Re: Puzzle

Derek wrote:
"Dr.H@l0nf1r£$" <yeah@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:sJCdnSsfaalFDa_bnZ2dnUVZ8qSnnZ2d@xxxxxxxxx
OK I've completed all the tests I can think of and narrowed the fault
down. I'm now going to post here and get some opinions :

I had a system bought from PC World under the Medion label back in
2002. last year I was flashing the BIOS when everything died.
Eventually after a reboot all I could get out of it was a continuous
beep; nothing else, even the screen was blank. I stripped the PC
down completely and I changed the motherboard from a custom-made-for
PC-World MSI board to an ASrock P4i56G. I used the old CPU, a
first-generation P4 2.8 GHz single-threaded chip; and old memory, 2
* 256GB sticks DDR. I had to adapt the case to be able to fit in any
PCI devices in the PCI slots as the position of the PCI slots
differed. I refitted the old PSU though I had to change the fan and
heatsink as the old ones didn't fit the board, DVD ROM, CD-RW,
floppy drive, and PATA HDDs; an 80GB drive and a Maxtor 20GB drive.
I connected up the front panel correctly although the 2 front USB
ports were left unconnected as the plug didn't fit the new board.
When checked all thoroughly I powered up and switched on. : The CPU fan
and case fan ran for 1 second and died. I pushed the
button again; same thing. Since then I've tried powering up with the
CD-RW unconnected, the DVD-ROM unconnected, both unconnected, the
floppy unconnected as well, even the HDDs unconnected, all with the
identical result. I've tested the PSU and found it to be faultless,
I've tried swapping the polarity of some of the front panel
connections; but still nothing works for more than 1 second, apart
from the LEDs. : Either the power LED or the HDD LED illuminates
constantly but on power up the lit LED goes out and the other
illuminates until the unit dies after 1 second...

So it can only be 1 of 3 things or maybe a combination of more than
1 of 3 things wrong. Those being the CPU is dead, the memory is
dead, or the brand new motherboard is dead. (I was extra-careful
about static protection when I fitted it. I wore an earthed
wristband and did not rest the board on anything other than its
anti-static bag briefly, having removed it from the bag immediately
before installing it in the case. The case was earthed at all times
during construction and I wore the wristband at all times.)

So; before I spend anything on this, I need to know if it's the CPU,
the RAM, the mobo, or any combination. (If all 3 I'll simply bin the
project.) Opinions please if you would be so good.

Thanks.

Try checking the POST for your bios
http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm before getting anal about
static.Unless you live in a nylon based environment mobo's are not
especially prone to static damage and since you are fitting it into a
nice earthed metal chassis which you should have discharged to before
slipping it out of the bag should not be an issue. It is possible to boot
a mobo bare with just the cpu and fan in place
to generate a no memory beep sequence to discount a mobo failure just
a though you did use the bios clear jumper before you started then
set it to normal? Derek

Normally when I build a computer I put it together and it works; but not
this one. I must admit I'm fairly a newcomer (A year +) to actually building
PCs, despite my electronics and PC maintenance (Software and some hardware.)
background. I'll try, and I don't remember whether I tried it before,
clearing the BIOS before setting it to normal before I start next time I get
the project set up. (I'm hastily building a website right at the moment, and
time is at a premium.) The reason I posted at the time I did was because I'd
had the case full of mobo sitting around for 2 months gathering dust /
sometimes doubling as a table, and I thought I'd give it another try, this
time using a new PATA cable rather than a second-hand one which I thought
may have been faulty. - Still no luck. It was a project I started in
February, which got sidelined by a number of computers I built for people,
and it ended up as a test-table on which I'd stand the computer I'd built
while it was under test and OS/software installation.

So I'm pondering, and I'm thinking right now; it could be the BIOS needs
resetting - worth a try, as is anything. It could be a short to case on the
mobo. It might be that the CPU and/or the RAM was damaged by static in 3
weeks storage while I set up my new system having lost the old one, which a
lot of the parts of this project came from, to a dodgy BIOS flash. It could
be that I bought a duff mobo. What it isn't is any of the drives or the PSU,
the cables, or the fans. (I hope not anyway. As I said; the PSU checks out
100% OK.)

I think I'm going to do as advised and test the mobo on nothing but the
anti-static bag on my desk when I get some spare time. If it still fails
then I'll try the BIOS clear jumper (Again?) If that fails to sort the
problem it seems to leave only CPU and RAM. - Which is a bit of a bitch at
the moment as I don't have any spare Intel chips lying around, having
converted to AMD only this year. So when I get time, a spare P4 or Celeron,
and a spare stick or two of DDR, I'll give it further attention.

Thanks to everyone who gave their opinion and advice, and to those who give
in the future. It may prove to be very helpful in some cases in the fullness
of time. I'll report back on this and the outcome when I get round to
working on it again, and hopefully get it working also.


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