No power, no lights, nothing

[zhenek]

very, very sad picture. I'm building a brand new system (this is only my second system ever http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif Plugged everything in according to the manuals, tried to turn it on -- nothing, even fans won't come on. Tried exchanging the power supply -- same thing; tried exchanging the motherboard and the cpu -- same thing. What else could be doing it? I know the motherboard gets power because the little LED comes on, when I plug it in, but after I press the ATX power switch, nothing happens. I even tested the power button with a little RadioShack tseter - no problems there.

Please somebody help!!! This is so frustrating.

the specs are the following:
ASUS A7V266-E
AMD XP 1500+
256Mb DDR RAM
IBM 40Gb ATA100 HD
ATI All-in-wonder Radeon video

Thank you.

[ski]

Start with just the power supply, motherboard, CPU, and case speaker connected.
If the power supply module fan does not run, then make sure the start button's wire is connected to the correct terminal on the motherboard.
If it is, then remove it and momentarily jump the terminals with a small screwdriver.
If the system boots, then replace the start button and connecting wire.

If the system does not boot, then the MB is either getting grounded out, or it is bad.
Remove the MB from the case and place it on a piece of cardboard.
If the system does not boot, then the MB is probably bad.
If the system does boot, then the MB is getting grounded. Check that all of its screws are not coming in contact with any of the circuitry, and there are no stray screws, etc., laying behind the MB. Also, use plastic spacers between the screw heads and the MB.

[zhenek]

Thanks for the reply, Ski. Tried all that. I even tried plugging the reset button instead of the main power switch, nothing. Took the board out of the box and placed it on my desk - nothing. I've got a new motherboard now with a new cpu, nothing is connected to it, except the cpu, ram card, and power cables with an atx switch, still dead. I doubt, I'm so lucky to get a bad board and/or cpu twice. The only thing that I haven't tried replacing is the cpu fan/heatsink. Could those be causing the problem? I'd think it would still power on the PS, wouldn't it? Is there a way to test the cpu fan? Any other suggestions, please?????

[ski]

Make sure the PS switch is set to 120 volts.
Make sure there power available to the PS.
Double check to make sure the power button wire is connected to the correct terminal on the MB.
Jumping the green and black wires on the PS should start its fan.

[Windoze]

If your CPU fan had an open circuit your system would boot, but the fan would not work. However if your fan has a dead short the system will not boot.

Has the same effect as shorting the MB to the case.

Good Luck!