i recently built a computer, half new parts, half used...

SD11 Motherboard (new)
AMD Athlon Processor 900mHz (taken out of a dead computer. dont know why it was dead)
256MB of DIMM RAM (new)
Maxtor 80GB HD (my brother's old harddrive. works)
Geforce3 Video Card (my brother's old video c. works)
Creative Sound Blaster Live (my brother's old sound c. works)
10/100 mbps Network Card (my brother's old network c. works)
Artec 52x CD-RW (new)


When I turn on the computer, everything powers up, the harddrive, the cd-rw, the neon lights, the case fans, but the monitor never recieves a signal. People have asked if I hear a beep when I turn on my computer, but the motherboard does not have the pinouts for an internal speaker. I have tried swapping the video card and that did not work. My guess is that the processor's fried...

When an AMD athlon processor is on a motherboard, does it jiggle just a bit when you move it? Maybe it's not plugged in right...

Please help asap. thanks.

Hi there XX
WELCOME to the forums

First it would be helpful if you could supply some details of hardware and OS

Until someone else comes along with a better answer a couple of easy answers for you - have you tried another monitor?

If you use a fused plug have you checked the fuse in it?

Also, can you see anything on the screen at ANY point during bootup? or is the monitor completely blank?

If so you could try booting the computer with a boot floppy, then if you can reach the A:\ promt chage to C:\ (if this is your default install drive) and type DIR then press enter.

the monitor is completely fine, as i'm using it right now, my new comp is sitting on top of this one, desktop style, with its window open so i can move around things on the inside, anyway the hd has winxp on it.
just a few minutes ago i took out all the ide cables and power cables except for the power to the motherboard. when i turned it on, something finally appeared on my monitor, and it was for me to go through setting up the bios. set up the bios, i did. ALSO it knew I had a 900mhz processor, so I'm sure it's not fried. after i exited the bios nothing happened, the screen remained blank. i turned it off.. plugged in the harddrive, tried booting, nothing appeared.. so i unplugged the harddrive (power/ide) and tried booting up, nothing happened. i decided i mustve screwed up somewhere in the bios, so right now the cmos jumper is on clear... i'll try again right now...

-later on-

monitor still isn't getting a signal, everything is hooked up again, from the blue neon tube lights on the front to the sys fan on the back... *sniff* but the monitor remains blank, flashing its little light indicating it's not recieving a signal...

What kind of power supply you got running this little neon lighted machine? How many fans you got running? When you say the cpu jiggles in its socket I start to wander what you got going, it shouldnt wiggle when its firmly seated.
V

400W Colorcases house brand

it has a switch on the back where i can alternate between 115V and 230V. i'm keeping it on 115 right now cuz im a total n00b and have no clue what'll happen if i set it on 230

Do you live in the US or the UK? Our friends across the pond seem to need twice the power to run things as we do here in America. I'll bet there electric shavers way 3 pounds : )

Does your uhh CPU still wiggle?

V

i live in the US, houston, TX. I just skipped through most of the setup on this site because my bday'z coming up in 2 days, and i wanna show off to my friends. hehe. and i want a new working computer, this one sucks. anywho, it still jiggles, just a bit, and the mobo didnt come with those things to slide the processor through, but the processor that i had... had squeeze tabs on them. its weird. but hey, the computer said it knew it was a 900mhz

Yea, but if its loose that could be why your having weird problems..

nope. everytime i boot now I get to the setup screen. I can choose from setting up the bios, or set everything to normal and start.. or something simular to that... only now it needs a bootup disk, which, won't be too hard to make. but, would it still work if the harddrive isn't connected? After making the bootup disk I'll try turning the computer on with the harddrive plugged. i HOPE that it'll boot up. It's funny though, as soon as i boot it up the splash screen says "The Computer Company" or something like that in big orange letters.... stylish! hah. not. :)

oh right. and i need to take the floppy drive out of this comp and stick it in the other one to do that. hmm.

okay, got a bit of advice from brother. i dont need a floppy drive if i have a cd drive. good for me. you people, you people... he beat you to it! how evil. anywho, i can now turn on the computer and not have to reset the cmos every time. im pretty close to finishing all of this mayhem. in the bios the computer detects the cd-rw. THANK GOD :) . But the harddrive, *sniff*, the harddrive. i go to autodetect all drives, and it locks up. the thing won't let me detect the harddrive. why is this? *sniffle*

Yea it sounds like your brother figured it out.
;p

V

*cries* what about the harddrive problem? my brothers at work right now.

bleh. everytime i turn on the comp, it just says Welcome to Computer's World. In big, red, stylish, ugly letters. (what i described earlier) I WANT MY HARDDRIVE! *sniffle* :(

well, not anymore.
now, a nice black screen with american systems or whatever and its logo, and the memory count.. and this......
CMOS/GPNV CHECKSUM BAD
CMOS Display Type Wrong

Press F1 to run Setup
Press F2 to load default values and continue.

-

helpp meee *sniffle* :( :( :(

Double check to make sure that the clear CMOS jumper is in the run/normal position and not clear.

Also does this board have onboard video in addition to a slot for a video card?

If so have you tried hooking the monitor up to the onboard viedo's connector?

Computer will never turn on if the jumper is in clear. The Motherboard, well, for $15, is plainly a scrap of metal for me until this processor dies, then i get to buy a better one, its just temp for these few years. anywho, no onboard video. i've cleared up the Display Type Wrong error, I bet it's back though, anywho since it wouldn't detect the hd by itself i typed in the cylinders, sectors, etc., and exited&saved. it went to the splash screen, and didnt do anything from there. i turn off / turn back on, it brings me back to that screen to choose from f1 and f2. i go check the bios and everything is back to as it was at the beginning, thinking i have a floppy drive. is it the battery?

hmmmmmmmmmm. might just be that my harddrive is fried. earlier on i DID make a non-smart booboo. i plugged the power socket thing into the hd while the power supply was on. and i realize the hd doesnt spin a bit and click when i turn on the pc. *sniffle* its fried, isnt it, doctor?

I think you should put down the computer parts and step away from the computer parts.

Variable

*sniff* i'll call the funeral home. i'll see what they can do

Do you have a floppy drive for your "project?" One of the benefits of a floppy is you can do some pretty quick diagnostics.

You mentioned getting a Windows boot disk...that might not be a bad idea...I'd find the Harddrive manufacturer's name and download the diagnostics. These can go onto a floppy disk...most are self-booting, but if not you could use your boot disk to get you to the A: and then run the diagnostics from the diskette...

You definitely don't want to be plugging or unplugging anything IDE while you've power to the system.

In the Bios you'd want to make sure the boot order is set to look for the floppy first...

I'm wondering if what you are experiencing with your CPU is your Heatsink/Fan combo twisting slightly...That of course would not be the same as the CPU die twisting around in the socket...

You shouldn't have to mess with anything in the BIOS other than the boot order...If it is not set to auto-detect the IDE devices you might want to change that, but otherwise just save and exit...

no matter if i save, or not while exiting the bios, everything goes back to what it was like before, with floppy booting first. i can take the floppy out of this computer and temporarily keep it in the new one. by running the HD diagnostics i can find out of the HD is dead, right? Altho I'm pretty sure it is already... I don't think I really need a Windows Bootup Disk, but if I do, there's always the cdrw. I won't be able to make a dos bypassing cd with the harddrive diagnostics thing on it, because the cd-r in this comp doesnt work, and I don't want to go through the trouble of taking the new cd-rw out of the new computer, putting it in the old one, and doing all of that, just to find out my harddrive is kentucky fried. Setaside from the harddrive, I'll get a replacement, but for the other question. The BIOS dont save my settings because... 1) the battery sucks, or 2) because there is no harddrive to save these settings... and for the cpu fan/heatsink, my cpu does not have a fan directly on top of it. it's just the processor, and a heatsink. and yes, the whole entire thing jiggles a bit. :(

The Harddrive has nothing to do with your BIOS settings...

Yes, the HDD diagnostics will tell you if your HDD has problems...

A 900 Athlon would do well to have a Fan attached to the sink...

You also seem pretty well versed in computer speak and I'm beginning to suspect that you might be out for a joyride...;)

Originally posted by Whyzman
You also seem pretty well versed in computer speak and I'm beginning to suspect that you might be out for a joyride...;)

i'm scared. can't i just get a new hd? would that make it alllll better? *dear god, i want a pie, not a joyride*

wait. there MAY BE hope. the cd-rw at the same time isn't flashing it's little happy yellow light, nor will it eject. maybe the settings don't like the hardware anymore, or is my cd-rw dead too? :mad: no. it cant be! its.. its.. special. and no, i didnt spark it. so, special smart people of the world, how may you help me?

HALLELUJIA! ITS NOT FRIED! it clicked! it span! weeee!!!! also i think one thing went wrong was that one of the ide cables were.. like... in the trunk of a black car with no a/c for about a week. hmm. but OH WELL! Back to trying to get the damn computer to listen to the harddrive!!!

I suspect that the jiggling CPU is the problem... they are not supposed to be loose...

Budfred, i think were beating a dead horse here, evidently someone has stopped taking their meds.

Could be true or could simply be someone with a little too much energy and some difficulty communicating clearly... I usually go with the benefit of the doubt initially anyway....

"Hey Doc, it hurts when I plug the power cable into the harddrive while the machine is running." And Doc says, "Um, don't do that. You know you fried the harddrive when you did that, don't you?"

So anywho, I see two things. First, the harddrive is toast. Get out the jelly. And two, the CMOS battery is almost toast. Get a new one.

okay. shouldn't listen to supernerds that much... turns out the harddrive was.. well, fine. i'm on the new comp too, right now. nice, fresh, windows xp pro. ah. the sweet suculent success of noticing I didn't really much use any of any supergeek's advice. well, the battery part, that I might listen to.

All we can do is offer suggestions based on your description of what is happening.

Cripes, nobody is perfect and now I'm starting to think you're just a jerk looking for entertainment.

: )Big Blue I think your right I had him pegged about 4 posts ago.
Spydah, I for one think being called a supernerd is a compliment. You might think all supernerds are pasty faced, 130 pound dorks. But, I think you would be in for many rude surpises if you met them in person ;p

What else can you expect from a child.