Uhm, how badly did I screw up?

[BopTop]

ok, specs:

MSI K8N NEO-FSR
Athlon 64 3200
1G Corsair Value Select
Chaintech GeForce 6800 GT
Seagate SATA 7200 120GB HD
Antec Neopower 480W
Liteon dvd/cdrw
Generic floppy

Finished my build, double checked the wiring (at least I thought), plugged it in, turned on the psu switch (com didn't power up yet - more later) THEN turned on the case switch. It powered on, all the fans running, but it started giving intermittent beeps (I guess I got the case speaker hooked up right at least), and my screen was blank. I tried hitting the reset switch, nothing, just kept beeping, fans still running. So I tried the case power switch, still nothing. Finally, I just turned it off by switching off the psu. I thought maybe it was the I/O power switch connector, so I flipped it over. When I turned the psu back on, the whole com powered up again without me hitting the case switch, beeping again. So I turned off the psu, pulled all the front I/O connectors from the mobo, and turned on the psu - well, the beeping stopped since the speaker was disconnected, but everything still powered up.

A bit dejected since I was looking forward to my first build, and I didnt' even get it to post. I'm praying it's a simple fix, and I didn't do anything stupid like fry my mobo or something.

 

[yankeesfan]

the beeps represent something. look at your motherboard manual and find out what the beeps mean. For example, 1 beep could mean a cpu problem, etc.

 

[BopTop]

I searched a bit, picked up the tip for resetting the CMOS. I unplugged my case (psu switch is off), cleared the cmos, then set the jumper back to save data. Plugged my front I/O connectors back in, plugged in the psu, then turned on the psu switch, and everything powered on again by itself. it's still the 1 beep, I'll check msi's website, the manual didn't have anything on what the beeping means. Thanks for the tip. if it is a cpu problem, I still dont' understand why everything is powering on when I turn on the psu switch.

edit: hmmm, according to the beep list, it seems I get repeating long beeps - it's the ram? I guess I can try it with one stick of ram, I'll see how it goes later - bed for now

 

[mechBgon]

Here's a suggestion:

• Take the motherboard out of the case and lay it on cardboard like shown here
• Ensure that both the main ATX cable and the ATX12V cable are plugged into the board
• Ensure that the auxiliary power cable is plugged into the video card
• Ensure that the keyboard is plugged into the keyboard port and not the mouse port
• Don't have any drives plugged into it for now
• Don't plug in any case wiring except for the ATX Power Switch wire. Period. Especially not USB wiring.

See if it'll POST with these bare essentials, outside the case. If it does, that's a step forward. I hate to ask a 'tard question but you did mount the board on standoffs, correct?

 

[boomerang]

I had a new build (Asus board) that would power on when the PS switch was flipped. I did an RMA and the replacement board did the same thing.

Asus tech support wanted me to send them the board for eval.

I cured it by flashing to a previous BIOS version. Interestingly, the BIOS the board came with was created to cure incompatability problems with various Power Supplies. Evidently it created a problem with mine. :Q

 

[BopTop]

Edit: i got it to post!! Thanks all, again, for the help. I think I isolated what the problem was - it was the way the ram was seated in the dimm slot. When I installed and re-installed the ram, I was using the latches on the sides to push the ram into the slot. Instead, I tired pushing the ram in, and let the latches catch by themselves. This seems to seat them better, I got posts with 1x 512 in the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st dim slots, and it also posted with 2x 512 in the 1st and 2nd dimm slots! and each time, I turned off the power using the case switch Now I just need to get everything else put together!
_________

Thanks for all the suggestions, yes, it was mounted on standoffs Oh, and mechbgon, I've been using your guide before I even started! It was very helpful in understanding what I needed to get started, thanks for writing it!

I went to MSI's site, and did everything you suggested:

Disconnected all peripherals, including all power, usb, front i/o connectors, ide, sata, and floppy cables.

Removed the mobo from the tray, and laid it on the foam pad the mobo came with.

Plugged into the mobo: case power switch, video card, 1x 512 ddr ram in dimm1, main power and 12v power cable, power cable to vid card, and reset the CMOS with the jumper for the recommended 15 secs, but I DIDN'T plug in the keyboard (problem here?)

turned on the psu, and nothing happend! whooo! hit the case switch, and it turned on! whoo again! I got a post! I was estatic! I decided to test the other dimm slots with ram, to see if I had faulty ram, so I turned the power off from THE PSU - was this wrong? Well, lets just say, this is where the problems started repeating themselves....no more posts

I tried first shorting the atx power connector on the mobo to see if I had a faulty case switch - everything turned on fine, so, if I remember right, I turned off the power from the PSU again. So now tested a second dimm of ram, and when I turned on the psu, everything powered on. Tried putting ram in the 1st and 3rd dimm slots, and everything powered on when I flipped the psu switch. So I went BACK to original settings, 1 x512 ram in dimm1, and everything STILL powered on when I flipped on the psu switch. Even after several resets to the CMOS (yes, i made 2x sure I put the jumper back to save data, since I read big warning signs saying I could wipe my bios if I powered it on with the jumper set to clear data). I even removed the battery and replaced it as recommended by the MSI site. Even after subsequently taking every power cable out and putting them in again (video card included). I'm using a DVI cable for the vid card, so I took out an ananlog cable and tried that as well, still didn't work. What stumps me is even if I go back to the original setup, it still powers up by itself when I turn on the psu.

Ok, one more thing I noticed, when I put in the ram in the very first time, the ram seated very well, the dimm slot was even, and that's when I got the post. Now, every time I try to reseat the ram, the dimm slot seem to curve up at the edges where the catches are, and I can see the gold contancts on the ram chip at the middle of the slot, but not at the sides near the catches. Could this be the problem? I'll try to take a pic, but I'm gonna see if the keyboard helps any. Sorry for the long post, tried to repeat my steps as best as possible

Oh, also, if I DO manage to get it to post again, uh, how SHOULD I turn if off? from the case switch?

 

[boomerang]

The notch in the RAM is slighlty off center. It sounds as though you may be trying to put the RAM in 180 degrees off. You figured it out correctly, the latches are to secure the DIMM to the board, not to seat it.

Turn it off from the case switch or if it's out of the case, you can both start it up and turn it off by momentarily shorting across the two pins the case switch connects to. I find a philips screwdriver works nicely for this. Bet you have one handy, eh? You can leave the case connectors off completely to test it outside the case. No harm will be done wthout the switches and LED's connected.

No harm will be done by turning the system off with the PSU switch either, but the BIOS on many modern boards will revert to failsafe settings for your processor after several cycles and will present an ominous warning message at boot that can be confusing. It's actually a protection for the system in case of overclocking gone too far.