- Dec 25, 2014
- 3
- 0
- 4,510
Hello to all you experts at Tom’s and thank you in advance for your advice.
I bought my sons each a barebones kit of computer components for Christmas, with the idea to teach them about what goes into building a desktop PC, how all the parts work, where they go, etc. I’ve built several systems including my own, and I am the designated tech guy for all my family’s ‘puters - so I feel like I have a better than average grasp on building and troubleshooting.
There are two identical systems, all brand new freshly unboxed components. Relevant components listed as follows:
MSI A58M-E33 Micro ATX Motherboards
AMD A4-7300 3.8GHz - Turbo 4GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 65 Watt, Radeon HD 8470D, Socket FM2 Processors
ADATA XPG V1 4GB Desktop Memory Modules - DDR3 1600, PC3-12800 (I got 2 sticks -8GB- for each system)
450W PSUs
And of course HDDs, optical drives, cases, keyboards, mice, monitors, graphics cards all irrelevant to the problem.
We got finished assembling, and powered on. One of the systems has signs of life (fans spinning, case lights are on) but no POST. The other briefly (less than 1 second) started to spin up but then died. I did not hear any alarming sounds or see any sparks and I did not smell any smoke or burning but now it has no signs of life at all. No lights, no sounds, no fans, and naturally, no POST as well.
Through switching out components between systems, I’ve determined that both the PSUs are functional, but it seems that one of the motherboards is dead. I am still not sure about the CPUs or RAM but both of the CPU fans work.
The dead motherboard I will return for a replacement, but I still have no idea why the second system will not POST.
I have been through all 23 steps and read every comment on your super helpful thread http:// . But for the sake of completeness I will go through them…
1. Did you carefully read the motherboard owners manual? It didn’t come with one, but I DLed one from the mfg website and went through it carefully.
2. Did you plug in the 4/8-pin CPU power connector located near the CPU socket? 4-pin. Yes.
3. Did you install the standoffs under the motherboard? There are no standoffs and no room for any, but nothing on the back of the MoBo is touching the case.
4.Did you verify that the video card is fully seated? Have not yet installed the video card. Using the onboard VGA connection.
5. Did you attach ALL the required power connector(s) to the video card? n/a
6. Have you tried booting with just one stick of RAM installed? Yes. Tried each stick in each slot independently and then tried powering on with no RAM. No luck.
7. Did you verify that all memory modules are fully inserted? Yes.
8. Did you verify in the owners manual that you're using the correct RAM slots? n/a
9. Did you remove the plastic guard over the CPU socket? There isn’t one. But Duh.
10. Did you install the CPU correctly? Yes.
11. Are there any bent pins on the motherboard/CPU? Inspected carefully, no bent pins.
12. If using an after market CPU cooler, did you get any thermal paste on the motherboard, CPU socket, or CPU pins? Did you use the smallest amount you could? The thermal paste was already applied to the heatsink. I didn’t get any on anything else.
13. Is the CPU fan plugged in? Yes.
14. If using a stock cooler, was the thermal material on the base of the cooler free of foreign material, and did you remove any protective covering? Yes, and n/a to protective covering.
15. Are any loose screws laying on the motherboard, or jammed against it? Are there any wires run directly under the motherboard? No and no.
16. Did you ensure you discharged all static electricity before touching any of your components? Bought both of the kids anti-static wrist straps to protect the components. Wore them the whole time.
17. Did you install the system speaker (if provided) so you can check beep-codes in the manual? Here’s a thing: originally I didn’t attach the systems speakers because they came in a little plastic baggie that got misplaced. When I was troubleshooting I found them and attached them, but they give no POST beep codes of any sort at any time. I came across a couple of comments that said that some newer MoBos have the beep codes disabled in BIOS because people complain that they are annoying. So yes, the speakers are installed but no, I get no beep codes with any configuration.
18. Did you read the instructions in the manual on how to properly connect the front panel plugs? Yes. I am 100% certain that the front panel plugs are all connected to the MoBo correctly.
19. Did you turn on the power supply switch located on the back of the PSU? Yes. And it is plugged in to the wall, and the wall socket has no switch or fuse.
20. Is your CPU supported by the BIOS revision installed on your motherboard? They were sold together in a bundle so I assume so but I have no way of knowing what BIOS revision is installed on my MoBo. The CPU fits in the socket so they are at least physically compatible.
21. Have you tried resetting the CMOS? Yes, Installed the correct jumper but it didn’t help. Took out the battery for 30 seconds and that didn’t help either.
22. If you have integrated video and a video card, try the integrated video port. Using the onboard integrated VGA port. Yes the monitor is plugged in and working.
23. Make certain all cables and components including RAM and expansion cards are tight within their sockets. All tight.
So I am at a loss for what do try next. Why do I get no beep codes from the onboard speaker? If the beep codes are disabled, how do I figure out what’s wrong? Do motherboards often come with no BIOS flashed on them? If so, how do I flash a BIOS with no working drives or USB ports? Will I get no POST if the CPU is bad/fried somehow? How do I check if the CPU is bad? Are there any other troubleshooting steps I’ve missed? Any ideas would be appreciated.
I bought my sons each a barebones kit of computer components for Christmas, with the idea to teach them about what goes into building a desktop PC, how all the parts work, where they go, etc. I’ve built several systems including my own, and I am the designated tech guy for all my family’s ‘puters - so I feel like I have a better than average grasp on building and troubleshooting.
There are two identical systems, all brand new freshly unboxed components. Relevant components listed as follows:
MSI A58M-E33 Micro ATX Motherboards
AMD A4-7300 3.8GHz - Turbo 4GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 65 Watt, Radeon HD 8470D, Socket FM2 Processors
ADATA XPG V1 4GB Desktop Memory Modules - DDR3 1600, PC3-12800 (I got 2 sticks -8GB- for each system)
450W PSUs
And of course HDDs, optical drives, cases, keyboards, mice, monitors, graphics cards all irrelevant to the problem.
We got finished assembling, and powered on. One of the systems has signs of life (fans spinning, case lights are on) but no POST. The other briefly (less than 1 second) started to spin up but then died. I did not hear any alarming sounds or see any sparks and I did not smell any smoke or burning but now it has no signs of life at all. No lights, no sounds, no fans, and naturally, no POST as well.
Through switching out components between systems, I’ve determined that both the PSUs are functional, but it seems that one of the motherboards is dead. I am still not sure about the CPUs or RAM but both of the CPU fans work.
The dead motherboard I will return for a replacement, but I still have no idea why the second system will not POST.
I have been through all 23 steps and read every comment on your super helpful thread http:// . But for the sake of completeness I will go through them…
1. Did you carefully read the motherboard owners manual? It didn’t come with one, but I DLed one from the mfg website and went through it carefully.
2. Did you plug in the 4/8-pin CPU power connector located near the CPU socket? 4-pin. Yes.
3. Did you install the standoffs under the motherboard? There are no standoffs and no room for any, but nothing on the back of the MoBo is touching the case.
4.Did you verify that the video card is fully seated? Have not yet installed the video card. Using the onboard VGA connection.
5. Did you attach ALL the required power connector(s) to the video card? n/a
6. Have you tried booting with just one stick of RAM installed? Yes. Tried each stick in each slot independently and then tried powering on with no RAM. No luck.
7. Did you verify that all memory modules are fully inserted? Yes.
8. Did you verify in the owners manual that you're using the correct RAM slots? n/a
9. Did you remove the plastic guard over the CPU socket? There isn’t one. But Duh.
10. Did you install the CPU correctly? Yes.
11. Are there any bent pins on the motherboard/CPU? Inspected carefully, no bent pins.
12. If using an after market CPU cooler, did you get any thermal paste on the motherboard, CPU socket, or CPU pins? Did you use the smallest amount you could? The thermal paste was already applied to the heatsink. I didn’t get any on anything else.
13. Is the CPU fan plugged in? Yes.
14. If using a stock cooler, was the thermal material on the base of the cooler free of foreign material, and did you remove any protective covering? Yes, and n/a to protective covering.
15. Are any loose screws laying on the motherboard, or jammed against it? Are there any wires run directly under the motherboard? No and no.
16. Did you ensure you discharged all static electricity before touching any of your components? Bought both of the kids anti-static wrist straps to protect the components. Wore them the whole time.
17. Did you install the system speaker (if provided) so you can check beep-codes in the manual? Here’s a thing: originally I didn’t attach the systems speakers because they came in a little plastic baggie that got misplaced. When I was troubleshooting I found them and attached them, but they give no POST beep codes of any sort at any time. I came across a couple of comments that said that some newer MoBos have the beep codes disabled in BIOS because people complain that they are annoying. So yes, the speakers are installed but no, I get no beep codes with any configuration.
18. Did you read the instructions in the manual on how to properly connect the front panel plugs? Yes. I am 100% certain that the front panel plugs are all connected to the MoBo correctly.
19. Did you turn on the power supply switch located on the back of the PSU? Yes. And it is plugged in to the wall, and the wall socket has no switch or fuse.
20. Is your CPU supported by the BIOS revision installed on your motherboard? They were sold together in a bundle so I assume so but I have no way of knowing what BIOS revision is installed on my MoBo. The CPU fits in the socket so they are at least physically compatible.
21. Have you tried resetting the CMOS? Yes, Installed the correct jumper but it didn’t help. Took out the battery for 30 seconds and that didn’t help either.
22. If you have integrated video and a video card, try the integrated video port. Using the onboard integrated VGA port. Yes the monitor is plugged in and working.
23. Make certain all cables and components including RAM and expansion cards are tight within their sockets. All tight.
So I am at a loss for what do try next. Why do I get no beep codes from the onboard speaker? If the beep codes are disabled, how do I figure out what’s wrong? Do motherboards often come with no BIOS flashed on them? If so, how do I flash a BIOS with no working drives or USB ports? Will I get no POST if the CPU is bad/fried somehow? How do I check if the CPU is bad? Are there any other troubleshooting steps I’ve missed? Any ideas would be appreciated.
I will accept that, and try it with the graphics card plugged in. But please fill in my knowledge gap if you would: It has always been my understanding that integrated graphics was a feature of the motherboard rather than the CPU, and if the motherboard has both a VGA port and an HDMI port on it, why are those there if it will not work without a graphics card -which also has a VGA port, an HDMI port, and a DVI port on it? 
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