Help please, nasty computer problems.

[squirrelman]

I just built my new rig the other day and everything was working great. So i was going to turn it on to use it and the fans started up but i dont think the rest did, then it shut off and wouldnt turn back on. I thought my powersupply was dead, until i took the plug that connects the power on button to the motherboard to the case off then put it back on. Then the fans started but the computer didnt, and i also could not turn it back off. I am worried now, does anyone have any ideas?

 

[MichaelD]

Hello there. Do you have an Abit mobo? Most newer Abit's and some other brands REQUIRE the CPU HSF to be connected to a paricular mobo header, or the board will not boot. Are you certain that there are no stray mobo standoffs under the board that could be shorting it out? What about stray/dropped screws. They are tiny and could easily roll under the mobo.

Is your video card fully-seated? Double check it. Do you get any beeps from the mobo at all? More info, please.

 

[squirrelman]

Nope, i have the epox 8k7a. I dont think there are any stray screws or standoffs, because i did have this up and running and gaming before all this happened. Also the video card was working well but i could take it out and try it again. Any other suggestions anyone?

 

[MichaelD]

Sorry, I missed that you said you had it running. Either something came loose, or you PS is bad.

Double check everything. It will take about 5 minutes to do:

1. Reseat the ram
2. Reseat all cards AGP/PCI
3. Push/wiggle all IDE cables and power cables including the one to the mobo and all the drives.

Also, are you OCing? After you do all of the above, clear the CMOS, and reboot. If it boots, set everything to the "safe" settings. Go into Windows and make sure it runs, then go ahead and set everything the way you want it. If it doesn't boot then you either have a bad PS or a bad mobo. Replace the PS, if that doesn't work, then your mobo is dead. Do you get any beeps? This is important.

 

[squirrelman]

The only overclocking i have done so far was changing the ram timings. I was actually just going to flash the bios and start overclocking when this nasty little problem started. I will go do that and report back in a bit.

 

[squirrelman]

I gave that a try, all except clearing the cmos since i hadnt been overclocking. It still does the same thing, it powers on the fans but it doesnt seem to do anything for the rest of the computer. I get no beeps either. My motherboard has a little lcd number read out thing that shows "ff" which means it booted fine, but obviously it hasnt. Any other ideas?

 

[MichaelD]

Reseat the ram and the videocard. Double check all connections. Clear the CMOS. Trust me, just clear it. UNPLUG the PS before clearing the CMOS though. I forgot to mention that earlier. It's SOP for me to unplug any piece of electronic equipment B4 I open it up...but not everyone knows to do this. After you do all this, if you get no beeps at all, your mobo is most prolly dead. BTW, are you sure that your CPU is seated correctly? All this is a pain, but you have to do it. Good luck

 

[squirrelman]

I did reseat the video card already. I could go do it again and check the connections again. I am sure the CPU is seated correctly, because i did have it up and working and playing games and all. Would the case fans still be able to work even if the motherboard was dead?

 

[MichaelD]

Yep. Sorry, but it doesn't sound good. You get NO BEEPS at all?

 

[Animefreak]

Had a similar problem...you probably have a shorted board. I'd say rma the board.

 

[squirrelman]

Alright thanks guys. Nope no beeps at all here. I guess it looks like i will have to RMA the board. How would the board get shorted like this? Is is just a manufacturing flaw, or is it something i may have done? I just wanted to make sure it doesnt happen again.