Newly built, won't power up

[sfortner]

http://s1271.photobucket.com/albums...uter photos/?action=view&current=IMG_0001.jpgHello,

I bought the components for this machine in Jan 2010 from new egg and was never able to get it up and running. It powers up, the fans all come on, the power led is on, the DVD-RW drive will open, but I get nothing on my monitor. There is no HDD LED, but I confirmed it's working by connecting the HDD LED leads to the main power LED and it's lights up red just fine, so the light is okay. I also am unable to reset the machine or get the MB to power off either from the power/reset buttons on the front - the only way to shut it down is to turn off the PSU switch. The MB has an HDMI connector - I wonder if it's configured by default to push video there? Haven't tried that yet. I suspect it's a CPU issue (my youngest son dropped it while in it's foam case), and it was an out-of-box unit so I'm not sure it ever worked.

My System specs:
OS: None yet
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA MA785GM US2H
CPU / Speed: AMD Athlon XII 240 AM3 Regor 2.8Ghz
Memory / RAM: G.Skill 2 x 1GB 240-Pin DDR2
Graphics Card(s): Integrated
Monitor Display(s): tried VGA and DVI
DVD drive: Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Sata
Hard Drive(s): Seagate Barracuda 7200 rpm 500 GB Sata
PSU: Raidmax RX-450k 450w ATX incl w/ case
Case: Raidmax Tornado ATX-238WRP
Cooling: Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro 92mm
Keyboard: PS/2
Mouse: USB Dell
Internet Speed: N/A
Antivirus: N/A

 

[puttsy]

Nice use of System Specs! Thanks for helping out those who want to help you!!

I doubt the proc. was affected by a small drop. They can handle quite a bit of bumping around without problems.

Is the board shorting out on the case or is there a loose screw back there rattling around?

Try taking it down to 1 stick of RAM and if it doesn't work with the first stick, try the second. Second, try resetting the CMOS and see if that does anything. Finally, it *could* be your PSU so that may be something to look into.

Let us know what you find!

 

[sfortner]

Is the board shorting out on the case or is there a loose screw back there rattling around?

Try taking it down to 1 stick of RAM and if it doesn't work with the first stick, try the second. Second, try resetting the CMOS and see if that does anything. Finally, it *could* be your PSU so that may be something to look into.

Let us know what you find!

Arghh, I can't believe this, but one of the case posts was loose and apparently was behind the board! Great call. The board did make an odd crackling noise when I pulled up on the bottom of it, so I took out all the screws and got that post out. Put the rest of the screws back in and had already tried switching out memory and left just one of the two in slot 0. Still didn't power up so I unplugged it and reset the cmos, same thing.

Is my board fried now due to my lack of attention to loose posts that should have been tightened before I put the MB on? Thanks for the exc help.

 

[amuffin]

Raid max makes horrible power supplies. I suggest buying a psu by corsair, antec, or seasonic. Then spend 15-30 bucks for a radeon 5450

 

[HEXiT]

ouch, hard lesson learned there m8, but hey we all make mistakes and 1 things for sure you will have learned a lot... good luck on your repairs.

 

[Spoony]

starting point for any pc is a GOOD PSU.

2nd part on what you are having problems with before that check you put the power SW switch the right way around on the mobo connector or it wont boot with the switch on the case.

newer mobo's have a power button on the board but i see yours doesnt so check the connects to the board from the case. either that orhit the reset button if put the power switch on that before when the other is broken

 

[floatpoint]

Do you get any beeps from the chasis speaker when you power up the system. Sometimes the MB documentation will reveal what the issue is through those beeps.

 

[sfortner]

>> I suggest buying a psu by corsair, antec, or seasonic. Then spend 15-30 bucks for a radeon 5450.

Okay, will do, but does that mean the PSU is fried? This was supposed to be a budget PC but might consider a video card. I thought that's what the onboard video was for? Or is it junk? The newegg reviews were good... I'd like to get it at least running first! Thx Hexit!

>> 2nd part on what you are having problems with before that check you put the power SW switch the right way around on the mobo connector or it wont boot with the switch on the case.

Took out all the wire leads from the front except the power switch, including removing the front usb and audio, same thing. Turned the power switch (orange and white) around so the + is connected to the - pin, same thing. Had already checked that I made sure all the connectors were on the right pins on the MB. It looks like all the connector writing faces down, but I am making sure that all the positive/+ on the connectors matches up with the positive/+ signs on the MB. I thought it was odd that the reset switch doesn't in fact restart the thing, nor does pressing and holding the power switch shut it down. What does that mean?

>> Do you get any beeps from the chasis speaker when you power up the system.

No beeps. It powers up like it's gonna boot, the fans and lights all come up, and sounds like there's a little HDD noise, but can't tell for sure, then that stops after a while like a HDD not coming up, but no HDD lights on the front. Does that mean bad HDD?

 

[jsc]

Do you have an internal case speaker installed? If not, you really need one.

Polarity of switches do not matter.

OK, let's see what we can do.

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 not, continue.
The following is an expansion of my troubleshooting tips in the breadboarding link in the "Cannot boot" thread.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-read-posting-boot-problems

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. Breadboard with just motherboard, CPU & HSF, case speaker, and PSU. At this point, if you do not have a system (internal case) speaker, you really need one.

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, LED's, or fan activity:

Check for line power at the PSU input. Extension cords, power strips, and power cords do fail.

If you have power and no beeps, suspect components in likely order are PSU, motherboard, and CPU.

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: 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.

 

[floatpoint]

Without been able to see anything on the screen and hearing no beeps to indicate errors at startup, means that you wont be able to tell if the system has run the POST. I recommend you disconnect everything and leave just the cpu (with heatsink on offcourse ), the system panel connectors cable and one memory module, maybe in a different slot from where it is presently, then try switch on the power. If the system has run its power on self test, you should get a couple of beeps indicating missing, mouse, keyboard, vga, etc depending on your motherboard type. If you here nothing, just make sure the speaker connectors for the system panel are actually connected to the correct MB pins.


As jsc mentioned above, make sure the additional cpu power connector (if your MB has one) is also connected. Its that 4 pin connector usually close to the cpu. Sometimes the system wont boot without this. From the image you posted, it doesn't look like its connected?

If nothing still works, and you got a second working pc lying around with a decent PSU and some DDR2 ram, you can narrow the problem down further by exchanging those parts as neccessary, which would leave you with just the MB and CPU to diagnose. If theat second pc also uses a amd cpu compatible with the MB for this new system, you might want to swap out the cpu's aswell, but I would avoid this since we would be risking damaging a working pc unnecessarily.

You also say the CPU was purchased as a out of box unit. What about the rest of the components?

 

[sfortner]

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

>> As jsc mentioned above, make sure the additional cpu power connector (if your MB has one) is also connected. Its that 4 pin connector usually close to the cpu. Sometimes the system wont boot without this. From the image you posted, it doesn't look like its connected?

You know, you guys just might be on to something... <sheepish grin> Whoa, is it getting hot in here, or what (in my best Rodney Dangerfield voice). lol - that was exactly the problem. The thing is, it had an 8 pin connector and my psu didn't have an 8 pin connector, so, I just left that off. : ) But there was a 4 pin connector that you plug in on the left side, and I matched up the connector shapes with the pin shapes to get gnd and 12v, and powered it up again. It POSTed, then threw an error about SATA, I said Y to use it (don't remember exactly what it asked, but it came up and reported no boot disk. I think I'm good to go. Thanks for the newbie help...

--Steveo

 

[sfortner]

Best answer selected by sfortner.