Starts fan and lights. but nothing else.

[elmicnip]

To whom it may concern:
Hello, my PC was working this afternoon just fine. When pwr is applied it runs just long enough to get the fans turning then shuts off immediately (less than a second) I reviewed some threads to no avail. I tried disconnecting and then reconnecting everything. The only way my pc powers on at all is when the ATX 12v (4-pin) and HHD pwr is disconnected. I am aware that the POST will not start without ATX 12v. When ATX is connected and HHD pwr is not is runs for about 1 second longer. I tried rearranging my RAM and clearing CMOS. I just bought the darn thing about a month ago because I did not have the time to build one myself (school and job hunt). I restarted my PC because for the first time I decided to play a game and the screen got all jumbled and kicked me off. After the issue I was planning on uninstalling the game after the restart. When restarting it made it thru POST then got to the start up screen. After Windows logo finished it shut off. And it left me where I am now. It is kinda messed up how my 5 year old HP laptop w/ an upgraded OS (windows 7) runs better than my new PC which was running like a champ until today.

Windows 7 64-bit Home
Mobo ASUS M4N68T-m V2
AMD Athlon II x2 260 3.2Ghz
AMD Radeon HD 6450 (1 GB)
500W pwr supply
1Tb sata HDD Hitachi
2x2Gb RAM Kingston DDR3 1333
3x case fans
Stock CPU heatsink and fan

I will be home all night and I will be keeping an eye on the forum so I can post quick replies and thanks.

Thank You (the first of many),
Jeff

P.S. I hope I did not annoy anyone if I posted in the wrong section.

 

[elmicnip]

Can anyone at least point me to the correct section if I am in the wrong one?
Any comments are appreciated.

 

[jsc]

What brand and model of 500 watt power supply?

My standard troubleshooting reply follows:

If a new build, start here:

Work systematically through our standard checklist and troubleshooting thread:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-read-posting-boot-problems
I mean work through, not just read over it. We spent a lot of time on this. It should find most of the problems.

If no luck, continue.

If a not new build (a formerly working computer), start here:
The following is an expansion of my troubleshooting tips in the breadboarding link in the "Cannot boot" thread.

I have tested the following beep patterns on Gigabyte, eVGA, and ECS motherboards. Other BIOS' may be different, but they all use a single short beep for a successful POST.

Breadboard - that will help isolate any kind of case problem you might have.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/262730-31-breadboarding

Breadboard with just motherboard, CPU & HSF, case speaker, and PSU.

Make sure you plug the CPU power cable in. The system will not boot without it.

I always breadboard a new build. It takes only a few minutes, and you know you are putting good parts in the case once you are finished.

You can turn on the PC by momentarily shorting the two pins that the case power switch goes to. You should hear a series of long, single beeps indicating memory problems. Silence indicates a problem with (in most likely order) the PSU, motherboard, or CPU. Remember, at this time, you do not have a graphics card installed so the load on your PSU will be reduced.

If no beeps:
Running fans and drives and motherboard LED's do not necessarily indicate a good PSU. In the absence of a single short beep, they also do not indicate that the system is booting.

At this point, you can sort of check the PSU. Try to borrow a known good PSU of around 550 - 600 watts. That will power just about any system with a single GPU. If you cannot do that, use a DMM to measure the voltages. Measure between the colored wires and either chassis ground or the black wires. Yellow wires should be 12 volts. Red wires: +5 volts, orange wires: +3.3 volts, blue wire : -12 volts, violet wire (standby power supply): 5 volts always on. Tolerances are +/- 5% except for the -12 volts which is +/- 10%.

The gray wire is really important. It should go from 0 to +5 volts when you turn the PSU on with the case switch. CPU needs this signal to boot.

You can turn on the PSU by completely disconnecting the PSU and using a paperclip or jumper wire to short the green wire to one of the neighboring black wires.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FWXgQSokF4&feature=youtube_gdata

A way that might be easier is to use the main power plug. Working from the back of the plug where the wires come out, use a bare paperclip to short between the green wire and one of the neighboring black wires. That will do the same thing with an installed PSU. It is also an easy way to bypass a questionable case power switch.

This checks the PSU under no load conditions, so it is not completely reliable. But if it can not pass this, it is dead. Then repeat the checks with the PSU plugged into the computer to put a load on the PSU.

If the system beeps:
If it looks like the PSU is good, install a memory stick. Boot. Beep pattern should change to one long and several short beeps indicating a missing graphics card.

Silence, long single beeps, or series of short beeps indicate a problem with the memory. If you get short beeps verify that the memory is in the appropriate motherboard slots.

Insert the video card and connect any necessary PCIe power connectors. Boot. At this point, the system should POST successfully (a single short beep). Notice that you do not need keyboard, mouse, monitor, or drives to successfully POST.
At this point, if the system doesn't work, it's either the video card or an inadequate PSU. Or rarely - the motherboard's PCIe interface.

Now start connecting the rest of the devices starting with the monitor, then keyboard and mouse, then the rest of the devices, testing after each step. It's possible that you can pass the POST with a defective video card. The POST routines can only check the video interface. It cannot check the internal parts of the video card.

 

[beshonk]

Can anyone at least point me to the correct section if I am in the wrong one?
Any comments are appreciated.

Edit: JSC's post gives significantly more detail so definitely follow through his troubleshooting guide and tips.

Couple of things. You said you rearranged the ram. Try removing all the ram, and then trying one at a time in the first slot, (second slot if it's x58 platform). When you change the ram, reset the cmos if it doesn't boot the first time and try again. Also, when you reset the CMOS, take the cmos battery out too (considered a hard reset of the cmos, you can find more instructions by searching for it).

Does the motherboard have onboard video? I would try taking out your graphics card and see if it posts. Also, try plugging your HDD into another power cord and another sata slot. Yes, you can start the computer with no graphics installed.

Another thing I would try is powering it down and unplugging it for a few hours, then plugging it back in and trying it again. If you can get it to post you can narrow down your culprit, but from my experience this is RAM.

 

[jsc]

Also, when you reset the CMOS, take the cmos battery out too (considered a hard reset of the cmos, you can find more instructions by searching for it).

Not necessary if your motherboard has a jumper for clearing the CMOS. But it cannot hurt and it does not cost anything.

Does the motherboard have onboard video? I would try taking out your graphics card and see if it posts. Also, try plugging your HDD into another power cord and another sata slot. Yes, you can start the computer with no graphics installed.

You need a video adapter, whether built in or discrete card, to POST.

Another thing I would try is powering it down and unplugging it for a few hours, then plugging it back in and trying it again. If you can get it to post you can narrow down your culprit, but from my experience this is RAM.

Power don, unplug, and wait generally indicates a defective PSU. It's a fairly common problem indicating something wrong with the circuits that initially start the PSU. Severe memory problems, the ones that prevent POSTing, generally show up when you first try to power up the system.

 

[elmicnip]

Hi:
Sorry I did not respond earlier. I have been busy with finals week. I have finally been able to disassemble everything. I have done the paper clip test on the PSU and it worked. I have removed non-essentials and just left PSU, MOBO, CPU, & fan/heatsink. No beeps at all, just the same response as before; fans and MOBO led only. Am I suppose to have my front panel buttons connected? When I bridge the pwr button pins it responds the same as before (runs for a sec & no beep). I have tried CMOS (battery, jumpers, and both). Also I have tested the CMOS battery and it still reads 3v (cant be too thorough, correct). I have even tried 1 stick of RAM (tried w/ each stick). Could it still be the PSU? The pins on the PSU show voltage that is expected except I was having issues with the stated gray wire. Is that the wire that looks white or is it obviously gray? When I tested it with the adjacent black wire my multimeter displayed approx 42-45 in millivolts. Am I doing something wrong here? Am I using the correct ground, or is this a sigh of a fried PSU?
Either way in October (when I have extra $) I plan on getting a better PSU no matter the results of this endeavor. Moreover, I plan on getting some better, faster RAM. From the results I have retrieved should I plan on purchasing anything else? Is there another test I could try to narrow it down? I really hope it is either the RAM, PSU, or GPU, because no matter what I want to replace these components. I do not want to replace my MOBO until I can afford a better CPU if I can help it. Is this a situation where I am better off waiting until I get new parts and see what happens next. I have read over the links presented and worked through it but admittingly I did not attempt the breadboarding.

Thanks for your assistance,
elmicnip