Problem With New System

[skillz_906]

I recently went through the process of building a new PC from scratch for myself, with parts from various sites (all trusted).

I have just finished putting it all together but have encountered a problem: the machine will boot up but for some reason I cannot get a signal on the monitor. I have tried my default graphics port, a PCI slot and an AGP slot, but nothing will register.

Could anybody help me out here? It's very frustrating to get this far and hit a brick wall

Thanks very much,
AJ

PS. Sorry if this is in the wrong topic or anything, I am a computer newbie. Again thanks a lot in advance guys.

[Jiggy]

Ok lets start with,

Is the power to monitor connected and turned on ?

Have you connected all power cables from the power supply unit (also the square 4 pin black/yello supply to some mobos) ?

Try a lower speed memory stick (if you have one).

Computer spec will help, thanks.

[skillz_906]

The monitor is definately connected, it has worked many times before.

All the Power cables needed are all connected.

Specs:

2.4 GHZ
1024MB RAM (PC2100)
MSI Mainboard - 645E
Radeon 9200 128MB

Thanks!

[Sylvander]

Download a copy of my diagnostic flowcharts from here
www.erniek.eclipse.co.uk/downloads/sylvanderdiags.zip
and print them to leaf through.

Begin on the START UP chart.
Do you hear the single short beep that indicates successful completion of the POST?
The video card is not enabled until immediately after successful completion of the POST.

What makes you think that the boot process completes if you cannot see any image on the monitor?

[skillz_906]

Thanks for the thing but I cannot find it. PSU voltages correct? I don't know how. Plus I hear no beeps at all.
Cheers.

[Sylvander]

1. "I hear no beeps at all"
as the START UP chart instructs, you should remove all RAM.
The BIOS should then generate warning beeps.
If you hear them then your internal speaker is working; if you hear no warning beeps the internal speaker MAY NOT be working [which could account for no beeps heard]. Only if you know your speaker is working do you know that the absence of any beeps means that none are being generated by the BIOS. In which case you have no error beeps and NO POST. Under those circumstances the chart takes you to the NO POST chart.

2. "PSU voltages correct? I don't know how."
You could miss out the PSU test [or fit a known good PSU] and proceed to the next step of disconnecting all peripherals and adapter cards [except the keyboard and video card/monitor], commonly called a bare-bones boot.
If the PC then successfully completes the POST, then one of the diconnected items is faulty.
You then shut down, re-connect an item of hadware and re-start.
Failure or success indicates whether the item is faulty or not.
Repeat until all functional items are connected and the faulty items disconnected and the POST is successful.

[skillz_906]

Thanks for replying.
I tried a different power supply and it boots up better now.
I here to beep kinda things. Even with my ram in, it's kinda like in between the start up beep and the computer actually booting up. Hard to explain. What do you think mate?

[Sylvander]

"it boots up better now"
You should try to describe the sequence of what you hear and see.
Do you hear the single short beep that indicates a successful POST?

"Even with my ram in, it's kinda like in between the start up beep and the computer actually booting up. Hard to explain."
It sounds like you're getting the POST beep, but instead of the video card being initialized and characters displayed on-screen, your BIOS is generating a beep code. Possibly to indicate a fault with the video card.
See beep codes here http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm [this address is on the charts].
Who is the manufacturer of your BIOS?
You need to study your video card and make sure you have it properly seated in the CORRECT SLOT.

QUOTE
System Boot Sequence
The system BIOS is what starts the computer running when you turn it on. The following are the steps that a typical boot sequence involves. Of course this will vary by the manufacturer of your hardware, BIOS, etc., and especially by what peripherals you have in the PC. Here is what generally happens when you turn on your system power:

1. The internal power supply turns on and initializes. The power supply takes some time until it can generate reliable power for the rest of the computer, and having it turn on prematurely could potentially lead to damage. Therefore, the chipset will generate a reset signal to the processor (the same as if you held the reset button down for a while on your case) until it receives the Power Good signal from the power supply.
2. When the reset button is released, the processor will be ready to start executing. When the processor first starts up, it is suffering from amnesia; there is nothing at all in the memory to execute. Of course processor makers know this will happen, so they pre-program the processor to always look at the same place in the system BIOS ROM for the start of the BIOS boot program. This is normally location FFFF0h, right at the end of the system memory. They put it there so that the size of the ROM can be changed without creating compatibility problems. Since there are only 16 bytes left from there to the end of conventional memory, this location just contains a "jump" instruction telling the processor where to go to find the real BIOS startup program.
3. The BIOS performs the power-on self test (POST). If there are any fatal errors, the boot process stops.
4. The BIOS looks for the video card. In particular, it looks for the video card's built in BIOS program and runs it. This BIOS is normally found at location C000h in memory. The system BIOS executes the video card BIOS, which initializes the video card. Most modern cards will display information on the screen about the video card. (This is why on a modern PC you usually see something on the screen about the video card before you see the messages from the system BIOS itself).
5. The BIOS then looks for other devices' ROMs to see if any of them have BIOSes. Normally, the IDE/ATA hard disk BIOS will be found at C8000h and executed. If any other device BIOSes are found, they are executed as well.
6. The BIOS displays its startup screen.

[skillz_906]

I hear 2 short beeps.

My video card is brand new, AGP and goes in the correct slot. (middle brown slot)

I checked that site and.. Parity circuit failure whaty is that please?

Thanks

[pave_spectre]

Parity Circuit Failure (http://www.pcguide.com/ts/x/sys/beep/amiB2-c.html) .

Diagnosis: This code usually means a problem with either the system memory or the motherboard.

[skillz_906]

Memory is fine, I will buy a new motherboard.

[Sylvander]

System Memory =
1. Primary Cache.
2. Secondary Cache.
3. RAM.

Your RAM [3] may be ok, but what about 1 & 2?

[skillz_906]

I don't know, how do I find out please.

[Sylvander]

Study your motherboard manual.
The primary cache is probably built into your CPU, and the secondary cache may be also.

I mentioned it because you might change your motherboard and find that doesn't fix it. You should consider the possibility.
Perhaps you could try your CPU in another PC, or another CPU in your PC.

I just noticed that the link Pave Spectre supplied explains where to go from here. You should follow that. Don't rush to buy a new board.

[skillz_906]

Yep that is good, I am going to try all of my parts on m brother PC later. SO find the problem. Hopefully it'll work. I'll reply with the feedback. Thanks for your help!!