ok, so here's what i did yesterday to get it to boot beyond the logo splash screen:
- unplugged the keyboard & monitor
- unplugged the power supply from the mobo
- unplugged the power button/reset button/LED's from the front of the case
- unplugged the front USB, headphone and microphone connections
- removed the motherboard tray (this thing is so convinient)
- put the motherboard tray to the side of the case on an anti static bag
- left installed in the mobo ONLY the CPU, HSF, 1 stick of RAM and video card
- plugged the PSU back into the mobo (just the 20 pin and 4 pin connectors)
- plugged in the power button from the front of the case
- hooked up the (PS/2) keyboard and my monitor
- turned it on and VIOLA
Conclusion: one of the items above that I unplugged and replugged must have been hooked up wrong originally. My guess includes the power button/reset button from the front of the case (maybe i put them on the pins wrong), the front USB ports (maybe they short out if installed wrong), or maybe just a bad job of plugging in the PSU (20 pin connector not fully seated).
I'm not sure which of these was the culprit, but after I got it sorted out, everything went very smoothly. The mobo recognized my HD and DVD-RW, recognizes the CPU properly, is running the 2x512MB of RAM in dual channel mode, etc.
I got WinXP installed with no problem as well as all the motherboard software - some cool utilities in there, I must add. Right now, the CPU runs at 36C idle and after 30 mins of battlefield 2, got up to just 42C, so the temps seem to be pretty good.
Thanks again for everyone's help! I can't wait to get home from work and tweak (and mabe OC) the hell out of this thing
- unplugged the keyboard & monitor
- unplugged the power supply from the mobo
- unplugged the power button/reset button/LED's from the front of the case
- unplugged the front USB, headphone and microphone connections
- removed the motherboard tray (this thing is so convinient)
- put the motherboard tray to the side of the case on an anti static bag
- left installed in the mobo ONLY the CPU, HSF, 1 stick of RAM and video card
- plugged the PSU back into the mobo (just the 20 pin and 4 pin connectors)
- plugged in the power button from the front of the case
- hooked up the (PS/2) keyboard and my monitor
- turned it on and VIOLA
Conclusion: one of the items above that I unplugged and replugged must have been hooked up wrong originally. My guess includes the power button/reset button from the front of the case (maybe i put them on the pins wrong), the front USB ports (maybe they short out if installed wrong), or maybe just a bad job of plugging in the PSU (20 pin connector not fully seated).
I'm not sure which of these was the culprit, but after I got it sorted out, everything went very smoothly. The mobo recognized my HD and DVD-RW, recognizes the CPU properly, is running the 2x512MB of RAM in dual channel mode, etc.
I got WinXP installed with no problem as well as all the motherboard software - some cool utilities in there, I must add. Right now, the CPU runs at 36C idle and after 30 mins of battlefield 2, got up to just 42C, so the temps seem to be pretty good.
Thanks again for everyone's help! I can't wait to get home from work and tweak (and mabe OC) the hell out of this thing