thanks for the help people,
I have tried booting off a Windows Install CD and have tried using the
ASUS mobo CD. still nothing.
I am going to assume the AGP is not working OR the Radeon is bad.
will go to the parts store tomorrow and try to talk them out of a
salvaged PCI graphics board and try that. the bios should have the
drivers to crank up a CRT or a LCD monitor.
have tried reseating the AGB board with no joy.
going to quit.
will appreciate any suggestions.
IF I can get something working, I may just send this ATI back to
NEWEGG and buy an NVIDIA instead.
cheers
You've glossed over a few details. For example, if you cannot
see the BIOS screen at all, it is highly unlikely that jamming
a WinXP CD in the drive is going to do anything. Can you see
the BIOS screen ?
You will undoubtedly have replaced your video card by the time
you read this, but I'll make suggestions anyway:
Here are some typical scenarios:
1) Stuff all components. Flip switch on back of computer to "ON".
Result - Green LED on motherboard lights. This tells us +5VSB,
which is essential to the startup process, is available. If
the green motherboard LED won't light, check that PSU.
2a) Push the power button on the front of the case. Nothing happens.
"No fans spin". That tells us the PS_ON# signal from the
motherboard to the PSU isn't happening. It could be bad
PSU, the AGP warn circuit has detected an illegal card, or
the case power switch is bad (it happens occasionally).
2b) Push the power button. Nothing happens, but the fans are
spinning. This means the motherboard likes the AGP card,
PS_ON# works, +5VSB is OK, but the CPU isn't POSTing or
the video card is kaput. If enough of the motherboard works,
that it emits beeps, the beep code may indicate the duff
component. If you have Voice POST, listen to the voice
messages coming out on the Lineout connector.
Note: For Athlon64 boards and P4 boards, they have a 2x2
ATX12V connector. Without this connector installed, you will
get the symptoms you are experiencing. I think you are in
state 2b.
2c) Push the power button. You get a single beep. But no video
appears. You see attempted access to CD drive, flicker of
HD etc, indicating the motherboard thinks it has a working
video card, when it does not. Check the video card has its
Aux power cable, if one is provided. Otherwise, RMA video
card.
3) Push the power button. The BIOS appears. Now we can check
the IDE section and see if drives are detected. Pay attention
to any errors or warnings printed on the screen. Use the
Pause key to stop the text, to be able to read it. Press whatever
key is used to enter the BIOS setup, and stop automatic boot.
Set the clock to the current time/date. If the battery is good,
the time might already be close to being correct. Leave everything
set to defaults, if you don't understand what the settings do.
From the Exit menu, save and exit. After the machine resets and
the BIOS comes up again, you can switch off (not while it is
saving any settings from the Save and Exit!).
4) If you are a methodical person, the next test is to get a
copy of memtest86 from memtest.org. The program contains a
floppy disk formatter, and will format a blank floppy for you.
A single file is placed on the floppy, and there is no file
system. You have to enter the BIOS and set up the boot order
so that the floppy drive comes first. Boot with the memtest86
disk. Run at least a couple passes of memtest86 and verify it
is error free, before thinking about booting a hard drive or
inserting an install CD. If errors are detected, adjust memory
timing or examine voltages in BIOS Hardware Monitor page, for
clues as to what is wrong.
5) Now, you are ready to install. At this point, you have examined
your BIOS, and hardware is detected, and the BIOS behaves in
a sane manner. By running memtest, you know the CPU and memory
can run error free for a period of time. Based on this, you
can attempt an install. If it doesn't work, then your problems
could be disk drive related, bad install CD, dirty CD drive etc.
Since in a previous post, you were describing the use of an Antec
550W EPS supply, I have a feeling it isn't cabled correctly for
your board. I cannot verify this, because Antec doesn't have the
proper documentation for the 550W EPS on their web site - instead
they present the vanilla 550W info, which doesn't tell me whether
your PSU has 24pin main connector + 8 pin ATX12V, or whether it
has adapters included for use with an ATX system.
If you have a desktop ATX supply (that is "P4 ready"), it will
have the normal 20 pin ATX power connector (with one 12V pin and
that is what makes the fans plugged into the motherboard spin),
plus it will have the 2x2 ATX12V power plug. That plug powers
only the processor power converter - if the plug is missing, the
processor cannot possibly start.
So, post back carefully what progress you've made, as it sounds
like you are trying to skip a few steps
HTH,
Paul
