got a power line from the PSU, right? And it's fully bottomed in the AGP slot?

If you get nowhere, you might try a different high-quality PSU if you have one in the 300W+ range. I don't know for sure but this could even be the mobo's reaction to PC2100 RAM. If I get a chance later tonight I'll try to look that up.

 

[mechBgon]

About the case's Power Button: the actual mechanical power switch is under the bezel, as you probably saw already. When fully depressed, it gives off a mechanical, tactile *CLICK*. If your bezel itself is not onto the case all the way, then pushing the plastic button on the bezel may not fully actuate the mechanical switch behind it.

So you've tried tripping the power pins on the motherboard directly with a metal object like a screwdriver tip, and it still just lies there?

 

[mechBgon]

All right, I checked in the manual. The Power Button pins are on the bottom row of the two-row front-panel header. They're the fourth and fifth pins from the righthand end. Is that definitely where your case's wire is plugged into, and did you tickle 'em with a screwdriver as a reality check?

It doesn't seem that PC2100 modules are out of the question, since the manual does say they're an option. Good luck!

 

[baldyguy]

Yes, I tried to trip it by tapped my screwdriver on the power pins and tried to make contact with both the postitive and the negative and nothing is turning on at all. No fans, no CPU fans, all it is, just a green standby light. By the way, how about the PSU? What should the setting be on the back? THe default 130?

So what is it? Bad Motherboard? Bad PSU? Bad CPU? I'm suspecting it's a bad motherboard? I dont know should I RMA it?

Originally posted by: mechBgon
About the case's Power Button: the actual mechanical power switch is under the bezel, as you probably saw already. When fully depressed, it gives off a mechanical, tactile *CLICK*. If your bezel itself is not onto the case all the way, then pushing the plastic button on the bezel may not fully actuate the mechanical switch behind it.

So you've tried tripping the power pins on the motherboard directly with a metal object like a screwdriver tip, and it still just lies there?

 

[mechBgon]

If you live in an area where the utility power is 115 volts, then use that. If you're living where it's 230 volts, use that instead.

It really does sound strange. Its green "I-have-power!" LED is lighted... but it refuses to run. Hmmm... okay, try this next:

• Lay the board on cardboard
• Remove the memory
• Remove the CPU's heatsink/fan unit
• Remove the CPU itself from the CPU socket and leave it out
• Remove the RAM
• Remove the video card, the keyboard... heck, remove everything, as if you were going to pack the board for RMA
• Now plug the PSU's main and secondary power cables into the bare board and trip the ATX Power Switch pins with your screwdriver tip. The power supply should start its fans and remain running.
• If the PSU doesn't react, try a different PSU that also has both the large and small ATX power cables, and see if that PSU does anything different.
  
  There's one other thing I didn't think to suggest, and that's making sure that the CLRTC jumper is set to the Run position and not the Clear position (see page 2-19 of the manual for that one).
  
  Good luck, I bet you're pretty frustrated right now

 

[baldyguy]

So I can leave all the stuff on the board? So I can leave all the stuff out and it still power on everything? So by doing this I can see if the board will power up the case fans as well? So it can be naked and still be powered on? We're just testing the mobo to see if it's work properly right?

Originally posted by: mechBgon
If you live in an area where the utility power is 115 volts, then use that. If you're living where it's 230 volts, use that instead.

It really does sound strange. Its green "I-have-power!" LED is lighted... but it refuses to run. Hmmm... okay, try this next:

• Lay the board on cardboard
• Remove the memory
• Remove the CPU's heatsink/fan unit
• Remove the CPU itself from the CPU socket and leave it out
• Remove the RAM
• Remove the video card, the keyboard... heck, remove everything, as if you were going to pack the board for RMA
• Now plug the PSU's main and secondary power cables into the bare board and trip the ATX Power Switch pins with your screwdriver tip. The power supply should start its fans and remain running.
• If the PSU doesn't react, try a different PSU that also has both the large and small ATX power cables, and see if that PSU does anything different.
  
  There's one other thing I didn't think to suggest, and that's making sure that the CLRTC jumper is set to the Run position and not the Clear position (see page 2-19 of the manual for that one).
  
  Good luck, I bet you're pretty frustrated right now

 

[mechBgon]

The stark-naked mobo and the power supply, yep. Pretty much narrows it down And you can test the PSU on another system to confirm that it works. Don't add any case fans, just board &amp; PSU.

 

[baldyguy]

Hey I appreciate you helping me out!

So wait right now if I do that, I know for a fact that I'll get the green light, but what is there to test out? Since you suggested that I just test out the mobo and the PSU. So what types of things am I to look for? Since the video card is out and no picture, and no case fans?

Originally posted by: mechBgon
The stark-naked mobo and the power supply, yep. Pretty much narrows it down And you can test the PSU on another system to confirm that it works. Don't add any case fans, just board &amp; PSU.

 

[jhurst]

In that test your MB would still start up.....it would just run and run and do absolutely nothing. If you had a NB fan, it would spin., but you dont b/c you have an Asus board nvm

Your MB is dead bro, better luck next time

GO WITH ABIT NEXT TIME! :beer:

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: baldyguy
Hey I appreciate you helping me out!

So wait right now if I do that, I know for a fact that I'll get the green light, but what is there to test out? Since you suggested that I just test out the mobo and the PSU. So what types of things am I to look for? Since the video card is out and no picture, and no case fans?

Originally posted by: mechBgon
The stark-naked mobo and the power supply, yep. Pretty much narrows it down And you can test the PSU on another system to confirm that it works. Don't add any case fans, just board &amp; PSU.

To repeat: the power supply fans should start running and remain running. If this doesn't happen (and you are in fact using the ATX Power Button pins on the mobo's header, not the incorrect ones) then you can test the PSU by powering a known-working computer with it. This ought to narrow down whether it's the PSU or the mobo (of course, it could be both...).

 

[baldyguy]

Can a PSU still be bad even if it has the green standby light?

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Originally posted by: baldyguy
Hey I appreciate you helping me out!

So wait right now if I do that, I know for a fact that I'll get the green light, but what is there to test out? Since you suggested that I just test out the mobo and the PSU. So what types of things am I to look for? Since the video card is out and no picture, and no case fans?

Originally posted by: mechBgon
The stark-naked mobo and the power supply, yep. Pretty much narrows it down And you can test the PSU on another system to confirm that it works. Don't add any case fans, just board &amp; PSU.

To repeat: the power supply fans should start running and remain running. If this doesn't happen (and you are in fact using the ATX Power Button pins on the mobo's header, not the incorrect ones) then you can test the PSU by powering a known-working computer with it. This ought to narrow down whether it's the PSU or the mobo (of course, it could be both...).

 

[mechBgon]

I'm sure it's possible, yeah. What were the results of the bare-naked-board-&amp;-PSU test, or have you had a chance to try it yet?

 

[baldyguy]

Yup i did, and also did another naked board and PSU test with another motherboard, I dont understand why it would still light up green on standby but yet doesn't power up?

Originally posted by: mechBgon
I'm sure it's possible, yeah. What were the results of the bare-naked-board-&amp;-PSU test, or have you had a chance to try it yet?

 

[mechBgon]

Yeah, reality can be strange like that Next, can you try powering a known-working computer with the power supply, in order to confirm whether or not it works?

 

[allanon1965]

the power supply has more than one power rail, plus it may be able to deliver voltage, but not amperage(carry a load) my power supply did this exact thing to me last month, had voltage and the mb light was on showing power, but it would not carry the amps to run it.....i rma'd the board thinking it was bad and it turned out to be the power supply.....i would buy a new 450 watt powersupply of good quality, fortron or something as good, then try it again.

 

[baldyguy]

So you were getting the green standby light on your mobo and it didn't even POST at all right? Not even say your case fans wouldn't turn on for that matter right?

Originally posted by: allanon1965
the power supply has more than one power rail, plus it may be able to deliver voltage, but not amperage(carry a load) my power supply did this exact thing to me last month, had voltage and the mb light was on showing power, but it would not carry the amps to run it.....i rma'd the board thinking it was bad and it turned out to be the power supply.....i would buy a new 450 watt powersupply of good quality, fortron or something as good, then try it again.