First boot, no display

[pseudofengshui]

I turn my PC on and get "NO SIGNAL" from my monitor. Fans come on, lights come on, no display.

I don't have a motherboard speaker, so I don't have any error codes, unfortunately :/

This is a brand new build, so I've never been able to get a display running.


The Goods:
AMD Athlon II X3 440 Rana 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ500MXSP 500W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V

GIGABYTE GV-R485ZL-512H Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

BIOSTAR TA785G3HD AM3 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Patriot G Series ‘Sector 5’ Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333

NZXT GAMMA Classic Series GAMA-001BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04


1 Verified all internal and external connections.
2 Monitor works when connected to my laptop, plugged into same outlet/power strip.
3 No issues with mobo standoffs.
4 Reseated GPU and RAM.
5 Removed GPU, reset CMOS, attached to onboard.
6 Tried all possible combinations of RAM.
7 Verified CPU integrity/seating.
8 No dropped screws hiding behind mobo.
9 To my knowledge, no static discharge-related damage occurred during assembly.


What did I miss?

 

[jsc]

Work through our standard checklist and troubleshooting thread:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-read-posting-boot-problems
I mean work through, not just read over it.

Breadboard - that will eliminate any kind of case problem you might have.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/262730-31-breadboarding

The breadboarding thread has a paragraph about how to build and test a PC in stages.

Breadboard with just motherboard, CPU & HSF, case speaker, and PSU. You do have a case speaker installed, right? If not, you really, really need one. If your case or motherboard didn't come with a system speaker, you can buy one here:
http://www.cwc-group.com/casp.html
Without a case speaker, all you can do is to start randomly replacing parts.

You can turn on the PC by momentarily shorting the two pins that the case power switch goes to.

You should hear a series of long, single beeps indicating memory problems.
Silence indicates a problem with (in most likely order) the PSU, motherboard, or CPU.

If no beeps:
At this point, you can sort of check the PSU. Try to borrow a known good PSU. If you cannot do that, use a DMM to measure the voltages. Measure between the colored wires and either chassis ground or the black wires. Yellow wires should be 12 volts. Red wires: +5 volts, orange wires: +3.3 volts, blue wire : -12 volts, violet wire: 5 volts always on. Tolerances are +/- 5% except for the -12 volts which is +/- 10%.

The gray wire is really important. It should go from 0 to +5 volts when you turn the PSU on with the case switch. CPU needs this signal to boot.

You can turn on the PSU by completely disconnecting the PSU and using a paperclip or jumper wire to short the green wire to one of the neighboring black wires.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FWXgQSokF4&feature=youtube_gdata

This checks the PSU under no load conditions, so it is not completely reliable. But if
it can not pass this, it is dead. Then repeat the checks with the PSU plugged into the computer to put a load on the PSU.

If the system beeps:
If it looks like the PSU is good, install a memory stick. Boot. Beep pattern should change to one long and several short beeps indicating a missing graphics card. Silence or long single beeps indicate a problem with the memory.

Insert the video card and connect any necessary PCIe power connectors. Boot. At this point, the system should POST successfully (a single short beep). Notice that you do not need keyboard, mouse, monitor, or drives to successfully POST.

Now start connecting the rest of the devices starting with the monitor, then keyboard and mouse, then the rest of the devices, testing after each step.

See? Most of the troubleshooting is tied to the case speaker.

 

[aford10]

Pay close attention to #2 in that checklist that jsc linked. A common mistake is missing the 4/8 CPU power. Your motherboard has a 4 pin CPU port near the back panel mouse/keyboard ports. Your PSU needs to be connected to that port.

 

[aford10]

Geez, if you missed hooking up the cpu power, you should not be attempting to build a computer. lol

It happens a lot.

 

[pseudofengshui]

Thanks for the replies, guys. Wasn't able to work on this yesterday, but I'll have a go over the weekend.

Do any retail stores sell case speakers?

 

[aford10]

You should be able to pick one up at a local PC shop.

 

[pseudofengshui]

Just came back from Fry's Electronics. They had the speaker, but without the wiring/jack thingy to attach it to the mobo :/

Didn't really want to wait for shipping, but I might just suck it up and get one on the intarwebs.

 

[aford10]

Without the jack? The speaker should be 1 piece, and look like this.
http://bestbyte.net/merchant/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=CACP01SP1&Category_Code=CACP&Store_Code=BB

 

[pseudofengshui]

Without the jack? The speaker should be 1 piece, and look like this.
http://bestbyte.net/merchant/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=CACP01SP1&Category_Code=CACP&Store_Code=BB

It was this one without the wiring and connector.

Am I wrong in thinking that both of these serve the same purpose?

 

[Carc369]

Geez, if you missed hooking up the cpu power, you should not be attempting to build a computer. lol

It's a common first builder mistake. Happened to me .

 

[pseudofengshui]

Best answer selected by pseudofengshui.

 

[aford10]

Yes, that speaker should work. It's just not as pretty.

 

[pseudofengshui]

Yes, that speaker should work. It's just not as pretty.

That's what I thought. So weird that they sell just the speaker with no way to attach it to anything.

I'll probably end up [strike]stealing[/strike] borrowing the speaker from my friend's tower.

Thanks for the help, everyone

 

[aford10]

The speaker is a little different, but the connector is the same.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey