Won't boot, no video signal....bad board???

[ingous]

Hi! I am new to the forum and I really hope that someone will be so kind to help me out.

I just put together my 2nd PC and once I powered the systhem up for the first time nothing happens (except the fans run and the all drives seem to have power). I don't receive a video signal and the PC won't boot. I verified that that my video card works. Do I have a bad board? Anything else I can try?

Thanks alot for any suggestions!!

[PC eye]

Is that on a Socket 939 or another type board? On the S939s you need to plug a four wire plug in near the cpu socket to supply power to the video card(s) and many systems wil fail to boot if that is not in. The PCI-Express cards are no longer powered indirectly through the board even though that power travels a pipeway to the card PCI-E slot(s).

If you plugged in a 20pin/4pin type connector into a 24pin power socket on the board you usually won't see much. Another to check is all power connections along with the harness for the case itself for the power, reset, leds, audio feeds that plug into the small blocks of several pins on the board. You have to review the user's manual's diagram and verify those are not mislocated or reversed.

[meanman]

it could also be that you have put the cpu in the wrong way round i hope you havent because the pins will be bent but if this is the case very carefully try to bend them back also is there a seperate power supply on the graphics card if so make sure you have attached it

[jancz3rt]

Also check that your RAM is fine. Try booting with just one stick. Some mobos do not like certain types of RAM or you have them in wrong (dual channel positioning can differ on boards).

JAN

[jp198780]

damnit Jan, beat me 2 it , i'll guarantee that the RAM has a conflict with each other.

[ingous]

Thank you for all of your good advice! I would like to add a few more info about my new system so you get a better picture:

Mobo: ECS 865PE-A (1.2) Socket 478 Intel 865PE ATX Intel Motherboard
CPU: P4 2.4C Northwood 800Mhz FSB HT
Mem: 1x 512MB Roseville PC3200 DDR 400
HDD: Western Digital Caviar 40GB IDE Ultra ATA100
Video: ASUS R9200SE/T/128M Radeon 9200SE 128MB DDR AGP 4X/8X

I am building the system as a second PC for my wife who will use it mostly for internet and word processing.

I read all of your advice (which is very good) but I would like to ask one more question:

Is there a way that I can narrow down the problem area of my board?

I am assuming that the board has power since two of the fans (CPU&case) who plug into the board are running. I am confident that the CPU is correctly seated. I have tried my video card in my other PC and it works fine. The memory stick works fine in my other system as well. I will try and "play" with different memory sticks in my new system and see if that has an effect, but in order to narrow down the problem, what is the absolute minimum that I need to connect to the board in order to see if I can get it to boot (even if the boot ends up being unsuccessful)?

Again thanks a million for your advice!!!

[jancz3rt]

You need to connect the following:

CPU
GFX CARD
RAM

That's all, but I would, as I mentioned before recommend just using one RAM stick to boot up. If that does not work then I would think it could be the motherboard or possibly the PSU.

JAN

[midi_junkie]

take out your ram and hd.. if you get a 1 second beep.. its not your hd.

[PC eye]

Originally Posted by jancz3rt

You need to connect the following:

CPU
GFX CARD
RAM

That's all, but I would, as I mentioned before recommend just using one RAM stick to boot up. If that does not work then I would think it could be the motherboard or possibly the PSU.

JAN

There is only one 512mb dimm for the board there. Another thought to consider is removing and placing the board on a non conductive surface to see if there something grounding out to the chassis. That can goof eveyone at times. The other is to look over the leads from the front of the case for the power switch especially. When working on one case lately everything seemed fine with plenty of power and the little two wire plug for the power button had lifted off somehow probably when moving the case. Once that was plugged back on everything powered right up.

The small plugs there can often be moved over one pin and not even realized. Double checking all connections would be better here before assuming any hardware defects. If each connection is verified then the process of elimination to find a hardware problem has to be looked into. Those small plugs for the power, reset, and leds can be moved over a pin and not even be noticed especially for someone new to building systems. They are usually right long the edge of the board where a slight tug on a wire can even pop one off of the board. The new four wire 12v feed seen on PCI-Express boards will also stall a system if left unplugged.

[ingous]

Thank you for all the suggestions. I didn't have time to work on my problem yesterday, but I'll do so tonight.

Thanks again!!