new build won't boot

alex_jacobson

alex_jacobson

alex_jacobson

Associate
Joined
28 Nov 2008
Posts
8
I just cobbled together a new computer but for some strange reason it won't boot. PSU powers up, CPU fan spins, harddrives whir and DVD drives eject when you press their happy little button. But nothing is displayed on-screen and there are no happy beeps, not even error beeps (I checked and I do have the speaker doozy connected).

Here's the specs so you can see if there's any incompatibilities I've overlooked:

Some old 550w PSU I had lying around (works fine in other computers)
Intel Q6600 quad core doozy-mobile.
4gb Extra-Value DDR2 667
Foxconn G31MX-K
Some other stuff like harddrives which I'm fairly confident aren't the problem.

I originally tried putting in an nVidia 9600 grabbix card but when it didn't work I tried the onboard VGA and that didn't work either so I don't really think the graphics card is the problem.

Any ideas?
 
then the next course of action would be to try a different monitor?
With the absence of post beep errors it seems that your vga card is producing a signal, but your monitor isn't displaying it.
 
Good thinking but the monitor works fine on other computers.

Another interesting thing is that it won't turn off if you hold the power button and doesn't seem to restart either. The only way to turn it off is to switch off the PSU.
 
alex_jacobson said:
Good thinking but the monitor works fine on other computers.

Another interesting thing is that it won't turn off if you hold the power button and doesn't seem to restart either. The only way to turn it off is to switch off the PSU.
Click to expand...

Remember your PWRSW should be held down for 4 secs for it to power down the pc. Your RESETSW connector could simply be the wrong way round which would sort that issue.
OR....you may just have a problem with the power button on your case. Its not uncommon to have the glue/solder loosen up and for the contact to fail.

Back to your monitor. I take it as a new build, you don't have any os on it yet?
 
There are quite a few mobo's that require a cmos reset once first installed. You could try that as well.

And yeah as Nitristion said, alter the ram around. I don't think this has anything to do with the power/resetting issue, but it may have bearings on your monitor issue, as ram can do some totally weird stuff.
 
Ok, so I've tried all possible variations on the RAM seating with no luck. I've also tried clearing the CMOS and still nothing. I've double-checked my jumper settings on the front panel connectors and there's no problem there.

I'm really not sure where to go from here, I've double checked all the power cables and reseated the ram, stripped it down to its core components. I'm tempted to assume it's something to do with the CPU but surely I'd get error beeps if it was.
 
well it is possible your gaphics controller is borked! Could you ring them and maybe RMA it?
Is is set to POST in the bios. Again not all mobo's will automatically report POST beeps. Plenty of the pc's i have in my dept. don't POST beep at all.
T'is a tricky one.
 
I just tried inserting some different RAM from another computer and encountered the same problem. Then I decided to try turning on the computer without any RAM inserted at all and still got the same thing. It's interesting that I still didn't get any error beeps, suggests to me that either the problem is happening before it gets a chance to detect the RAM. Does that mean CPU?
 
well, if you can get into the bios there may be an option for the POST. whether its to disable/enable it, or even mute it. I'm not sure exactly, as yours is a foxconn, but i've had it on other mobo's just can't remember where it was.
You even have a dodgy system speaker that when working would beep like crazy and tell you the problem. You can get plug in system speaker, they're dead cheap from ******s etc.
If its there you should find it though, the bios aint THAT big.


edit: oh for the love of god, filtered out the name of a retailer. :rolleyes: OCUK shouldn't call them a competitor as they're prices are far far high than OCUK's. Aaah well. A cartographer might visit this shop ;)
 
Fixed!

I just reseated the CPU and CPU fan and now it boots fine.

Thanks for all your suggestions which helped me narrow down the source of the problem - special thanks to k.Jacko who was relentless in his support.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom