Boot Problem--CUV4X

[KenJ]

I have a CUV4X with a PIII 1Ghz chip that has worked great since I put the
unit together a few years back. These days, I use it as a server.

I purchased a different case (CaseEdge), and for some reason, it will not
boot. The green LED on the motherboard only goes on when I push the power
switch. I assumed it might be the power supply, and switched it with the
original 350-Watt Antec unit. Still no luck. I tried two other power
supplies, each 400-watt and it still will not boot. I hear a slight noise
for about two seconds from the HD and it just sits there. I've reseated the
chip and tried it with only the HD and the video card, and replaced the
lithium battery while it was powered.

After reading some other newsgroup posts, I gather the green LED is on when
the 5-volt standby voltage is present, while plugged in and turned off.
Should the motherboard be able to boot up if the green light isn't present?
I have no video, so I can't get into the BIOS setup.

One other thing, the mainboard was in the original packing in the original
box for two weeks before I assembled the box. I also confirmed the hard
drive was good on another computer (another CUV4X server with the same
equipment).

Any help would be appreciated. This is the first time I've ran into trouble
with an ASUS board, as I've purchased over 20 throughout the years.

Thank You,

Ken

(e-mail address removed) (remove NOSPAM)

 

[Nikolaos Tampakis]

I have a CUV4X with a PIII 1Ghz chip that has worked great since I put the
unit together a few years back. These days, I use it as a server.

I purchased a different case (CaseEdge), and for some reason, it will not
boot. The green LED on the motherboard only goes on when I push the power
switch. I assumed it might be the power supply, and switched it with the
original 350-Watt Antec unit. Still no luck. I tried two other power
supplies, each 400-watt and it still will not boot. I hear a slight noise
for about two seconds from the HD and it just sits there. I've reseated the
chip and tried it with only the HD and the video card, and replaced the
lithium battery while it was powered.

After reading some other newsgroup posts, I gather the green LED is on when
the 5-volt standby voltage is present, while plugged in and turned off.
Should the motherboard be able to boot up if the green light isn't present?
I have no video, so I can't get into the BIOS setup.

One other thing, the mainboard was in the original packing in the original
box for two weeks before I assembled the box. I also confirmed the hard
drive was good on another computer (another CUV4X server with the same
equipment).

Any help would be appreciated. This is the first time I've ran into trouble
with an ASUS board, as I've purchased over 20 throughout the years.

Thank You,

Ken

(e-mail address removed) (remove NOSPAM)

Check for shorts between the motherboard and the new case. Typical
suspects are metal standoffs underneath the board at points where
there's no corresponding hole on the motherboard. IIRC the CUV4X has 6
mounting holes whereas standard ATX specifies 7 so the possibility exists.

Regards
Nikos

 

[KenJ]

Hi Nikos,

I've checked that already. I've tried it in and out of the case on a wood
workboard. I also tried it in the original Antec case it was in a year ago
with no luck. There are no burn marks, or puffed out capacitors, as the
board looks as new as the day I purchased it. All was working, before I
disassembled the unit with the normal anti-static precautions.

This one has me stumped, as I feel it has something to do with the LED not
on while plugged in and powered off. I did check the PS with a DVM and a
VTVM, and all voltages were correct. As I stated earlier, a known working
power supply (in the other CUV4X server), made no difference.

Once again, thanks for your thoughts,

Ken

 

[P2B]

Hi Nikos,

I've checked that already. I've tried it in and out of the case on a wood
workboard. I also tried it in the original Antec case it was in a year ago
with no luck. There are no burn marks, or puffed out capacitors, as the
board looks as new as the day I purchased it. All was working, before I
disassembled the unit with the normal anti-static precautions.

This one has me stumped, as I feel it has something to do with the LED not
on while plugged in and powered off. I did check the PS with a DVM and a
VTVM, and all voltages were correct. As I stated earlier, a known working
power supply (in the other CUV4X server), made no difference.

Once again, thanks for your thoughts,

Ken

I was about to suggest a bench test, but since you've done that the
board is suspect despite anti-static precautions taken during migration
to the new case. The green LED *should* be on if the power supply is
supplying +5v standby, but if it powers up (CPU fan spins) when you hit
the power switch, LED status can be ignored.

Since it shows no signs of life on the bench, your next step requires a
POST diagnostic card to see if there's any BIOS activity on power up.

HTH

P2B

 

[Nikolaos Tampakis]

Hi Nikos,

I've checked that already. I've tried it in and out of the case on a wood
workboard. I also tried it in the original Antec case it was in a year ago
with no luck. There are no burn marks, or puffed out capacitors, as the
board looks as new as the day I purchased it. All was working, before I
disassembled the unit with the normal anti-static precautions.

This one has me stumped, as I feel it has something to do with the LED not
on while plugged in and powered off. I did check the PS with a DVM and a
VTVM, and all voltages were correct. As I stated earlier, a known working
power supply (in the other CUV4X server), made no difference.

Once again, thanks for your thoughts,

Ken

Well maybe for some reason there's a problem in the 5v standby circuit.
This could explain the non-lit LED. Also the 5vsb line must supply at
least 10 mA per specifications to ensure ATX-power-up so improper 5vsb
feed could further explain the non-booting.
The real question is if anything during the transit could account for
such kind of damage.
There's the unlikely chance of a cold solder joint developing exactly on
the 5vsb pin of the power connector, but this would seem way
coincidental. Still you might want to check the voltages on those joints.
You might also want to check the CPU but of course chances are it's ok...

Regards
Nikos

 

[KenJ]

Hi P2B,

Thanks for the suggestion. I dug up an older ISA POST card I had in the
basement. The dual indicators flashed some quick
flashes (not numbers) and then went dead. I then swapped the two 1Ghz chips
and it made no difference. The chip that didn't boot up in the problem
machine. booted up well in the duplicate server.

I think I may have hit a dead end, but open too more suggestions. Thanks for
your thoughts.

Ken

 

[KenJ]

Hi Nikos, I'll check the readings on both of my servers when I have a chance
(one must stay on for my business during the day). I never moved the parts
more than 3 feet away, as they are on one of my workbenches. I didn't have
this machine on as much as the other, only for creating duplicate backups.

If you get any other thoughts, give me a shout.

Thanks,

Ken

 

[Ron]

Hmm. Well, it's a VERY long shot, but...

Three nights ago, I brought home a client's tower for a complete component
swap. He had an giant full tower, and wanted a more reasonable-sized case.
Both side panels were missing, and the 3½" drive bay "cage" was only secured
on one side. The front panel was hanging on by a thread. It was a mess.
He said that it booted, and ran pretty well.

Anyway, this was a P-III/1000 with two HDD's, two opticals & a floppy. It
uses a 250W PSU by Mitsuko (?) And - guess what? Not just a CUV4X-E, but a
CUV4X-E with a revision level that is non-existent on any Asus web page.
(Rev. 1.05)

So, I do the re & re using all the orig components. I look up the manual on
the web -- for Rev. 1.00 -- and there is no HDD LED connector marked in the
block diagram. Nor is it on the mobo. I leave the wire off. Fire up the
PSU. Green light on the mobo. Press power switch. CPU fan runs, and I'm
into the BIOS. No drives detected! None.

Endless fiddling and hand-wringing begins at this point.
<fiddle>
<wring>

I'll provide additional details if you want, but I eventually discovered
that the HDD would only spin up if the IDE ribbon was off. (It had a
80-wire ribbon on the PRI channel and a 40-wire on the SEC channel)
<fiddle>
<wring>

Finally got everything going by changing the secondary IDE cable (!!)

The trouble is, I'm still not *certain* that the SEC ribbon was the culprit,
but using a different one -- apparently identical -- got all four drives
running. So, the client has his new box, and we're both happy.

HTH. (Further info upon request)
Ron

 

[KenJ]

Ron, Thanks for the reply. I would appreciate the additional details you
mentioned as this one has me stumped. Before I tear apart the duplicate
server that works and try the same motherboard which doesn't, I'd like to
try everything that posters have mentioned.

If you'd like, you can E-Mail me at the address below--just remove "NOSPAM".

I see you are in Canada. I live in Wisconsin and spend a lot of time in
Ontario where have a cabin near Hurst. In fact, I'm heading up there next
week and would like to get this resolved before we leave. I love that part
of the world!

Thanks,

Ken

(e-mail address removed)

 

[P2B]

Hi P2B,

Thanks for the suggestion. I dug up an older ISA POST card I had in the
basement. The dual indicators flashed some quick
flashes (not numbers) and then went dead. I then swapped the two 1Ghz chips
and it made no difference. The chip that didn't boot up in the problem
machine. booted up well in the duplicate server.

I think I may have hit a dead end, but open too more suggestions. Thanks for
your thoughts.

Yup, IMHO you have diagnosed a hardware failure on the motherboard. Next
step would be board-level diagnosis and repair, however that's rarely
economical.

P2B

 

[Ron]

(Nice to hear about your appreciation of the frozen north!)

Initially -- having been informed that the system was working fine -- I
moved *everything* into the new case except the sndcard and the NIC. And I
left the second optical drive [Molex] temporarily disconnected. But
otherwise everything was mounted and connected. I did not remove the CPU or
the hsf.

In the old case, the HDD LED wire was connected to a separate pair of pins
labelled "C91", which are 'way down at the extreme edge of the mobo. I
searched forever on the web for a manual for this board, but the closest I
got was Rev. 1.00 (as opposed to Rev. 1.05, which was clearly stamped onto
the board). There was no reference to the "C91" pins on the diagram for the
Rev. 1.00 board, nor was there any indication as to where to connect the HDD
LED wire. So I left it disconnected.

The boot drive (PRI-MAS) was a Fujitsu and the PRI-SL was a WD Caviar.
SEC-MAS was a LG 52x, and SEC-SL was an old Sony CD-R. PRI channel had a
80-wire ribbon, and SEC channel had a 40-wire ribbon.

Ti 500 dual-head w 64MB. 512 system memory.

ATX switch on = green light on mobo.

Power switch on = CPU fan running, and normal [white type on black
background] initialization. Memory check runs, drive initialization
runs...no drives detected.

Hmm.

*Pull Molex and IDE from PRI-SL. Same result.
*Pull IDE from SEC-SL. Same result.
*De-mount PRI-MAS and hold in hand when power on. Same result...but realize
HDD not running.
*Attach HDD LED wire to "C91" pins. Same result.
*Attach HDD LED to usual location on block pins. Same result.
*Remove SEC IDE and floppy cables. Same result.
*Disconnect IDE from PRI-MAS drive. Drive spins up when power switched on!
*Remove vidcard and mobo. Check for stray screws or other accidental
grounding beneath mobo. Nothing.
*Replace mobo & vidcard. Attach Molex and 80-wire IDE to PRI-MAS only. (No
floppy cable, no SEC cable) BIOS sees PRI-MAS right away.
*Connect SEC-MAS optical to mobo with different ribbon cable (only 2
connectors, not 3) BIOS now sees this drive too.
*Attach Molex and 80-wire IDE to PRI-SL. BIOS now sees this drive.
*Re-introduce original SEC ribbon cable; attaching only the SEC-MAS drive.
Nothing. NO drives detected at all.
*Introduce yet another SEC ribbon. (A spare 40-wire from my stash...with 3
connectors) ALL drives detected!
*Connect HDD LED to "C91" pins.
*System boots, and HDD LED works.
*Whiskey
*Re-mount boot drive and re-connect floppy.
*Normal boot.
*Install sndcard. Normal boot; sndcard detected and works.
*Install NIC. Same.
*Quick visit to Nvidia for latest vidcard drivers...installed...rebooted
fine.
*Close case.

This was a real stumper, and I was a bit worried for awhile. I am
scrupulous with ASD precautions; especially with other people's equipment.
And since I had been told this was a working system, I was feeling pretty
guilty when it wouldn't run. OTOH, when I returned it to the owner, he
confessed that he had physically abused the system just prior to handing it
over to me. (This seemed obvious by the condition of the tower). And he
indicated that he HAD been having some mysterious problems with it...which
led, no doubt, to it's multiple injuries.

So. You said your green light only lights when you press the power switch.
Do you mean the case power or the PSU power? Because the green should come
on with just PSU power [on] BEFORE case power is turned on.

You also said that you "...replaced the lithium battery while it was
powered..."

Please clarify. This sounds like you actually performed a re & re on the
battery *while power was flowing through the mobo*. <gulp>

Based upon my experience(s), I would remove all mobo screws, and set mobo
into case with ASD bag between standoffs and mobo. Then carefully examine
block diagram and ensure elec connections are correct. Then remove all
interface cables, all add-in cards except vidcard, and disconnect all Molex
connectors. Ensure the [JEN] jumper is set to the default of 2-3
(jumper-free mode) and that all DIP switches are off. Flip the switch on
the PSU. If green light does not come on, STOP.

Let's go from there, Ken. My gut tells me that you either have a wiring
anomaly, or the board has been [recently] fried.

HTH
Ron

 

[KenJ]

(Nice to hear about your appreciation of the frozen north!)

Thanks for the very detailed response. I certainly appreciate your time and
effort. Regarding the "frozen north", we only head up there in the spring
thr autumn. Can't stay away from the Maple Tim Horton donuts. Very upset
when I visted Columbus, Ohio last year and found out the "maple" variety is
not sold in the area.

Initially -- having been informed that the system was working fine -- I
moved *everything* into the new case except the sndcard and the NIC. And I
left the second optical drive [Molex] temporarily disconnected. But
otherwise everything was mounted and connected. I did not remove the CPU or
the hsf.

I initally moved evrything to the newer case. It's a dual boot system with a
20GB Seagate ST3240410A HD that was running into a Promise Ultra 100 TX2
controller card with 80-pin cable. It is the only drive or perifpheral

In the old case, the HDD LED wire was connected to a separate pair of pins
labelled "C91", which are 'way down at the extreme edge of the mobo. I
searched forever on the web for a manual for this board, but the closest I
got was Rev. 1.00 (as opposed to Rev. 1.05, which was clearly stamped onto
the board). There was no reference to the "C91" pins on the diagram for the
Rev. 1.00 board, nor was there any indication as to where to connect the HDD
LED wire. So I left it disconnected.

The boot drive (PRI-MAS) was a Fujitsu and the PRI-SL was a WD Caviar.
SEC-MAS was a LG 52x, and SEC-SL was an old Sony CD-R. PRI channel had a
80-wire ribbon, and SEC channel had a 40-wire ribbon.

Ti 500 dual-head w 64MB. 512 system memory.

ATX switch on = green light on mobo.

Power switch on = CPU fan running, and normal [white type on black
background] initialization. Memory check runs, drive initialization
runs...no drives detected.

Hmm.

*Pull Molex and IDE from PRI-SL. Same result.
*Pull IDE from SEC-SL. Same result.
*De-mount PRI-MAS and hold in hand when power on. Same result...but realize
HDD not running.
*Attach HDD LED wire to "C91" pins. Same result.
*Attach HDD LED to usual location on block pins. Same result.
*Remove SEC IDE and floppy cables. Same result.
*Disconnect IDE from PRI-MAS drive. Drive spins up when power switched on!
*Remove vidcard and mobo. Check for stray screws or other accidental
grounding beneath mobo. Nothing.
*Replace mobo & vidcard. Attach Molex and 80-wire IDE to PRI-MAS only. (No
floppy cable, no SEC cable) BIOS sees PRI-MAS right away.
*Connect SEC-MAS optical to mobo with different ribbon cable (only 2
connectors, not 3) BIOS now sees this drive too.
*Attach Molex and 80-wire IDE to PRI-SL. BIOS now sees this drive.
*Re-introduce original SEC ribbon cable; attaching only the SEC-MAS drive.
Nothing. NO drives detected at all.
*Introduce yet another SEC ribbon. (A spare 40-wire from my stash...with 3
connectors) ALL drives detected!
*Connect HDD LED to "C91" pins.
*System boots, and HDD LED works.
*Whiskey
*Re-mount boot drive and re-connect floppy.
*Normal boot.
*Install sndcard. Normal boot; sndcard detected and works.
*Install NIC. Same.
*Quick visit to Nvidia for latest vidcard drivers...installed...rebooted
fine.
*Close case.

This was a real stumper, and I was a bit worried for awhile. I am
scrupulous with ASD precautions; especially with other people's equipment.
And since I had been told this was a working system, I was feeling pretty
guilty when it wouldn't run. OTOH, when I returned it to the owner, he
confessed that he had physically abused the system just prior to handing it
over to me. (This seemed obvious by the condition of the tower). And he
indicated that he HAD been having some mysterious problems with it...which
led, no doubt, to it's multiple injuries.

So. You said your green light only lights when you press the power switch.
Do you mean the case power or the PSU power? Because the green should come
on with just PSU power [on] BEFORE case power is turned on.

You also said that you "...replaced the lithium battery while it was
powered..."

Please clarify. This sounds like you actually performed a re & re on the
battery *while power was flowing through the mobo*. <gulp>

Based upon my experience(s), I would remove all mobo screws, and set mobo
into case with ASD bag between standoffs and mobo. Then carefully examine
block diagram and ensure elec connections are correct. Then remove all
interface cables, all add-in cards except vidcard, and disconnect all Molex
connectors. Ensure the [JEN] jumper is set to the default of 2-3
(jumper-free mode) and that all DIP switches are off. Flip the switch on
the PSU. If green light does not come on, STOP.

Let's go from there, Ken. My gut tells me that you either have a wiring
anomaly, or the board has been [recently] fried.

HTH
Ron

 

[KenJ]

Sorry if the first message was posted. Hit the wrong button again and I
tried to cancel afterward. I'll try again!

(Nice to hear about your appreciation of the frozen north!)

Thanks for the very detailed response. I certainly appreciate your time and
effort. Regarding the "frozen north", we only head up there in the spring
thru autumn.
Can't stay away from the Maple Tim Horton donuts. Very upset when I visited
Columbus, Ohio last year and found out the "maple" variety is not sold in
the area.

Initially -- having been informed that the system was working fine -- I
moved *everything* into the new case except the sndcard and the NIC.

I initally moved everything to the newer case. It's a dual boot system (Win
98SE & Win 3.11) with a 20GB Seagate ST3240410A HD that is running into a
Promise Ultra 133 TX2
controller card with 80-pin cable. It is the only drive or perifpheral on
the card. The other HD is an ancient Conner CP30101G 1.21M that I had from a
system I built probably a decade ago.
It naturally is the drive with Win 3.11 and is a MS on the SEC IDE with the
normal 40-pin cable. On the PRI IDE of the board sits the CD-ROM with 80-pin
IDE cable. The only difference in the two servers, is the other one has two
80G drives running WinXP Pro and Win98SE. It also has the same Promise card
and both have a 32GB AGP nVidia graphics card.

ATX switch on = green light on mobo.

Power switch on = CPU fan running, and normal [white type on black
background] initialization. Memory check runs, drive initialization
runs...no drives detected.

As I mentioned, no green light on MB while plugged in. Hitting the front
case power switch turns on the green LED, case and CPU fan and a slight
clicking in the PRI HD. Then nothing.
I've tried running without HD or any other cards or other drives but the
video. Same results. Switched cables and and removed Promise card and tried
PRI HD in PRI IDE on board and still no luck.
When all floppy and CD-ROM drives are installed, no detection from LEDs on
these drives. It did of course detect the floppy when I intentionally
installed the floppy cable backwards.

The only difference in the panel connector setup, is this new CaseEdge case
does not have a 4-pin speaker connection for the panel connector block, and
the Power LED connector is a 2-pin versus the 3-pin on the ASUS board. After
a rewire to an old 3-pin connector, power light is on.

*Connect HDD LED to "C91" pins.
*System boots, and HDD LED works.

HDD LED normally attached to Promise card. After removing the card, I
attached to the "IDELED" connector on the board and nothing

So. You said your green light only lights when you press the power switch.
Do you mean the case power or the PSU power? Because the green should come
on with just PSU power [on] BEFORE case power is turned on.

You also said that you "...replaced the lithium battery while it was
powered..."

Please clarify. This sounds like you actually performed a re & re on the
battery *while power was flowing through the mobo*. <gulp>

Sorry, an error in my typing as it was getting late for me after fighting
this for four hours. I meant to say I replaced the lithium battery while the
unit was unplugged and out of the case (at least eight hours).

The green LED only fires up when I switch on the front case power switch.

Based upon my experience(s), I would remove all mobo screws, and set mobo
into case with ASD bag between standoffs and mobo. Then carefully examine
block diagram and ensure elec connections are correct. Then remove all
interface cables, all add-in cards except vidcard, and disconnect all Molex
connectors. Ensure the [JEN] jumper is set to the default of 2-3
(jumper-free mode) and that all DIP switches are off. Flip the switch on
the PSU. If green light does not come on, STOP.

I will try your above suggestion again tonight. There have been times you do
the same things over and over (assume), and then like magic, it works!

Late last night, I switched motherboards in the two identical "servers". I
used the PIII 1Ghz chip from the "bad" motherboard and it powered up
immediately
So, I basically isolated to the MB as I also used the same memory and othe
hardware in the "bad" board.

Let's go from there, Ken. My gut tells me that you either have a wiring
anomaly, or the board has been [recently] fried.

My guess is that the board is bad. I've been scouring many bookmarked
Interent shopping sites for either refurbished or surplus 370-pin 133Mhz
boards, and only come up with a few which list mATX boards with two DIMM
slots. Ironically, I purchased a new ASUS P4B from an E-Bayer in the Toronto
earlier in the year under the "Buy It Now" program for $60.00. Also listed
at the time was the same CUV4X for $5 less under the same program. Wish I
would have jumped on that. Most of the computers here are P4 3.06Ghz running
Win XP Pro. I use these P3s for archived programs and data.

Any sites that you are aware that may list 370 MB for sale? I've checked
PriceWatch, but there are a lot of sites that are not listed that are
selling these boards such as www.softwareandstuff.com .

I know of only four or five surplus and liquidators sites and have had no
luck. Two weeks ago, I built a box from an old P3V4X I had with a 1Ghz and
a Slot 1 to 370 adapter card to give to a family with very limited income.

Once again Ron, thank you very much for your time. These newsgroups sure
beat the days of the old BB where you wait for days for a two-line response.

Take care,

Ken

 

[KenJ]

Yup, IMHO you have diagnosed a hardware failure on the motherboard. Next
step would be board-level diagnosis and repair, however that's rarely
economical.

P2B

You're right, hardly worth the cost. I've been looking at Internet sites
trying to find a new, used or refurbished 370 133Mhz board.
All I find are mATX board with a couple of DIMM slots.

I've checked E-Bay and was too late bidding on the same board. PriceWatch
has very limited listings. I found a few sites that PriceWatch didn't
mention.

Any sites in North America you may pass along for securing the this type of
board?

Thanks,

Ken

 

[Ron]

Ken - here's a list of possible sources for you to find a 370 mobo.
http://www.altecmicro.com/index.html
http://www.vfxweb.com/index.asp
http://www.123compute.ca/
http://www.bramptoncomputes.com

As for your ongoing adventure, I copied 'n' pasted a snippet from your
recent reply:

"..As I mentioned, no green light on MB while plugged in. Hitting the front
case power switch turns on the green LED, case and CPU fan and a slight
clicking in the PRI HD. Then nothing."

Well, you've neatly avoided addressing my oh-so-carefully phrased question
from the last post. The "plugged in" issue is moot. What we are
trying to clarify is the position of the TWO switches that lie between the
hydro [from the wall] and the BIOS. Switch #1 is a black rocker-style on
the rear of the PSU. Switch #2 is mounted in the tower; probably on the
front, or maybe at the top front. In all the systems that I've built, the
mobo LED comes on with switch #1...BEFORE switch #2 is activated.

Typically -- and in your case as well -- the LED is merely a reminder that
power is flowing into the mobo. It is a visual cue designed to reduce the
likelihood of internal tinkering before killing power to the mobo. However,
since you say your LED comes on in response to case power switch...then
obviously the PSU switch is already in the ON position. Ergo, with *only*
PSU switch on, green lite is OFF. Not a good sign.

OK - another snip:

"...I've tried running without HD or any other cards or other drives but the
video. Same results."

Hmm. Everything after this little tidbit is, again, moot. If the
absolutely naked mobo + vidcard will not produce a POST screen...you're SOL.
Last remaining step is to remove mobo, insulate from case, and repeat POST
attempt.

BTW - I'm assuming that when you replaced the battery, you reset the CMOS.
I ask just in case the BIOS is set to "halt on all errors", or something
similar. Likely the battery removal reset it anyway, but most responders in
the NG suggest a RTC short just to be certain.

If nothing else, I am positively intrigued! And I am eager to hear how this
turns out.

Stay with it, Ken. It'll be a learning experience...and probably not just
for the two of us, either!

Ron

 

[KenJ]

Well, you've neatly avoided addressing my oh-so-carefully phrased question
from the last post. The "plugged in" issue is moot. What we are
trying to clarify is the position of the TWO switches that lie between the
hydro [from the wall] and the BIOS. Switch #1 is a black rocker-style on
the rear of the PSU. Switch #2 is mounted in the tower; probably on the
front, or maybe at the top front. In all the systems that I've built, the
mobo LED comes on with switch #1...BEFORE switch #2 is activated.

Ron, I did not avoid your question as there is no switch on the back of the
CaseEdge PSU, nor any where on that unit. The only "switch" is the 115/220
voltage
slde switch. In fact, there are no switches on any of my Antec PSUs.

Typically -- and in your case as well -- the LED is merely a reminder that
power is flowing into the mobo. It is a visual cue designed to reduce the
likelihood of internal tinkering before killing power to the mobo. However,
since you say your LED comes on in response to case power switch...then
obviously the PSU switch is already in the ON position. Ergo, with *only*
PSU switch on, green lite is OFF. Not a good sign.

OK - another snip:

"...I've tried running without HD or any other cards or other drives but the
video. Same results."

Hmm. Everything after this little tidbit is, again, moot. If the
absolutely naked mobo + vidcard will not produce a POST screen...you're SOL.
Last remaining step is to remove mobo, insulate from case, and repeat POST
attempt.

I did this once again and determined I'm SOL with this board.

BTW - I'm assuming that when you replaced the battery, you reset the CMOS.
I ask just in case the BIOS is set to "halt on all errors", or something
similar. Likely the battery removal reset it anyway, but most responders in
the NG suggest a RTC short just to be certain.

Yes I shorted the CLRTC pads early in the process.

If nothing else, I am positively intrigued! And I am eager to hear how this
turns out.

Stay with it, Ken. It'll be a learning experience...and probably not just
for the two of us, either!

Thanks for the suggestions and your help regarding this problem. I've
ordered another mainboard
with the same chipsets and hopefully it will be a smooth transition.

Take care,

Ken

 

[Ron]

Thanks for the follow-up, Ken. I am *astonished* to hear that a brand new
Antec PSU has no on/off switch on the rear. (No wonder we seemed to be on
different channels!) In fact, it was my understanding that all ATX PSU's
had a power switch. Very sorry for that misunderstanding.

Indeed it seems you've eliminated all options short of replacement. Were
the sites I sent to you of any help? From what source did you end up
ordering the replacement board?

I will watch for an update to this thread in a couple of days (?) to see how
you make out.

Cheers for now!
Ron

 

[KenJ]

Thanks for the follow-up, Ken. I am *astonished* to hear that a brand new
Antec PSU has no on/off switch on the rear. (No wonder we seemed to be on
different channels!) In fact, it was my understanding that all ATX PSU's
had a power switch. Very sorry for that misunderstanding.

Hi Ron, As stated in my last post, the PSU I was speaking of is a CaseEdge
350-Watt ATX P4 PSU. The Antecs I have around were purchased a few years
back--350 & 400-watt and only one is a P4 PSU with the four conductor plug.
Not the new generation of PSU's, but top of their line in their days.

Indeed it seems you've eliminated all options short of replacement. Were
the sites I sent to you of any help? From what source did you end up
ordering the replacement board?

Strangely enough, I have two boards coming. Thirty minutes after I ordered a
Soyo board from Tiger Direct, a friend of mine works for Intel found a new
CUV4X board, and will be shipping it Monday. Not sure if this is one of the
old "test" boards they use for their chips that was sitting on a shelf, or
he found it at a different source--but it"s no cost! He was a neighbor of
mine when I lived in Santa Clara, CA. At the time he was with HP (the 70s)
and I was with Comodore International in Palo Alto. He designed test
instruments for HP at that time. This timing couldn't be better as he is
retiring in June!

I will watch for an update to this thread in a couple of days (?) to see how
you make out.

I'll keep you informed of the progress. I'll probably wait until I get the
ASUS board and use the same board. So I'll have another board on hand as
I've built a few boxes with Soyo boards and have had no problems.

Thanks again,

Ken

 

[KenJ]

I will watch for an update to this thread in a couple of days (?) to see how
you make out.

Cheers for now!
Ron

Ron,

Just an update. I received both boards (new CUV4X) and the Soyo SYVBA133U
board and they both booted up within seconds. I will keep the Soyo board
installed and keep the ASUS board as a replacement for the other duplicate
computer with that same MB.


Take care,

Ken

 

[Ron]