TheSam 0 Posted January 8, 2003 Hi everyone! A friend and I ordered parts for a complete computer each from the same store. The components were the same too, except that I ordered 512 MB Ram, he ordered 256 I assembled my system and it worked on the first boot-up, I'm typing this on it now. But my friends computer is different. He assembled it, and everything seems assembled correctly, later today I'll take everything apart and put it back together, just to make sure The problem is that when I push the power-on switch the fans starts running and the computer starts to boot, but the monitor that's connected doesn't react at all. The monitor was tested with another computer and it works, and the new computer was tested with another graphics card, and that didn't work. I don't hear any beeps from the PC speaker at boot-up. The fan on the graphics card is running, so it seems to be getting power. All the cables from the power supply are connected, but the card doesn't work even if I remove everything from the motherboard except the two P4 power cables, the processor, the graphics card and the RAM. I've cleared the CMOS too. Does anyone have any tips on how to get it to show something on the monitor? (I don't have a PCI card to test with ) The specs: Abit SR7-8X motherboard TwinMos 256MB/512MB DDR pc2700 RAM Pentium 4 533 mhz 2,4 GHz Creative GeForce4 Ti4200 64 MB Graphics card On-board sound On-board LAN Maxtor Diamond Plus 9 80GB Hard Drive LG DVD-ROM Sony Floppy Drive Share this post Link to post
Champion_R 0 Posted January 8, 2003 Are there any lights on the keyboard. Try booting with just a VGA card and ram. After that try some different memory. Could be a dead board. Seems like there is no BIOS. Check the BIOS chip is seated correctly. Share this post Link to post
jimf43 0 Posted January 8, 2003 Quote: The monitor was tested with another computer and it works, and the new computer was tested with another graphics card, and that didn't work. So, it's the motherboard that's bad ;( Share this post Link to post
Stoffer 0 Posted January 8, 2003 When you get no screen and no beeps but all the fans are running it usually indicates a dead CPU. Share this post Link to post
BladeRunner 0 Posted January 8, 2003 Highly unlikely to be a faulty CPU. In the numerous years I've been working with computers I've only ever seen two dead Intel CPU's and they were a long time ago. I'd be much more inclined to point my finger at the motherboard. Share this post Link to post
TheSam 0 Posted January 8, 2003 Thanks for all the suggestion. I told him about them and he tried with everything except power, RAM, and VGA and everything except power and VGA. The monitor didn't do anything. I think you're right about the motherboard, BladeRunner. Share this post Link to post
BladeRunner 0 Posted January 8, 2003 Quote: Thanks for all the suggestion. I told him about them and he tried with everything except power, RAM, and VGA and everything except power and VGA. The monitor didn't do anything. I think you're right about the motherboard, BladeRunner. Well actually Jimf43 suggested motherboard before me, but I'm happy to take the credit Motherboards can be funny, you can go through loads of them without a single problem, then one will come along and it will be DOA - it doesn't happen often but when it does it can be annoying. Get back in touch with the vendor he purchased it from, this is a DOA that the vendor can sort out be swapping quickly, you shouldn't be forced to go to ABit to get an RMA here - that can take a while. Share this post Link to post
tbeehler 0 Posted January 8, 2003 Have you thought about perhaps you're not properly grounded? (too big of a screw touching a circuit trace? Try taking the motherboard out of the case and putting it on a large antistatic bag and hooking up the video, ram, cpu, and power only. Then if it still doesn't come up, then unfortunately, the above people may be right. You may have a dead cpu or board. Blackbeard Share this post Link to post
TheSam 0 Posted January 8, 2003 Whoops, sorry Jimf43, of course I appreciate your help too The screws seemed alright, and we got a real life second opinion too, a guy he knews checked it out, and he agrees with the motherboard opinion. I'll tell my friend about the screws so he can check it more thorough. Share this post Link to post
CUViper 0 Posted January 8, 2003 I knew a guy who was having this problem... then he put a piece of paper between the motherboard and the case, and suddenly it booted just fine! It didn't look like anything could have been shorting out, but whatever, it worked... Share this post Link to post
Silver-Dagger 0 Posted January 8, 2003 Make sure the power supply is not set for 220v. I had the same thing happen to me. After checking EVERYTHING with another computer I noticed that the power supply was set on 220v. Switched it over and everything worked fine. Share this post Link to post
Christianb 8 Posted January 9, 2003 If you have a video card with a flashable bios, it may have lost it's memory. Is this an old computer or a new one? The problem I'm describing is more likely to occur on older video cards like a Matrox G200 for example. It sounds like you have a new system, but one never knows. If you do have a matrox video card call them up there is a fix, but it the card will fail every 1-6 months and you'll have to boot their special floppy to get the picture back. Personally I was really, reallly disapointed with Matrox about this. They should have done a product recall, instead they created a boot floppy, just think of all the people out there will or have already gone through this problem and wasted time and money fixing it, possibly replacing the computer altogether. Cheers, Christian Share this post Link to post
Christianb 8 Posted January 9, 2003 Aside from that I still think Matrox is an excellent company and one of the few out there that supports their products indefinetly, not unlike Creative Labs does with their sound cards. (I don't think they have the same track record with their other devices). Cheers, Christian Share this post Link to post
TheSam 0 Posted January 9, 2003 The system is new We tested with another graphics card in the computer and that graphics card worked in an other computer before and after. The PC speaker doesn't emit any beeps, and as I said I have a similiar system, and in that the PC speaker works like it should, beeping once when I turn the power on and many times when I play my old DOS games The RAM is the right way and the white things and the end of the slot snaps together. There isn't a visible setting for setting the volt amount but mine works and we live in the same country and city. We checked the screws and they aren't too big. The paper idea sounds strange, but I'll ask him to try it out Again, thanks for all the help . Share this post Link to post
adamvjackson 0 Posted January 9, 2003 Ditto what everyone else has says, I think it sounds like a bum motherboard. Share this post Link to post
jimf43 0 Posted January 10, 2003 Quote: If you have a video card with a flashable bios, it may have lost it's memory. Is this an old computer or a new one? The problem I'm describing is more likely to occur on older video cards like a Matrox G200 for example. It sounds like you have a new system, but one never knows. If you do have a matrox video card call them up there is a fix, but it the card will fail every 1-6 months and you'll have to boot their special floppy to get the picture back. Personally I was really, reallly disapointed with Matrox about this. They should have done a product recall, instead they created a boot floppy, just think of all the people out there will or have already gone through this problem and wasted time and money fixing it, possibly replacing the computer altogether. Cheers, Christian Strange, I have a Matrox Milentium G200 that's never given me a moments greef. Solid as a rock. Share this post Link to post
Christianb 8 Posted January 10, 2003 Hi Sam, Did you just move to your current location? Is this the first time you've tried to run a computer off the circuit? Computers are highly sensitive electronics your lights might work fine, but the juice may not be pure enough for your computer hardware. Have you tried running any other PCs at your location? I say this living in a house wired in the 20s, we have wires wrapped in fabric in some of the sockets! The only reason my computer doesn't reboot spontaneously every 30 minutes to 2 hours is because I bought a UPS. -Christian Share this post Link to post
Christianb 8 Posted January 10, 2003 Hi Jim F, I know that I'm not alone in this issue. Perhaps only a portion of their batches were defective. Otherwise it's a great card. I would probably still have it if it weren't for that . I just got tired of turning on my PC once a month and having it not display anything. I still can't figure out why they didn't just replace my card. Oh well I've moved on and am a Nvidia customer now . Cheers, Christian Share this post Link to post
TheSam 0 Posted January 10, 2003 My friend tried running the motherboard outside of the case but that didn't work either, so he contacted the shop. They'll probably make him send all of the components back so they can test them too, so in one way or another, his problem will be solved sometime later He's been using his old computer in the same outlet he tried using the new one in for a couple of years, so I don't think that's the problem Before posting this I had no idea there were so many things that could make a motherboard boot up strangely Share this post Link to post
Christianb 8 Posted January 11, 2003 Quote: Before posting this I had no idea there were so many things that could make a motherboard boot up strangely Hi Sam, That's good too hear, that's why we're all here 8) . Cheers, Christian Share this post Link to post
