C
cpliu
I have problem with the system I'm putting together.
I bought Asus P4P800 Deluxe/P4 2.8c to replace my dead system (P4B266-
C/P4 1.6). The parts I try to use from my old PC are: 256MB PC2100 DDR
RAM, ATI Radeon 64MB (VIVO) AGP card, tower ase with 350W Enermax power
supply, 120GB WD HD.
I have put the system together and tried to boot up. I heard the fans on
and the HD spinning up but I got no video signal. I couldn't tell what
stage it was on in the booting process since there was no signal on
monitor and I heard no warning signals, but it sounded like it finished
the initial stage.
Trying to narrow down on the problem, I did the following:
1) Monitor? No, monitor works fine.
a. I tried with another monitor, same thing.
b. I hooked up the monitor with the laptop, it displays images fine with
a laptop.
2) Video card? Not completely sure.
a. I tested a spare old video card (3DFX Voodoo 3 2000) on the new
system, and there is no video signal either.
b. I then tested the Voodoo card on an old Celeron system. It works fine.
I couldn't test ATI card since I don't have another working PC with an
AGP slot.
It's highly unlikely to have 2 cards bad the same time, but I do have
reservation that my card may be bad or imcompatible.
First, I had similar problem when my old system was dying. The last
sympton was similar before I gave up on fixing it.
Second, Asus users guide states: "Install only 1.5 AGP cards on this
motherboard! 3.3 V AGP cards are not supported in this motherboard." I
couldn't find out the V for ATI Radeon 64MB and it's made in 2000 so
maybe it's old for this mainboard. On the other hand, I have not read any
restriction on using PCI card so Voodoo card should work on this card
although it does not.
3) RAM? Not completely sure.
I have two 256 PC2100 DDR RAM. (BTW, how can you tell the speed if the
label does not mention it). I only use 1 of them for testing.
a. Tried all the combinations but it does not make any difference: Only 1
at a time; both on; tried it or both on different slots.
b. Without any RAM on it, the system gives diagnostic beep: 1 long beep
then another 2 short beeps. I take it as with RAM there was no problem.
So, my memory maybe OK. Although my RAM is slow in today's standard, I
think it should not prevent the system from booting up.
4) Power supply? Not sure.
Someone suggested that a bad Power Supply would cause the system unable
to boot up. It may be able to start the CPU, HD but not to the video
card.
I then tried it on with a 400W PSU I bought a few years ago as a backup,
but I still got no video output. Since I have never used it before, I can
only suspect that maybe this PSU (HighPower) isn't good enough.
5) Mainboard? Not sure.
Start button works. Pressing it to turn it on. Pressing it 4 seconds to
turn it off. I'm not sure if Reset button works. It probably does not
since the ON light never goes off and on. I have not heard any diagnostic
speech as stated in the manual. I can hear the beep when there is
something wrong when I take the RAM out. It doesn't have any beep when
there is no video card.
A few more observations not stated above:
- Press the start button, the fans starts, then HD booted up and stays on
like usual working system. The monitor shows "NO SYNC."
- I kept it simple in testing. One 256MB 333 CL 2.5 memory, one 120GB WD
HD on Primary IDE as the only master drive. One video card, one PS2
mouse, one PS2 keyboard, and external speaker.
- PSU fans, CPU heatsink fan, and video card fan are all on without any
problems. The whole system is cool.
- The system probably does not advance further. I have Windows 2000 on HD
and it won't go further even I press Enter a few times. I don't know if
it's stuck at BIOS.
Instead of purchasing a new computer case with a new high-powered PSU, 2
new 512MB PC3200 DDR memory, and a new AGP video card, can you think out
anything I missed that may make it work? I planned to gradually upgrade
my system elements so I can save a few bucks.
Thanks for your help,
cpliu
I bought Asus P4P800 Deluxe/P4 2.8c to replace my dead system (P4B266-
C/P4 1.6). The parts I try to use from my old PC are: 256MB PC2100 DDR
RAM, ATI Radeon 64MB (VIVO) AGP card, tower ase with 350W Enermax power
supply, 120GB WD HD.
I have put the system together and tried to boot up. I heard the fans on
and the HD spinning up but I got no video signal. I couldn't tell what
stage it was on in the booting process since there was no signal on
monitor and I heard no warning signals, but it sounded like it finished
the initial stage.
Trying to narrow down on the problem, I did the following:
1) Monitor? No, monitor works fine.
a. I tried with another monitor, same thing.
b. I hooked up the monitor with the laptop, it displays images fine with
a laptop.
2) Video card? Not completely sure.
a. I tested a spare old video card (3DFX Voodoo 3 2000) on the new
system, and there is no video signal either.
b. I then tested the Voodoo card on an old Celeron system. It works fine.
I couldn't test ATI card since I don't have another working PC with an
AGP slot.
It's highly unlikely to have 2 cards bad the same time, but I do have
reservation that my card may be bad or imcompatible.
First, I had similar problem when my old system was dying. The last
sympton was similar before I gave up on fixing it.
Second, Asus users guide states: "Install only 1.5 AGP cards on this
motherboard! 3.3 V AGP cards are not supported in this motherboard." I
couldn't find out the V for ATI Radeon 64MB and it's made in 2000 so
maybe it's old for this mainboard. On the other hand, I have not read any
restriction on using PCI card so Voodoo card should work on this card
although it does not.
3) RAM? Not completely sure.
I have two 256 PC2100 DDR RAM. (BTW, how can you tell the speed if the
label does not mention it). I only use 1 of them for testing.
a. Tried all the combinations but it does not make any difference: Only 1
at a time; both on; tried it or both on different slots.
b. Without any RAM on it, the system gives diagnostic beep: 1 long beep
then another 2 short beeps. I take it as with RAM there was no problem.
So, my memory maybe OK. Although my RAM is slow in today's standard, I
think it should not prevent the system from booting up.
4) Power supply? Not sure.
Someone suggested that a bad Power Supply would cause the system unable
to boot up. It may be able to start the CPU, HD but not to the video
card.
I then tried it on with a 400W PSU I bought a few years ago as a backup,
but I still got no video output. Since I have never used it before, I can
only suspect that maybe this PSU (HighPower) isn't good enough.
5) Mainboard? Not sure.
Start button works. Pressing it to turn it on. Pressing it 4 seconds to
turn it off. I'm not sure if Reset button works. It probably does not
since the ON light never goes off and on. I have not heard any diagnostic
speech as stated in the manual. I can hear the beep when there is
something wrong when I take the RAM out. It doesn't have any beep when
there is no video card.
A few more observations not stated above:
- Press the start button, the fans starts, then HD booted up and stays on
like usual working system. The monitor shows "NO SYNC."
- I kept it simple in testing. One 256MB 333 CL 2.5 memory, one 120GB WD
HD on Primary IDE as the only master drive. One video card, one PS2
mouse, one PS2 keyboard, and external speaker.
- PSU fans, CPU heatsink fan, and video card fan are all on without any
problems. The whole system is cool.
- The system probably does not advance further. I have Windows 2000 on HD
and it won't go further even I press Enter a few times. I don't know if
it's stuck at BIOS.
Instead of purchasing a new computer case with a new high-powered PSU, 2
new 512MB PC3200 DDR memory, and a new AGP video card, can you think out
anything I missed that may make it work? I planned to gradually upgrade
my system elements so I can save a few bucks.
Thanks for your help,
cpliu