LEDs on Lanparty UT nF4 Ultra-D

[gregalter]

I recently (three weeks ago) purchased a LANPARTY nF4 Ultra D board. It ran for two weeks, pretty much fine (see note on power switch, below), but, now, when I exit Windows XP Pro Service pack 2 normally, power OFF, and press the POWER ON Button, the unit does not power up, at all. Instead, LED 0, LED 6, (on the LANPARTY board) and one other LED on the rear of the unit case blink orange.

If I unplug the unit and let it sit for 15-30 minutes, it will power up. If I do a soft reset without powering down, it will power up fine. When it does power up, the LEDs 0 and 6 are solid orange. What are the meaning of the LEDs? I cannot find the LED info at DFI or in the manual and they are not returning my requests for info.

The power button on the top of the case seemed a bit finicky from the first power on. Had to press it just the right amount of time or the unit would not power up. So, maybe it is a bad case, but maybe it is the mobo. Will the LEDs tell me anything? Or how else to troubleshoot?

Any help much appreciated!

These are the components:

Motherboard: MB DFI INF4 Lanparty UT nF4 Ultra D
BIOS: NF4LD310.exe <http://www.dfi.com.tw/Upload/BIOS/NF4LD310.exe> Bios Release
CPU 1 AMD 64 3000+ Athlon 939P 90 RT
Fans: 2 PSU Seasonics S12-380RT
Graphics: VGA XFX GF 6200 64MB PVT44PQA
Sound: on motherboard
Cooling: 2 Access FAN 120x25 TLF-S12-EG GR RT
RAM Memory: 2 DDRAM 512MB 64x64 PC-3200B BT CRU
Hard Disk Storage: 2 HD200Gig ST 7200 8M SATA ST3200826AS
CD ROM Storage: 1 NEC DVD+RW ND-3520A BK
Floppy Drive: 1 FD 1.44 MB Sony MPF920 Black
Operating System: Windows XP SP 2 all hot fixes through May 1, 2005



Greg Alter

 

[endyen]

It sounds like a wake on lan problem (the light at the back is for lan connection). If WAL is enabled, try shutting it down.

 

[gregalter]

I have two machines I am building with the same mobo and similar, but not exactly the same, box. One machine restarts from a full power down just fine. The other stalls, as I described. Is this possibly related to the BIOS--both machines have the same BIOS installed--and is this cold reboot problem a known issue? It sounds like you know. If so, how did you find out and how could I confirm for the one machine that is malfunctioning. Thanks.

Greg Alter

 

[russell]

Why don't you simply try exchanging the power and reset switches between the two rigs. If the switch is bad this would tell you.

If that isn't the problem then be sure that you have a good ground from the MOBO and case. Check for misplaced board mounting spacers. If there isn't a good ground then the capacitors on the MoBo would take extra time to bleed down back through the circuitry instead of directly to ground.

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<font color=red>!#&$</font color=red> 😱 ---<font color=blue><i><b>There's the facts</font color=blue>....<font color=green> the twisted facts </font color=green>...the distorted facts</font color=blue>,...Then There's</i><font color=red> Journalism!</font color=red></b>

 

[gregalter]

Thanks for your considerate response. Are you saying that you know that the DDRAM 512MB|64X64 PC-3200B 8T that I put in this machine fit the spec you are talking about which need the BIOS update? Or do I need to do something else to be sure what I am dealing with? Remember, I have two almost identical machines, but only one of them is acting up on power down cold reboot.

Greg Alter

 

[gregalter]

Going to test the mobo outside the unit, check spacers between board and case plate, and swap between two identical units, if necessary--tonight. It seems to me that one of you must have hit on the answer to this puzzle. I am leaning towards a ground fault for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that I know I originally forgot to put the spacers in, then went back to do so in a hurry. Although two of us checked them, it seems like the most likely explanation that fits with the odd 15-30 min wait for the machine to be able to power up after powering down fully. Thanks and will let those of you kind enough to help out know what the story is on this.

When the dual core processors come down by about 50% in price, these systems will rock!



Greg Alter

 

[russell]

One other thing that could also cause the ground problem is the power supply. There could be an issue with the ground to the 120V plug or even something else inside the PS unit itself, also check to be sure that all the PS to MOBO connectors are making good contact. As matter of fact it is likely the power supply as it has a large capacitor that would take a lot of time to discharge if not properly grounded. You said that it took about half an hour before it would reboot.

Your lucky that you are building two rigs the same at the same time as this allows you to exchange parts. You'll get it fixed, it's just a matter of narrowing it down to the component.
Good luck and let us know what it turns out to be.

P/S
Don't forget the power button on the top of the case. You said it gave you a problem.

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<font color=red>!#&$</font color=red> 😱 ---<font color=blue><i><b>There's the facts</font color=blue>....<font color=green> the twisted facts </font color=green>...the distorted facts</font color=blue>,...Then There's</i><font color=red> Journalism!</font color=red></b><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Russell on 06/01/05 12:40 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[gregalter]

Hey, what happened to my post thanking all of you for your help?! Anyway, Russell wins the "best informed guess" debugging award. After swapping power supplies between machines and reseating all the wires more firmly, everything, including the power buttons, work fine now. It was a long night of tinkering with various things on both machines, but you guys were really great to help out the way you did. Many, many thanks!

Greg Alter

 

[gregalter]

Nope, it was a trick! After one more re-boot, it went back to not starting up. Now have RMAd the mobo to Newegg, received and installed the new mobo, and all is working well, many cold restarts later. Crossing my fingers...thanks again.

Greg Alter

 

[gregalter]

Still working properly on cold re-boots, so it was a bad mobo. Again, thanks to all for the help. Case closed, reasonably happily.

Greg Alter