Stumped, cant get system to Post! (all green LED)

[notherdude]

well keep in mind the original PSU ive been doing all the testing with is a 700w PSU.... the only reason i used a 250w was just to test a different PSU, and thats all i had laying around, and i dont exactly have a 1333/1000Mzh CPU FSB CPU laying around.

but i did try other ram sticks, I really hope its not the CPU, but for the motherboard to process the LED lights, i thought it required a CPU.

the way i see it, i mean the motherboard is the body, and the CPU is the brain, the motherboard cant do anything w/o the CPU right?

but ya ive never heard a beep so, no post ):

And the PSU is the heart, puming out that life giving voltage to every corner of the system. LOL

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Sounds like you have done the best you can to narrow it down to the motherboard. I suspect that PSU is not for sale in the US. Are you in the UK? I see it sells for 118 (incl VAT) how many US dollars would that equal? I don't know how much the VAT is. Looks like it may be a quality unit though, based on price and specs.

I usually like to rule out the PSU before I RMA any motherboard, on general principle, because it's just too hard to figure out which one is at fault. In this case I don't think the 250 w (of unknown quality and 12 v rail, not to mention the anemic wattage) accomplished that goal. But as you say that was all you had and perhaps it should have been enough to at least make the system spin up for a short time.

Good luck with the new MOBO. I have a good feeling that was it. But if not please do get a proper PSU to switch in. Mark the old mobo just to be sure they don't send you back the same one. Of course if they do send back the old that may be because they either fixed it or else determind it was OK

 

[bcboy]

You did wear a static strap when you installed them, didn't you? Static electricity is the nuke of the microchip, so let's hope you did... And in the case of CPU or RAM failure you may not see any errors in your fancy LED setup, because the mobo's working just fine. But you won't get a post either.

Tell me you used a static strap when you were pokin' around in there. If you didn't, you wouldn't even know whether or not you fried a chip or two.

 

[Endersun]

Well I had a couple of methods to avoid the static, the motherboard was laying on a static wrap the whole time i was trouble shooting it, on top of a wood table, on top of a ceramic ground.

I also washed my hands fequently, and I touch the metal side of the PSU before I even operate...

and even when I do operate I do my best to avoid touching the MB unless I really have to.

so yes I was being carefull, I have alot of money invested into this system and only 30 days of refund period, so I really do want things to go smoothly.

But the comments have been very helpfull for the trouble shooting, the first thing im gonna do if I get the same results on another board is double test the PSU with a new PSU ill buy down the road from the store.

Ill just have to hope for the best. Also the product has a serial number, so i wouldn't need to necessarily mark it would i? cause the # is specific to my MB?

 

[notherdude]

I would think the S/N would do.

 

[rgeist554]

Have you tried moving the stick of RAM to a different RAM slot on the motherboard? Sometimes they won't post if they're in the wrong spot. (Ex. Ram slots 1, 2 ,3, & 4. The 1st and 2nd could be Dual-Channel only or something)

 

[bcboy]

Well I had a couple of methods to avoid the static, the motherboard was laying on a static wrap the whole time i was trouble shooting it, on top of a wood table, on top of a ceramic ground.

I also washed my hands fequently, and I touch the metal side of the PSU before I even operate...

Here's a silly question: Was your PSU plugged in? I know it sounds dumb, but the 'touch-the-PSU' trick only works if the ground-wire (third prong) is connected to the wall socket. Obviously, it's even more dangerous to be poking around with a live PSU, but that's what the little switch in the back is for....

and even when I do operate I do my best to avoid touching the MB unless I really have to.

The mobo is probably the least likely to be fried by ESD. Basically it has to do with touching chip (ram chip, cpu chip, nb or sb chip) surfaces or contacts directly. Most mobo chipsets are covered by heatsinks now, and the CPU is in its own package, so touching the chip surfaces is a little hard. The contact points on the new C2D are ridiculously easy to contact though, so be careful. And that leaves the RAM, the most likely part to get hit by ESD. With a lot of brands, there's nothing stopping you from touching each seperate chip, or the contact points. Handle from the edges when possible.

Oh, and washing your hands actually has a potentially negative effect. When I'm doing a repair, I park my butt, ground out (the 'touch-the-psu' trick) and DON'T MOVE until I'm finished. Even if I suddenly get a bad need for Immodium, still won't move. New boxers cost $5. New C2D's cost $200 or so. You do the math

Have you tried moving the stick of RAM to a different RAM slot on the motherboard? Sometimes they won't post if they're in the wrong spot. (Ex. Ram slots 1, 2 ,3, & 4. The 1st and 2nd could be Dual-Channel only or something)

He might have something here...Try it out...

 

[shawn26il]

Try this, just had a problem last night with a new Biostar board, you just push the ram down until it snaps in place right? Well this was different. I mean it had the snaps, but I finished the build, tried to boot, and it was giving me beeps every 1-2 seconds meaning memory problem according to the manual. So I tried moving ram, etc etc. Didn't work. Finally, after I put the ram in at the original spots, still no go. Finally, noticed it seemed loose, so I pushed down on the ram and in pushed a little in the slot. Now it works great. Evidently even though it was supposed to have locked into place, it didn't seat all the way in the slots. Once I pushed down along the entire stick, it was fine and works as it should. Might be worth looking at.....

 

[bcboy]

Actually, now that you mention it, I had to give an extra push on my RAM chips after they clicked in, too...Good thinking Shawn.

 

[notherdude]

Try this, just had a problem last night with a new Biostar board, you just push the ram down until it snaps in place right? Well this was different. I mean it had the snaps, but I finished the build, tried to boot, and it was giving me beeps every 1-2 seconds meaning memory problem according to the manual. So I tried moving ram, etc etc. Didn't work. Finally, after I put the ram in at the original spots, still no go. Finally, noticed it seemed loose, so I pushed down on the ram and in pushed a little in the slot. Now it works great. Evidently even though it was supposed to have locked into place, it didn't seat all the way in the slots. Once I pushed down along the entire stick, it was fine and works as it should. Might be worth looking at.....

Yep, a good connection is not always a given, you gotta push, reseat, whatever, before you give up. And then when the stuff gets old and dusty this is really a potential problem.

Often simply taking old components and reseating them is MAGIC. I have rescued several pieces of good hardware this way.

 

[Endersun]

Output +3.3V@36A,+5V@30A,+12V1@15A,+12V2@15A,+12V3@15A, +12V4@15A,-12V@0.8A,+5VSB@2A

Connectors 1 x Main connector (20+4Pin)
1 x 12V(4+4Pin)
6 x peripheral
6 x SATA
2 x Floppy
2 x PCI-E

it says the 12V should be 18A or greater, mine is only 15A, could this be the problem?

(30 min later)

well actually i just bought a 680W from the local comp store with a 22A 12V rail. Oddly enough its a 4pin, while my 15A on the origonal 700W was a 4+4pin.

well same results.... 4 green LED - No post

getting pretty sick of this board, I think im ready to send it in..

and btw yes i did try moving the ram to other slots, someone alot earlier on in this thread already mentioned that.

very frustrated right now....

 

[notherdude]

Sorry. I KNOW how frustrating this process is. Been there several times.

PSUs are a little complex with this 12v amp output. Your Epsilon appears to have multiple 12 v rails. I do believe this will yield an adequate 12v rail for your card as there is some degree of aggregation of the rails. The quality of the unit and it's ability to put out what it is rated to put out is a different question.

Sounds like it's time to ge the new mobo. You put a lot of effort into this process. I'm sure it will be up and running soon enough. Keep us informed.

 

[frednitney]

but about my question, do all motherboards give a single beep when they post?

No they dont
I have an asus p532n-e (680i)
And it does not beep on post.
I think it is a feature in the bios to turn it on or off...

It seems to me that you need to have a "known good"; compatible CPU and Power Supply to fully analyze this problem

Its unfortunate that most ppl don't have extra C2d's lying around

frednitney

 

[Endersun]

Well I only heard I needed a 18a or higher for the ATX 8pin slot for CPU power, from a tech support guy at MSI.. now that I think of it my motherboard manual doesn't say anywhere what is required voltage for either of the MB connectors.

I think i was a little desperate for ideas before I gave up on it. As of now my the motherboard is in the box waiting to be shipped to MSI. So no more troubleshooting for a week or so.

Whats worrying me is my 30 days is up at newegg in 17 days and counting from now.

Theres this local computer store called Computer Renaisance like 2 minutes from me, its very small.

I buy parts from them, and just test them on my machine then return them(I have 7 days).

I wonder what they think of me buying expensive stuff like ram and PSUs and return it, but its there policy so meh, they charge a ton of cash for there own tech team, so I say screw that.

besides Im a do-it-myself kinda guy when it comes to computers, like im sure most of you are.

I sure hope this RMA doesn't take too long....

 

[roadrunner197069]

How many 4pins does your PSU have? Do you have one four pin plugged into the cpu 4 pin? You mentioned the 24 pin motherboard and 2, 4 pins for your grafics but you need a 4 pin for the CPU as well. If not you will never POST.

 

[Endersun]

How many 4pins does your PSU have? Do you have one four pin plugged into the cpu 4 pin? You mentioned the 24 pin motherboard and 2, 4 pins for your grafics but you need a 4 pin for the CPU as well. If not you will never POST.

I have a 20+4 pin for the 24 slot, and a 4+4pin for the 8 pin slot.

and if I didn't plug in the 8 pin for the CPU, not only would it not post but that could probably fry the board...

 

[bcboy]

but about my question, do all motherboards give a single beep when they post?

No they dont
I have an asus p532n-e (680i)
And it does not beep on post.
I think it is a feature in the bios to turn it on or off...

You mean the P5N32e? Or rather the P5N32e-SLI? Um, that's the board I'm using, and it sure as hell does beep every time it starts...

besides Im a do-it-myself kinda guy when it comes to computers, like im sure most of you are.

Heh, nope, I'm a do-it-for-others kinda guy one of the ones that doesn't charge an arm and aleg and your firstborn...

How many 4pins does your PSU have? Do you have one four pin plugged into the cpu 4 pin? You mentioned the 24 pin motherboard and 2, 4 pins for your grafics but you need a 4 pin for the CPU as well. If not you will never POST.

I have a 20+4 pin for the 24 slot, and a 4+4pin for the 8 pin slot.

and if I didn't plug in the 8 pin for the CPU, not only would it not post but that could probably fry the board...

Uh, not necessarily. My board has 20+4 and an 8-pin for CPU, but four of the 8-pin was covered by a plastic cap, so I plugged in only 4 pins there. No problems... Plus, I doubt a lack of power would 'fry' your board...It's usually an excess of power you want to avoid...

 

[Endersun]

Well, mine also came with an 8 pin, and 4 covered with plastic, I would have just plugged in a 4 pin and it probably would have been ok, but I thought may as well plug in all 8 since I have them.

But my friend fried his board by not plugging anything into the ATX, also his power supply.

luckily he was able to send them both back for replacements.

 

[rgeist554]

Yeah, you're not going to fry your board from lack of power. It just won't work unless it gets it's minimum required voltage. If your force something in the wrong slow, of course you will damage it.

But my friend fried his board by not plugging anything into the ATX, also his power supply.

I don't see how this is possible unless you mean that your friend didn't plug his heatsink fan into the CPU fan pins. The other possibility is that your friend didn't use stand-offs and shorted his board. Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but it from what it looks like you're saying, a board could be damaged by having nothing plugged into it? So it could get damaged sitting in it's static bag in the factory?

Are you sure you're talking about the ATX or do you mean AUX? ATX = 24 Pin | AUX = 4 / 8 Pin

 

[bcboy]

plugged in aux didnt plug in atx i think...
still...that would be undervoltage. how do you fry a mobo with UNDERvoltage?

 

[rgeist554]

plugged in aux didnt plug in atx i think...
still...that would be undervoltage. how do you fry a mobo with UNDERvoltage?

I'm still stumped. I think they're blaming it on a bad install or incompatibility... because frying a motherboard with undervoltage...??

 

[bcboy]

no was talkin bout his friend...perhaps Enderson fubar'd his mobo by putting an additional 4 into the 8-pin aux. my mobo came with a cap that covered 4 of the pins. I suspect if I removed that cap and put 4 more power lines in there, I could do some damage. There's a cap on it for a reason. Not that it matters, in my case, because my PSU simply doesn't have those other 4 pins...

 

[Endersun]

Well, let me be more thorough here. About my friend frying his board, his PSU didnt have a compatable connector for the slot to the CPU. He simply didnt have it plugged in at all, but he did have his 24pin plugged in, and when he powered on he fried his board/power supply. Now I dont know if that was exactly what caused him to do it, because I only know him over the internet, and I talk with him frequently. Im surprised to see no one thinks a board can be fried from not having the CPU power plugged in, but meh could have been something else that wasnt so obvious?

But back to my board I'm working.... I mean should I not plug in both 4 pin ATX plugs?

I mean it came with a plastic cap on half of the 8 pin connector, but I only thought this was a safeguard to make sure the 4 pin goes in the correct slot if thats what your working with.

I have two 4 pins labeled "CPU1" and CPU2" I just figured since I have them both, why not fill the whole 8pin slot up?

well nevertheless.... I got a no post 4 Green LED on powerup, and when I bought a powersupply with a 4pin only connector and plugged in the 4pin slot, it still didnt work, but I already mentioned that.

The point i'm trying to get across is I can plug in 4pin + 4pin connectors into an 8pin slot, and the comp doesn't post, but has power. Its not damaging anything, so why not plug in and fill all 8 pins? To me it either seems AS GOOD as plugging in just a 4 pin, or better if it isn't shorting out your board.. Doesn't it just mean the CPU has more power potential?

 

[RetiredChief]

The 2x4 connection is required/recommended for certain procs (ie Pentium D Extreme ED0. It is probably best to leave the cover in and use a 1 x 4 connection; however, You should not have a problem pluging the 2 x 4 connector in.

I had a 1 x 4 connected, changed PSU's and currently have the 2 x4 connected - to lazy to reconnect 1 x 4 and put cap back on.

 

[RetiredChief]

Reference "Undervoltage" or low voltage. In general, Yes some electronic systems can be damaged with low voltage. Most think in terms of I= E/R (Current = Voltage / Resistance) therfore if voltage is reduced then the resulting current would be lower. This is true for resitive loads, BUT May not be true for reactive loads.

NOTE: This applies to electronics in general, AND MAY NOT be applicable to PSU/Computer systems.

Ex (1) In many cases if you reduce the input voltage to a power supply the current may increase - Hopefully you would only blow a fuse.
Note: have had to verify current drain while vering supply voltage.

(2) If you reduce a voltage below a given piont (ie +12 Vgoes to +7 V) and IF this voltage is used to control a given circuit (Called Bias), The effected circuit may be destroyed.

 

[johhnyboy19]

"How many 4pins does your PSU have? Do you have one four pin plugged into the cpu 4 pin? You mentioned the 24 pin motherboard and 2, 4 pins for your grafics but you need a 4 pin for the CPU as well. If not you will never POST"

this absolutely crucial. the 4 pin CPU in addition to the 20+4 slot for the mother board, it's easy to confuse the 12v sli rails sometimes for the 4 pin CPU rails. the line of the PSU should be labeled properly, but sometimes they are not and you are plugging in the wrong rail into the wrong spot. most motherboards don't post when they are plugged in like this, thankfully, if it did then it would fry your board/cpu.