No Beep Codes

[rwilliams]

I just purchased a new Gigabyte GA-7VAXP motherboard, installed the required DDR-333 memory(also new), installed a used AMD AthlonXP 1800+ CPU, set the CPU clock switch to run at 166Mhz, and installed all my other peripherals in a new Antec full tower with a 400w power supply.

After not getting any response from the system, I disconnected everything except the memory and the CPU to check the beep codes. Again, I got no response from the system, no beep codes at all. I searched the internet and found the list of NEW Phoenix BIOS beep codes, but there is nothing there stating what the problem is if there are no beep codes. Can anyone help with this problem? Thank you.

[Jiggy]

hi rwilliams, Welcome to Pc Guide.

1. is there power to the puter, does the power supply fan spin, heatsink,is the hard drive accessed?
2. make sure all power connectors are fitted well and all card seat well, also make sure you have the wire for the internal speaker the right way round.
3. try booting up the puter with only memory, graphics and cpu.
4. does the mobo support the cpu running at that speed?

others will come.

[rwilliams]

hiya Jiggy,

to answer your questions:

1. Yes, there is power to the puter, when I had all of the drives and peripherals connected, they all acted like they wanted to boot, but I was getting no signal to my video output (an ATI All-in-Wonder Radeon 8500DV), this is what prompted me to remove all of the other peripherals and check the beep codes.

2. All connectors are fitted properly, currently all cards are removed from the system except for one of my 256MB DDR-333 ram modules. I did buy two new DDR-333, and tried each individually in slot 1. I tried turning the connection for the speaker around, to make sure that wasn't the problem, and I also tried another speaker that I knew was good.

3. This was the first thing I tried, and still got no response from the mobo.

4. According to the users manual, the mobo supports 1.4GHz and above. That equated to an AMD Athlon 1600+ and above. The chip I am using is an 1800+.

[Rick]

Looks like this Board doesn't like ATI cards.
Or at least some of them.


http://ftp.gigabyte.com.tw/support/user_pdf/7vaxp_1101.pdf

If you have access to an old 1.4
I'd drop that in and then Flash the bios for the chips above that.
AMD 1.4 predates the 1800 = 1.53 BS doesn't it?

[rwilliams]

Thanks for the info. I'll check it out, but my main problem (even with the video card removed) is that I'm not getting ANY beep codes, it just starts up and sits there. It's a Phoenix BIOS, and I did go to their site to look up the beep codes. Even if the CPU is bad it has a beep code to let me know, which it isn't.

[Budfred]

If it has a beep code to say the CPU is bad, then it seems the only remaining option is a bad board. You may want to contact the manufacturer or simply exchange the board from wherever you bought it.

Budfred

[mjc]

One other thing to check....if your board has a clear CMOS jumper make sure it is in the run position and not the clear position....

[ranchdog]

The CPU needs to run at 266Mhz. So
it requires a Front Side Bus setting
of 133 for the CPU.

Does this particular board have a
setting for 133Mhz? (It'll be doubled
to 266Mhz by the bus system by the
time it reaches the CPU)

Setting of 166 is for memory. DDR33 RAM.

Please be sure the CMOS jumper isn't
set in the Clear position for shipping.

Some boards out now that don't have the
jumper.

Where do you have the fan for the CPU
Heatsink pluggd into? Some systems won't
begin a boot process unless RPM is sensed
from the HSF. Should have one plug labled
CPU fan. And a fan that will send an RPM
signal is needed there.

Here's a link to a thread that might help you out:

http://www.amdforums.com/showthread.php?threadid=153272


RD.

[GreetingsNerdlings]

that's a hefty overclock youre goin for dood. the athlon 1800, as with all xp cpus so far can only run with a cpu clock of 133 (what you have set at 166). your mobo should support up to a 200mhz clock (2x200=400mhz ddr), and your ram supports a 166mhz clock (166x2=333mhz ddr), the problem is, your processor can't keep up. some people can get their cpu clocks up to 166mhz, but that requires serious cooling, and possibly voltage adjustments... it also requires , unlocking, or physically modifying the chip itself to change the cpu multipier. the multiplier on the chip as it is designed to run should be 11.5
(11.5 x 133mhz = 1.53mhz)~(multiplier x cpu clock = cpu speed of athlon xp 1800+). so, since you were trying to run your clock at 166, your cpu was trying to run at {11.5 x 166) 1909mhz. that's a real nice overclock, but perhaps a little too ambitious right now :p
the point of all this nonsense is that you should set your cpu clock at 133mhz now. when the new xp chips come out, the 2800+ and above, you will be able to run your cpu clock at 166, which will match your pc2700 memory timings as well, but wait a few months for that.

anyway, the problem at hand... youre gonna need to clear the cmos first, do that with the jumper on the motherboard, just move the jumper to the clear setting for several seconds, then put it back. that will erase the 166mhz clock setting. the computer should be able to boot after that. enter the bios, and see what the cpu clock is set at. set it to 133mhz, then you should be good to go.

oops, i just realized, you may not have changed the cpu clock thru the bios. if you did it thru jumpers on the board, then just switch the jumpers to 133, otherwise try what i said above.

oh ya, and make sure you have ram, video card and keyboard plugged in at the very minimum.