Hello all, I put together the following system and booted up for first time OK. Went through POST fine and got to the stage were I was reading the dir. of my boot disk then system shutdown. The same thing happens every time i boot up but each time I do I get less and less time before shutdown. MOBO beeps 2 short, pause 1 short (Memory problems???). I've replaced my RAM and tried both DIMM slots. I also don't think its heat. I can just about get into the bios hardware monitor which reads cpu temp @ 30C (fine) and Mobo temp @ 27C before it shutsdown. My psu is only 300w could that be the problem?? Seems strange to be shutting down quicker each time though.
Jumper settings? I've checked and double checked. Floppy IDE ribbon is in right btw.

Anyone have any ideas? :confused:

sorry system specs...

Sempron 2400 1.6Ghz Socket A 256KB 333Mhz OEM
AMD P/N:SCA2400

K7S41 Socket A FSB400 VIA Micro ATX Motherboard
Asrock P/N:K7S41

MA Silver/Black Midi Tower Case with 300W PSU
Aries Value P/N:A-2542-1-L

512Mb PC3200 184pin DDR 400 DIMM Memory
Aries P/N:512Mb DDR400

20 gig 7200 Western Digital

yet more information.

I have managed to avoid the shutdown by changfing the FSB to 200mhz with jumpers. However this severely limits my proccessor.
Why does this work?

Also I cannot recognise harddrive or cd drive after floppy boot. Don't appear to be there even though bios finds them ok.

reading the dir. of my boot disk

Not sure what you meant by this. Did you already have an OS on the boot disk? If so, that could cause problems. In any case, you might want to look up the beep codes for your bios, either on the internet or perhaps on the manual that came with your mobo. If you are getting a beep code like the one you described, then you've got some sort of hardware problem. I'm not sure what that pattern means. Somewhere here I had a listing of beep codes for award bioses, but I cannot find it. But I know it indicates some sort of hardware failure.

Your psu looks to be marginal at best. 300W is miniscule by today's standards, and if it's a no-brand psu, then its reliability and true wattage is even more suspect. You might want to post the specs that are listed on the side of the psu for your 3.3, 5, and 12 volt rails.

Whenever I build a system, I always start with just the cpu with its hsf, along with the psu, and test (that's why you'll need a listing of the beep codes). If you get the right beep code at this point, then install memory and test. If you get the right beep code at this point, then install your video card, connect your monitor and test. If you get the right error code on your monitor at this point (which would be "no OS"), then you'll know that your cpu, memory, and video systems are all working. Then you install your optical drive and hdd and install your OS.

I added a new mobo last spring to a system, but kept the other components constant, and the psu I had been using (a very good one) was simply insufficient for the new mobo such that my system would not recognize one of my hdds. I added a new psu and presto, there was my hdd. So at the very least, I'd question your psu. Good luck.

marty

See beep codes at www.computerhope.com/beep.htm