Second-time DIY Computer Woes

[DJTrapper]

Built a new computer for school . . .I figure the money I saved building it might make it feasible to get a laptop if I so desired one.

So I built it and turn it on for the first time. The hard drive, DVD and CDRW spin up, the floppy lights up, and all the fans begin swirling. But that's about all that works. The monitor stays in powersave mode and the floppy light remains lit up. I have never had something DOA, and since that is my only setup to test the chip, the ram, and mobo, I am out of options.


my NOT working rig:

Allied 350 watt PS
ECS Shuttle AK31a
Athlon XP 1700+
Crucial 2.5 256megs DDR
D-Link DFE-530
Radeon AIW

I am not so-so experienced, but I know how to plug stuff in. Is there anyway to tell if the ram/mobo/chip are DOAs? there is an LED on the mobo that lights up, if that means anything. . . .

 

[TheCorm]

Have you checked your motherboard manual to see what the lights mean....it should reveal where the problem is.

With the floppy light staying on....make sure the cable in in the right way at both ends, not that this should prevent it from posting.

Corm

 

[sgopal2]

Welcome to AT. Let's see if we can help you figure out whats wrong. Building a new computer is sometimes very frustrating.

1) First check out the AMD new builder's guide here. There are lots of good tips for beginners.
2) Take everything out of your case, including your motherboard.
3) Make sure your motherboard has the correct # of screws holding it into the case (extra screws or malaligned contacts will cause a short). Put the mobo back in the case carefully.
4) Install one stick of memory in the first memory slot. Insert the video card and powersupply. Nothing else. Turn on the puter and see if it POSTs. If so then go to next step. Otherwise go backwards one by one until you can figure out what went wrong
5) Then add the other components one by one until you can figure out what causes the problem.

Oh BTW your motherboard is not made by ECS but by Shuttle. You can download details and a mobo manual here.

 

[DaiShan]

While I wouldn't rule out the possibility of a short, if there was a short, it would prevent anything from turning on. Also check the manual for the correct way to populate the memory banks, sometimes it is just the first slot available. Do you hear any beeps when you turn on the computer? Are you sure you hooked up all of the buttons correctly (power, reset, sys speaker, hdd light) check the manual to make sure. If you get one beep and that is it, that is a very good sign, that means you have completed the POST operation, and that all essential hardware checked out (motherboard, cpu, ram, and video card) if you don't get this beep but instead get a series of beeps, that indicates an error is the POST operation and could be the result of a bad component. Some things to try (always diagnose from the outside in, don't ever just take out the Motherboard as your first step, it is time consuming and dangerous if you don't have the proper equiptment to protect it from ESD) This has happened to me before: look at the connector on the monitor cable make sure there aren't any bent pins, if there is a bent pin, it will cause the monitor not to work correctly, if it is bent, use an exacto knife to gently straighten it out. If that doesn't help, let us know about the beep situation, that will help a lot.

/EDIT as for your floppy drive problem, you need to reverse your ribbon cable, the red stripe points towards pin one of the power connector on the drive.

 

[DJTrapper]

Working PSU Not Working PSU
Powerman 300W CWT-320 ATX-12V
Enermax 330W Allied 350W
Sparkle 300 Enlight 7237 w/stock 300W
Antec SX840 w/412 Enlight 340-101 REV COA
Antec 300W Enermax 351ve (330W)
Antec 400W
Antec 1030 case (and 300W PSU)
Antec PP303x
Antec PP352x

What are the chances that ths could be the problem??

 

[sgopal2]

Just because a PS is not on the AMD "approved" list doesn't mean it won't work with your rig.

Try everything else first before getting a new power supply. If you are going to get a new one, go for 400W, you can use it in your next rig.

I have the Antec 400W PP403X and it works great.

 

[iamwiz82]

i would try to remove everything except the 1 stick of RAM, mobo and PSU. It shoudl give you a beep since there is no video card, but if you get a beep, you know it POSTed. Add the video card, floppy, etc. This is the same advice given by sgopal2, but it is good advice.

I have done stupid things such as put in the floppy cable upside down and that has caused errors like you are describing.