My Computer is really startin to piss me off!

[the3eyedblindman]

Ok, a while ago i had a thread about how i am not gettin video on my screen. I recently bought a brand new motherboard, and i hooked up just my video card, hard drive, memory, and cpu to it. I then connected the video card to the monitor and turned it on. I am still getting no video on the screen! no message that says "Boot failure". I dont know what the problem is, any suggestions could help.

[Bgnome]

are there any beep codes / beeping?  is there onboard video?  are you sure your video card works?  are you sure it is powering up?  is your monitor on?

[AmericanDemon]

If you are still not getting video.  Then its your video card thats the issue.  

[the3eyedblindman]

I know its not the video card, i swapped the video card into a working computer and the normal video came on. So its not the video card. The Computer doesnt beep when i power it up, it kinda makes a weird rumbling noise, some kinda weird vibrating thing. I dont know what the problem is, but really need help.

[daywane]

if its a pci card try to move it to another slot.
if its agp then you might be sol.
try contact cleaner in the slot.
this has worked for me.

[the3eyedblindman]

Motherboard just came outta box today, so i dont think it has to do with the slot, something is just wrong and i cant figure it out! i need help!

[the3eyedblindman]

I removed my jumpers off period and then the machine wouldnt power on, then i put them back, the machine powered on but i get no video, i have no idea about "jumpers" period. so maybe thats a problem?

[tiggertoo]

Rumbling noise? The only moving parts on a computer are the fans and drives. I would turn on the PC with the covers off and listen for specifically where the noise is coming from.

I assume you verified the monitor is good since you checked the video card in another computer. You may be having a power supply issue. How many watts is it? If you don't know, it should be printed on the power supply. This may also be the source of the noise.

You can also try booting the PC with the hard drive unplugged. If it crashed, it may be loading down your system.

Finally, are you sure about the micro and ram? Granted, you replaced the motherboard, but if the micro or ram are bad, they could short out the new motherboard.

Basically, more info from you would be helpful. How did you get to this point? Why the new motherboard? What's in this system?

[[derek]]

Here are a few things to check:

Grounding, verify that there are no standoffs that are causing a ground issue.

Check the tops of the capacitors on the board (in particular around the CPU, and interface ports).  If there are any caps that look bloated, its possible something shorted during installation.

Also, try bringing the system down to a bare minimum: video card only (no other peripheral cards), one memory stick (or if it requires dual, use the pair), unplug the hard drive, and the floppy.  Also The motherboard connectors - only have the power hooked up - sometimes the orientation of the connectors can cause problems; specifically the reset connector (depending on your case).

Of course if this is mounted in a card, most of what I said is useless.  Check the specs on the video card.  If it is AGP, verify that  your motherboard supports the proper AGP voltage. Most motherboards are keyed, but some of the less expensive ones are not.

- derek

[the3eyedblindman]

K specs i have so far..... MAxtor 80 gig hard drive hooked up to the motherboard. An AMD athlon 2000 Cpu in a Syntax Motherboard, i have a 256 meg stick of ram and the video card is an ati radion 7000.  All Those are hooked to the motherboard, then i have the small wire which says power from the power switch on the case  hooked to the motherboard so i can turn it on. It powers up but then nothing happens.

[tiggertoo]

You should be pissed!

Why would you remove the jumpers?!?!

You need to read the manual!!!

At this point no one can help you.

However, considering your lack of understanding, you probably didn't hook up the front panel connectors correctly.

[the3eyedblindman]

I tried moving them around on the pins thinkin it might make a difference, but it didnt, so i put them back to there normal spots, and reading the manual is what got me to remove them, i thoguht they might be set on the wrong pins, but there back to where they started now, just because i dont wanna mess with it anymore. What do you mean front panel connectors? See im really lost man. I buiilt the computer im on now but this ones giving me trouble. I need help.

[Raleigh]

What kind of monitor are you hooking up to?  I have a radion 7000 series card and had trouble displaying on a tv using the s-video.  Never any problems connecting to a standard computer monitor though.

[Goz]

PEBKAC

[the3eyedblindman]

rightn ow im just trying to work it with a normal pc monitor, but i eventually need it hooked through S Video to the Tv, for now i just wanna get the damn thing workin.

[tiggertoo]

Sorry took so long, I was reading about the conga line

Anyways, the connector where your power button goes to should also have a spot for the speaker and reset button as well as the hard drive active light. If one of the connectors is in the wrong place, it may cause your computer to not boot. I had a simular problem after replacing a motherboard I'm pretty sure I hooked up the reset button wrong.

[the3eyedblindman]

I figured just to start it up id only need the power button hooked up, should i try hookin the speaker led, reset button, ect wires up, does it make a difference on the computer booting up?

[SteveJ34]

I figured just to start it up id only need the power button hooked up, should i try hookin the speaker led, reset button, ect wires up, does it make a difference on the computer booting up?

Good to have speaker hooked up so you can hear any audible beeps.

What model is the Syntax Motherboard?

[the3eyedblindman]

its a Syntax SV400 mainboard. To hear the beeps do i just need the speaker wire hooked to the mainboard of do i actually have to plug ina soundboard and hook up speakers?

[exibar]

hook up the PC speaker and listen for the beeps.  How many beeps does it make upon boot?  remove the video card, and harddrive, cable and all, now how many beeps does it make?

  Only run with this hooked up:

  CPU, (no fan or fan cable), RAM, Powersupply  How many beeps now?  If only one beep, add the vid card, and try and boot... keep doing this until you get more than one beep... when that happens, that's your bad part....

  do a google for "POST beep codes" for your motherboard.  It should be listed in the manual under Beep Codes...

[pointdablame]

PEBKAC

That may be.

You shoudl double check your jumper settings again.  You say you have them where they were now, but you also said you took them OFF, which you should not do... ever.  Perhaps you need to have the jumpers on, but in a different position.  Also make sure that the jumper is touching both pins correctly.

Clear the CMOS, then try to reboot.

Double check your front panel pins.  Flip them around and try to boot up.

You should hear beeps as long as the case speaker is connected.  You really should hear beeps.  In fact, if you say that there is something turning on, at least sort of, check the speaker connection and try again.  You will hear beeps.  If you don't, your mobo is bad, new or not.  If you can get it to beep, you can help yourself much more.  There will be a listing of POST codes in your manual.

[the3eyedblindman]

K heres a question thatll make things alot easier for me, what all really has to be hooked up to get video on the screen, so far i have my motherboad with power from power supply, HD, Video Card, Ram, CPU, and the power led switch to the mainboard from the powerbutton of the case. I just wanna see video so I know everything is working properly, i dont wanna built the whole thing then try to figure out what the problem is.

[pointdablame]

that should be enough to get video. you have power to everything correct?

You should also take some steps back.  You need to get your POST codes.  Take everything out of the system but the mobo and CPU.  boot up and listen for beeps. It should correspond to missing ram, or missing video, or something that isnt there.  Put in memory... boot up again... etc etc.... you need to do some basic troubleshooting.

[the3eyedblindman]

i have power going to the motherboard and HD.

[SteveJ34]

its a Syntax SV400 mainboard. To hear the beeps do i just need the speaker wire hooked to the mainboard of do i actually have to plug ina soundboard and hook up speakers?

www.syntaxusa.com indicates this motherboard is 1.5v AGP only.

You indicated your video card was ATI Radeon 7000 of which there are several models, PCI, 3.3v AGP 2x, and 1.5v AGP 4x versions.

You indicated this card works in another system.

Which version video card do you have?

[saint]

No POST (beeping) is an indication something is locking up the box hard right at power up. Could be memory, power supply, etc...

Take out all your PCI cards temporarily, start with a PC with just the video card and memory. Disconnect all drive cables from the motherboard. Will it start the boot up? (memory test, beeping probably, etc)? If no, you should look at the memory or power supply. If you have more than one stick of memory in the system, take all but one out, and boot with just that one. See if it works, and if so then add another and repeat. If it doesn't, swap it with one of the others and repeat. Trial and error it until you're convinced all the memory is good.

Start reconnecting drives and PCI cards one at a time until you find what's causing the lockup. One you know the culprit you can start troubleshooting it.

Alternatively, take all the components from the bad PC, and try them one at a time in a good PC. Start with the power supply and memory.

Motherboard just came outta box today, so i dont think it has to do with the slot, something is just wrong and i cant figure it out! i need help!

[the3eyedblindman]

its a Syntax SV400 mainboard. To hear the beeps do i just need the speaker wire hooked to the mainboard of do i actually have to plug ina soundboard and hook up speakers?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=699283&CatId=877  Theres the video card i have.


www.syntaxusa.com indicates this motherboard is 1.5v AGP only.

You indicated your video card was ATI Radeon 7000 of which there are several models, PCI, 3.3v AGP 2x, and 1.5v AGP 4x versions.

You indicated this card works in another system.

Which version video card do you have?

[the3eyedblindman]

That didnt turn out right.... heres the video card i have   http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=699283&CatId=877

[Goz]

Can you try another video card in the mobo?

[danny_galaga]

did you try a different pci slot as suggested earlier? there is NOTHING built that can't be faulty straight out of the box. i spent several hours fixing the phone line on the weekend. several different problems occured at the same time (which always makes it confusing). turned out the brand new wall socket i used was faulty. phone plug wouldnt make contact.

anyway, you should eliminate the possibility that the motherboard has a faulty slot. save a lot of head-banging (and i don't mean rockin out to iron maiden!)

[the3eyedblindman]

its only got one slot for the video card, the rest are for other cards, the video slot is brown and back farther, then it has 5 or 5 white slots for other cards.

[danny_galaga]

oh ok. the brown one is (i think) one o them new fangled agp slots. well not that new fangled. the white ones are pci. the only way to test a single slot (without being a techy) would be to borrow another agp device off someone and see if it works or not.

thats me for ideas!! im quite bad at this sort of stuff myself  

[SteveJ34]

That didnt turn out right.... heres the video card i have   http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=699283&CatId=877

Okay, at least that confirms you have a 1.5v AGP capable card going into a 1.5V AGP only motherboard.

Appears many are doing what they can to try and help. With power to the motherboard, have you booted the system with only the CPU, Ram, Video Card, and power/speaker attached (no HD) to confirm whether you get any audible beeps?

Also, I would suggest reviewing manual and locating the jumper that allows you to reset the CMOS. I had a strange video problem once and this helped. Typically this will be a 3 pin jumper normally with 1,2 closed, 3 open. You jumper 2,3 momentarily then move back. This will reset CMOS.

[the3eyedblindman]

I appreciate everyones help and thank you for it, but for now i am going to bed I will mess with it tomorrow. Keep replying tho with any other suggestions on what i can do.

[daywane]

hook up the PC speaker and listen for the beeps.  How many beeps does it make upon boot?  remove the video card, and harddrive, cable and all, now how many beeps does it make?

  Only run with this hooked up:

  CPU, (no fan or fan cable), RAM, Powersupply  How many beeps now?  If only one beep, add the vid card, and try and boot... keep doing this until you get more than one beep... when that happens, that's your bad part....

  do a google for "POST beep codes" for your motherboard.  It should be listed in the manual under Beep Codes...

HAY Thats cool. I just leaned something new
I realy mean that . Thanks

[daywane]

I appreciate everyones help and thank you for it, but for now i am going to bed I will mess with it tomorrow. Keep replying tho with any other suggestions on what i can do.

Best Idea. I know It sound strange. very strange It even feeks my wife out . but when I have a problem like you are having. The fix comes to me in my sleep. I wake up yelling I GOT IT. and up out of bed and run to the pc. I dont know why but its just so.
also
Ijust remberd My P4 system I built ( I have only built 3)
I put in pc 2700 memory and the board would only take pc2100.
The stange thing was the pc worked great for 1 week and went to hell. I bought a new mother board and got it running. a few months latter i found out my problem and I am now using the 1st MOBO I had with pc2100 and that is the system I am using now
Video was the first thing to go out.

[RayB]

1. Sounds like you shouldn't be building your own system. You should never "just try stuff" with electronics. Things must be connected and configured in specific ways, otherwise your messing arround could have BLOWN something and now your new motherboard or other parts could be toast.

2. Follow manuals specifically for jumpers. If you do not understand what the manual is talking about, don't "just try stuff"! Find someone who knows.

3. The "whirring" is coming from where? It sound like your power supply is being overloaded. When that happens, usually hard-drives can't spin up... OR if your CPU fan isn't working right either, that could be making the noise, in which case if it failed, your CPU likely has burnt up and will never work, hence you won't see any video..

[the3eyedblindman]

K still gettin no video. I tried hooking up more things to the motherboard and power supply, like the dvd drive and flopp drive, and they open and everything, but i cant get video on the screen. I dont know what to do. And i have built a computer before, the one i am on now, i remember in the early stages of video testing it would say boot failure, system halted.

[the3eyedblindman]

K heres the info on my jumpers, i need some help. There are two diiferent jumpers, 1 is a 3 pin , description is "clear cmos" 1 and 2 is normal, 2 and 3 is clear cmos. The second jumper is "CPU Frequency select jumper" Then there is a table that explains about this one that says "

     JP8      JP9        CPU Frequency

short 1 2 short 1 2      100 mhz
short 2 3 short 1 2 133 mhz.
short 1 2 short 2 3  not applicable.
short 2 3 short 2 3 166 mhz.

Now my CPU is an AMD aThlon XP 2000, i have never dealt with jumpers before, this computer i didnt need too, Any help from anyone on how to set these will be appreciated.

[NinjaEpisode]

Um, isn't the XP 2000 a 266mhz chip?  If so, you got an old MB that doesn't support that chip.

[dabone]

266=133 fsb.

Later,
dabone

[daywane]

in your manual. you will see a pic. of your board.
put all your jumpers back to factory default. As the picture shows.

Now find the cmos jumper (with power OFF) take the jumper from pin 1 &2 and move it to pins 2 & 3 just let it sit for a sec. or two, ( the battery will be all the power needed)
Now put the jumper back to pin  1 & 2

done.
1) If your Memory is the right speed
2) The cpu is not over the size for your board
3) the Video card is not asking for more power than       the  board can handle
4) the jumpers are back to factory setting and cmos is clear

even with out a hard drive you should see the something.
Your AGP slot must be out.
try a pci slot video card. I have a PCI slot video card in one of my cabs and I like it just fine. (radion tv out)

I do not agree with the post "you should not be building your own pc"
I see it as school cost money. You just got schooled.
Any PC home built is a big improvement over any store bought PC.

I would bet if you right down all your specks.
(memory speed and pin count)
(cpu type)
( agp voltage)
Go to comp USA and bought a new Board ( $45.00 to $100.00) you would be up and running in a few hours
or buy a new pci card. but then if you are like me , I would be always have it in my mind about the AGP slot and Hate th PC.

[the3eyedblindman]

im not sure? its brand new and on the box it said designed for amd athlon xp and duron cpus.

[pointdablame]

Your FSB jumper must be set to 133mhz.

Don't ADD more things to it.  As I mentioned, and others, take stuff OUT.  Did you try to boot up the system with just the CPU yet?  You should get a beep.  Now add the memory... you should get another beep.  Now add the HDD.  THEN try the video card.  CD drives and floppies have absolutely nothing to do with this.

Do this:
1) Clear your CMOS.  Shut the system down.  Move the CMOS jumper as was stated.  Also pop the battery off of the motherboard for a minute or so.  Battery back in.  Jumper back to normal.
2) Boot with just the CPU.  Get the POST code... no beeps and your mobo or CPU are having trouble
3) If you're ok, add the memory... follow the above step.


Tell us what happens.

[the3eyedblindman]

ILL try all that has been said, but if i cant get it workin, ill probably buy one of those motherboard cpu ram combos, just to save me time and trouble.

[pointdablame]

why even consider buying something new when you don't even know what's wrong.  If you do some simple troubleshooting you will be able to see what is wrong.

Even if ther IS something wrong, you'll only have to replace the bad/incompatible parts....

[Alucard90]

sorry, but all i can say is, RTFM!  

[the3eyedblindman]

Jumpers are set in correct position, i know video card works, was tested in this computer,  the motherboard is brand new, but i stil get no video with only the cpu, memory, and video card in, i dont hear beeps either, just clicking noises when i turn it on.

[the3eyedblindman]

I know there is power flowing through the motherboard too because the cpu fan turn on....AHH IM GETTING MAD!

[rockhopper]

  Did you actually try what pointdablame said?

All I am imagining now is someone plugging random things into the computer in the hope that it will work. Maybe try plugging the toaster into the USB ports?

Seriously, if you slow down and take a systematic approach, you would have been up and running by now.

[the3eyedblindman]

Actually its the exact opposite man, Everythin is unplugged except the motherboard and CPU, i didnt get any beeps or anything. I tried throwing in the ram and video card and still nothing, before i even did this i made sure my jumpers were set to 133 mhz and i cleared the cmos and then put it back, i cant get it man, im getting ready to throw the whole damn thing out

[the3eyedblindman]

Ok, new information, I unplugged absolutely everything except the motherboard, and the power going to the motherboard, then i have the front panel wires hooked in so i can turn on the computer. When i turn it on with just the motherboard i hear no noise except the fan on the powersupply. After i just put the CPU in ,nothing else, i get a kind of clicking/grinding sound. Its like Click...ClickClickClick, like one, then 3 fast ones, it kind of sounds like black pepper being ground, like a crunch clicking sound, its hard to explain, its definately not a beep though. Just seeing if anyone knows anything about this. Thanks.

[RayB]

Do you have a cockroach problem?

[SteveJ34]

Ok, new information, I unplugged absolutely everything except the motherboard, and the power going to the motherboard, then i have the front panel wires hooked in so i can turn on the computer. When i turn it on with just the motherboard i hear no noise except the fan on the powersupply. After i just put the CPU in ,nothing else, i get a kind of clicking/grinding sound. Its like Click...ClickClickClick, like one, then 3 fast ones, it kind of sounds like black pepper being ground, like a crunch clicking sound, its hard to explain, its definately not a beep though. Just seeing if anyone knows anything about this. Thanks.

Do you have the  case speaker hooked up to the pins on  motherboard?

[the3eyedblindman]

yes

[pointdablame]

flip the pins on the case speaker just for $h!ts and giggles.  Double check you are on the right speaker pins and that all pins are actually inside the jumper.

If it is indeed correct, and your mobo is not making any sounds at all, your mobo is dead.

EDIT: another thing.. make sure you are not shorting out.  Check your motherboard standoffs, and be sure that none of them are hitting anything other than the grounding ring on the motherboard.  Also make sure there is no stray metal pieces in the case that might be shorting.

[Goz]

Crazy question, but since it's obvious that you  don't get alot of the fine points about building your own computer... when you installed just the CPU and fired it up, did you also have the CPU fan on it when you fired it up? I ask this not to be mean, but it could explain an aweful lot.

-Goz

[the3eyedblindman]

No i didnt, just the cpu, not the fan and heatsink, why, is this bad?

[pointdablame]

No i didnt, just the cpu, not the fan and heatsink, why, is this bad?

oh my god.... I pray you are kidding.....  I mean... you have to be....... right?

I....

Wow dude.... you realize that you NEED a heatsink and fan on a CPU right? especially an Athlon... if that system was on for more than a minute with that cheap motherboard, your CPU is total toast.

You ARE kidding right.... please tell me you are kidding.   I refuse to believe that people can..... wow.

"DUDE, YOU SHOULD BUY A DELL"

[the3eyedblindman]

Nope, not kidding, i figured id only had it on for about 10 seconds at a time, soi didnt wanna smash the heatsink on it having to take it off and reput it on again, but it probebly is toast now, i guess i learned something new today tho, always put a heatsink on. Anyone know where i can buy a computer that has a vid card with s video, 512 ram cheap, any emachines for instance have these qualities?

[pointdablame]

It's possible its not toast, but more than likely

You'd prolly only have to replace the CPU tho

[SteveJ34]

Nope, not kidding, i figured id only had it on for about 10 seconds at a time, soi didnt wanna smash the heatsink on it having to take it off and reput it on again, but it probebly is toast now, i guess i learned something new today tho, always put a heatsink on. Anyone know where i can buy a computer that has a vid card with s video, 512 ram cheap, any emachines for instance have these qualities?

It's possible, depending on the overheat protection of the motherboard that without a CPU fan installed the board will power up but power itself down quickly.

I'd install heat sink/fan and give it a whirl.

[Effayy]

No i didnt, just the cpu, not the fan and heatsink, why, is this bad?

I tried to find this article that your post reminded me of. On Tom's Hardware a while back, they had a movie showing what happens when an Athlon CPU is booted up without the fan and heatsink.  Let's just say it was quite the burnout, and rather quickly at that.

Don't get discouraged out of building your own system just yet.  My first home-built PC was a 486 DX2/66 . I made a few mistakes back then and paid for it (quite literally), but once you get the hang of it, it's quite rewarding.

Before you consider this a write-off, a few things you should check/do:

1) Take the CPU out of the socket on the motherboard, while the power is off and the power cord (to the wall, not just the power switch) is unplugged from the computer.  Look underneath the CPU.  Many many pins under there, if one of them snapped off as you were inserting it, you should bring it back to wherever you bought it.  If a pin is bent, then you may be able to very very very carefully bend it back into place.  i had to do that with my Athlon and it ended up just fine.

2) Check the CPU for obvious burn marks.  If it fried, it should be obvious enough (from what I saw at Tom's hardware, anyway)

3) If all seems well with the CPU, put it carefully back into the socket on the motherboard, and pull the arm down, securing the CPU in place in the socket itself.  Read the manual if you're unsure about where/how to secure the CPU.

4) Make sure the heatsink and CPU fan are connected at ALL times. Athlons get hot. and they do so very very very very (very) quickly.

5) Once the CPU, Heatsink and CPU fan are connected, re-plug the powercord. Make sure that the PC Speaker is connected (NOT your soundcard, I mean the little tiny speaker that sits in the case itself and connected via cable to the mobo directly).

At this point, only the Speaker, CPU, Motherboard and Vidcard should be connected. No ram, no soundcard, no network card, no CDRom, no HD, etc....

6) When turning on your system, listen for beeps. if you get NO beeps at this point, I'd suggest taking the mobo and CPU back to the shop and get them replaced.  You'd be surprised how accomodating retail stores will be.  Just tell them it never worked for some reason, and you should get an exchange.

7) If you DO get beeps, count them.  In your mobo manual, there will be a section that explains what the number of beeps refers to. Most likely it'll be the missing ram that it'll beep about if everything is ok.

On another note, if your motherboard comes with onboard video, make sure that you disable that if you have your own videocard (usually a jumper, which I know you already played with, but hey just in case).


Some general tips when building systems:

- Do your homework, always.  You should map out every single part you intend to buy (or recycle) in your system, and then go online, and read read read. Make sure that all the peices you buy work together.  RAM have different speeds, vidcards could be AGP or PCI, voltage differences.  The Motherboard needs to support the CPU you intend to buy, etc etc etc... You just have to make sure everything fits.

- Always always always RTFM.  99.9% of the questions you'll have when building a system will be answered by reading the appropriate manual.  Blindly throwing a system together is a recipe for disaster.

- As was mentioned before, never turn on your system (especially an AMD) without the heatsink and at LEAST the stock fan.  Many Athlon owners get better cooling from an aftermarket fan.

- It's always a good idea to remain grounded when building your system... Shuffling your socks across the shag carpet before touching your shiny new stick of ram isn't recommended.  Zzzzap.

- If you're not confident in your abilities to set up your own system, I highly recommend that you get in touch with a friend who DOES have a lot of knowledge, and have him/her build it for you, and run you through what he/she is doing step-by-step, answer your questions, etc... It"s a great way to build up your own knowledge with minimal risk of breaking something along the way.  I have a friend who was too afraid to build his own system, so I walked him through it, and now he tweaks with his own systems all the time.

Hope this helps.  And don't get discouraged.  Sure it sounds like a head-slapper of a mistake was made with the fan, but consider it a lesson learned and move on.  Chances are you won't make the same mistake again, hmm?

- Effayy

[cdbrown]

Apologies for any repeated questions as I only scanned through this thread

You have tested the graphics card in another PC and it works - have you tried the graphics card from the working machine in the new pc?  Have you tried the new monitor/tv on the known working machine?

With the cpu installed along with the heatsink and fan, 1 stick of memory and video card, turn it on and look to see if the cpu fan is spinning away.  Make sure to remove any protective plastic from the bottom of the heatsink if it has any or apply thermal compound if needed.

Spend some time making very sure that all the case wires (PANEL1 and SPEAKER1) and plugged in to the correct pins on the mobo, if it's not in the correct spot the speaker won't work.  I see the SPEAKER1 header has 4 pins, hopefully your case has a 4 pin connector for it otherwise it may not work but that depends on what each pin does
1-Signal
2-NC
3-Ground
4-VCC
not sure what VCC is but if you have the plug around the wrong way you won't get the speaker to work.
You could try and plug in the floppy drive (power and to FDD1 on the board)) and see if it lights up like it would during a normal boot sequence.

There have been alot of suggestions along the way for testing various components and you are lucky that you have a working machine to test it all against.  Don't just give up without testing each component thoroughly.

Cheers
-cdbrown

[jlampc]

It's possible its not toast, but more than likely

You'd prolly only have to replace the CPU tho

Got bad new for you bucko. AMD's die almost instantly without a heat sink and fan. Pull out the chip and give it a sniff..probably a little crispy. If you ever wanna quick test an AMD make sure you put the heatsink and fan on the chip. I dont clamp it for a quick test but I press down on top of the heatsink while its sitting on the proc...This is even really bad if you don't know what your doing. I've seen new systems out of the box where the heatsink broke off in shipping and the user saw the post screen for 1/2 a second before it died. Sorry to tell you that. I would recommend you pick up a book on building PC's from a bookstore or library. I used to teach Computer hardware repair and the books are pretty good at telling you the name of the Little Slots.....ie pci and AGP.

and lastly Take your time...It's not that hard to do it right.

[Tiger-Heli]

No i didnt, just the cpu, not the fan and heatsink, why, is this bad?

I tried to find this article that your post reminded me of. On Tom's Hardware a while back, they had a movie showing what happens when an Athlon CPU is booted up without the fan and heatsink.  Let's just say it was quite the burnout, and rather quickly at that.

http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/20010917/heatvideo-05.html

 

[pointdablame]

It's possible its not toast, but more than likely

You'd prolly only have to replace the CPU tho

Got bad new for you bucko. AMD's die almost instantly without a heat sink and fan. Pull out the chip and give it a sniff..probably a little crispy. If you ever wanna quick test an AMD make sure you put the heatsink and fan on the chip. I dont clamp it for a quick test but I press down on top of the heatsink while its sitting on the proc...This is even really bad if you don't know what your doing. I've seen new systems out of the box where the heatsink broke off in shipping and the user saw the post screen for 1/2 a second before it died. Sorry to tell you that. I would recommend you pick up a book on building PC's from a bookstore or library. I used to teach Computer hardware repair and the books are pretty good at telling you the name of the Little Slots.....ie pci and AGP.

and lastly Take your time...It's not that hard to do it right.

You don't have to tell me bucko  I'm not the original poster, I was trying to help him.  And I KNOW athlons get hot quick, but if he literally did have it on for 10 seconds, he may have stood a chance... albeit slim like I said in the post you quoted...

However, it doesn't matter because I talked to 3eyed yesterday and he said he saw smoke.  He never said it in the thread though.  I told him his CPU is fried, like we all suspected.  It's a crappy lesson, but hopefully he learned something from it.

[RayB]

Oyy.

[Goz]

It's kind of funny that the thread could have 60 + replies prior to anyone hearing anything about seeing smoke. I'm almost wondering if he didn't want the thread to end.

If the thread started with... I plugged in just the CPU and RAM and saw smoke when powered it on... then the question of heatsink / fan would have come up earlier.

PEBKAC

[Sylentwulf]

I'm sure by this point, any reply is just pointless, but I HAVE to say it too..

You connected the CPU and turned it on with NO heatsink or Fan. That's just incomprehensible.

You pulled out a bunch of jumpers and put them in different spots to see if it would help. My brain hits a brick wall just trying to comprehend this type of thought process.

What you need to do, is take everything you have, bring it to a PC repair shop, and say "Fix This."

The next time you open something that says "This is intended to be installed by a professional" Take the packages advice.

[daywane]

school cost money
I dont mean this as a smart ass. but he just got some more school.

[pointdablame]

school cost money
I dont mean this as a smart ass. but he just got some more school.

Nice grammar.  Oh how I love irony.

[RayB]

Well *I* certainly learned a lesson here too. From now on, don't waste your time replying to a 3eye thread. And certainly don't take any technical advice from him either.

 

[Crazy Cooter]

Heheh, reminds me of when I was showing a roommate how to build a comp in college.  I'm telling him how to put in the memory and he's already got it plugged into the wall.  The sparks got his hands out of the case real fast

It still worked too.  Ran that T-bird up to 900Mhz.  Blazing fast at the time.

[the3eyedblindman]

Well *I* certainly learned a lesson here too. From now on, don't waste your time replying to a 3eye thread. And certainly don't take any technical advice from him either.

 

LOL, you dont need to just never speak to me again because i made a mistake, I asked what for certain needed to be hooked in and no one mentioned the cpu fan and heatsink, they just said cpu, yeah most of you think its common sense to put it on, but for someone that has only built one computer and doesnt know much about it it  isnt common sense, so i made a mistake, and ive learned, yeah i payed 5o bucks or whatever for the cpu, but now i have learned something new, dont put in a cpu for even 10 seconds without a heatsink. Sorry if you all think im dragging the thread on, but i needed help, and i have learned things from it. What my plan is now is to just buy brand new of all the basic parts (Ram, Cpu, and motherboard, and possibly even a new video card) and im not going to touch it, ill probably see if tiger direct would do it for me, there is a store by me, so maybe theyll be generous, dont just never reply to me again cuz i made a mistake, im sorry. (the first time i even thought about the heatsink was when gozur made that post a few posts back, it was either him or ggkoul that said , this may sound like a dumb question, but did u put the heatsink on, and i hadnt )
once again sorry, dont just neglect me now thought because i made on mistake.

[pocketbikez]

this is why i have yet to build my own puter. i know id screw something up and it would end up costing more money than a prebuilt.

my most recent computer was from the dell outlet, it cost $320 with free shipping. prices there vary greatly day by day. i watched for about 2 weeks before i found a great deal.

2.6ghz P4
512mb ram
80 gig HD
winXP
56k modem
keyboard/mouse

it has built in video but that is fine for a mame puter.

[Tiger-Heli]

hook up the PC speaker and listen for the beeps.  How many beeps does it make upon boot?  remove the video card, and harddrive, cable and all, now how many beeps does it make?

  Only run with this hooked up:

  CPU, (no fan or fan cable), RAM, Powersupply  How many beeps now?  If only one beep, add the vid card, and try and boot... keep doing this until you get more than one beep... when that happens, that's your bad part....

  do a google for "POST beep codes" for your motherboard.  It should be listed in the manual under Beep Codes...

In 3rdeye's defense, reply #8 to the thread did not mention the processor or fan.  The above was reply #19 and specifically says "CPU, no fan or fan cable".

Now I realize that the poster meant case fans, not CPU fan, but I thought at the time that could be confusing, but by the time I started reading the thread it was on Post #40 or so, so I figured if he didn't have the fan hooked up, the processor was already dead.

3rd-eye - I doubt you damaged anything other than the processor, but rather than buy a new PC, I would take all your existing components to a mom-and-pop computer shop, buy a new processor and let them install and test it with your existing hardware.  Many shops will do that for almost free.

[pointdablame]

I skipped right over that post by exibar without even realizing that.  That quote is very misleading, I wish I had caught it... I would have said something.

I do agree with Tiger-Heli.  Just have a store pop in a new CPU and set it up.  I know you were telling me you'd rather get a new system, but I still think that's a bit unnecessary.

[RayB]

This reminds me of my brother who many years ago attempted to remove his sound card with the power on. That's not THAT risky, but as fate would have it, he dropped it on whatever card was below. He fried his MOBO and a couple other cards.

Then there's the time he deleted a whole lot of files because he had shortcuts to them elsewhere and he though that meant he had duplicates of the files. As fate would have it, he emptied the Recycle bin before calling me about his applications no longer working.

There's also the time he formatted his drive without backing up his files, but I forget the specific details of how that happened and why he thought he'd still have his files intact.

 

[the3eyedblindman]

Got it working, all i did was buy a new cpu and now its fine, thanks for the help guys. Now installing windows 98 se it says "file missing or corrupted, command.com" and stops there, then it wants me to type in address, im stuck, anyone know what this means?

[Crazy Cooter]

Are you installing off a copy?  A bad copy can do this (I've heard).  Anyways, follow these directions on how to do a "clean install"

http://www.hexff.com/win98_install.php

That way you'll never get the "please insert windows 98 cd" when you change things down the road.  The cd will be copied onto you're hard drive.

[Matt, GoC]

Where is it saying this?  Are you setting up windows when it gives you the message or is it already installed?  You may have a bit of dust on your CD, or a corruption on your hard drive.  Don't be a stranger to giving us loads of details.  It's like taking your car to the shop because somethings not right with it.  The more you tell the mechanic, the less he'll rip his hair out trying to figure out the problem...

[cdbrown]

Install XP instead like you were going to in the other thread.  I had dual boot 98SE and XP Pro, it didn't take too long before I realised I didn't use 98SE as everything worked in XP - even old games like Doom and really old dos based games.

[Tiger-Heli]

This reminds me of my brother who many years ago attempted to remove his sound card with the power on. That's not THAT risky, but as fate would have it, he dropped it on whatever card was below. He fried his MOBO and a couple other cards.

Then there's the time he deleted a whole lot of files because he had shortcuts to them elsewhere and he though that meant he had duplicates of the files. As fate would have it, he emptied the Recycle bin before calling me about his applications no longer working.

There's also the time he formatted his drive without backing up his files, but I forget the specific details of how that happened and why he thought he'd still have his files intact.

 

Here's a classic from the early (MS-DOS 2.1 or so) days of DOS -

Floppies (5-1/4, 360K) shipped unformatted so they could be used in PC's or MAC's.  The command to format them was (IMS)

C:\format a: c:

Now if you forgot and typed either

C:\format c: a:

or

C:\format

The computer would respond with

writing sector 1, cluster 1 - etc. until it had erased the entire contents of the C:\ drive.  And it started at the beginning where the FAT was, so you couldn't cancel it and save some of your data.

They didn't add a "This will destroy all data on the C:\ drive, do you want to proceed?" prompt until MUCH later.

[RayB]

My guess is you're using a burned copy rather than a legitimate copy of Win98 setup disc, and it's bad.

Check for scratches, dirt. And please, this time, if the CD is covered in dirt, let us know now, not 10 posts later.  

[the3eyedblindman]

K when i Start computer it says the basic "Boot Failure, insert system disk" then i put it the 98SE Cd and it says starting windows 98. Then it goes to a new screen, starts scrolling down different messages like a command line, then after a while it says Missing or Corrupt file, command.com." Then it tells me to type  a command and says example "C:\WINDOWS.COMMAND.COM"

[NinjaEpisode]

fdisk and format that drive, then try again.

[daywane]

Glad to here you got it up .
Fdisk will work but not y favorite
I like max blast 2.0
there is newer versions out there but thay only work on maxtor hard drives. I have not found a hard drive max blast 2.0 will not format

[Sylentwulf]

Just run off of a boot disk to the command prompt, get the command.com file off the CD and copy it into the C:/windows directory.

Chances are you'll have problems with other files, but that will fix that one particular error.

[daywane]

well......? how is the hard drive comming along?
aslo it sounds like the CPU was the problem from the get go?

[the3eyedblindman]

It had to of been, cuz even before it was fried i got no video, and right when the cpu was changed i got video right away, see guys i did know what i was doin, just didnt have the common sense of usin a fan the last time. But it didnt matter cuz the CPU was no good anyways. But now its all fixed, im gonna let someone install windows for me, then i should be on my way to mame-in it up  

[daywane]

good to here.
but windows is the E Z part. you just worked through the hard part.

[the3eyedblindman]

As i said there is something wrong with my 98 se startup disk, and i havent been able to fix it, so im gonna let this other guy that has my copy of XP just put that on there for me.

[Paul Olson]

You won't need this since you are having a friend install XP, but for those who don't know, you can get the boot disks (or startup disks) from bootdisk.com.

Paul

[NinjaEpisode]

You can also recreate the startup disk off of the CD.  It should be located in a boot or bootdisk folder on the cd.

[daywane]

I can get a start up disk with 95,98,and Me (yuck)
but I have never found on for XP
does XP have one? If I rember I will have to check for it at bootdisk.com

[Bgnome]

XP usually boots from the cd.  but i believe you can still create a startup disc once it is installed.

[D5A1AC]

" No i didnt, just the cpu, not the fan and heatsink, why, is this bad?"
  I know this is an old topic but how dumb can you be? could you have not have realised that if your cpu came with a hsf, it obviously needed it to function safely??? Even a computer noob would realise that it is necessary. I know nothing about cars but I know I wouldnt take out the radiator because I didnt like having to buy radiator fluid once every few years and I only took it down the the local mall...

If any computer newbies who have read this topic and became discouraged from making thier own pc, dont be! This guy made a really stupid mistake which most people wouldnt do.

Sorry, I know its an old topic and that was probably inappropriate but I had to say something.

[pointdablame]

Sorry, I know its an old topic and that was probably inappropriate but I had to say something.

Yeah, it was.  Bumping an old thread to insult someone is pretty stupid.  Any "internet n00b"  should know it lacks tact.

I'm glad you knew it was wrong though... and still did it.... 

[Tiger-Heli]

Sorry, I know its an old topic and that was probably inappropriate but I had to say something.

Yeah, it was.  Bumping an old thread to insult someone is pretty stupid.  Any "internet n00b"  should know it lacks tact.

I'm glad you knew it was wrong though... and still did it.... 

Agreed, this one should have stayed put to bed.

I know what yytu means, but see my reply #76 above.

Pointdablame initially said:

Take everything out of the system but the mobo and CPU.

And then Exibar said:

Only run with this hooked up:

CPU, (no fan or fan cable), RAM, Powersupply  How many beeps now?  If only one beep, add the vid card, and try and boot... keep doing this until you get more than one beep... when that happens, that's your bad part....

Now I would have known to leave the HSF connected (or at least reply back before I tried without it), but I've built a half dozen systems previously.

To use your example - If you took your car to the mechanic b/c it was running hot and he said "Something is overloading the engine, run it with everything disconnected", you MIGHT disconnect the radiator.

And this is not meant to make anyone feel bad about this.

[D5A1AC]

Ok i spose