Brand new GA-MA78GM-D2SH won't boot

[silver-fox]

Just assembled a new system from the following components:

o Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-D2SH rev 1.0 motherboard
o AMD Athlon 4850e AM2 45W Dual Core CPU
o 2x 2GB (matched pair) Patriot PC2-6400 C4 Viper Extreme Performance RAM
o Antec Minuet case with 350W power supply

When switched on, there is a repeating beep sequence that is not in any Gigabyte or Award BIOS documentation I can find, and no other sign of life, except the CPU fan is spinning and the power LED illuminated. There is no video signal at all, digital or analogue.

There are 3 - sometimes 4 - beeps with pauses in between, followed by what sounds like two shorter beeps in quick succession. A whole sequence takes about 15 seconds. The beeps last about 1 second, and the pauses about 3-4 seconds. I suppose it could actually be the "continuous short beeps" (power problem) or the "continuous long beeps" (graphics card error - there isn't one). I have a recording but this forum won't let me upload it.

Isn't it about time mainboards spoke in a tinny voice instead of beeping at you?

Anyway, both the 4-pin +12V and 24-pin ATX supplies are connected to the board. I have a multitester if anyone can suggest some good things to test. But please spell it out.. what to put the red probe on and what to put the black one on... ;-)

To try to isolate the problem, I have reseated the CPU, the RAM (and tried it without - same beep sequence), and have now got everything disconnected except the power, speaker, keyboard and video, with the board sat on a plastic sheet to ensure there is no shorting on the case. Result - exactly the same as before.

I have reset the CMOS by removing the battery for a few minutes and replacing it.

I have tried it with no memory, and with each stick in turn on its own - same result.

The place I bought the components from is one of those pile 'em high, sell 'em cheap places, so their customer service isn't great. If I can at least isolate the problem, it will help me to get a return code to replace the faulty component, if there is one.

Got some suggestions from another forum, which I will try... (1) Reset the cmos by shorting the jumper instead, (2) try the ram in another machine.


Thanks!
Dave

 

[M0r0n]

i had the same problem with 400 W PS. booting BIOSTAR TPower I45 LGA 775 Intel P45. Its possible your power supply is weak to power up your system. try getting 500 W.

 

[silver-fox]

Have tried resetting the CMOS shorting the jumper, made no diff.

Cheers M0r0n, I think you might be along the right lines, suspecting the power supply.

Going to get some info about testing it with my multitester.

350W will be more than adequate - its a low-power setup with integrated graphics. According to a review of this very board and CPU, it shouldn't draw more than about 100W even when under full load. I don't even have any hard drives plugged in yet, just trying to get it to boot.

 

[yipsl]

Isn't it about time mainboards spoke in a tinny voice instead of beeping at you?

Thanks!
Dave

If we had that kind of tech for boot up issues, then all you'd hear would be "I have the greatest enthusiasm for this mission Dave"

I doubt it's the PSU not having enough juice. These motherboards don't use that much power and you didn't mention a discrete GPU that would use too much juice for a 350 watt PSU.

Have you checked your RAM? Try one stick at a time and see if it boots. If you've tried that, how about RAM timings and compatibility? Did you get RAM recommended for that board? I have Kingston in mine.

Here's a thread that provides some beep codes that might help:

http://forum.ncix.com/forums/index.php?mode=showthread&msg_id=1770693&threadid=1770693&forum=101&product_id=28829&msgcount=6&overclockid=0

 

[silver-fox]

yipsl -
That link says "Repeating long beeps - memory etc is unseated "
I'll try the RAM in a PC at work

Thanks!

 

[silver-fox]

By the way the RAM is DDR2-800 / PC2-6400 which sounds theoretically compatible with the board, although not on the official compatibility list.

 

[silver-fox]

RAM Specs: PC2-6400 (800MHz) 4-4-4-12 2.1~2.2V

 

[silver-fox]

It's the RAM - put it in a Dell PC at work which wouldn't work, swapped the other way and the motherboard was fine.