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System won't post!? - Not the PS, so what is it?

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I usually just set up the mobo on the antistatic bag. Done it lots of times. Make sure that you only put screws through mobo holes that have a soldered ring around them.

You can remove the screws from your installed cards as a diagnostic aid. The extra pressure of the screw pushes the mobo against any stray standoff or other metal.
 
Do not power the mobo on an anti-static bag, it is a conductor! Run it on a wood desk, towel, foam, etc. Otherwise, daddyG's advice is sound. You may also want to try the screwdriver trick by jumpin the 2 power- on header pins on the mobo to confirm that the case's power switch is working. [edit] there are many styles of anti-static bags, but for safety concerns, assume yours is the conductor type. [/edit]
 
Thank god you mentioned that b4 I decided to try the mobo out. I hope to try out the mobo this weekend. I just don't have time this week. As for the comp building, I went and ordered another mobo and chip. I promised to have this comp together weeks ago and still nothing. If the mobo/cpu I currently have turns out to work outside the case then I'll sell them here on the forum. If not, then to the scrap heap.

I'll keep you guys posted.
 
The bag does not conduct, not enough to matter. I've done it at the shop and so have other techs hundreds of times. Maybe you can get some
readings on the inside of the bag, but its not a problem. Check the bag with a DVM if your worried. At one time we checked every mobo this way before mounting them into cases, much easier to get at the many jumpers in the old days.
 
DaddyG..you got my curosity going so I got out the 'ol VOM and measured the outside of various bags laying around. 3 out of 4 mobo bags measured 90-140K ohms (2 Asus, 1 FIC, 1 DFI, with only the FIC showing no reading). From outward appearance, the 4 bags looked the same, i.e., clear bag with black diamond pattern. Hmmm..measured assortment of memory and HDD bags and found no readings to my suprise!
I highly value your advise and opinions and know we can solve Jaylek55's mobo problem together.
 
Danlz,

I have to say that I have know real scientific bases for setting the mobo on the antistatic bag, just 'seemed' better than sitting on the test bench. Course, I should have mentioned that I like to put a plastic standoff at each corner. I agree that the problem here is getting the system to power on not whether the bag is a good idea. I hope Jaylek is making progress.
 
Something similar happened to me and the following solved my problem.

Do you have a single IDE device (hard drive/cdrom) hooked up on an IDE cable with two connectors? If so, is the device connected to the connector at the end of the cable or to the one in the middle. If it is connected to the connector at the end, remove it and connect it to the one in the middle.

I was about to buy a new ps before I tried that one out.

Hope it helps. Its something that is simple to try before removing the motherboard.
 
vec - I have four IDE devices currently connected to the mobo. The two HDDs are on the primary channel while the opticals are on the secondary. While trying out the mobo in my many attempts to get it to work, I disconnected the opticals but not the HDDs. Are you saying I should try and remove those as well?
 
Pull the board out of the case, the power supply out of the case, mount a video card on the board, and plug in keyboard, video, and power. Leave EVERYTHING else unplugged. Short the power pins on the board with a screwdriver tip and see if you get power.
 
Actually, stripping the system to bare bones is the best. Just Video card, cpu and memory. No add-in cards or devices. Just elininates the chance that a device or card is pulling down the Power Supply.
 
Okay, I did the deed. The cpu, memory, video card are on the mobo. I connected the ps to the mobo and then shorted out the power pins. There were sparks annd then this smell. I really don't think that smell is a good thing... Needless to say, the mobo does not turn on at all. Somehow I don't think it was supposed to...

So I would assume that the mobo is caput. Is there anyone who'd care to take a look at the damn thing and give me the bad news from another perspective? Like was there anything else I did wrong? I still don't know if the cpu is bad and really don't to throw out a perfect good chip.

On other news, the Pro2 and the new Duron came in and I'm going to try and do this one without any problems. So far I put the chip in, applied Artic Silver to the die as per the instructions available here, and attached the Chrome Orb on top. I hope the instructions on the site were accurate...

I just this setup works...
 
Something's terribly wrong..the 2 pins to jump are the power-on header pins that would normally be connected to the case's power switch. Two things come to mind: there's a washer (something metal) that's dropped in an empty slot (memory, PCI) that is causing a direct short, or the main ATX connector is reversed. Also, if something shorted and burned, you will be able to see exactly where it came from and possibly the cause.
 
The sparks came from the 2 pins that say "Power SW" in front of them. When I touched them with the screwdriver, they sparked and the smell appeared. The ATX connector was inserted correctly and it snapped in place. As far as visual evidence, I don't believe I saw any. I'll take a look later tonight and see. I'll let you know.
 
New update...I took a look at the mobo and saw no signs of unusual color or burned areas. So I think it's safe to say that the mobo is fine.

So that leaves the cpu. With that revelation, I decided to read through the manual. I did before only for what I needed, but this time I wanted to see if there was anything in the form of troubleshooting. Low and behold, I came across a reference to diagnostic lights. According to the manual, if the 4 diagnostic lights remain all red when the mobo is powered, then the cpu is no good. Bingo!

Okay here's what I think happened. I know based on the instructions here, that I put Artic Silver on the cpu incorrectly. (See here for info on that mistake.) Therefore, the cpu powered up fine for a couple of times and then burned out. Too much grease where it didn't belong. Of course that's my take on it. Anyone care to offer other explanation(s)?
 
Arctic Silver should not be conductive under normal conditions. But, it seems that you maybe got some on the resistors which eventually went pop. Clean up the cpu as best you can and try again. If still no go maybe you can RMA, (give as little info as possible, just , it don't work).
 
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