Sometimes Posts...

[Cook1]

Ok here's the deal. Started building this computer (my first complete build mind you) 4 weeks ago. After much head aches it came to pass 5 days later that I had a bad mobo (ECS). This after new I got my new mobo, the guy I bought it from tested it out before he sent it just to be sure that it would post and etc. (really nice guy mind you). So, I get it, start hooking everything in and etc. I flip the power switch and I hear a long beep! Now, this is exciting because in my other board I heard nada. Ok so after much discussion through boards and such turns out my brand new stick of PNY Optima PC2700 512MB RAM is no bueno. So I stick the PNY 256MB of RAM into the slot and BAM, I post up and boot up into my bios. Now I'm really excited but hey, I've spent 6 hours working on it and it's time for work. I power down and think happy happy thoughts all night long. I come home, flip the switch and no post...I flip it again and no post...I flip it again and I come to a black screen with the biostar logo. I hit F9 and I get a message saying "Loading Boot Menu.....". Now I'm thinking this can't be such a bad thing and wait 5 minutes...nothing happens. Wait 10 minutes...nothing happens, after 15 minutes I manually power down and try again. Flip the switch...no post... So I either get no post now or the black biostar screen. Needless to say, I'm more then a bit ticked at this point. So, what do I do? I take everything...and I mean everything out even go as far as reinstalling my HS/F with thermal compound, redo everything and still the same thing...black biostar screen or no post.

Help...please...help...

 

[mechBgon]

Could you post a list of all the components currently in the computer, including (YES) the brand and model of the power supply 🙂 Also, I'm going to take a first guess here: got your ATX12V cable plugged in? If the board takes one, which is a lot of them these days, you sure don't want to try running without it.

 

[Cook1]

Hrmm, no I don't...noticed that before but didn't see any place to stick it...

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Cook1
Hrmm, no I don't...noticed that before but didn't see any place to stick it...

Right. Well I'm not psychic, so why don't you give us a full brand/model listing of all your parts including the power supply 😉 I've got to get to bed but I'll try to pop in in the morning and see what you got.

 

[Cook1]

Biostar M7NCD
AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Barton
PNY Optima PC2700 256MB
Gigabyte Radeon 9200 128MB
WD 100GB 8MB cache HD
Lite-On CDRW/DVD ROM
Generic Floppy
PSU came with the case and is 450W.

 

[mechBgon]

Ok, you caught me before I got outta here 😀 Brand of the power suppy is...? Read the label for brand/model. It matters. Quality, quality, quality. This is the foundation of your rig.

On another tack, if the WD drive is solo on its own IDE cable, jumper it to its Single Drive setting, which typically means pulling the jumper off the pins altogether and leaving it off.

 

[Cook1]

The PSU says L&C Technology on it. And I have my HD set as master on the IDE 1 and my CDROM drive set as master on the IDE 2.

Oh and model number is LC-B500E

 

[mechBgon]

L&C! :Q ~ Run away, run away!

(their reputation is that bad 😛)


Antec SmartPower 350 is my suggestion. Quality. Also, jumper your Western Digital to its Single Drive setting if it is by itself on its IDE cable.

 

[Cook1]

Well, took the jumper off my HD. In reguards to the PS, I wouldn't have money any time soon to buy a new one and everything is powering up. LED fans, Light tubes, Heatsink Fan, CD Drive...

 

[Cook1]

Ok, how's this for a kicker. Just unplugged my HD/floppy/CD ide plugs and it booted into the bios. Just tried it again and it didn't post.

 

[mechBgon]

The symptoms in your first post make me think it is probably power-related. What you might want to do is this:

1) unplug the drives from both data and power.

2) unplug the fans and lights.

3) take the jumper cap off of JCLK1, which is to the left of the northbridge. This underclocks the CPU to 100MHz FSB, which reduces its power consumption proportionately.

Now try starting the system up a bunch of times. If it begins working consistently with the power needs reduced like this, that tells you something.

 

[Cook1]

Still nothing.

I would think that it's either the mobo or the cpu but it can't be.

1. I sometimes do get posts and even get into the bios
2. I changed out the cpu to another amd athlon and it didn't post
3. Brand new mobo which was tested before it was sent to me to make sure it would post.

So I'm thinking I have to be missing some stupid little step that nobody really thinks about...

Just tried it again for the second time and I'm back to the black biostar screen.

Ok, tried it for a 4th time now, got to the bios screen now I'm even at the point where it says "Entering Setup....." but it's not doing anything...

Ok, in the standard CMOS...it's reading my HD/CDROM and Floppy. What else should I look for?

 

[mechBgon]

 
<---See the number underneath my nickname? Suggestion based on experience: as soon as practical, get rid of that L&amp;C "power supply." 😛

If you really want a full set of troubleshooting tips, I am working on a guide for that. You can find the skeleton here, it's the top link and might help you with some more ideas that I'm too tired to recite myself tonight.

Also check the SocketA heatsink-installation guide there, although your symptoms don't suggest Reversed-Heatsink Syndrome per se.

Good luck.


edit: too tired to even make a link right on the first try 😕 I think it's time for some :moon: ~zZz

 

[Cook1]

Yeah, I'll replace the PSU as soon as finanically possible. Just need this computer for school (Yes going year round school) and thought I'd save some money by building it myself. Causing more problems then it's worth I'm starting to think. So thank you for your help Mech, really is apprieated.