Which piece of hardware failed?

[Xyrate]

I bought a system off a fellow antecher, and it ended up coming not in working order, and i havent been able to get in contact with them, and im kinda getting impacient so im wondering if someone can help me out.

When i press the power button, nothing comes up on the screen, there is no memory beep, the harddrive makes a reading sound then stops. The fans run, it turns on and off, it makes the harddrive do somthing. The bios information doesnt show, my monitor stays in standby and doesnt register anything, anyone know how i can figure out what it is, thats not working right. Im thinking its the motherboard but im not sure, i can take out the memory and take out the proc and turn it on and it doesnt do anything so im wondering if its a bad mobo, is there any real way to find out what exactly is failed without spends alot of money, i've tryed substituting memory chips but i dont have any other amd boards lying around or any other processors.

Thanks Guys,
Mike

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Xyrate
I bought a system off a fellow antecher, and it ended up coming not in working order, and i havent been able to get in contact with them, and im kinda getting impacient so im wondering if someone can help me out.

When i press the power button, nothing comes up on the screen, there is no memory beep, the harddrive makes a reading sound then stops. The fans run, it turns on and off, it makes the harddrive do somthing. The bios information doesnt show, my monitor stays in standby and doesnt register anything, anyone know how i can figure out what it is, thats not working right. Im thinking its the motherboard but im not sure, i can take out the memory and take out the proc and turn it on and it doesnt do anything so im wondering if its a bad mobo, is there any real way to find out what exactly is failed without spends alot of money, i've tryed substituting memory chips but i dont have any other amd boards lying around or any other processors.

Thanks Guys,
Mike

Some details about the hardware would help, but I'm gonna start with the most likely thing:

right
NOT right

If you put the heatsink on the wrong way, the more-recent motherboards will see the CPU overheating and shut off the power, at least until you fry the CPU from sheer persistence 😛 That only works on CPUs that have a thermal diode, meaning AthlonXP in the SocketA world.

 

[Xyrate]

Ok, hardware:

Biostar MicroATX Mobo (Not sure of exact model)
256mb ram
socket a duron

Ill check out the fan thing you posted and let you know if thats what happended, if anyone else has any ideas please let me know.

Mike

 

[Xyrate]

checked the heatsink that didnt change anything and it was on right in the first place, anyone else have any other ideas??

Mike

 

[mechBgon]

Excellent news on the heatsink 🙂 Look the motherboard over and see if you can find its model number, that will help me look for ideas to help you.

Also, are you using its onboard video, or an add-in video card? If you've got an add-in card, but the mobo features onboard video, try out the onboard video and see if that changes anything. Try unplugging all the drives from the mobo and from the power supply too, just go bare essentials to start with.

 

[Xyrate]

ill see if i can find the exact model, ill try unhooking every part when i get home later, also i've tried both the onboard video and an agp card, i dont have any pci cards to test, but ill see what hapens with just the mobo hooked up.

Thanks Guys,
Mike

 

[Xyrate]

ok still nogo, i unhooked everything from the psu and the mobo, except the mobo from the psu, and still nothing happend, got any other ideas before i try to see what a new mobo would do? btw thanks for the help mechBgon.

Mike

 

[LiLithTecH]

Reseat the RAM and CPU. Also check the any cards installed.
(remember to disconnect the POWER)

Things tend to get shakin' and lose when shipped.

Might also want to clear the CMOS while you are at it.

 

[Xyrate]

is there a way to clear the cmos without the system being on, i've already un plugged and unhooked everything and reattached everthing securly, so i dont think its loose hardware.

If someone could tell me how to go about clearing the cmos with jumpers rather than going into the setup because i cannot get to anything.

I'm also open to any other ideas or tips you may have, thanks alot guys

Mike

 

[scorpmatt]

to reset the cmos there could a be jumper on the motherboard itself. the easiest way is to go to the maunfacturer of the motherboard, look up your model (it will be printed on the board itself), and read the manual.

 

[Xyrate]

ya i figured out the cmos thing, i moved the pin over to the other side then went to hit the power button and then it didnt even turn on and i jaw just dropped i was like great what did i do now, so i moved the pin back over, and hit the button again it turned on and booted right up just by moving the clearing the cmos thanks for the help guys everythings up and running now.

Mike

 

[Bleep]

Well you made a big blunder but came out of it OK. Where did you ever get the idea that you were supposed to turn on the machine with the jumper in the reset position, so you did not figure out the cmos thing, you need to learn to read the manual.

Bleep

 

[Willoughbyva]

Does the power supply fan and heatsink fan come on when you turn the power switch on? Double check the other power switch on the back of the case to make sure it is in the on position.