(Probably Stupid) Computer Problem

[Dmitry]

Hey guys,

I just tried to install a new motherboard and processor in my existing PC, but I can't figure out what I did wrong.

Whenever I power it on, everything starts up, but it doesn't seem to be booting. I'm not getting any POST beeps because I'm pretty sure the speaker isn't plugged in the right spot (manual doesn't help with that).

All the fans will start, but I'm not getting any video output from the graphics card, and no power to the USB/P/S2 connectors for the mouse and keyboard. When I start it up, the monitor will act like it's getting a signal by waking up from the power save state, but then it displays the "monitor is working/no signal" message.

I've double checked everything and everything seems to be plugged in correctly. Everything was working with the old mobo except the old mobo so I'm not sure where to go from now.

The new motherboard is a Foxconn 848P7MB. The video card is an nVidia GeForce 6600 I believe, AGP card.

I did google and saw a result with what seemed to be what I'm experiencing but the answer was to just check everything. So, I turn to you guys now. Hopefully someone can point out what I'm overlooking here. Very much thanks in advance.

[sruon]

Few things to check :

1) Does it have a built in graphic chipset? It might be trying to boot on that one.

2) Are your rams compatible? Try to mix the slots they're in, sometimes it does the trick for me. Try booting with only one of them as well.

3) Tried a clear CMOS?

Out of ideas for now.

[Arnwulf]

Obvious answer is to unseat / reseat your motherboard to make sure it's making good contact with the case. After that I would pull everything out but the video card and one stick of ram and see if you can get it to post. Then keep adding stuff until it either boots up with everything installed, or it fails to post, then you have your problem.

[Pikarya]

Few things to check :

1) Does it have a built in graphic chipset? It might be trying to boot on that one.

2) Are your rams compatible? Try to mix the slots they're in, sometimes it does the trick for me. Try booting with only one of them as well.

3) Tried a clear CMOS?

Out of ideas for now.

^This

Also make sure if your BIOS has USB controller turned "off" on boot. Sometimes motherboards set this default to off unless you change it.

[Dmitry]

Unfortunately there's no built-in GPU, and I can't check the BIOS cuz nothing's coming on the monitor. The memory I'm not sure of the speed, but they're right size for the slot (I believe DDR2). I've tried a couple combinations of them, but I'll mess with it a little more. I'll try clearing the CMOS.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

I can't get it to power on now. I hope I didn't short something.

[Arnwulf]

Reseat the motherboard. Take it out completely and then carefully put it back in making sure that it's sitting in the case properly. It sounds like the motherboard is shorting out because it's not seated properly.

[Olo401]

Reseat the motherboard. Take it out completely and then carefully put it back in making sure that it's sitting in the case properly. It sounds like the motherboard is shorting out because it's not seated properly.

And be sure to screw risers into the case ONLY where you have a screwhole on the motherboard too. Having a riser in a spot where you don't need to screw down the board can cause a short just as bad as if you weren't using risers at all.

[Dmitry]

This is the first time I've replaced a motherboard in this case, it has some sort of weird built in risers. I think the problem might be that the board is mini-atx but the case looks like it's just an atx case. The one side of the board sits kind of wobbly.

I did reseat everything though (including motherboard) which is now where I'm at with it not even powering on.

[Cephius]

Unplug everything except the power supply. Take out all the RAM and any PCI cards they you may have in there. Disconnect all the USB headers, etc.

If that doesn't do anything...

Try powering the motherboard outside of the case. Hook up just the power supply and a monitor and see if you get any video.

Obviously, be very careful not to do this in a way that can damage the motherboard with static electrisity. Optimally, do it on a table with a couple of plastic risers.

[testdummy]

Check to see if your motherboard needs to have both the standard power cable plugged into the board and the 4pin(may be labeled as P4 in the manuel) power cable plugged into it as well.

I've worked on a friends PC where this was the issue with similar symptoms to yours.

[Agito]

I would rule this one as hardware not being comatable.
(1) You think you have DDR2 ram but your motherboard doesn't support DDR2, only DDR 400, 2GB.
(2) What processor are you using? If it's not a Pentium 4 Prescott or Celeron D then i don't think it's going to work, it's a LGA 755 socket but on newegg it only has those two processors listed.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-050-_-Product

Video on first steps after first boot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDGvd2Cw-co

My brother has a really prehistoric 7 year old computer that wasn't working for awhile and would act like it's booting up but shut off a couple minutes later and it didn't display anything on the screen. I fixed his computer by taking everything out and really cleaned every single thing including the inside of the power supply, it was mega dusty like not even joking. Also, i got a new socket(A)462 heatsink and put that on there, powered it on and it worked like new. Don't mind him, he only browses the internet so he's good.

I hope your able to solve your problem.

[Dmitry]

I think I just found a 256mb stick of ddr400 ram I'll have to try in this board. lol

Also @testdummy, it has the connection for both the 4-pin and main power cables, so I'm assuming it would require both of them.

And Agito, I'll check the processor when I get home today. I know it's a socket 775 but I don't know the type (I know it's an Intel dual core, but the specifics I'm not sure about). The power supply could also be very dirty, I will have to check that.

Again, thanks everyone for the ideas. Will report back later.