building own computer, problem!

[bmonk64]

my friend and i decided to build our own computer for the first time. weve read up on things but are still having trouble. we installed everything needed (hard drive, video card, motherboard, etc.) to get it running. we went to boot up and everything seems to come on but nothing comes on the screen, it never actually boots up. the cdrom turns on, and the led lights up, temperature comes on and so on. its like its not reading the monitor. we bought a different video card, thinking that was it, but it did not work. if any thoughts please post back!! thanks!

[ski]

Install/connect only the power supply, MB, CPU, memory, video card, monitor, case speaker, and power button, and make sure the power supply's voltage selector switch is set to the correct voltage and the PS connection to the MB is securely seated.
Then, try a different monitor.
If there's a display, then replace your monitor.

If there's no display with a different monitor, then check the CMOS battery for the correct voltage(3V).
If that's ok, then make sure the 'Clear CMOS' MB jumper is not in the 'Clear' position.
If the jumper is in the proper position, then turn off the power, disconnect the power cord, and clear CMOS either with the MB jumper or by removing the CMOS battery for at least 30 minutes.
If no luck with the above, then place the MB on a piece of cardboard. If there's now a display, then the MB is shorting out when installed in the case. Check for a loose screw, standoff, etc., inside the case, and also remove any standoffs which do not line up with MB holes. If none is found, then remove all MB screws and metal standoffs, and install paper washers(manila folder paper works good for this) between the MB and the screws/standoffs.

If there's no display with the MB placed on a piece of cardboard, then proceed with the following:

(1)Test the following PS leads on the back of its MB connector making sure the connector is installed on the MB and system is powered up with the 'Power On' button:
yellow wire and a black wire- +12V
red " " " " - +5V
orange " " " " - +3.3V
If these voltages are not up to spec, then the PS is bad.
If you do not have a voltmeter, then try a different PS.

(2)If the PS voltages are ok or there's no display with a different PS, then either the MB, CPU, or memory may be bad. Make sure the correct memory type is being used, remove and reinsert the memory a few times making sure it's firmly seated, install the memory in different slots(some MB's require that their memory slots be populated starting with slot 4 and not slot 1).
Also, make sure the video card is firmly seated(some video cards need an extra firm push to seat properly).
If still no display, then swap out the MB, CPU, and memory to find out which is defective.

[Mudodad]

I'm having a very similar problem with a new PC I just built. When I boot up though I get audible signals (beep codes) What are the specs for the PC you & your friend are building? IE: What type CPU, Video card, Motherboard etc...?

I'll keep you posted on the status of the troubleshooting I'm doing on my pc.

Are you getting any beep sounds after you fire it up? If so check the manual for your motherboard and see who made the BIOS chip. If you can't find the BIOS maker in the manual look on the MOBO itself.

If your getting audible beep sounds, count the beeps, then run a search on the web for the company who made the BIOS for your MOBO, Type in the name of the compmany with BIOS Beep codes after it. Ex: AMI BIOS Beep Codes. Look on their site for codes matching what your machine is making. That's a start and may help narrow it down.

[Mudodad]

I figured out was was causing the problems with my new PC. It was my AGP video card not making proper contact. It was seated in the AGP slot firmly but something was not allowing it to make contact.

I removed the video card, the MOBO battery and set the CMOS jumper to clear on the MOBO. I then took a pencil eraser to the goold contacts on the bottom of the video card and erased over both sides. Blew the AGP slot out with canned air, blew the eraser junk off of the video card.

Twenty minutes later, I replaced the MOBO battery, reset the CMOS jumper pin on the MOBO, put the video card in and fired up the PC.
I got the standard one beep to let me know the PC had passed the post test. Monitor came on, everything worked. Now ready to load software & drivers.

You can try the above. The problems your having are damn near identical to what I was experiencing with my new PC.

John

[Paleo Pete]

Ski has the basic idea, but the order things are done needs to be rearranged a bit.

First thing to do is check the CMOS jumper and reseat the video card. Then check it with another monitor, and check video card on another machine. (Just long enough to see a boot screen and not boot into an OS so you have to install drivers.) Shouldn't need to clear CMOS unless it locks up during POST, indicating something in BIOS is not set right. very few if any settings in BIOS will cause the machine to lose video entirely.

Then if monitor and video card both check good on a different machine, the bare bones boot, using CPU, RAM, keyboard and video, nothing else. You'll need the power button and a speaker is nice but not absolutely required. ALWAYS use a heatsink on the CPU with heat transfer compound, modern CPUs will overheat in 10 seconds. Don't even think about turning it on without heatsink and CPU goo.

Then the next step is a bare bones boot on a non-conductive surface out of the case. A wooden or linoleum tabletop is fine, or some cardboard. If you get a good boot at this point, some cardboard washers between motherboard and hold down screws should fix the problem, the board is shorting against the chassis.

From there continue with power supply test, etc.
Always turn power off when connecting anything on the motherboard, some circuits still have low power when plugged in, such as AGP slot, you can and will fry AGP cards or PS/2 mouse/keyboard/port if the power is not completely shut down. Either turn off the main power switch or unplug it. A power strip with an Off-On switch is handy...

Mudodad's problem is very common, video cards quite often don't seat properly, and have to be reseated, sometimes a couple of times. The extreme of having to clean the contacts is not common, but sometimes happens. Usually just reseating a time or two will do it. I've seen the same with plenty brand new motherboards and video cards.