Problems w/my EPoX 8RDA+ board

[Christoph]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.epox (More info?)

I've had my EPoX 8RDA+ board running fine for about a year
now. The CPU is an Athlon 2100+ and I've got 512mb of RAM.
Anyway, I get home and turn on my monitor to nothing; there
is no signal coming from the PC. I look down, see that it's on
and I can hear the fans going. Everything seems alright. So I
turn it off then after a few seconds, turn it back on.
The LED on the board is POSTing FF as it normally does to
show everything is alright. The heat sink fan, the 2 cooling fans
and the fan on the power supply all start running. However,
nothing beyond that happens. No signal is getting to the monitor,
I don't hear the floppy drive as the PC seeks for a boot disk nor
do I hear the hard drives start to power up. It seems like it's
not getting to the BIOS check at all.
I normally leave the PC on 24/7 and rarely need to reboot it
(though I am running XP). And as I said, everything's been
fine for the last year. I've not installed any new hardware nor
have I installed any software (at least, not in the last month).
Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Do you know
what I might need to check to discover what's going on?

Thanks for your help!

Christoph

 

[Christoph]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.epox (More info?)

> I've had my EPoX 8RDA+ board running fine for about a year
> now. The CPU is an Athlon 2100+ and I've got 512mb of RAM.
> Anyway, I get home and turn on my monitor to nothing; there
> is no signal coming from the PC. I look down, see that it's on
> and I can hear the fans going. Everything seems alright. So I
> turn it off then after a few seconds, turn it back on.
> The LED on the board is POSTing FF as it normally does to
> show everything is alright. The heat sink fan, the 2 cooling fans
> and the fan on the power supply all start running. However,
> nothing beyond that happens. No signal is getting to the monitor,
> I don't hear the floppy drive as the PC seeks for a boot disk nor
> do I hear the hard drives start to power up. It seems like it's
> not getting to the BIOS check at all.
> I normally leave the PC on 24/7 and rarely need to reboot it
> (though I am running XP). And as I said, everything's been
> fine for the last year. I've not installed any new hardware nor
> have I installed any software (at least, not in the last month).
> Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Do you know
> what I might need to check to discover what's going on?

Follow up on this:

I removed the RAM and I get no alarm from the MB. Also, the
beep for the POST isn't occuring, either. I've got a 400W PSU
so I don't think it's an issue with the power. And again, I've put
in no new hardware or made any changes to the PC. It was fine
when I left for work this morning but not fine when I got home. It
is plugged into a surge-protected plug on a pretty hefty UPS, so
I don't think that's what caused it.

Any ideas?

thnx,
Christoph

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.epox (More info?)

Hi, try resetting the CMOS jumper or removing battery after disconnecting
power cord. Then try reseating the memory and cpu, try 1 memory dimm at a
time, also try removing all boards except video, and all drives and see if
it posts. If still no post, its probably power supply, motherboard or cpu if
you have more than 1 memory dimm. Try replace power supply, cpu and
motherboard one at a time, something has failed.

Doug
www.lynncomp.com



"Christoph" <jcboget@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news_idnWnxSIPOOz_dRVn-jw@eatel.net...
> I've had my EPoX 8RDA+ board running fine for about a year
> now. The CPU is an Athlon 2100+ and I've got 512mb of RAM.
> Anyway, I get home and turn on my monitor to nothing; there
> is no signal coming from the PC. I look down, see that it's on
> and I can hear the fans going. Everything seems alright. So I
> turn it off then after a few seconds, turn it back on.
> The LED on the board is POSTing FF as it normally does to
> show everything is alright. The heat sink fan, the 2 cooling fans
> and the fan on the power supply all start running. However,
> nothing beyond that happens. No signal is getting to the monitor,
> I don't hear the floppy drive as the PC seeks for a boot disk nor
> do I hear the hard drives start to power up. It seems like it's
> not getting to the BIOS check at all.
> I normally leave the PC on 24/7 and rarely need to reboot it
> (though I am running XP). And as I said, everything's been
> fine for the last year. I've not installed any new hardware nor
> have I installed any software (at least, not in the last month).
> Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Do you know
> what I might need to check to discover what's going on?
>
> Thanks for your help!
>
> Christoph
>
>

 

[Christoph]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.epox (More info?)

> Hi, try resetting the CMOS jumper or removing battery after disconnecting
> power cord.

Did both - no change.

> Then try reseating the memory and cpu, try 1 memory dimm at a
> time, also try removing all boards except video, and all drives and see if
> it posts.

Nope. It turns on with a FF.

> If still no post, its probably power supply,

If it were the power supply, wouldn't it start working as the load was reduced?
So after I unplugged all my drives, the board should have at least done some-
thing? I mean, power is getting to the board and the fans...

> motherboard or cpu if you have more than 1 memory dimm. Try replace
> power supply, cpu and motherboard one at a time, something has failed.

If the board isn't POSTing and isn't beeping when vital components are
removed (RAM, CPU, etc), is that an indication that the board is the problem?
Or could it still be one of the others? I don't think it would be because I had
the RAM and the CPU out individually then together and still no POST and
no beeps...

thnx,
Christoph

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.epox (More info?)

Christoph wrote:
> I've had my EPoX 8RDA+ board running fine for about a year
> now. The CPU is an Athlon 2100+ and I've got 512mb of RAM.
> Anyway, I get home and turn on my monitor to nothing; there
> is no signal coming from the PC. I look down, see that it's on
> and I can hear the fans going. Everything seems alright. So I
> turn it off then after a few seconds, turn it back on.
> The LED on the board is POSTing FF as it normally does to
> show everything is alright.

Do you see the 'FF' after it runs up through the smaller codes or
does it show 'FF' straight away? This latter is a fault condition.

> The heat sink fan, the 2 cooling fans
> and the fan on the power supply all start running. However,
> nothing beyond that happens. No signal is getting to the monitor,
> I don't hear the floppy drive as the PC seeks for a boot disk nor
> do I hear the hard drives start to power up. It seems like it's
> not getting to the BIOS check at all.
> I normally leave the PC on 24/7 and rarely need to reboot it
> (though I am running XP). And as I said, everything's been
> fine for the last year. I've not installed any new hardware nor
> have I installed any software (at least, not in the last month).
> Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Do you know
> what I might need to check to discover what's going on?

Can you reseat all the parts that plug-in like the power plug, memory,
video card (pull any other PCI cards)?


--
Graham W http://www.gcw.org.uk/ PGM-FI page updated, Graphics Tutorial
WIMBORNE http://www.wessex-astro-society.freeserve.co.uk/ Wessex
Dorset UK Astro Society's Web pages, Info, Meeting Dates, Sites & Maps
Change 'news' to 'sewn' in my Reply address to avoid my spam filter.

 

[Christoph]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.epox (More info?)

> Do you see the 'FF' after it runs up through the smaller codes or
> does it show 'FF' straight away? This latter is a fault condition.

Right away.

> Can you reseat all the parts that plug-in like the power plug, memory,
> video card (pull any other PCI cards)?

I just did that. I unplugged everything (from the drives to the RAM to
the CPU). After I got to the CPU and the RAM, when starting up, the
board still didn't beep due to vital components being unplugged. So is
that an indication that there is something wrong with the board itself?

thnx,
Christoph

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.epox (More info?)

Have you tried switching out yuour video card? If not, give it a try BEFORE
you buy anything...
PeAcE,
/\/\UF/-\S/-\
"Christoph" <jcboget@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:ysidnauPzf4hdz_dRVn-uQ@eatel.net...
> > Hi, try resetting the CMOS jumper or removing battery after
disconnecting
> > power cord.
>
> Did both - no change.
>
> > Then try reseating the memory and cpu, try 1 memory dimm at a
> > time, also try removing all boards except video, and all drives and see
if
> > it posts.
>
> Nope. It turns on with a FF.
>
> > If still no post, its probably power supply,
>
> If it were the power supply, wouldn't it start working as the load was
reduced?
> So after I unplugged all my drives, the board should have at least done
some-
> thing? I mean, power is getting to the board and the fans...
>
> > motherboard or cpu if you have more than 1 memory dimm. Try replace
> > power supply, cpu and motherboard one at a time, something has failed.
>
> If the board isn't POSTing and isn't beeping when vital components are
> removed (RAM, CPU, etc), is that an indication that the board is the
problem?
> Or could it still be one of the others? I don't think it would be because
I had
> the RAM and the CPU out individually then together and still no POST and
> no beeps...
>
> thnx,
> Christoph
>
>

 

[Christoph]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.epox (More info?)

> Have you tried switching out yuour video card? If not, give it a try BEFORE
> you buy anything...

How could it be the video card if there is no change even with the
video card removed from the board. I can remove everything -
the CPU, RAM, all the cards, the HDs and still there is no warning
beep (that the CPU, RAM, etc is not in place) and the LED im-
mediately displays FF.

thnx,
Christoph

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.epox (More info?)

On Wed, 12 May 2004 22:25:30 -0500, "Christoph" <jcboget@yahoo.com> wrote:

>> Hi, try resetting the CMOS jumper or removing battery after disconnecting
>> power cord.
>
>Did both - no change.
>
>> Then try reseating the memory and cpu, try 1 memory dimm at a
>> time, also try removing all boards except video, and all drives and see if
>> it posts.
>
>Nope. It turns on with a FF.
>
>> If still no post, its probably power supply,
>
>If it were the power supply, wouldn't it start working as the load was reduced?
>So after I unplugged all my drives, the board should have at least done some-
>thing? I mean, power is getting to the board and the fans...

Not necessarily, a failure to POST but then being able to POST after
removing hardware is more typical of a power supply with too little
capacity, not one that has failed... though with a failure-in-progress it
can seem the same for a short while, or just do as you describe, not post.


>
>> motherboard or cpu if you have more than 1 memory dimm. Try replace
>> power supply, cpu and motherboard one at a time, something has failed.
>
>If the board isn't POSTing and isn't beeping when vital components are
>removed (RAM, CPU, etc), is that an indication that the board is the problem?
>Or could it still be one of the others? I don't think it would be because I had
>the RAM and the CPU out individually then together and still no POST and
>no beeps...
>

Lets be clear about the process. You MUST have CPU and memory in the
board for it to POST. On "most" boards you also need a video card,
without further evidence that you didn't need a card it can be assumed you
do. Beyond the CPU, memory, CPU heasinkfan and video card, disconnect
EVERYTHING else... that includes all drives, keyboard, mouse, USB devices,
front panel LED/Switch leads, etc. THEN try powering on the system (short
the two power-switch pins on the board together).

You might also take voltage readings at the power supply ATX connector
with a multimeter while system is in it's on-but-no-post state, and
examine motherboard for signs of failed capacitors. You might consider
removing power supply, leaving it sit for a few minutes disconnected from
AC, then open it and inspect it as well, particularly capacitors which
might be partially hidden beneath the wiring harness exiting right above
them. Check for free rotation of fans.

 

[Sorrow]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.epox (More info?)

I'll try all of your other suggestions made in this message. I just have
one
further question:

> Lets be clear about the process. You MUST have CPU and memory in the
> board for it to POST. On "most" boards you also need a video card,
> without further evidence that you didn't need a card it can be assumed you
> do.

Fair enough. However, even though the MB doesn't/won't POST without
the CPU/RAM/Video Card, wouldn't it still give warning beeps indicating
that any or all of the above wasn't present?

thnx,
Christoph

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.epox (More info?)

On Thu, 13 May 2004 07:09:14 -0500, "Sorrow" <jcboget@yahoo.com> wrote:

>I'll try all of your other suggestions made in this message. I just have
>one
>further question:
>
>> Lets be clear about the process. You MUST have CPU and memory in the
>> board for it to POST. On "most" boards you also need a video card,
>> without further evidence that you didn't need a card it can be assumed you
>> do.
>
>Fair enough. However, even though the MB doesn't/won't POST without
>the CPU/RAM/Video Card, wouldn't it still give warning beeps indicating
>that any or all of the above wasn't present?
>
>thnx,
>Christoph
>

If everything were working properly, yes, but clearly everything isn't.
Removal of a part and then getting beeps won't isolate much, could still
be power supply, motherboard, or that part.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.epox (More info?)

Sorrow wrote:
> I'll try all of your other suggestions made in this message. I just
> have one
> further question:
>
>> Lets be clear about the process. You MUST have CPU and memory in the
>> board for it to POST. On "most" boards you also need a video card,
>> without further evidence that you didn't need a card it can be
>> assumed you do.
>
> Fair enough. However, even though the MB doesn't/won't POST without
> the CPU/RAM/Video Card, wouldn't it still give warning beeps
> indicating that any or all of the above wasn't present?

AFAIK, you need to have CPU and RAM to get some form of intelligence
enabled on the m/board. Without a video card it should beep to tell you
so and similarly if the CPU can't find working RAM for its stack.

As Mufasa said, check the electrolytic caps' tops for stuff oozing out and
also look for any which are leaning over because the rubber bung, through
which the leads exit, is being pushed out of the can. This can also lead
to
caustic electrolyte oozing over the m/board.

Having said all this, it would be a very good test to try it on another
PSU.


--
Graham W http://www.gcw.org.uk/ PGM-FI page updated, Graphics Tutorial
WIMBORNE http://www.wessex-astro-society.freeserve.co.uk/ Wessex
Dorset UK Astro Society's Web pages, Info, Meeting Dates, Sites & Maps
Change 'news' to 'sewn' in my Reply address to avoid my spam filter.

 

[Christoph]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.epox (More info?)

> Having said all this, it would be a very good test to try it on another
> PSU.

I went out and bought another PSU (Antec 400W, just like the one in
my PC right now) and tried it. When I booted the first time after putting
in the new PSU, it POSTed C1. So I checked what that meant in the
manual. I'm still not entirely sure exactly what it was trying to tell me
but since it had something to do with the memory, I tried pulling out
each stick in turn then pulling them both out. Each time, the POST read
FF. I put both sticks back in and still it posted FF. So I guess now the
only problems would be the MB or CPU... :|

thnx,
Christoph

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware,alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.epox (More info?)

Christoph wrote:
> Graham wrote:
>> Having said all this, it would be a very good test to try it on
>> another PSU.
>
> I went out and bought another PSU (Antec 400W, just like the one in
> my PC right now) and tried it. When I booted the first time after
> putting in the new PSU, it POSTed C1. So I checked what that meant
> in the manual. I'm still not entirely sure exactly what it was
> trying to tell me but since it had something to do with the memory, I
> tried pulling out each stick in turn then pulling them both out.
> Each time, the POST read FF. I put both sticks back in and still it
> posted FF. So I guess now the only problems would be the MB or
> CPU... :|

Did you inspect the electrolytic caps around the CPU socket?
Try the RAM one stick at a time.
Starting to look like the board.


--
Graham W http://www.gcw.org.uk/ PGM-FI page updated, Graphics Tutorial
WIMBORNE http://www.wessex-astro-society.freeserve.co.uk/ Wessex
Dorset UK Astro Society's Web pages, Info, Meeting Dates, Sites & Maps
Change 'news' to 'sewn' in my Reply address to avoid my spam filter.