New system won't post

  • Thread starter Thread starter Matty Anderson
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Matty Anderson

Yesterday I assembled a new system:
Biostar NF4U AM2G mobo
Sapphire X1950XT Pro PCI-E video card
AMD 400+ X2 cpu
Apevia 500W PSU
2 x 1Gb Wintec AmpX 6400 DDR2 ram
Seagate 400Gb SATA hd
Seagate 120 IDE hd
2 Lite-On DVD burners

That's it, nothing too fancy. When I first powered on, it posted, and I
went into BIOS to change boot order to boot from CD. Then I powered down,
and left it overnight. Today when I pressed the power button, no post.
WTF? All that happens is there is power for a split second, just enough for
the fans to spin and for the keyboard LED's to flicker for a moment. Then
nothing, except the power light remains on on the case. If I hold power
button down for 5 sec, power led shuts off, and when I press power again,
same thing.

I have just taken everything out of the case and reseated the CPU, RAM,
video card... no change. I have never experienced this before. Any ideas?
I'm racking my brain, but there are so few symptoms I can't even make a
reasonable diagnosis. Unfortunately I don't have a spare PSU to try. Could
it be the PSU? mobo? I can't think what else could be the culprit.

Thanks for your advice,
Matt
 
Yesterday I assembled a new system:
Biostar NF4U AM2G mobo
Sapphire X1950XT Pro PCI-E video card
AMD 400+ X2 cpu
Apevia 500W PSU
2 x 1Gb Wintec AmpX 6400 DDR2 ram
Seagate 400Gb SATA hd
Seagate 120 IDE hd
2 Lite-On DVD burners

That's it, nothing too fancy. When I first powered on, it posted, and I
went into BIOS to change boot order to boot from CD. Then I powered down,
and left it overnight. Today when I pressed the power button, no post.
WTF? All that happens is there is power for a split second, just enough for
the fans to spin and for the keyboard LED's to flicker for a moment. Then
nothing, except the power light remains on on the case. If I hold power
button down for 5 sec, power led shuts off, and when I press power again,
same thing.

I have just taken everything out of the case and reseated the CPU, RAM,
video card... no change. I have never experienced this before. Any ideas?
I'm racking my brain, but there are so few symptoms I can't even make a
reasonable diagnosis. Unfortunately I don't have a spare PSU to try. Could
it be the PSU? mobo? I can't think what else could be the culprit.

Thanks for your advice,
Matt
Click to expand...

All I can suggest is to strip it to the bare minimum to narrow things
down. Remove all cards & drives, see if it stays up. After that its
playing swaps with the remaining bits. mobo and psu have to be the
prime suspects.


NT
 
Hmmmmmm. Seems as if I had that problem once. A long time ago. I think it
was a CPU fan that wasn't working. Try a minimum set=up, video card,
keyboard, memory. Unplug all drives. Leave case open and watch for the CPU
fan to start immediately after starting up.
HTH
 
That minimum setup is exactly what I've got right now (with the CPU, too).
Yes, the CPU fan does spin. There are 6 fans: 2 in the PSU, CPU, case, and
northbridge, and they all spin for just a second, and then slow down to a
stop. The obvious symptom is that power is only staying on for a split
second, then quitting. I'm guessing it sounds like it starts with the PSU.
 
Matty Anderson said:
That minimum setup is exactly what I've got right now (with the CPU, too).
Yes, the CPU fan does spin. There are 6 fans: 2 in the PSU, CPU, case, and
northbridge, and they all spin for just a second, and then slow down to a
stop. The obvious symptom is that power is only staying on for a split
second, then quitting. I'm guessing it sounds like it starts with the PSU.
Click to expand...

If you're SURE all your front headers all attached correctly, then yes, you
need to sub another PSU to test.
 
Travis McGee said:
If you're SURE all your front headers all attached correctly, then yes, you
need to sub another PSU to test.
Click to expand...
A quick follow up......what I had in mind was you attached the PS to the
re-set switch. If not, I recall the PSU has a lead called something like
"power good" that tests the PSU voltage at start-up and shuts it down if
power isn't good. Still, another PSU to test with would be the next step
IMHO.

Maybe someone has a better memory than me!
 
Yesterday I assembled a new system:
Biostar NF4U AM2G mobo
Sapphire X1950XT Pro PCI-E video card
AMD 400+ X2 cpu
Apevia 500W PSU
2 x 1Gb Wintec AmpX 6400 DDR2 ram
Seagate 400Gb SATA hd
Seagate 120 IDE hd
2 Lite-On DVD burners

That's it, nothing too fancy. When I first powered on, it posted, and I
went into BIOS to change boot order to boot from CD. Then I powered down,
and left it overnight. Today when I pressed the power button, no post.
WTF? All that happens is there is power for a split second, just enough for
the fans to spin and for the keyboard LED's to flicker for a moment. Then
nothing, except the power light remains on on the case. If I hold power
button down for 5 sec, power led shuts off, and when I press power again,
same thing.

I have just taken everything out of the case and reseated the CPU, RAM,
video card... no change. I have never experienced this before. Any ideas?
I'm racking my brain, but there are so few symptoms I can't even make a
reasonable diagnosis. Unfortunately I don't have a spare PSU to try. Could
it be the PSU? mobo? I can't think what else could be the culprit.

Thanks for your advice,
Matt
Click to expand...

is the Electricity stable, if not u can try using a AVR 500watt if
that's ok try another psu or reseat the cpu,RAM once more and
disconnect the HD Ribbon cable and leave it for a 5 to 10 Mins also
reset the ATX power from he mb..
 
mattya25 said:
That minimum setup is exactly what I've got right now (with the CPU, too).
Yes, the CPU fan does spin. There are 6 fans: 2 in the PSU, CPU, case, and
northbridge, and they all spin for just a second, and then slow down to a
stop. The obvious symptom is that power is only staying on for a split
second, then quitting. I'm guessing it sounds like it starts with the PSU.
Click to expand...

You said you had been fiddling with the bios. Have you
tried resetting the CMOS? If, yes and it didn't help, next
thing I'd try is a power supply.

Bill
 
Try the other suggestions in this group, as they are good ones.
Also, check that the CPU heatsink and fan haven't come loose from the CPU
chip. That would cause this symptom.
Good luck
Jack R
 
Yesterday I assembled a new system:
Biostar NF4U AM2G mobo
Sapphire X1950XT Pro PCI-E video card
AMD 400+ X2 cpu
Apevia 500W PSU
2 x 1Gb Wintec AmpX 6400 DDR2 ram
Seagate 400Gb SATA hd
Seagate 120 IDE hd
2 Lite-On DVD burners

That's it, nothing too fancy. When I first powered on, it posted, and I
went into BIOS to change boot order to boot from CD. Then I powered down,
and left it overnight. Today when I pressed the power button, no post.
WTF? All that happens is there is power for a split second, just enough for
the fans to spin and for the keyboard LED's to flicker for a moment. Then
nothing, except the power light remains on on the case. If I hold power
button down for 5 sec, power led shuts off, and when I press power again,
same thing.

I have just taken everything out of the case and reseated the CPU, RAM,
video card... no change. I have never experienced this before. Any ideas?
I'm racking my brain, but there are so few symptoms I can't even make a
reasonable diagnosis. Unfortunately I don't have a spare PSU to try. Could
it be the PSU? mobo? I can't think what else could be the culprit.

Thanks for your advice,
Matt
Click to expand...

It doesn't sound like you did enough changing of the bios to make a
difference but I would find the motherboard book and look for a bios
reset feature and try that. I would also remove everything that isn't
needed to fire it up leaving only one of the HDD, one stick of memory,
video card, one dvd drive. If it doesn't post then try the other stick
of memory by itself ( you're trying to eliminate the possibility of a
bad stick of memory). Also try reseating the motherboard power
connector (the 20 or 24 pin connector). If that doesn't uncover any
more clues, take it to a shop that can test your PSU. They may do it
for free if they think you'll buy a part from them. Good luck.

Jeff
 
Matty Anderson said:
Yesterday I assembled a new system:
Biostar NF4U AM2G mobo
Sapphire X1950XT Pro PCI-E video card
AMD 400+ X2 cpu
Apevia 500W PSU
2 x 1Gb Wintec AmpX 6400 DDR2 ram
Seagate 400Gb SATA hd
Seagate 120 IDE hd
2 Lite-On DVD burners

That's it, nothing too fancy. When I first powered on, it posted, and I
went into BIOS to change boot order to boot from CD. Then I powered down,
and left it overnight. Today when I pressed the power button, no post.
WTF? All that happens is there is power for a split second, just enough
for the fans to spin and for the keyboard LED's to flicker for a moment.
Then nothing, except the power light remains on on the case. If I hold
power button down for 5 sec, power led shuts off, and when I press power
again, same thing.

I have just taken everything out of the case and reseated the CPU, RAM,
video card... no change. I have never experienced this before. Any
ideas? I'm racking my brain, but there are so few symptoms I can't even
make a reasonable diagnosis. Unfortunately I don't have a spare PSU to
try. Could it be the PSU? mobo? I can't think what else could be the
culprit.

Thanks for your advice,
Matt
Click to expand...
I seems you have done everything except the obvious swap of PSUs. The
symptom you are having is a common one for a failed PSU. I am not very
familiar with the Apevia PSUs. I generally use PC Power and Cooling units
myself since I have never had an issue with them. Some PSU companies label
their units with the startup value rather than the actual running wattage.
When they do this it may have a 500w startup, but actual running wattage
might be as low as 300-350w and may not be of the best quality. I always
think of the PSU as the heart of the system and never skimp there.


Ed
 
remove everything ( including your power connectors)
recheck manual for proper wiring of power and reset ect.
just CPU/HSF and PSU then boot-- beeps? sirens? good
put in memory (1 stick) then boot beeps? good
put in video card then boot post?
 
Yesterday I assembled a new system:
Biostar NF4U AM2G mobo
Sapphire X1950XT Pro PCI-E video card
AMD 400+ X2 cpu
Apevia 500W PSU
2 x 1Gb Wintec AmpX 6400 DDR2 ram
Seagate 400Gb SATA hd
Seagate 120 IDE hd
2 Lite-On DVD burners

That's it, nothing too fancy. When I first powered on, it posted, and I
went into BIOS to change boot order to boot from CD. Then I powered down,
and left it overnight. Today when I pressed the power button, no post.
WTF? All that happens is there is power for a split second, just enough for
the fans to spin and for the keyboard LED's to flicker for a moment. Then
nothing, except the power light remains on on the case. If I hold power
button down for 5 sec, power led shuts off, and when I press power again,
same thing.

I have just taken everything out of the case and reseated the CPU, RAM,
video card... no change. I have never experienced this before. Any ideas?
I'm racking my brain, but there are so few symptoms I can't even make a
reasonable diagnosis. Unfortunately I don't have a spare PSU to try. Could
it be the PSU? mobo? I can't think what else could be the culprit.

Thanks for your advice,
Matt
Click to expand...


1) Unplug PSU from AC for 3+ minutes, then plug back in and
retry it.

2) Unplug PSU then clear CMOS. If you have a multimeter,
check battery voltage and PSU voltage.

3) If you get it running, do not change bios settings yet,
boot to boot device and run Memtest86+... if there are
memory errors you may have corrupt settings being changed
when you save the bios. Also the first time your system
posts it might be using a default (lower) speed and only
using proper speed on subsequent boots so try to boot
multiple times, after power-off, without changing bios. It
might also be more stable with only one of the two memory
modules installed for the time being.

4) I would've expected that Aspire 500W to power these
parts, at least for a shorter term, but it is not fit for
long term use as it is not equivalent to a good brand modern
500W PSU (lower build/component quality and lower true 12V
current). It could just be a defective PSU instead, you
might try another PSU or at least for the time being a lower
powered video card, some ancient PCI video card would be
ideal (removing the X1950 temporarily, of course).
 
don't look said:
Try using one ram stick only.
Click to expand...
I had this with an Intel board. It turned out to be a setting in the BIOS
to disable the logo screen and related 'quickboot'. It was disabling the
boot process. a BIOS update cured it. Also make sure you have connected
the 4 pin 12v connector.

Bob
 
Thanks for all the advice. It was simply a bad PSU. I went to MicroCenter
and got a Thermaltake 430W and it fired right up. I previously had a TT 430
and it was reliable, so I'm RMA'ing the dead one. It just surprised me that
it would work for 1 day (about 3 boots, prior to OS installation), and then
just quit. I can't think of any factors that would have caused that
(lightning, for example). Anyway, it works now.

Matt
 
Matty Anderson said:
Thanks for all the advice. It was simply a bad PSU. I went to
MicroCenter and got a Thermaltake 430W and it fired right up. I
previously had a TT 430 and it was reliable, so I'm RMA'ing the dead one.
It just surprised me that it would work for 1 day (about 3 boots, prior to
OS installation), and then just quit. I can't think of any factors that
would have caused that (lightning, for example). Anyway, it works now.

Matt
Click to expand...
That is just the nature of the beast.......:-). TT PSUs seem to be fairly
reliable AFAIK. If you have had good luck in the past with them I would stay
with them. I do that with about any component. I stay with what has worked
well for me in the past until it does otherwise. PC Power and Cooling PSUs
are what I use for the same reasons. I just never have had a problem with
them. I am glad you got it going..........


Ed
 
Thanks for all the advice. It was simply a bad PSU. I went to MicroCenter
and got a Thermaltake 430W and it fired right up. I previously had a TT 430
and it was reliable, so I'm RMA'ing the dead one. It just surprised me that
it would work for 1 day (about 3 boots, prior to OS installation), and then
just quit. I can't think of any factors that would have caused that
(lightning, for example). Anyway, it works now.

Matt
Click to expand...


Thermaltake used to use some Sirtec made PSU that, while not
great, where fair quality for the wattage. Today's
Thermaltake 430W isn't so good, ideally you'd pick something
a bit beefier instead of a low cost unit that struggles to
reach it's rated output.
 
mattya25 said:
Thanks for all the advice. It was simply a bad PSU. I went to MicroCenter
and got a Thermaltake 430W and it fired right up. I previously had a TT 430
and it was reliable, so I'm RMA'ing the dead one. It just surprised me that
it would work for 1 day (about 3 boots, prior to OS installation), and then
just quit. I can't think of any factors that would have caused that
(lightning, for example). Anyway, it works now.

Matt
Click to expand...

Feces occurs.

Bill
 
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