System won't post

[allsops]

I'm putting together a system out of new and old parts, the specs are:

ECS KT600-A motherboard
AMD Sempron 2500+
2 x 512mb Kingston value DDR400
Asus GeForce3 (old)
... other random stuff (network card n stuff)

Anyways, i tried in the case and it wouldn't boot. So I followed the THG archives suggestions and put just the cpu, fan and RAM on the mobo, placed it on a phonebook and tried it out. Still nothing.

What happens is the fans and such startup for about 5 seconds then shutdown.

Also, one thing I noticed is it starts up right away when I flick the power switch on the PSU which seems wrong to me.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[endyen]

When it was on the phone book, did you momentarily short the power switch pins on the mobo?

 

[pat]

"put just the cpu, fan and RAM on the mobo, placed it on a phonebook and tried it out. Still nothing."

And what about the video card?


-Always put the blame on you first, then on the hardware !!!

 

[allsops]

No, I plugged in the case 'on/off' switch instead of shorting the jumpbers.

And yes, my mistake, I also plugged in the video card. Though, I tried with it both in and out and each time the same result - runs for about 5 seconds then shuts off.

 

[endyen]

Okay, try just the mobo, no chip, no ram, no graphics.

 

[allsops]

I plugged in just the mobo to the psu, it didn't shut down like before. Is this a processor issue then because I checked and the processor should work with this motherboard.

 

[Cybercraig]

You may need a BIOS flash to use the Sempron with this board.

Abit IS7 - 3.0C @ 3.6ghz - Mushkin PC4000 (2 X 512) - Sapphire 9800Pro - TT 420 watt Pure Power
Samsung 120gb ATA-100 - Maxtor 40gb ATA - 100
Sony DRU-510A - Yellowtail Merlot

 

[allsops]

Hmmmm, ok, BIOS flash... so how do I flash the BIOS if the thing wont startup and doesn't work with the processor? =[

 

[allsops]

After some more switching around components, I've realised that it always fails when any RAM is installed. I tried both DDR266 and DDR400 (seperately) and it would do the 'go for 5 seconds and then shutdown' thing.

 

[endyen]

It is either the slots or a ram compatability problem. Since you ram is better than the mob, I would see if I could exchange the board for one made by a reliable mobo maker.

 

[Crashman]

Do you have the CPU fan plugged into the correct header? Some boards will shut down if they detect the fan is spinning too slowly, or if they don't detect the CPU fan.

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[allsops]

Yes, I double checked and the cpu fan is plugged in properly. The problem only seems to occur when any RAM is plugged in. I tried 2 different types of RAM so I dont think it's a compatibility issue, I'm beginning to think that it's simply a faulty mobo.