Solve this and you're Geniuses!

[LordGorzul]

I have this huge problem.
I wanted to tell you I was in the process of building my newest PC, my 23rd so far.
I am a Computer Engineer and have shitloads of experience doing this.
But this time, I have a big problem.
I put together a PC,

-Soyo SY-K7V Dragon Plus Motherboard.
-AthlonXP 1800+ (1.53ghz) processor.
-Crucial - RAM 128mb DDR, PC2100
-300W power supply (or so it says on it)
-ATI Radeon 64mb Video Card
-IBM Deskstar 60gig

All new, all retail. And...nothing.
That is, I put them together like I did so many PCs before, I switch it on, it runs for 2 to 3 seconds, and before it even gets to the harddrive (or before it displays anythign on the screen) the whole system shuts down. I tried everything, different HDD, different stick of RAM (but same type), different processor (an Athlon 1.2ghz), diffent Video card (voodoo 5500) , different power supply, and I still get the same thing, runs for 2-3 seconds, takes off, and shuts right back down.
I tried the components on a different motherboard, EPOX 8kha, and it runs fine. But on this motherboard it won't. I assumed it was the motherboard that was faulty, I returned it and recieved another Soyo SY-K7V Dragon Plus Motherboard, and same thing happens again. The company will not take the motherboard back a second time, and I'm totally out of options and ideas. it's been 3 months and those brand new unused components are slowly becoming obsolete.
I tried getting help from so many people , but absolutely no one was able to figure it out.
Could it be a power issue, does it need more? I ordered a 400W PS, but I kind of doubt that will fix it.
If you can help me solve this, you are Geniuses! and I will be eternally thankful.

Many Thanks.

-LG.

 

[monkied]

Whats the rpm on your cpu fan? I know some motherboards will have an auto-shutdown feature if the rpm gets too low (i.e. panaflo's) after 2-3 seconds. You can either try disabling this in the bios or get a higher rpm fan. Hope that helps.

 

[Budman]

Are you sure you connected the cpu fan to the cpu fan header on the board?

I ask because most AMD board will shut down if they dont sence RPM's from a cpu fan at boot up.



Edit: looks like monkied beat me to it.

 

[busmaster11]

Could it be the way you're putting it together? A short somewhere? With the physical case?

Are there any lights, LEDs, beeps, etc that will narrow down the problem?

did the monitor ever get the signal?

It sounds like a mobo issue - can you try plugging the cpu fan into a different header?

 

[LordGorzul]

The fans, cpu fan in particular do start up with the PC, and I did plug it in the correct header, that's for sure.
What the RPM is exactly? I wouldn't know. I cannot get into the BIOS, if I could, I'd solve the problem. Like I said, as soon as it starts it shuts down. Nothing appears on the screen, the monitor doesn't even react. Neither do the harddrives or anythign else. I'm using the CPU fan that came with the processor, it was retail. I tried using another CPU (athlon tbird 1.2ghz) and another fan, and it still does the same.
It is not a short, I tried booting it up, inside and outside the case, I tried putting it together many different times, with many different parts, still does the same.
I did not try putting the fan in a different header, nor do I feel very comfortable doign that, I know how fast the AMD can fry if the fan does start correctly.
As far as the beeps go, I do not have a little speaker in my case, but a tried connecting one from a different case. and if I recall correclty the beeps went like this.
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep beep.
2 of them, first really long, then the next short one as it shut down. (second one doesnt always sound)
Any other help, much appreaciated.
Thanks.

 

[Adul]

refer to manual for the beeps. Also try contacting soyo.


OH try seeing if the jump for the bios reset is set in the reset mode. and while you are at it, reset the bios.

 

[wfbberzerker]

well generally, the beep you described is when you are having a video problem (usually, for me, it means the video card is loose). however, in your case, it seems like the problem is much different and more serious.

just wondering, when you tried the processor on a different motherboard, was it also using a different power supply? because it seems to me like your power supply is fudged. try using a different one and see if that solves the problem.

 

[wfbberzerker]

just glancing at the soyo troubleshooting, it could be several problems:

the ram might be bad, but since you said it worked in a different mobo, thats probably not it.
like adul said, check the jumper settings
the settings for you speed of your cpu (i dont know if its bios or jumpers to set the multiplier and fsb) might be wrong

"One beeps follow by 3 beeps system power down - Cpu Fan no connected to Fan connector; memory not compatible. ; If this is a P4 board then the cpu could be bad or not installed correctly or wrong power supply( required P4 Power supply)."
- you said there was only two beeps, so this might not be right.

also, try reseating your video card (you have to push pretty hard to make sure its in)

 

[boomerang]

When you say you had it outside the case, did you still have the power switch from the case hooked to it? I had a similar situation with new components and case. The power switch had a bad connection on one of the terminals and would keep instantly shutting the system down. Finally figured it out when I removed the connector and started it by shorted across the pins on the board momentarily.

However, I don't recall any beeps.

 

[BD231]

Sounds like a memory issue to me. Try starting the computer with no memory and see if anything different happens. I would check the PSU, all your optical drives, and flopppy, one of them could have some type of short. I will tell you this though, when you get beeps it's usually due to memory, cpu or video card. Who knows, maybe soyo sent you the same board back on accident.

 

[Superwormy]

willing to bet its a bad power switch or reset switch!

 

[rpc64]

That Soyo board has a feature where if no cpu fan is detected(or possibly if rpm is too low, I'm not sure) it will automatically power down the system. The same thing happened to me because I was plugging my cpu fan directly into my PS, not the header. I know you know what you're doing, but just check again to make sure you're in the right fan header. I'm almost certain that this feature is causing your problem because I remember the beeps that my board made. I'm just checking the manual and it says you can press the Insert key to jump to the BIOS and from there disable "Fan Off Control". Hope this helps.

 

[busmaster11]

Here's an idea...

Take everything apart. Have a pc savvy friend come by and ask him to put it together with you out of the room.

You laugh...

But honestly, it could be some little thing you're doing, probably obvious, but subconsciously...

 

[aka1nas]

Hold down insert as you boot up, go into the BIOS setup-->PC Health--> Fan Off Control(FOC). Set to off. I had a Soyo Dragon(non plus) that always was funny about that.

 

[flexy]

please read the soyo dragon+ manual,

press INS while booting.....go into bios and disable FOC (fan on control).



Reason for your probs:

a) fan not connected to the on board cpu fan connector ???
b) fan has too slow rpm

 

[bigshooter]

I don't want this to soudn deragatory towards lordgozul in any way, but why do computer/electronics/electrical engineers always say "I'm a computer engineer" to try to show how much pc knowledge they have? I almost have a comp sci degree, i have an mcse, a+, all that junk, but the only reason I know how to build a pc is because i got good deals on parts when I worked at Best Buy so I built one myself. My friend has a Computer engineering degree and i had to help him set up his wireless network and then fix his laptop when it wasn't booting right. Anyways, sorry for the rant, LordGozul i mean nothing towards you, I just notice quite a few posts where peopel bring up their engineering degrees and it just makes me laugh.

Sorry for the rant.

 

[merlocka]

post the specs on the powersupply, they should be listed on the sticker.

 

[Pundit]

Is the little voltage/wattage switch set correctly on the PS? I think it's 115/230 but I forget what it's called. I had that set wrong on my case when I first took it out of the box.

Edit: n/m, I just read that you switched the PS...

 

[flood]

Make sure your power supply is set to 120v
Also, use a screwdriver to turn your system on. you just have to short the power on jumpers momentarily
take your spare cpu fan and plug it into the other header whlie leaving your current one on there
Try resetting the bios?

and you should be doing this with your video/chip/hsf/ram only installed

EDIT: pic of the board

 

[LordGorzul]

First of all thank you for all the feedback.
The reason I sais computer engineer bigshooter , and this is the first time I do, is because although it doesn't have to mean I can build a PC or anythign, it still gives peope an idea about my background. And That's important cause in the past, people assumed I knew nothing about PCs, and gave me very basic solutions that I had already gone over. so by saying that I was trying to get straight to the real stuff. but all that's besides the point.

The point is this, out of all I've heard, (some of you told me to do stuff I did already, as I said in my first post, such as using a different power supply and so on, video card problem etc. Video card problems usually have 3 beeps, and the PC doesn't shutdown, but in any case, like I said I tried a different video card and pressed it in all the way, and it's not a case/power switch problem cause I put another mobo in there and it worked.- also I did read the manual over and over and over again ) , but the good stuff includes making sure the fan's in the right header, checking the reset jumpers etc (although, unless it's set that way by default on all the mobos, it's not the problem), and doing the INS stuff. I'm about to try those, I'll keep you posted.
Although I did check the cpu FAN header already it's in the CHAFAN2 fan. The only one available. The CHAFAN1 is all the way at the other end of the mobo, and the fan cord won't get half that far. The other CHAFAN3 is used by the mobo fan, so I'm almost certain it's the right one..
Any other ideas let me know, I'll try this stuff and let you know if it helped.

LG

 

[LordGorzul]

ok we might be getting somewhere now.
The Insert button helped.
I booted the PC and pressed 'insert' frantically, and amazingly the PC didn't shutdown!
On the other hand though, it didnt do much either, I still get no image on the monitor, the PC now runs without going off but nothign appears on the screen. I thought it might be my Radeon 64, so I plugged i the Voodoo5500 instead, but I still get the same.
The power button on the monitor blinks (orange/red light) but it wont come on, so I dont know what's going on.
I checked in the monitor manual, it says :
"if the power indicator is amber and blinking, the monitor is using its power managment system. Check the power managment utility on your computer"
Keep in mind the monitor, is brand new and works great, and it's running off an independant power source, ie it's jacked into the wall not into the PC-power supply like some monitors.

What do you think?

 

[LordGorzul]

Also, the INS button doesnt always do the trick, it does about 60% of the time.

 

[aka1nas]

Don't mash the button. Just keep holding it down until you get an image on the monitor. If this doesn't work then it is either your video, CPU, or RAM. Did you use thermal paste when installing the heat sink on the CPU? Try swapping out the video card and using a PCI one to boot the system, then changing the init. display first setting in the BIOS to AGP.

 

[merlocka]

post the specs on the powersupply, they should be listed on the sticker.

 

[monkied]

OK, I still think its a fan header problem, so just for the hell of it, plug in a fan into the other header (one of high rpm), and I remember you said that you used different RAM but it was the same type. What did you mean by "same type"? So why not try a different type completely, like try different branded or size memory.