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System won't boot, no video, no keyboard.. how to troubleshoot?

M

MDesigner

Platinum Member
I've got an ASUS K8N motherboard, and a Sempron CPU. Everything is hooked up properly.. 512MB RAM in a slot, HD, DVD burner, video card. Keyboard & mouse plugged in, video cable plugged in. I turn it on.. and oddly, the monitor LED goes from green (on) to amber (standby).. when the computer is turned ON. No speaker beeps whatsoever.. dead quiet. Just the sound of the PS fan and the CPU fan.

How do I troubleshoot this? Is it a dead motherboard or dead CPU? Power seems to be OK, the DVD burner tray opens/closes, I can feel the HD spinning. The green LED on the motherboard is lit. Hitting caps lock on the keyboard doesn't make the caps lock LED turn on.

Help!
 
Never ran.. brand new parts. I put it together, no post. Fans spin, drives spin, motherboard LED is green... just no beeps, no video.
 
Here is a list of things to look at: http://www.mechbgon.com and it's the third link there.

Short list of guesses:

1) you have a standoff where the mobo has no standoff hole, and it's short-circuiting the mobo from the underside (the K8N doesn't have a hole in the optional location circled in this pic, so make sure there isn't a standoff there)

2) you didn't plug in the ATX12V four-pin square plug

3) your keyboard is plugged into the mouse hole by mistake

4) your PSU is junk

5) your video card needs an auxiliary power cable and you forgot to hook it up

6) you did not read the manual and put your memory in the blue slot
 
I'll check that link you gave me.

1) Nope, there's a standoff there and a hole in the motherboard, and it's screwed down properly. No standoffs unaccounted for.

2) It's plugged in and always was

3) Nope

4) Could be.. but power IS getting to the motherboard.. motherboard LED is green, CPU fan spins

5) Nope, GeForce MX4000, low-end card, no aux power needed

6) There is no blue DIMM slot
 
I will try a diff. video card.. I will also put THIS video card into another computer.

PS, this may be of importance. When I put the graphics card in initially and tried it out, and it didn't work.. I reseated the card a couple times. Then I looked closely at the contacts on the gfx card.. there was a STICKER covering one part of the contacts. Could this have messed up the motherboard? It was there from the get-go.
 
I could.. but I don't think that's it. With the vid card removed from the slot, there is still no POST beep as the computer turns on.. it's very suspect. I think without the vid card, there's a long beep that usually occurs.

I think it's the CPU or motherboard that's screwy. Any way to tell which one is bad, without buying a new CPU or motherboard? I don't have any spares handy, not socket 754 anyway.
 
You may also want to check the RAM. Make sure its seated well and the contacts are clean.

Do you have a 2nd computer sitting around? If so, you can try and check all the parts one-by-one that are cross compatible.
 
You got a bad videocard. It probably doesn't set off the sound cuz the card is plugged in and receiving power but there is no output.
 
Hmm, I'll go with the bad vid card theory for now because it's the easiest to test. I have a 2nd machine I can just plug it into.. somewhere. I think. Or I could take a vid card from another machine & drop it in this one.

And yeah, the RAM is OK, seated fine.. can't run a RAM test of course since my screen is blank.
 
*dusts himself off* Nope.. not the video card, I put an ATI card in there.. same exact behavior. Damn it.

Now I'm down to CPU, or motherboard.... how to determine this? I COULD go to that stupid Best Buy service thing where they work on computers.. and just have them help me figure out which component is bad. Might cost me a bit of cash.. but it's better than having to buy more parts myself, to try to figure it out.
 
Start with a motherboard, cpu, and power supply. Does it turn on?
Add ram. Does it turn on?
Add video card. Then HD, then CDROM, then peripherals.

Try that?
 
Yuu must have a mate with a computer, buy them a crate of booze and get them to help you outby brining over his computer and trying you parts out in his. Then once you've fixed it drink the booze and watch a DVD.
 
I did start with the basics only.. motherboard, CPU, power supply.. it does turn on, but nothing happens.. no POST beep. And no video obviously because the vid card was taken out. If I put JUST the vid card back in.. and plug it into the monitor, still no display. I tried everything.. same behavior.

And no, I don't have any friends with custom built PCs.. most of my friends are not techies. And the few who are have socket 939s. I think I'm gonna have to take this to Best Buy where they have all kinds of components on hand, and have them figure out which part is bad by process of elimination.
 
Sometimes using the jumper to reset the cmos isn't as effective as it should be in situations where a computer is failing to post. Try removing the lithium ion battery in the motherboard for a few minutes and then replacing it.
 
Really? That's odd, I wouldn't think the PS as the culprit here..but.. it is a cheapo brand. (Mustang??!!) Thanks for the tip. I have a spare PS lying around I think, that I can drop in there.

EDIT: Note that the HD is spinning and the DVD-ROM tray opens/closes just fine.. power SEEMS ok. could it still be the PS?
 
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