PC will not boot up :( I need help...

[Dippy]

Hi,

 

I purchased my dad a new SATA HDD for his birthday but due to lack of sockets on his motherboard, i decided to buy him a new one, upgrade his PSU and get him some more RAM and a new ATX case to replace his Mini ATX.

 

I originally built his PC so I thought changing the motherboard and adding a few bits would not be a problem.

 

I bought a ASRock N68C-S UCC nForce 630a motherboard, installed it in his new case and plugged his AM2 CPU, 3GB RAM, HDDs and Geforce 8600GTS graphics card with a new 650W PSU... the computer did not boot up...:(

 

I disconnected the HDDs and tried again... no luck...:(

 

I removed all but one stick of RAM, the graphics card, PSU and CPU with fan...no luck :(

 

I plugged the monitor into another PC and it worked (using the same lead) - so the monitor is fine.

 

I then replaced each part of the PC with a working one... With each item I replaced and put in the new PC, the new PC continued to work but mine did not. I replaced each item one at a time, including CPU, CPU fan, RAM and PSU but while it worked on one PC it did not work on mine :confused:

 

I concluded that the new motherboard was broken.

 

Last week i ordered a new motherboard (ECS nForce9M-A AM2+, DDR2, PCI-E, GBLan, 5.1Snd, ATX) and when it arrived I screwed it into the new case and added the same components.... It did not boot up...:mad:

 

I then repeated the actions I did before and replaced each item... RAM, PSU, CPU, CPU fan and graphics card; placing these into a second PC (which continued to load up) but the parts from the "working pc" could not get my PC to run. :mad:

 

(i'm wishing i had bought my dad socks now and not a HDD) :)

 

Please help...Does anyone have any ideas? Is there something I have missed?

 

(Thank you for taking the time to read all this...sorry for the very long post)

[KenB]

Hi and welcome to fpch

 

If I am reading your post correctly - you have installed the OLD hard drive along with the new M/board etc.

 

If this is the case then Windows will refuse to boot up.

 

Windows is "clever" enough to recognise that changes have been made to the environment that was present when the O/S was originally installed. i.e. a different M/board.

With XP a "Repair Install" of the O/S was the solution but with Vista this is not an option.

 

Am I correct in assuming that this is what you are trying to do?

[Dippy]

Thank you. I'm pleased to be here :)

 

Yes this is true i have only replaced the MB and am still using the other original parts... but my problem is that the screen remains blank when i turn on the PC. So I don't even get any BIOS loading up...

 

There is also no "beep" from my PC to say that it is loading the bios.

 

This sounds like a hardware issue rather than Windows being a pain :)

[KenB]

There is a "Startup Repair" option.

See here:

How to automatically repair Windows Vista using Startup Repair

[KenB]

OK - now I understand a little more.

Take EVERYTHING off the motherboard except the 20(4) pin connection from the PSU.

 

Disconnect the DVD drive ( power and data cables )

Do the same with the hard drive.

 

RAM / Sound / etc etc cards out.

 

Switch on.

 

You should get POST beeps.

 

Do you?

[Dippy]

no :( The PSU fan comes on but no sound.

[Jelly Bean]

Dippy could you post the exact make and model numbers/size/MB/GIG and so on of RAM,PSU,CPU etc as this may help us rule in or out a problem much quicker.

[KenB]

No POST at this stage indicates either a PSU or M/Board problem.

(assuming there is an onboard speaker? )

 

Unscrew the M/Board and sit it on a piece of card or newspaper to insulate it from the case.

Switch on.

If it POSTs now you had a short between the board and the case.

 

If there is still no post - if you have another PSU to try swap this.

 

I can explain how to test the PSU with a voltmeter / multimeter if you have access to one.

[Dippy]

The new case was the only thing I didn't change...so that could be the problem...

 

I unscrewed the MB and placed it on card. Switched on the PSU but no sound from the MB. I swapped this with another PSU (which has worked in another of my PCs) but this did not produce a sound from my MB.

 

Details...

 

M/Board - ECS NFORCE9M-A

PSU - WINPOWER APS-650AA or ALLIED AL-8400BTX

 

other details

 

RAM - 2X1GB Kingston DDR2

CPU - Althon 64x2 4800+

GFX - MSI Geforce 8600GT (fanless)

HDD - Western Digital WD5000AAKS

 

I do not have a voltmeter but i think my folks have one. I'll get it tomorrow but both PSU's I've used have worked on another PC with a different MB :(

 

Is there anything else I can do?

[KenB]

When you put the new M/board in - are you sure there is a speaker connected?

 

This could be on-board or you may need to connect the case speakers.

On some M/boards there is a jumper to enable / disable the onboard speaker.

You should have a manual for the new board - take a look there if unsure.

[Jelly Bean]

I took a look at the mainboard.

 

 

The one I am looking at is on Newegg.

 

Specs say onboard speaker.Wich I asume is the sound card.

 

 

Next to the blue IDE connection you should see a green SPK port for the onboard speaker.

 

This is why it is not beeping?

 

Am I possibly right or wrong here?

[KenB]

Dippy,

This is what JB is relating to.

 

http://www.idskom.com/ids/images/13.jpg

 

The Speaker connection is bottom of the image to the left of the blue IDE socket.

 

This is where you would connect the case speakers.

Do you have them connected?

[Jelly Bean]

Thats it KenB....

 

I was wondering if this speaker is not fitted maybe thats why he hears no beeps?

[KenB]

Hi JB

 

I think this may be the case.

[Dalo Harkin]

Have you double checked all the connections from the case to the MOBO?

There is HDD LED, RESET SW, POWER SW etc.

They all have to be connected to the MOBO or when you press the power button on the case, the MOBO wont do anything... this one shows the + and - but not all do

 

http://img.hexus.net/v2/motherboards/intel/asus/900/Pins.jpg

[Dippy]

I think you have it Dalo :) I've got the PC working...

 

I connected everything to the motherboard but left it outside the case (i just connectted the Power SW) and it booted up.

I then put the motherboard into the case and then added the cables...

It stopped working when i plugged in the RESET SW...

 

Either way round the cable did not work, so i just unplugged it and the PC is fine.

 

With your help, I've saved buying my Dad a new PC :) Thank you.

[Dalo Harkin]

Glad we could help :)