Help with new custom PC

[spestocks]

OK, I just bought all the components for a new custom built PC, and put them together, and last night, I turned it on...and well, nothing really happened.

Here's my situation: 1.2 GHZ AMD 266 BUS on a K7SEM ECS Elitegroup mother, 256 RAM (1 DIMM), onboard video and sound, wattage for case at 115W. Now, when I turn the power on and hit the power button, the power case fan turns on, and I get lights on the CD-RW, CD-ROM and FDD, but no hum/movement from the HDD or CPU cooling fan. If on for a few seconds, you can feel the CPU getting warm.

Now, here's the first kicker, if I disconnect the IDE cables, then the drives not connected by IDE will 'run', as in i hear the HDD spinning, and I can open the CD doors, but if the IDE cables are connected, then, no dice, nothing works...no opening of the doors, and no spinning.

And the second kicker is that the BIOS just doesn't seem to be running at all...no beeps, nothing, just the fan and the little HDD LED turn on (and, I assume, the CPU since it gets hot) when power is on.

My CPU is in correctly, IDE cables (1 new, 1 older) have been changed around and no combos worked, the cooling fan is on correctly and plugged in to the board correctly.

So, any suggestions??? I could really use some help and any suggestions, because I have run out of ideas. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/frown.gif http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/confused.gif http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/mad.gif

Jason

[BigBlue66]

Hi and Welcome to the PCGuide,

First of all, get yourself another CPU fan. Your particular processor will be fried in 10 seconds or so without proper cooling. Do not try to run the computer without getting a different fan first. Sounds like you have power, but the CPU fan is probably faulty.

Secondly, is your CMOS battery installed correctly? Sometimes they ship motherboards with something between the battery and the board, to save on the battery. Check that.

Third, there is usually a jumper on the motherboard for the CMOS. There are two options, either Normal or Clear. Sometimes they ship motherboards with the jumper in the clear position. Check that. It should be in the Normal position.

Try these three ideas and get back to us, but please do get yourself a different CPU fan. That fan should power up regardless of whether the board beeps or does anything else. I think.

Your IDE devices may need a motherboard driver to work correctly. You should have received a CD with your motherboard. Let's get you up and running first though. After that, you will have to boot using a floppy that provides CD-ROM support. Then you can use the CD-ROM to install the motherboard IDE drivers.

Cheers,

Big Blue 66


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Yes Sir, Occifer!

[This message has been edited by BigBlue66 (edited 08-20-2001).]

[ranchdog]

Jason-- Hopefully that CPU hasn't been fried. It doesn't take long. You didn't state which CPU HS/F you are using but have you seen the the fan jerk a little bit when it first gets power? Some of the fans (Black Label 7000rpm for example) can't be run off the Mboard fan header. They just draw too much current. Causes that fan header to expire. Do you have a set of pins that read-- case fan?
Are you using ATA/100 IDE? That will take 80 pin ribbon cables. Which probably came with he Mboard.
Your four pin connectors (for power) may have something something joined in with them causing some grief.
As I recall iisbob uses this same Mboard, maybe he will stop by on your post. Luck.
http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

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......Indecision may or may not be my problem......
...... Kickin' A Rock....

[This message has been edited by ranchdog (edited 08-20-2001).]

[danleff]

Hi;

I think that all these folks have hit the nail on the head. I only have one other thing to add. Is the power supply AMD approved, or recommended by the motherboard manual? These processors and motherboards need a lot of juice and a quality power supply. For example, see;
http://www1.amd.com/athlon/npower/index/1,1712,,00.html

[Paleo Pete]

Here's my situation: 1.2 GHZ AMD 266 BUS on a K7SEM ECS Elitegroup mother, 256 RAM (1 DIMM), onboard video and sound, wattage for case at 115W.

115Watt power supply??? hopefully this is a typo and you actually meant 155 volts. If the power supply is actually 115 Watts, it's way underpowered, you'll need 300 Watts at least.

DO NOT run that machine without a CPU fan, the AMD chip can be fried in under 10 seconds without one. I strongly agree with the above suggestions, get a CPU fan!

When the IDE drives do nothing, coupled with a black screen, first thing I usually check is to be sure the cables are not backward. Many machines I have worked with will show the exact same results when the cable is reversed. Some will still run but display a HDD or HDD controller error. The red or blue stripe on one side should be in the #1 pin position on both controller and drive.

Also check the jumpers on the hard drive and CD ROM drives. Each should have a master/slave jumper, and must be set accordingly. Normally the drive at the end of the cable is Master, the drive on the center connector is Slave. The two connectors closer together go on the drives, the longer end goes to the motherboard controller.

Additionally some hard drives have a separate jumper setting for Master or Slave in a dual drive system. Check the documentation for each of your drives to be sure you have them set correctly.

Again though, before you try to run it again definitely make sure you have a working CPU fan. If you power it up and the fan does not spin don't let it run more than a couple of seconds. The AMD chips fry QUICK.

Come to think of it, I might have gotten ahead of myself here...it might be a very good idea to start over. Start with only motherboard, CPU, memory, video card and keyboard. Power up long enough to see CPU fan work and a picture. If you do get video at this point, then double check cables and jumpers and add components one thing at a time starting with floppy.

If you do not get video at this point, it's most likely you have a short between the motherboard and chassis. Get some carboard washers from a computer shop and put them between the motherboard and chassis on every screw that holds it down. Then try again, and add one component at a time.

Also pull and reseat the video card and memory chips, make sure they are properly seated.

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[andreadebiase]

and last....check for the FSB jumper on the mobo (if any), might be on 100 (100by2=200) and you need to set it at 266 (133by2=266) for yopu CPU.


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