Problems with newly built computers

[Sunny129]

I am currently putting some entry level CAD systems together for my dad's office. two have been built so far, and neither is working like it should.

at the beginning of the boot process, system 1 recognizes the video card and counts the memory right away, but then it takes another 30 seconds or so to detect devices (HDD, CD-ROM, etc). then it takes another 30 seconds or so to enter setup or continue the rest of the boot process. i'm not exaggerating when i say 30 seconds or so...it seems as though the system has frozen. anyone without patience would have reset the system without actually knowing that the system is in fact working, although very slowly.

system 2 doesn't do anything when i turn it on. i can hear the system running, but i just get a black screen. bad video card maybe?

anyways, all six CAD systems will be built with identical parts. i thought i would list them just in case there are any known issues or conflicts between parts on this list:

Athlon XP 2800+ (Barton)
Abit NF7-2S
Kingmax PC3700 (2 x 512MB)
Western Digital 80MB HDD (WD800JB)
ATI FireGL T2 128
Sony 16X DVD-ROM
TigerPro TP-350 (350W PS)

This is what i've been given to work with. all parts were ordered from newegg.com. i looked at the parts carefully and i can't find anything that shouldn't work with everything else on this list.

I know some people are going to tell me that there could be a million things causing this problem, but i was hoping someone might have some insight. in the mean time i'll swap some parts around and see if i can't pinpoint the problem myself.

TIA
Sunny

 

[CVSiN]

sounds like system 2 might be a bad MB... if it doesnt post or beep for no video is bad...system 1 sounds like you may have a drive set incorrectly in bios or a drive jumper wrong..
some bios will stall and move very slowly through the detection if this is true..
check all drive cables also..

 

[Ghost]

In regards to system 1. I upgraded a few months ago, and went with a new Mobo and the AMD 64 3000+ and 1 gig of RAM.... I also had problems with my system. The BIOS would take a few minutes to go through the motions of detecting the hard drive etc. It was annoyingly slow.

I formatted and installed XP on my hard drive, and got an error message during the install. I tried installing again and it wouldn't get far at all.

I put in an old hard drive and it flew....BIOS went quickly etc.

Turns out my WD 100 gig special went kaput.... and that was the cause of the slow boot time...

 

[mechBgon]

If the Western Digital drives are on their own IDE cable by themselves, jumper them for Single Drive and not Master or Slave. This usually means pulling the jumper cap off of the pins completely and leaving it off.

If you don't mind my saying it... "TigerPro" power supplies? Never heard of 'em. I'd be doing Enermax or Antec for these if they're going to be doing something important. Just my opinion

 

[DGath]

System 1: That was my first thought, jumper problem. Boot without a HDD and it should blaze through post, attach the HDD and I bet it'll be slow. There's the root of your problem.

System2: If it's a bad video card, but one of the other 5 in there and see what happens. Still black... bad mobo.

The beauty of having six identical systems is being able to swap parts out, so youshouldn't ever be stumped by a problem.

 

[mechBgon]

Another thing: PC3700, is that a typo?

If they really bought PC3700 then it could be wanting a bump in memory voltage. On the system that won't POST, try throwing in a stick of PC2700 or PC2100 instead of the PC3700. If it POSTs, go into the BIOS and set the memory voltage to 2.7 volts, save & exit, let the subsequent POST run all the way through so it knows the settings are workable, then turn it off and put in the PC3700.

 

[Sunny129]

thanks for all the pointers everyone. i'm going to start troubleshooting now. i'll try the jumper suggestion first, b/c now that i think about it, the HDD is on its own IDE channel and set to master. i should also say that i just put together system 3, and i'm getting the same slow boot problem that i did with system 1. as far as the power supplies go, they came with the cases, otherwise i would have gone enermax or antec or something. i'll be back shortly with the verdict.

thanks guys...
Sunny

 

[Sunny129]

PROBLEM SOLVED...i removed the jumper from the HDD, and the boot process went much quicker. i even got windows installed without any problems. interestingly enough, the DVD-ROM is on its own IDE channel as well and i didn't have to take the jumper off "master"...must be a hard drive thing. anyways, thanks again for the help.

Sunny