I still have some things to check on my boxes concerning my primary post, but, I just wanna know if there is any good way to test to determine if have a malfunctioning cpu or motherboard. for instance, maybe i could feel for heat from cpu if i let system just sit there an warm up for a while, while i stare at the blank screen. I do have a Fluke meter. . .I don't have an extra Athlon cpu or mobo to swap test though.

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Bill Gates, I might have more love for ya if I were a long time stock holder!

Originally posted by O/Cwannabe:
I still have some things to check on my boxes concerning my primary post, but, I just wanna know if there is any good way to test to determine if have a malfunctioning cpu or motherboard. for instance, maybe i could feel for heat from cpu if i let system just sit there an warm up for a while, while i stare at the blank screen. I do have a Fluke meter. . .I don't have an extra Athlon cpu or mobo to swap test though.



Hey!
I just posted the exact same problem as you seem to have. But i have different components (abit/xp2000+) BUT we two are using the same powersupply!!! (antec 350W)
Makes me thinking.
Have you tried to use a different psu?

ummm, dunno what a PSU is...but, i tried my old cheapy 250watt powersupply first. Before i got the athlon rig, was experiencing total system deadness with a tyan mobo/k-6 III rig. So, i bought the asus/athlon combo, and vwella, same result, so i incorrectly assumed I had a bad or weak powersupply even though all fans spun, so I bought the Antec fancy pantsy 350watt ps.

berndangerer: does your system even post at all??? I now have three mobos, 3 cpus, and two cases, and still nothing, zip, nada. Just happy fans that spin like everything is just so cool; la la la. Cant help but be paranoid about the stuff i got, new and used, on ebay, because i know all the necesary precautions to take, with static, cpu mounting, etc. Just wondered; feeling pretty lonely i guess. I almost went with abit too, but a nice asus came up on ebay. think both mobo's have their idiosyncracies from what i have read review wise, but both are I think the best out there, and I would just love the heck outa my asus if the dog thing would fire!!! I WAS just advised to plug the cpu fan into the mobo though, and try that, that the asus may not allow the cpu to fire if it does not detect a cpu cooler fan. You may have a similar situation. Were u advised to use a 3pin to 4 pin adapter to avoid sucking too many amps through your mobo to your cpu cooler fan???...heck, my globalwin came with the adapter apparently for that very reason. Well, let me know; you try yours if you need to and I will go try mine; Ciao

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Bill Gates, I might have more love for ya if I were a long time stock holder!

Well, psu means power supply unit.

This is all very weird.
I have my fan attached to the powersupply with an extra cable going to the mobo, so it can find the fan.
I reseated the memorysticks now and made it a step further. It now beeps 3 times and then waits for something. But i still can't see anything on my screen.
I had to push the memory into the socket REALLY HARD, i was actually even afraid of damaging things here. But then at least the tone of the beep changed, so i guess it now complains about something else. But what?

Have you tried to be really rude with your memory???It might help actually.

I do know I have come across places that reveal the bios beeping codes. Maybe it was even the Award website, or maybe some of the MOBO websites I have been to. As for re-seating the memory sticks; I had discovered the value of that before all this trouble, and that some MOBO DIMM slots are more frightening than others in terms of pressure needed to apply, board flex, and board creaking too(especially rough on my Dad's cheapy Amptron Mobo).

Right, I get no POST at all; blank screen. I noticed last night that I did plug a black and white twisted wire lead that came with my Antec PSU to the MOBO (thinking it was so the mobo could monitor and control the PSU fan speeds and temp), at the CPU fan pins I believe. Now I suppose I need to question that. I was gonna rig a 40mm fan I accidently purchased (what I wanted was a 50mm fan for my older AMD cpu coolers, but estimated lengths wrong) to the cpu fan pins (splicing the 4pin leads to an extra 3pin plug)to try to put some resistance on those cpu fan pins.

When you say, 'I have my fan attached to the powersupply with an extra cable going to the mobo, so it can find the fan', I am thinking we are talking about that same Bl/Wh wire to 3 pin plug from the Antec, but I would be amazed if the software can determine which fans are connected to the 4pin powersupply wires, ya know?

But, try the MOBO and BIOS websites for some possible beep code satisfaction. Heck, I can't even get any beeps...

Sidenote: a funny thing happened yesterday; I had ordered an extra cheapy case with cheapy 400watt PSU, and it took so long to get here, I pestered the company with emails, they told me UPS had destroyed the first one they sent out, and that they would send another; the UPS tracking info last entry had shown that it was somewhere still in california, 'DEPARTURE CANCELLED'; so anyway, yesterday I musta got the original case delivered, undamaged. I paid through PayPal, so don't think the vendor can put another charge on my credit card if he realizes the error. Have recieved no emails from them on this yet. Think they just chalked one case off, or maybe UPS lost it for a while and decided to pay the vendor the replacement cost, or something. But since I may actually have 3 working MOBO's if I ever find out what my plague is, this 3rd case would come in real handy some day. It is not the vendor's fault it got lost in shipping, but boy was i inconvenienced, and that is why i resorted to buying the Antec, which came from a chicago warehouse (PROVANTAGE was the vendor, total price for the Antec to me only $50), and arrived within 20 hours UPS ground service. How do ya like alla THEM apples???

Do keep me up on your progress though; I am interested even if it does not relate to my own 'personal' problems. I think at this point, I am so frustrated, it is just good to be able to vent a bit to someone who can relate, sorta/maybe. Suppose I should just hire a shrink tho, or a computer 'exorcist' (I just hate having to hire a computer tech when I feel like I should be able to find my own computer solutions, or be forever plagued by similar re-occurring problems; aside from possibly being gouged walletways). Well, Ciao.

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Bill Gates, I might have more love for ya if I were a long time stock holder!

I missed your original post, but if your system doesn't boot up, you might first want to make sure your memory chip is fully inserted, and also check your video card (my first two choices in this scenario).