First time builder, need help.

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Nak-Nak

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The fans on the case, graphics card and processor all work. There is no input on the monitor. I was slightly flummoxed by the PSU connections and the sata installation and I have no idea how to make sure the set up is correct. The keyboard blinks when the I/0 switch at the back is turned on.

Specs:

Asus M2N32-SLi-DLX nForce 590 SLi (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC5400 Dual Channel Gold GX XTC Series
HIS ATI Radeon X1900 XT ICEQ 3 SILENT Heatpipe 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4200+ 2.20GHz (Socket AM2)
Akasa 500W Green Power 80+
Samsung 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer LightScribe
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB
Tsunami Dream SuperMidi Aluminium Tower

There is a green LED on on the motherboard. I can't figure out whether the gfx card is the problem as my current pc is too old for it. Same with the ram.

This is my first build and I'm terrified that I've bricked it somehow.
 
if your not working on carpet, you didnt plug the powersupply into the wall outlet untill you have all components were they need to be, and you didnt drop or use to much force on any components.... then you probably didnt do anything wrong.

remove you ram and re-instert and start with just 1 ram stick.

First thing you should always do with a new build is reset the CMOS. your motherboard manual tells you how. (make shur the comp is unpluged from the wall b4 you do so).

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if that doesnt work (meaning you still get no beeps or indication from the motherboard (the motherboard should beep at least once)

Assemble the parts on a table (put the motherboard ontop of the anti-static bag it came in)... doing that will rule out any shorting out to the pc case, also some cheaper cases are some what ascew sometimes so it may actually stop the PCI bracket from letting you fully insert the GFX card, but you may not know it.)

....thats actually how i start out new builds to rule anything out.
 
jolancer said:
if your not working on carpet, you didnt plug the powersupply into the wall outlet untill you have all components were they need to be, and you didnt drop or use to much force on any components.... then you probably didnt do anything wrong.

remove you ram and re-instert and start with just 1 ram stick.

First thing you should always do with a new build is reset the CMOS. your motherboard manual tells you how. (make shur the comp is unpluged from the wall b4 you do so).

----------------------------------------------------
if that doesnt work (meaning you still get no beeps or indication from the motherboard (the motherboard should beep at least once)

Assemble the parts on a table (put the motherboard ontop of the anti-static bag it came in)... doing that will rule out any shorting out to the pc case, also some cheaper cases are some what ascew sometimes so it may actually stop the PCI bracket from letting you fully insert the GFX card, but you may not know it.)

....thats actually how i start out new builds to rule anything out.

Thanks for responding. I took care to ground myself before touching anything and I assembled the machine on a wooden table. I didn't force any components, although it was a squeeze to get the gfx in, (it's a big card!) I don't think I damaged it in the process. I tried reseting the CMOS (that's when you change the jumper after taking out the battery, right? If I'm wrong, please tell me how, I didn't see anything about that in the mobo manual.) I tried the 1 stick of ram trick, no dice, does it matter which slot I put it in?

My build doesn't have a computer speaker, I think the power LED speaks the same language though, although at the moment it just blinks one long, one short (or something like that) and goes dead. The front LEDs on the case are operational.

It is difficult for me to eliminate possible problem parts due to the fact that I don't have a machine that is capable of using them.
 
the instruction on how to reset CMOS is definatly in the motherboard manual, you may have just overlooked it. its nota large section.

i explain how to reset it at the bottom of this post:
http://www.techist.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=125753

Did you connect all the power cables to your Motherboard and GFX card? if not that would probably cause it not to boot....

i never used a s775 board so ther may be connections im not aware of but usualy you need to connect the:
) Large 24pin ATX power cord to the board
) the small 4pin 12v power cord to the board
) and however many 6pin PCIE power cords to the GFX card that it requires) (usually just 1x 6pin)

Also disconnect everything else.... for example you dont need a Floppy or EIDE Device/HDD connected... you can boot Into BIOS with just /CPU/Ram/GFX Card/Keyboard
-------------------------------

if still not working you may wont to barrow a speaker from a different computer, so you can hear what your Motherboard is Beeping out.... then your Manual or the Support section on the Manufactuers website can tell you what the beep code means, and it may narrow down your prob.
 
Thanks again, I'm going to try that tomorrow, if that doesn't work I'll try it from the start, and if THAT doesn't work I suppose I'll have to either take the whole thing to a repair shop or borrow a pc to see what part is buggered and try and get a refund/replacement, although I don't know what my rights are as in regards to that sort of thing. Anyway, I'll report back tomorrow, if it works I'll be eternally grateful.
 
jolancer said:
the instruction on how to reset CMOS is definatly in the motherboard manual, you may have just overlooked it. its nota large section.

i explain how to reset it at the bottom of this post:
http://www.techist.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=125753

Did you connect all the power cables to your Motherboard and GFX card? if not that would probably cause it not to boot....

i never used a s775 board so ther may be connections im not aware of but usualy you need to connect the:
) Large 24pin ATX power cord to the board
) the small 4pin 12v power cord to the board
) and however many 6pin PCIE power cords to the GFX card that it requires) (usually just 1x 6pin)

Also disconnect everything else.... for example you dont need a Floppy or EIDE Device/HDD connected... you can boot Into BIOS with just /CPU/Ram/GFX Card/Keyboard
-------------------------------

if still not working you may wont to barrow a speaker from a different computer, so you can hear what your Motherboard is Beeping out.... then your Manual or the Support section on the Manufactuers website can tell you what the beep code means, and it may narrow down your prob.

No dice. I took it apart earlier and put it all back together again, I tried switching it on with only the things you suggested - same happened. I even tried without the gfx card, again, same. I reset CMOS too, same thing again. I couldn't find anything about the meaning of the pled flashes in the manual. It either flashes once and goes off or it flashes once, then quickly again, or it flashes twice, quickly. The reset button seems to work. I also tried shifting the gfx card to another PCI-E slot, no change. Is it significant that my PSU has 2 12v rails that only got at 18A each, there is only one CPU power slot on my motherboard.


Thanks for helping me, if anything is dead, what do you think it is likely to be?
 
1) did you remember to plug in the 12v power connection to your Powersupply? (see bellow image)

2) since your using a SLI board, look at your manual (i never used a SLI baord)... but maybe theres a jumper setting or something witch needs to be configured properly to enable or Disable SLI.

....also make shur your CMOS Reset jumper is on the Default Pins (pins 1,2) otherwise it will not boot. (pins 2,3) clear Cmos.

3) take the speaker out of your other computer or something and use it on that board(unless your shur the LED also serves the same purpose, cause i know previouse generation boards didnt do that).

heres a generl list of beep codes, unfortunatly AWARD Bios beep codes seem to be specific to manufacturer at times...
http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm

this also may or maynot help:
http://support.asus.com/troubleshooting/troubleshooting.aspx?no=762&SLanguage=en-us

but if you do get a specific beep code, you can ask ASUS support or something for what it means, if its not listed above... cause i couldnt find anything specific to asus beep codes.

(EDIT): o yea, about your PSU quesiton... no your PSU is fine... Dual 12v Rails are better, each rail does not need as much Amperage as a Single 12V Rail PSU.

m3n32exnj8.gif
 
Thanks for replying again, yes that is plugged in.

I asked the same question at the Asus user to user support forums and someone came up with this:

"You are in the same boat I was in - I have the exact same memory as you. Unfortunately the only way I got the memory to work is by updating the BIOS to 0307 using some cheap Transcend RAM I had on my workbench. I tried all the different RAM voltages to get BIOS version 0202 to recognise the memory to no avail, it was not until I upgraded to 0307 did I get everything to work at the proper speeds 5-5-5-12! Hope that helps."

A couple of the beep codes on that page might correspond with this, although one of the possible beep/flash explanations means video failure. I'll see about putting a computer speaker in and check if the beeps are the same, back later!
 
If hes using the same motherboard and ram as you... then it sounds like he *probably found the cause of your issue.

a Bios update is the first thing i would have recomended you.. but since you cant post or see any display its not realy possible.

just for the **** of it, did you also try to boot with a single ram stick in your Secondary Dimm slots instead?
 
I'll try it and get back to you. No go on using my normal computer speaker...as it doesn't have one! Something that I failed to pick up on ever since making it about 5 years ago, my goodness, no wonder I've had difficulties building this computer.
 
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