Motherboard issues

[xcession]

My old motherboard recently died, so in replacement i bought a MSI KT6 Delta-LSR DDR400 KT600.

I installed it, attaching all the necessary leads/jumpers, attached the processor, its fan, my RAM, my HDs and a new ATi Radeon 9600 that i bought at the same time; then finally switched it on.

The fans started up and things looked good...but it then just turned off about 3 seconds later. Confused, i peered closer at the open case, but without me touching anything it suddenly started again, then switched off another 2 or 3 seconds later! This time it stayed off for a while. In confusion, and unable to tell whether the computer was on or off, i started wiggling wires - which seemed to result in the computer sometimes turning on, sometimes not. (yeah i know that isn't a good idea!).

Whenever i unplugged the cd-rom or HD, it started up for a short time, only to turn off again. I then replugged the devices, waited a bit, unplugged them again and the same hapenned!

Consultation with my friends yielded only one suggestion: that my 230W PSU was below what was necessary to power my hardware. I unplugged all my drives and removed my graphics card - the only things connected to the mobo - and tried again..but it still only kept powered for about 3 seconds.

WTF is going on? please help!

 

[infiltrator]

that 230W PSU is WAY below even entry level. Some motherboards won't work if you have anything smaller than 350W (even only the Mobo on it) Some of the circuitry only works after a certain whattage is picked up. I would really invest in another PSU - at least 350W. I know I had a problem with my MSI KT4-Ultra FISR some time back. Popped in a new PSU and voila! The problem I had was random startups, and if it did power up, it was only for a few seconds.

 

[xcession]

Many thanks! Its nice to get a reply which seems to give such a categorical answer!
During my fidling in my mobo, i lost track of whether the computer was on or not, and inadvertantly causes a massive spark - plunging my entire house into darkness I tested my psu later to find that it was wholely fried, so i've gotta invest in a new one anyway!

After posting my first message, i then found the sticky note on this forum - the motherboard FAQ, which has my problem as the first question.

Although the mounting post thing is possible, given that my old motherboard was an MSI KT3, i'd be surprised if they moved around the mounting positions that much, if at all, between models. So I dunno if the FAQ answer relates to my problems or not.

Any clues if MSI shifted the positions?

 

[lunitic]

they didn't. I recently upgraded KT133 to KT400 (both MSI) and the new one fitted in exactly. The only thing is the back-plate (the cover at the back for sound, serial, parallel etc) didn't fit very well. A little force was needed.

Oh, and the other thing: they moved the IDE connectors to the bottom of the mobo. That gave me quite a headache, cause the IDE cables were suddenly too short

 

[endyen]

The part of the faq that pertains to the standoffs also includes loose screws and other loose pieces of metal. I'm always impatient to see my work boot, so I always try it before I get hdd cdr, floppy, and any extra cards installed. Of course I do put the graphics card in.

 

[addiarmadar]

My god brother get at least a 450 PSU or 350 with PFC for that rig. That 230 psu at best it giving you 120 watts of true power to your box.

F-DISK-Format-Reinstal DO DA!! DO DA!!

 

[xcession]

Well i finally got my new PSU this weekend, and plugged it all in. The computer still doesn't work, on account of the HD refusing to even be seen by the bios (with any jumper configuration) so i may have a dud, not sure.

Anyway, when i plugged everything back in again...i got exactly the same problems with the 2-second uptime thing.

The solution - found by trial and error - was to turn the power-switch jumper the other way round on the pins! I had the writing on the jumper (saying pwr switch, or something) facing the processor. I turned it round to face away, and it worked!

Perhaps this is just coincidence, and turning it round made no difference. i dunno. But also at the same time, i plugged in the 12V power cable to the mobo - the one the motherboard FAQ says is unnecessary - and it all now works (to an extent).

 

[ChipDeath]

The solution - found by trial and error - was to turn the power-switch jumper the other way round on the pins

hmmm... Given that you can use a screwdriver to simply short the pins... I find it highly unlikely that this was the problem. <i>FAR</i> more likely is that you'd accidentally plugged a power LED or something over the power switch jumpers, resulting in (effectively) a power switch that was constantly being 'held down'. I'm not suprised your system got confused with this.

But also at the same time, i plugged in the 12V power cable to the mobo - the one the motherboard FAQ says is unnecessary

It's not usually necessary, but plugging it in ain't gonna hurt

You say it now works 'to an extent'... Still having problems then? what are they?

---
<font color=red>The preceding text is assembled from information stored in an unreliable organic storage medium. As such it may be innacurate, incomplete, or completely wrong</font color=red>

 

[xcession]

I dunno, it really did seem to make a difference. One way round - power down after 2 secs, the other way round - working.

I was pretty astounded by it too, so i tried it several times. I guess there is a chance that i had the wrong lead, but given how many times i unplugged it and looked at it in a "wtf aren't you working" kinda way, i'm pretty certain i would have noticed.

Anyway, regarding my continuing problems; i posted about it in the Hard Disks forum, but i'll paste an abridged version here too...

<self_quote>
I recently bought several new components, because it looked likely that my Maxtor HD's controlers had died. The first thing to be bought, obviously, was a new 40Gig Western Digital HD.

I booted off my win2k cd and started to install windows. But at the point where it reboots for the first time, prior to continuing the installation in the windows environment, it gave me a bsod. It said that the boot partition was inaccessible (or words to that effect), followed by the usual "if this is the first time you've seen this message reboot, yadda yadda yadda".

I had never been sure if the maxtor HD death was the HD's own controllers, or the controllers on the mobo, so i took this as a sign that it was the mobo too - so i duly replaced it! (it was an excuse to upgrade).

Having installed a new mobo, i re-connected the new 40Gig Western Digital on which i'd previously semi-installed windows, but now new mobo's bios flatly refuses to see the drive.

I've put the jumper on every possible master/slave setup, and i've put the drive on both IDE channels with both a 40pin and an 80pin cable. I have - i think - tried every conceivable permutation of jumper/cable/channel! No luck.

My other HD, an 180Gig WD, is detected instantly, with no problems, but i haven't tried both drives in at the same time.

The only other things attached to the mobo currently, are the graphics card, the cpu and cooler, and the RAM.

With the 40G in, when the computer starts up it spends ages trying to detect the HDs on each channel (finding none, evidentally). During this process i can feel movement in the 40G drive, but its not normal arm movement - its more like a rhythmic pulsing, kinda like a stuck record. I don't know if this is important or not though.

</self_quote>

 

[ChipDeath]

). During this process i can feel movement in the 40G drive, but its not normal arm movement - its more like a rhythmic pulsing, kinda like a stuck record

That does sound like a dead HDD to me, pretty damn unlucky considering it's new. I can only suggest sending it back for replacement (I assume it's still under warranty?) The fact it works with the other HDD suggests the mobo is ok.
Do you not have an older (but working) HDD lying around? You could install on that one just to see if the rest of the system is working. (I had to install windows on a 2Gb drive once b/c I'd busted a HDD while upgrading.. but at least I knew there was nothing wrong with the rest of the system)

---
<font color=red>The preceding text is assembled from information stored in an unreliable organic storage medium. As such it may be innacurate, incomplete, or completely wrong</font color=red>

 

[xcession]

yes and no. I do still have the old maxtor which died. I plugged that into my new mobo, and bios detected it almost instantly, but identified it wrongly still.

I guess this proves that it was the drive all along. It also proves that the mobo can detect other hard disks, just not my 40G WD one.

Bah, lets hope PC World's infamously anal returns policy doesn't get the better of me.

--------------------------------------------------
In this world gone mad, we won't spank the monkey - the monkey will spank us!

 

[pat]

did you try the 40gigs without any jumpers? sometime, it works.

-Always put the blame on you first, then on the hardware !!!