Help Needed. Not "posting" Celeron + P965

[paydirt]

This computer will be a dedicated protein "folder" for Folding@Home.

The error I'm getting is the computer is not posting and I am getting no beeps. Pretty sure everything is plugged in. I tried switching the RAM to the other color coded pair. Reseated the CPU & heatsink. Fans are running on the heatsink, GPU, case fan, PSU. Tried 3 different monitors.

What are some other things I should try? I can swap the GPU, but I'd rather try some other easy steps first. (the GPU I would be swapping from is a dedicated folding machine, so I'd rather not disturb it for now)

Intel Celeron 430 Conroe-L 1.8GHz LGA 775 35W Single-Core Processor Model BX80557430
ECS P965T-A (V1.0) LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard
OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS ATX12V / EPS12V 600W Power Supply
pqi TURBO 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
(older) SAPPHIRE 100177L Radeon X1950XTX 512MB 256-bit GDDR4 PCI Express x16

[v00d00]

Its either PSU related, or the motherboard is dead.

If your speaker is connected to the board and you power up without any beeps and no POST, then i'd say the board or cpu is dead, but more likely the board. Check the power connector as well, just to make sure it is connected. Does the PSU work on another computer? Unplug everything except the motherboard and power up, if it beeps like crazy, maybe the PSU is not powerful enough.

Did you check the motherboard doesnt have the clear BIOS jumper set to on?

[alancabler]

Did you check the motherboard doesnt have the clear BIOS jumper set to on?

If so, and the motherboard was powered up, then that mobo is a historical artifact.

[paydirt]

Hmmm, according to what I can tell from the jumper settings in the manual, apparently the mobo came from the factory with the "clear BIOS jumper" set to "ON". Subsequent foolings around with it after I returned, when I would set the jumper to "normal" I couldn't power the system on (unless I was reading it backwards), when I set it to "clear" the system would power on.

I'm guessing from your comment that one should never turn the system on when the jumper is set to "clear"? I wonder why manufacturers would ship it as the default setting and not be more explicit in the product manual, if so...?

[v00d00]

Clear is only useful when you hang a system to the point where you can no longer access the BIOS settings. Then you clear it, and all your past settings are wiped.

[RAH]

Clear does no more then removal of the battery. It just clears the settings.

Make sure the jumper is on the right pins, and turn on the computer. Start tapping "del" and you should get into bios.
Reset whatever you need.

I would set the system up, CPU, one stick of ram, video card.
If you get into bios your home free.

[toTOW]

Try to boot outside the case, with a minimal configuration (MB, CPU, cooler, RAM and graphics board) ... this might be a short circuit between the board and the case if you forgot to install the standoffs between the MB and the case.

[uncle_fungus]

ergots

Standoffs

In English Ergot is a fungus

[toTOW]

Thanks ... it was how google translated the word (but it didn't translate apparently )

[paydirt]

I'm gonna RMA the board and get a different board. I did install the standoffs but the standoffs are metal (probably if they made them plastic then the screw portion of the standoff wouldn't last long). I also double checked with the mobo website to make sure that the CPU is supported.

I tried without RAM, without GPU, without power to CPU (system turned on for two seconds and then stopped), without CD & HD. I didn't try the completely out of case, but I did install the "standoffs" between the mobo and case. I also tried putting the 3-pin CPU fan on the 4-pin CPU fan slot (it worked) instead of the 3-pin northbridge fan slot (which worked too), but nothing magical happened with beeps or POST. I doublechecked the manufacturer's website to make sure the default BIOS accepts the CPU (it should).

Thanks again folks.

[Flathead74]

You really should try the motherboard outside of the case, as previously advised.

This would preclude any possibility of a short being caused by one of the standoffs,
and is also one of the steps necessary to trouble shoot these types of problems.

While not a guarantee, this would certainly not be the first or last time for standoff interference to occur.

[paydirt]

OK if I did this, what all should I have plugged in or installed?

[Flathead74]

OK if I did this, what all should I have plugged in or installed?

Just the basics:
CPU/heatsink-fan
RAM - one stick
Video card
psu

You should be able to get it to POST without any drives attached.

[paydirt]

Do I even need RAM to get it to POST?

[Flathead74]

Do I even need RAM to get it to POST?

Yes you do.

How Do I Perform a POST Test on my Motherboard ?
You may have a different CPU/socket type than described, but that won't matter.

POST = Power On Self Test

If your motherboard has an onboard speaker, or if you can hook up a system speaker,
you may be able to hear some beep-codes at startup.