Trying to put together a system using parts taken from my old box and some second hand pieces from ebay (PSU & RAM), but when I power it up the monitor wont wake out of sleep mode (LED remains amber).

All thats plugged into the mobo is PSU (450w), CPU (p4 2.8gHz), RAM (4x256mb DDR400) and graphics card (radeon 9800 SE). When I power it up the green light comes on on the case, and all the fans spin (cpu/psu/gfx/case). I know its not the monitor because it works fine with my current system.

My first thought was the graphics card, so I took out the 9800 and tried an old 9600pro, but same problem. I then thought "maybe its the PSU", so I took the PSU from my current (working) system and hooked it up and still the monitor wont wake up. The only other thing I can think of is the AGP slot on the mobo, but with no way to test that Im praying someone can come up with another suggestion...

PLZ HELP! :(

ok, after reading some more posts where people have had similar problems, it turns out it could just as easily be the ram or cpu as the agp slot itself. Given the ram came second hand from ebay (silly i know) I wont be suprised if thats the culprit. So my next move is to pull out all the ram, and insert a single (working) module from my existing machine. I will also hook up a speaker to see if Im getting any beeps. Failing that I will reset the cmos.

Also, a friend who had a similar problem said that reseating the cpu solved it for him... worth a shot if all else fails i guess.

2 things

#1. I have had problems with old things working with other old things and not being compatible. it could be a big ball of problems stringed together.

#2. this might be a stretch but try a new mobo, or a diff mobo.

Perhaps your BIOS's default configuration settings are set for the use of a PCI video card [or on-board video?]...
Hence...
You'd need to reset the BIOS settings to the defaults [using the mobo jumper, or by removing the CMOS battery for a time]...
Then arrange the video hardware as the BIOS requires [PCI?]...
And startup, and if you get an image on the monitor...
Go into the BIOS Setup...
Configure for the use of AGP video...
Shut down...
Swap in the AGP video card, and restart.

Ideally you need someone like Saphaline who would likely know the mobo, it's default configuration settings, and default video card needed.

Or you need to find out that info.

thanks for the reply guys.

When I got home I pulled out all the ram and stuck in a know working module, and low and behold, a POST screen :D

To think it was all down to a single dud 256mb RAM module, simple really. Gutted I didnt think to check the memory before, but I honestly thought I would get something on-screen even if the ram was faulty.

ok, beterthanlife's lessons for today; first, never buy second hand memory from ebay. Second, dud memory can prevent video from working.

Seems the faulty RAM was causing the POST to halt at the failure of the 1st RAM test, so the video initialisation step that follows shortly after was never reached.
Hence no video initialisation and no image on monitor.

I'd have expected the failure of the 1st RAM test to cause the BIOS's POST to generate warning beeps, however...
The alternative possibility is that the BIOS Setup is configured to "Video BIOS Shadow : Enabled" So if the region on RAM to which it is shadowed is faulty, then the video BIOS would fail to work, the video would therefore fail to work, video couldn't be initialised, no image on monitor, no completion of the POST.