Not sure whether to cry or cry harder... nothing happens when I turn o

[snezzer]

My first build.

 

I was sooooo careful about each step. And careful not to shock the mobo, etc.

 

Everything was connected in my case and ready to go.

 

I go to turn it on... I see a little standby light on the mobo... but that's it.

 

When I hit the power button - absolutely nothing happens. One time I hit the power button, the system fans moved for a split second.

 

Agh. I had hoped for a simple boot into the bios. But I guess not.

 

Any suggestions on how I should go about figuring out what the problem is?

 

I double checked that my power connectors were in properly.

 

But instead of stressing right now... I'm going to bed. Maybe a couple of you will have posted a response by tomorrow after work.

 

Or at least a couple of you will have had a good laugh at my expense. Which is totally ok with me.

 

~snezzer

[red930]

Are you using only one stick of ram? What's the recommended voltage for it?

 

If it's in the 2.2+ range the board might not give them enough juice to fire at first boot you may need to pick up a cheapo stick somewhere to get into the bios.

[Thraxz]

Ya know, that's odd... you sure you've got EVERY plug plugged in on the board? There are three ya know.

 

Otherwise I'd suggest the same thing as Danvan is saying.

[Chump]

The only 2 usual suspects I can think of are the extra 4/8 pin 12v plug in addition to a 24 pin atx plug & make sure the CMOS clear jumper is not shorting the CMOS i.e on pin 2/3 instead of 1/2.

 

Regards

 

Craig.

[fmc_boss]

Speaking of the CMOS jumper, try giving it a clear, & flipping the battery out/in.

 

Also have a good look to see if any of the wires have backed out of the plastic connectors.

 

 

-edit-

just to clarify, from your other post ; http://www.diy-street.com/forum/showpost.p...643&postcount=1

 

you have the gfx card installed in the top pci-e slot? ie, closest to the CPU.

[Kingfisher]

Use only one stick of your RAM, the motherboard can't push enough juice to run those RAM sticks until you can get into BIOS and set the correct voltage.

[HITandRUN]

Use only one stick of your RAM, the motherboard can't push enough juice to run those RAM sticks until you can get into BIOS and set the correct voltage.

 

Good point on this one!

[3stars]

also have a lttle check to see that there are no standoff's on the bottom causing a short

[snezzer]

also have a lttle check to see that there are no standoff's on the bottom causing a short

 

Ya, I know that there is one touching on the bottom, I think - where there was not hole on the mobo. But it was a pre-installed post on the case. And it wasn't just screwed in. It was physically part of the case. There were 9 pre-installed standoffs in my p180. They weren't copper though.

____

 

you have the gfx card installed in the top pci-e slot? ie, closest to the CPU.

 

Yep. I do.

____

 

Ya know, that's odd... you sure you've got EVERY plug plugged in on the board? There are three ya know.

 

3? You mean the long ATX one, and then the 2 that each have 4 pin slots and sit right next to each other? Have have those 3 connected.

____

 

Thanks to everyone for your ideas. I think the easiest thing for me to try first is Kingfisher's idea about the RAM. I have a stick of 256mb ram from my old computer that I could put in to try.

 

But I wouldn't know what to change in the bios. Is it a simple thing to find and change?

 

As far as your ideas about CMOS... I'll have to read up on that. I have no idea how to clear my CMOS. I'm starting to feel a bit 'in-over-my-head' here. :confused:

 

I read somewhere on the internet about shorting 2 wires on the ATX plug to see if the PSU is working. Anyone know anything about this?

[red930]

But I wouldn't know what to change in the bios. Is it a simple thing to find and change?

 

You'll need to change the voltage to the ram, default is 1.8 or 1.9, look at what your sticks need and give that to them - probably 2.1-2.2 I'd guess, but it could be more depending on the sticks.

 

If changing the voltages doesn't seem to help, you may have to manually set the timings as well....but we'll get to that later if you need it. The link below should explain most settings you'd ever have to touch though.

 

And yeah, pretty simple to find...:angel:

 

Altering voltages and FSB:

 

Navigate to this page:

 

Main Bios Screen → Genie BIOS Settings

 

 

.

.

.

 

DRAM Voltage Control:

 

Pretty self-explanatory, this changed the voltage to your ram – otherwise known as “vdimm”. Check what your stick are rated at, popular voltages range from 1.8v for low speed stuff to over 2.3v for higher speed sticks. Tony (from OCZ) recommends no more than 2.5v for any 24/7 use, I agree with that completely. Keep in mind it’s heavily recommended to use active air cooling on your ram when you get to 2.3v or higher – it can really prolong the life of those sticks. (def: 1.90v at first boot)

 

http://csd.dficlub.org/forum/showthread.php?t=731

 

 

As for shorting the PSU, make sure its off and uplugged then use a small piece of wire, maybe a paperclip, and sort a green wire and black wire on your main 24-pin connector. You'll want to connect some hard drives, fans, optical drives, etc to give it a load, then plug it in and turn her on. I'm sure its fine, probably isn't necessary at the moment to try out.

 

The CMOS is essentially that part of the board holding your bios settings - sometimes they're messed up (or just set wrong) and the board doesn't like that so won't start. Look near the bios chip and there'll be a jumper marked CMOS, or CMOS1, or CLRCMOS (something along those lines) should be next to the bios chip. Basically you just shut down your computer (turn the PSU off) and switch the jumper for 20 seconds or so, then switch it back and try booting. Look through your user manual for it's exact location - its in there.

 

Edit:

 

Another good link...if/when you get around to overclocking.

 

http://csd.dficlub.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1064

[snezzer]

Another good link...if/when you get around to overclocking.

 

http://csd.dficlub.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1064

 

Well... I'd like to.

 

But, I'd settle for being able to install Windows.

 

I really appreciate your post. thanks.

[snezzer]

Here are the specs for my Ram(2x1gb modules)

:

OCZ EL DDR2 PC2-6400 / 800 MHz / Enhanced Latency / Platinum Edition / Revision 2 / Dual Channel

 

800MHz DDR2

CL 4-4-4-15

(CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS)

Available in 1024MB modules and 2GB (2x1024MB) Dual Channel Optimized Kits

Unbuffered

Platinum Mirrored XTC Heatspreader*

Lifetime Warranty

1.9 - 2.0 Volts

240 Pin DIMM

 

Secial Features

ATI CrossFire™ Certified

OCZ Enhanced Latency Technology

2.2V EVP**

___________

 

So, at 1.9-2.0 volts, do you still think it could be my ram causing the trouble?