First Build, First Boot Up, First Problems

[Lsmoke]

Today I finished putting together my very first build. It went smoothly; there were just a few times in which I had to take a step back, breathe, and find out what to do (after hopefully not doing any damage).

Eventually the time came when I would boot up my computer for the very first time. I ran through my checklist about what parts I had installed and whether or not they had their power and sure enough everything was good to go.

I plugged everything in and turned on the power button...things whirled to life but nothing showed on the screen. I didn't hear any BIOS beeps either.

The case fans were going, I could hear the harddrive come on, the CD drive blinked the green light on front a few times, the heatsink fan was spinning, everything seemed alright...except for the video. My video card is quite large so I knew something was amiss when I didn't even hear it or even feel it's exhaust exiting through the back of my system. I took off the cover and sure enough it was just sitting there, its fan still, doing absolutely nothing. The monitor stayed in sleep mode and blinked, at first, "No VGA Signal" then when I put it to DVI mode it said "No DVI Signal" and went back to sleep mode after giving me the above messages. I double checked the DVI cables connection to the monitor and the rear of my card and everything was as it should be.

Before making this post, I checked the thread here in the forum called "Read Before Asking About Boot Problems" and did everything applicable in that thread and still nothing seems to be working.

I took out the video card and reinserted it making sure it was situated properly, I made sure the RAM was in their slots and they were in there firmly and in what I'm assuming is the correct manner (I matched up the little notch, pressed down until the retention brackets came up). At all times I made sure to ground myself by touching the case. The only physical damage I can think that might have happened to it would just be accidentally grazing a component here and there when I misaligned something but I never forced anything. I even made sure to not get the connecting bits of devices dirty with oil from my hands.

I'm beginning to worry at this point. I saved up spent of my money for this build, and it's quite good if it'll only work, but now I'm wondering if I was too ambitious. My parents doubted I could do it and preferred that I would just by a computer with my hard-earned money but I thought differently so know I'm in quite the predicament...

At this point I just want to find out what the problem is exactly, whether it's simply the video card, the CPU, or the motherboard entirely, and don't want to do anything too drastic like try to return all the parts and get my money back (since I can't, given some of the items return policies). I'd still like to make this whole "DIY computer-building" work for me and I haven't given up all hope yet but it all this is a tad discouraging.

Anyways, my pieces that I have are

Video Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130434
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128387
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103471
Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119068
Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005
Optical Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151175
Monitor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236051

Any help and suggestions concerning my next steps in this process would be greatly appreciated

If there's any more info you guys need, just let me know, by the way.

LSmoke

 

[shabaa]

Silly question... but did you plug in the PS to the 2 PCIE power connectors on the video card?

 

[Lsmoke]

Silly question... but did you plug in the PS to the 2 PCIE power connectors on the video card?

Sure did. I made sure they were in there correctly and everything.

 

[mz_bo]

Is the video card in the top slot? You mentioned to video card's fan is not spinning up which sounds like it's not getting power. EVGA has some of the best customer support out there, i'd see if there's any other ideas here, or head over there and ask away.

 

[Lsmoke]

Is the video card in the top slot? You mentioned to video card's fan is not spinning up which sounds like it's not getting power. EVGA has some of the best customer support out there, i'd see if there's any other ideas here, or head over there and ask away.

Yep, I made sure to put it in the top, full speed PCI-E slot, like the NewEgg description and motherboard says.

Thanks for the tips, I will check out what EVGA has to say.

As far as the origins of the problems, does it sound like the problem lies within the video card?

For example, is it unlikely that it'll be a motherboard or CPU problem since all the other components function?

 

[jsc]

Before making this post, I checked the thread here in the forum called "Read Before Asking About Boot Problems" and did everything applicable in that thread and still nothing seems to be working.

What does "everthing applicable" mean. Did you take the system apart and breadboard just the PSU, motherboard, and CPU and HSF? At that point, when you turned it on, it should have posted with long continuous beeps. Did it? If you got silence, your problem is PSU, motherboard, or CPU.

And if the system is not POSTing, you do not know if all the other components function.

 

[mz_bo]

I'd say it's unlikely the mobo or the cpu. Everything but the card seems to be getting power. It "is" possible it's just a bad card. Hard to tell. I'd copy your post and head over to evga.com/forums and put it up in the 200 series subforums. You'll get some good feedback there too. Seems like you've done your homework so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[belial2k]

remove all the memory, then reinstall just one dimm, then try it. Be sure the dvi is plugged into the number 1 slot. It would be very unusual for a card to post no video, even if it is bad.

 

[Lsmoke]

OK, thanks for the tips, guys. I removed all the ram, then reinstalled a single stick and still didn't get anything. Video card still just sits there not doing anything.

I can hear the plates in the HD move around, open and close the CD tray, see the fans spinning but nothing at all from the video card.

I'll wait to see what the EVGA tech support and forum have to say before I plan my next move.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

The 8-pin CPU power connector located under a heatsink near the CPU socket is plugged in, right?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.aspx?CurImage=13-128-387-S04&ISList=13-128-387-S01%2c13-128-387-S02%2c13-128-387-S04%2c13-128-387-S03%2c13-128-387-S05&S7ImageFlag=1&Item=N82E16813128387&Depa=0&WaterMark=1&Description=GIGABYTE%20GA-MA790X-UD4P%20ATX%20AMD%20Motherboard%20-%20Retail

 

[Lsmoke]

The 8-pin CPU power connector located under a heatsink near the CPU socket is plugged in, right?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.aspx?CurImage=13-128-387-S04&ISList=13-128-387-S01%2c13-128-387-S02%2c13-128-387-S04%2c13-128-387-S03%2c13-128-387-S05&S7ImageFlag=1&Item=N82E16813128387&Depa=0&WaterMark=1&Description=GIGABYTE%20GA-MA790X-UD4P%20ATX%20AMD%20Motherboard%20-%20Retail

That is the fix, sir. I did plug it in but the 8 pin CPU power connector is split into two- a four pin and another four pin side by side. One was secured well in there but the other was sitting a bit loosely. I reinserted it and my comp powered up fine. Thanks for pointing out the obvious, no sarcasm intended

But now I've got another can of worms. I'm in BIOS and have been trying to get the system to boot from my Windows XP CD for the better part of two hours to no avail. I've set the first boot device to my CD-ROM, the second boot device as Hard Drive, and third boot device was set to default as CD-ROM so I let that be.

I saved and exited out of BIOS, with the XP disc in the tray and when it went to the secondary POST screen, I got this error after a flashing underscore blinked for 5 seconds or so : "disk boot failure insert system disk and press enter ". Usually, this means a problem with a hard drive, from what I gather at least, but I do know the drive is recognized as in BIOS so at least that's something.

I opened the tray, closed it again with the CD in there, pressed enter again and got the same error as above.

I took out the CD Drive, checked the jumper settings (it's set as master) and the IDE cable both at the back of the CD drive and the motherboard and feel sure that it's a secure connection. Power is also being supplied to the drive needless to say.

I think the problem now is that the drive is not being recognized although I could be wrong.

I took these pictures with my camera phone and maybe they'll be able to help.

That's at the "Standard CMOS Features" section of the BIOS. As you can see (if only barely, sorry!), my 640 gig hard drive is recognized as IDE Channel 2 Master and that's about the only thing there. Should my CD drive be there as well? If it is, I'm going to assume it's simply not being recognized...

Here is what I have currently for my boot up order:

If you can't make it out it's:

First Boot Device: CD-ROM
Second Boot Device: Hard Drive
Third Boot Device: CD-ROM

And finally, here's a picture of the welcoming BIOS screen, maybe it'll help:

Oh, and a picture of the error I'm getting:

, just illustrating the whole

"Verifying DMI Pool Data...............
DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER" error.
Any tips, suggestions?

Thanks guys, I appreciate all of the help.

Lsmoke

 

[cmichael138]

If the DVD Drive is not showing up in the BIOS, then it's not recognized and can't install the OS. Double check the IDE cable connection and try settting the jumper to CS. If that doesn't work, chances are you have a faulty IDE cable or a faulty DVD Drive.

 

[Lsmoke]

If the DVD Drive is not showing up in the BIOS, then it's not recognized and can't install the OS. Double check the IDE cable connection and try settting the jumper to CS. If that doesn't work, chances are you have a faulty IDE cable or a faulty DVD Drive.

Should it be listed in the same area as where my hard drive can be found in BIOS?

In other words, in the Standard CMOS Features?

 

[marsay001]

I'd say it's unlikely the mobo or the cpu. Everything but the card seems to be getting power. It "is" possible it's just a bad card. Hard to tell. I'd copy your post and head over to evga.com/forums and put it up in the 200 series subforums. You'll get some good feedback there too. Seems like you've done your homework so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

I know this wont answer your question fully but when i boot up, GFX card fan doesnt spin for a couple of minuites after im logged in, what connection are you using to your tv/monitor, sounds silly is it on the right channel? if for example you have 2 sticks of RAM make sure there nrxt to each other if you have 4 slots

 

[cmichael138]

Should it be listed in the same area as where my hard drive can be found in BIOS?

Yes....All hard drives, optical drives (CD or DVD), floppy drive are listed in the same area of the BIOS. If it doesn't show, then there is a loose connection, incorrect jumper setting or faulty cable or DVD Drive.