Nothing on Screen

[manny1975]

Howdy all I just bought a new Pentium D 3.2 Ghz Duo Core and a Biostar P4m800-M7a. I have 1 Gig Ram and I connected everything but when I go to start up everything powers up but I do not see anything on the screen...any ideas?

[chrisling]

Welcome to PcGuide Discussion Forum.

Did the heatsink functioning? The cpu fan works? Any 'bit' sounds comes out? Did you plug your power cable well?

[manny1975]

yea everything powers up butno beeps and nothing on the screen

[SufferWell1396]

are ya sure the Graphics Card/Onboard Graphics are working properly??, or that the monitor can function in that resolution?and or function at all??

[manny1975]

yea its the same monitor I've always used...I have tried it on 2 motherboards and nothing

[chrisling]

It could be RAM issue possibly. Can we know your specs?

[manny1975]

ultra ddr2 pc4200 533mhz with an intel motherboard, I have also tried a biostar P4m800-M7A motherboard with a 1 gig DDR ram 2700... THe power supply however is a 20 pin...but if everything powers on do you think that is a factor?

[Sylvander]

See my answer in post #2 HERE (http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=50773); it applies equally well to your problem methinks.

Are you certain that the mobo's BIOS really does support the duo-core CPU?

[manny1975]

That's what I was told at Tiger Direct. The technician checked themotherboard website also to see if it was compatible (and so did I) and it is. I dont have a video card installed, only the one that came built in with the motherboard. I checked the RAM to see if it was supported by the both MOBO's and it is....Do you think though that maybe becuase the power supply is only a 2 pin that it might be the problem? The MOBO is for a 24 pin, but it still powers up, does that make a difference?

[Sylvander]

"The MOBO is for a 24 pin, but it still powers up, does that make a difference?"
Don't know. :(
Saw this issue being mentioned in other threads here, but don't know anything about it and cannot remember the outcome.
Perhaps you should search for 24 pin as a term in other threads and read those.
Did you mean to say that your PSU only has 20 pins, but typed 2 in error?

Are you going to try a "bare-bones boot" with no RAM in place to see if any RAM-test failure beeps are generated [to indicate that the POST is running]?
Does your internal speaker work do you think?
Will the mobo/speaker generate beeps if the BIOS tells it to?
You need to figure out whether the POST is running or not.
Did you ever see any signs of it running?
Blinking LED's on drives or keyboard?

[manny1975]

Sorry I did mean to say 20 pin. Yes I tried booting with no RAM, but no beep. If the speaker doesnt work on one MOBO it should on the other. I thought maybe the MOBO was just defective, but 2 defective MOBO's? Don't mean to sound like an idiot, but what is the POST? The keyobard lights up and so does the little light on the MOBO and the blue light from the fan for the CPU and of course runs, but no beeps and just a black creen.

[Sylvander]

"what is the POST?"
POST = Power-on Self-test
It's a very simple BIOS program that runs as soon as there is a power supply to the mobo.
It "Polls the hardware" to see what is connected, tests the hardware found, initialises the hardware.
One of the last things it does [after testing the RAM, and if it passes the tests] is to initialise the video card [display begins and there's a single short beep], detect and configure drives [PCI hardware], then hand over to a small program held on the HDD, that hands over to DOS, that hands over to Windows.
That's my imperfect understanding.

Here's a generic Phoenix BIOS's POST [my HP has a Phoenix BIOS].

Code_Beeps_POST Routine Description
02h Verify Real Mode
03h Disable Non-Maskable Interrupt (NMI)
04h Get CPU type
06h Initialize system hardware
07h Disable shadow and execute code from the ROM.
08h Initialize chipset with initial POST values
09h Set IN POST flag
0Ah Initialize CPU registers
0Bh Enable CPU cache
0Ch Initialize caches to initial POST values
0Eh Initialize I/O component
0Fh Initialize the local bus IDE
10h Initialize Power Management
11h Load alternate registers with initial POST values
12h Restore CPU control word during warm boot
13h Initialize PCI Bus Mastering devices
14h Initialize keyboard controller
16h 1-2-2-3 BIOS ROM checksum
17h Initialize cache before memory Auto size
18h 8254 timer initialization
1Ah 8237 DMA controller initialization
1Ch Reset Programmable Interrupt Controller
20h 1-3-1-1 Test DRAM refresh
22h 1-3-1-3 Test 8742 Keyboard Controller
24h Set ES segment register to 4 GB
28h Auto size DRAM
29h Initialize POST Memory Manager
2Ah Clear 512 kB base RAM
2Ch 1-3-4-1 RAM failure on address line xxxx*
2Eh 1-3-4-3 RAM failure on data bits xxxx* of low byte of
memory bus
2Fh Enable cache before system BIOS shadow
32h Test CPU bus-clock frequency
33h Initialize Phoenix Dispatch Manager
36h Warm start shut down
38h Shadow system BIOS ROM
3Ah Auto size cache
3Ch Advanced configuration of chipset registers
3Dh Load alternate registers with CMOS values
41h Initialize extended memory for RomPilot
42h Initialize interrupt vectors
45h POST device initialization
46h 2-1-2-3 Check ROM copyright notice
47h Initialize I20 support
48h Check video configuration against CMOS
49h Initialize PCI bus and devices
4Ah Initialize all video adapters in system
4Bh QuietBoot start (optional)
4Ch Shadow video BIOS ROM
4Eh Display BIOS copyright notice
4Fh Initialize MultiBoot
50h Display CPU type and speed
51h Initialize EISA board
52h Test keyboard
54h Set key click if enabled
55h Enable USB devices
58h 2-2-3-1 Test for unexpected interrupts
59h Initialize POST display service
5Ah Display prompt "Press F2 to enter SETUP"
5Bh Disable CPU cache
5Ch Test RAM between 512 and 640 kB
60h Test extended memory
62h Test extended memory address lines
64h Jump to UserPatch1
66h Configure advanced cache registers
67h Initialize Multi Processor APIC
68h Enable external and CPU caches
69h Setup System Management Mode (SMM) area
6Ah Display external L2 cache size
6Bh Load custom defaults (optional)
6Ch Display shadow-area message
6Eh Display possible high address for UMB recovery
70h Display error messages
72h Check for configuration errors
76h Check for keyboard errors
7Ch Set up hardware interrupt vectors
7Dh Initialize Intelligent System Monitoring
7Eh Initialize coprocessor if present
80h Disable onboard Super I/O ports and IRQs
81h Late POST device initialization
82h Detect and install external RS232 ports
83h Configure non-MCD IDE controllers
84h Detect and install external parallel ports
85h Initialize PC-compatible PnP ISA devices
86h Re-initialize onboard I/O ports.
87h Configure Motherboard Configurable Devices
(optional)
88h Initialize BIOS Data Area
89h Enable Non-Maskable Interrupts (NMIs)
8Ah Initialize Extended BIOS Data Area
8Bh Test and initialize PS/2 mouse
8Ch Initialize floppy controller
8Fh Determine number of ATA drives (optional)
90h Initialize hard-disk controllers
91h Initialize local-bus hard-disk controllers
92h Jump to UserPatch2
93h Build MPTABLE for multi-processor boards
95h Install CD ROM for boot
96h Clear huge ES segment register
97h Fix up Multi Processor table
98h 1-2 Search for option ROMs. One long, two short
beeps on checksum failure
99h Check for SMART Drive (optional)
9Ah Shadow option ROMs
9Ch Set up Power Management
9Dh Initialize security engine (optional)
9Eh Enable hardware interrupts
9Fh Determine number of ATA and SCSI drives
A0h Set time of day
A2h Check key lock
A4h Initialize typematic rate
A8h Erase F2 prompt
AAh Scan for F2 key stroke
ACh Enter SETUP
AEh Clear Boot flag
B0h Check for errors
B1h Inform RomPilot about the end of POST.
B2h POST done - prepare to boot operating system
B4h 1 One short beep before boot

[jlreich]

I have heard that plugging in a 20pin connector into a 24pin mobo connector without an adapter will sometimes work. But even if it worked I would use an adapter.

Try one of these adapters for your power supply. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16812189060

[manny1975]

Ok fellas, I got the adapter, plugged it in and again same situation. Everything powers up, no beeps, and nothing on my monitor, and yes its connected. shorted the CMOS and rebooted, nothing again on the screen. went back to the other motherboard with the 20 pin, same situation, nothing on the screen and no beeps. The CPU can't be bad could it? that or im thinking buying yet a 3rd motherboard which is alot cheaper...

[CWX]

I had a similar problem on one of my intel builds. I had the heatsink seated 180 degrees from what it should have been and even though it was a snug fit I couldn't even post. I didn't help that the installation diagram intel included was upside down. When I rotated the heatsink and re-seated it, everything booted up as it should have.

[manny1975]

Man I asked the guy at Tiger Direct which Heatsink fan I should buy and he told me the best one was the Blue orb 2 which is huge but gives off the cool blue light led. I have put that thing on and off so many times im pretty sure even if I did it wrong the first time it surely must be placed right at some point. screwed in all the way tight, loose, snugged, etc....would that really make a difference? If I tried a heatsink fan from my P4 just to see if I get something on the screen, would that mess it up? because if it works I'll simply get another cpu fan instead.

[CWX]

Did your processor come with a heatsink or was it OEM? If it did, then I would give that one a shot first. I have no idea why but when that heatsink wasn't seated properly, I got nothing on the screen. I almost swore that I would never build another intel system again :p

[saphalline]

Try it without the CMOS battery. Just remove it completely and reset the BIOS again.

Also, not to rain on your parade here, but why on Earth did you buy a Pentium D?? And why a mobo with a VIA chipset? Was cost your primary concern? In which case, what's up with the dual-core CPU?

I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but as far as the hardware goes, there are much better ways to spend your money. Can you still return that hardware?

[Sylvander]

Try a "bare-bones boot"...
The mobo should be out of the case on a non-conducting surface...
Connect only the PSU, mobo, CPU+fan...
[no video card or RAM connected]
POST should run & test and generate warning beeps indicating RAM test failure.
Then [switch off] fit the video card back in [switch back on] and see if beeps are still generated.
Then put the RAM back in and there should be no beeps.
Reconnect hardware one item before each startup until a problem reappears [no POST perhaps].

See http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=44070&highlight=dual
Budfred's problem with a dual-core system.

[saphalline]

No, I double-checked that mobo model. It does indeed support that Pentium D with the original BIOS version. That's not the problem here.