System not starting....Just sits there...

[HellHawk]

Ok I've got a rather odd issue here. Hopefully someone can provide some insight. I've a system that was running an MSI KT266 Pro2-A MB with an Athlon 1700XP. It was experiencing odd issues where sometimes it would not start and sometimes it would. If you powered it on, it'd just sit there with no video signal. A few more tries and it would work. This situation met it's climax a few months ago when it all just died. I could not get the system to start up at all.

I've had a lot of bad luck with MSI boards and I've had them go bad 2-3 times. In particular I had that MB replaced 2-3 times. This time I was not falling for it. I puchased an ECS N2U400-A board from someone. I wanted to get away from MSI and VIA chipsets and go with NForce. Got the new board, installed it and no success. The problem still existed. Thinking I might have killed the processor, I ordered a new AMD 2000XP. Just installed now. The problem still exists.

I tried removing and changing memory around and still no avail. The system was running with a GF3 TI-500. I've been trying it with a Radeon 9600. Thus I know it's on the video card failing to provide a signal to the monitor.

I'm at a loss here and this is very frustrating. Any ideas?

Thanks.

 

[ant80]

your power supply might be the problem. Check the power supply.

 

[HellHawk]

PSU was one of my guesses too. I've tested it with a PSU tester but I'm not so sure that's the a 100% sure method of determining if it's ok....

Edit: Side note...I get no beep codes at all. There does not appear to be a speaker on tihs MB but I have the speaker from my Antec SX830 hooked up. I've ont heard one single beep yet. My board is bad or my speaker is bad? Or still PSU perhaps...

 

[HellHawk]

Grr...

I've now tried...

-The old MSI Board with the new AMD 2000XP. It already had the 1700 in it before.
-The new board...ECS NU400A with 1700 & 2000 AMD chips. No go.
-Tried hooking up a spare 300W PSU when I had the 2000XP in the new board. No go.

This is ridiculous. I'm ready to toss this thing out the window.

 

[mechBgon]

Your old KT266A board may not have a clue what to do with a new AthlonXP 2000+, particularly if it happens to have the new Thorton core. While I haven't bothered looking up the precise CPU support for that board since I'm bandwidth-challenged here, it's a distinct possibility that the mobo would never POST with a 2000+ in it.

What brand and model is the 300W unit you're using as an alternate, and is it endowed with the necessary ATX12V cable to power the ECS N2U400A (and did you plug it in )? The receptacle is located here. Also, what was the original PSU that was being used with the MSI motherboard, was it the Antec PP-303XP that comes with the 830 case or was it something else?

 

[HellHawk]

The 300W alternate PSU is some 3rd party no name brand. The kicker is, it's been running my other 1700XP machine for a good year or two flawlessly. It's the cheapest machine I have and it's run far better than the more expensive one (wihch has given me nothing but problems). Pretty sure the MSI should support a 2000XP. The 2000 is not the Thorton Core.

Also, the original Antec 300W I'm using does not have the ATX12V, but the alternate PSU does and I did plug in the cable when I tried the alternate. It unfortunately made no difference. Also, yes, the original is/was a PP-303XP 300W.

Edit: Side note...I always thought the ATX 12V plug was optional...My Antec does not have it but the alternate does. The MSI board has no plug for it but the ECS does. Neither combination worked though.

 

[HellHawk]

Bump...still looking for ideas/suggestions...

 

[justin1466]

don't buy MSI or ECS... i've learned my lesson. Did you properly ground yourself before messin with your cpu or mobo(s)? static electricity is not your friend. whats the brand on the power supply? i had a similair problem with a 300 watt no name brand (wouldn't start no matter how hard i kicked it). went out, bought a antec true 430 and the thing booted up instantly, haven't had a problem since.

 

[isekii]

the issue with your system not booting up correct may be because you dont have it grounded properly.

Did you use the copper screws on the bottom of the motherbaord ? (the ones that hold up the board from the case.)