No power possibly the motherboard ?

[Manfish]

I have just built a new PC and it came time to turn on and nothing.
I have checked the power supply with a multimeter and it appears to be working but there is no power getting to the Motherboard ?
no lights no fans starting even in the power supply I have checked the connections from the switch and the switch itself
the thing I am left with is is it posibly a motherboard problem ?

[Randy_tx]

Dont despair! There are a number of reasons it might not be posting up...
1. You might not have the RAM seated properly....be sure it's completely seated (SDRAM or SIMMS?)
2. If it's an ATX case, you might not have the on/off cable on the correct posts on the motherboard (check the mobo manual to be sure you dont have it on the wrong end of the rows of plug in posts.
3. You might not have the cpu seated correctly in it's socket (is this a socket 7 or newer generation cpu?
4. You might not have a good video card or not have it correctly seated...no metal connectors should be showing...ie fully into slot (if not, then you might not have put the motherboard on the plate correctly).
5. You could be shorting out....there should be spacers between the screws and the posts you screw the motherboard to to secure it to the mounting plate.
No doubt some of my other compadres can come up with a dozen other things to check out.......but this will keep you busy for a bit. Is this your first time building a pc ?

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"As hard as a rock & dumb as a brick"...Windows CEMeNT

[bassman]

[QUOTE]
no lights no fans starting even in the power supply I have checked the connections from the switch and the switch itself.


You said you checked the power supply with a multimeter. At what part? Have you checked each line for its specified voltage or ground?
My first guess would be faulty power supply as I think you are saying "No fans even in the power supply." They can be bad right out of the box, so make sure you check ALL lines. Do you have another P.S. that you can try?
Let us know how it goes. With a little more system info we should be able to help easier.


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If a book about Failures doesn't sell, is it a success?

[Paleo Pete]

One thing to add to the above, when checking voltage make sure the power supply is plugged into the motherboard and under a load. ATX power supplies should never be run without at least a motherboard connected, similar to the older tube type guitar amps. I'm not sure why in either case, but according to 3 different A+ books they should be under a load when turned on.

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[Manfish]

What a nightmare
This is about the 25th computer I have built and the first time I have had problems of this sort

1st problem not reading the model no on the cover of the manual to see if it is the one that should have been in the box.

2nd problem wiring up the switch according to the manual supplied.

the biggest problem is that no matter how many times you check the cables etc a ATX board will not fire up if you have wired the switch to the F#@$ing speaker pins :-)

[Randy_tx]

It regretfully happens to ALL of US at times http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif
I recently had the SAME problem......was sure it was the Power Supply or mobo......took it back to Distributor......he opened the manual (written by folks who bearly speak or write English) and exclaimed.......you have the on/off switch on the speaker posts! (He didnt speak much English either...guess it looked exactly right to him http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif)

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"As hard as a rock & dumb as a brick"...Windows CEMeNT

[This message has been edited by Randy_tx (edited 03-22-2001).]

[mjc]

What ever happened to the days when the maufacturers would spend a few fractions of a cent to print speaker on the MOBO?

I've noticed that more and more things are just getting identified by apicture in a manual, not on the part itself............

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mjc
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