Doozy: fans spin, but no lights, beeps, or anything else...

S

starhawk

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Oct 4, 2004
Messages
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Just threw together a quick custom build for a friend. It's a basic email setup, please don't tell me to upgrade everything... they don't need it and I'm trying to use up spare parts.

Specs --
Antec 380w PSU (known good)
ASUS (by which I mean HP ;) ) A8AE-LE motherboard
skt939 Athlon 64 CPU (I've already forgotten but IIRC it's a 4000+)
2gb Hynix RAM (DDR1 PC3200)
80gb SATA HDD (WD IIRC)
IDE DVD SuperMulti Drive
Floppy Drive (purely because the case has a slot for one and I don't want to fill it with cardboard...)

System does not boot. I can see the fans spinning, but I get no POST beeps of any kind, and certainly no boot. Pressing the button on the DVD drive doesn't do anything, so the system isn't even getting far enough to power up fully. In other words, other than the fans and the crickets outside, I ain't got nothin' here.

I've reseated the RAM, checked cables, and unplugged/replugged various cables just to be safe. Nothing has worked yet... oh, and I know it's not suffered from a failed BIOS update because I haven't given it one. The PSU is known good, I'd had it in a Dell 4600 (similarly high-wattage CPU) and that booted but gave me a problem in XP that I couldn't exorcise.., hence the 'starting over with a scratch build' part...

What gives...?
 
I can only think of two "final" steps:

1) Try a barebones bench test with just the motherboard, processor, power supply, and one stick of RAM.

2) If that doesn't work, use a different power supply and reattempt the barebones bench test.

If you can't boot after that, either the motherboard or the processor has gone bad.
 
I don't have a spare PSU of similar wattage. Next one down is a 200w Dell :( but as I said, PSU is known good, I'd borrowed it for a dell with a nearly identical wattage requirement, and it worked fine there.

Dell specs --
Dell 4600i with stock mobo.
Prescott P4 (skt478) CPU
1.5gb RAM (as 2x512+2x256)
IDE HDD
IDE Combo Drive
Floppy Drive

Neither machine has a graphics or sound card. The only peripheral card, in fact, in either machine is a 56k modem in the Dell that I left in because reasons.

EDIT: just found a 939 A64 3500+ that I'll stuff in there and see what happens.
 
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Did you do what Tiraides' linked to?

Also, did you reset CMOS?
 
I have not done that yet. The case this thing is in, is a disaster design-wise. I have to pull all kinds of tricks to get the cables to not block things.

It's not the CPU, unless I hit two dead CPUs in a row. Don't think so.
It's not the PSU. Known good, tested in another box.

I wonder if it's the HSF... it's an eBay POS from HK and I don't think I'd be surprised to find it was toast... altho the fan spins, I can see it. If the RPM line was fucked I'd think the whole thing was fucked but I guess I don't know. I'll see if I have another 754/939/AM* heatsink I can dump in there temporarily...

EDIT: just to make things more clear, I'd like to avoid stripping the case if I at all can -- like I said, the thing's a nightmare. If I had another case (excluding the beige Dell box that I'm not able to use for parts clearance reasons) I'd use it.
 
Ok, do what Tirades linked to. You can't avoid stripping the PC out of the case. The issue you've mentioned could be that the case is shorting the motherboard. Or some other weird compatibility issue. It happens often enough that we actually have a section of the FAQ dedicated to that problem.

So follow the steps in the link that Tiraides provided.
 
I'm going to do one other thing first. Swap the other CPU (the 4000+) back in.

Why?

Two reasons.

One, I pulled both RAM sticks and replaced them with a known good 1gb stick. System now behaves *slightly* differently -- it now attempts to power on as soon as I flip the switch on the PSU, rather than waiting for me to press the power button on the case.

Two, the support page for the mobo lists three compatible CPUs and the 4000+ is one of them -- and the 3500+ is not.

Last time I had a system that just wouldn't boot, with eerily similar behavior in fact, it had both an incompatible CPU and incompatible RAM. That was a Dell GX50 (100MHz everything) that someone had upgraded past its ability to cope... killed the mobo. I don't think I've got Kentucky Fried Motherboard here yet... but I'm gonna try the CPU swap, and if that doesn't work then at that point I'll face dealing with stripping this infernal effing case.

Actually, a little history on that case -- I got the blasted thing as a complete system (albeit based on a K6-II proc) at the don't-ask-just-take-it shed (aka 'swap shop' or 'stuff shop') at our local collection center (out here it's cheaper for everyone if you to go to the dump rather than have the dump come to you... I'm about 2mi outside of a small town). The case originally had a wimpy 150w PSU that is the only half-depth ATX PSU I've ever seen. It looked like it was a dust-powered device, too -- had plenty, you bet... that supply went out with the next trip to the collection center, it was too weak and too weird to be useful. A pity, since a standard ATX PSU and the shortest optical drive in the house, leave about an inch between each other in this delightful (NOT!!) case... it has a pullout mobo tray, but that doesn't include the slots or IO riser... oh, and it has the weirdest way of opening I've ever seen. First you take off the front bezel. Then both side panels, and then the top panel comes off. What. The. Fuck.

EDIT: actually I'll probably want to try replacing the cooler as well. This is the one I have in there now, click and laugh (or weep) --> http://www.ebay.com/itm/300774856360
 
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I know you said the PSU was tested working and I hate to push the topic, but one time if I remember correctly I had used a known working power supply unit on a build that was having a similar problem. Turned out the PSU need to be returned and replaced with a unit that had a revision done to support the board I was using.
I also had this issue with an Enermax PSU on an Asus 1366 socket M/B that was returned and updated with a new revision.
So maybe a long shot but might be worth looking into/trying.

EDIT: If you need a test unit I can send one your way.
 
I guess I can do what I didn't want to -- pull the Ultra modular supply out of my very nice Compaq (it's an AM2 system that's had some upgrades...) and test it with that. I'll do that if the CPU and HSF both fail to make the thing boot...

EDIT: FWIW, current PSU is an Antec 380w with a 20+4pin ATX connector. Label's obscured by the case but if the model # is reeeeeeeeaaaaallly important I'll pull it long enough to get that.
 
I would think the HSF would be more than adequate for this system at-least to boot...
 
Not if the RPM line's buggered. Turns out that's either a minor player or not the case, though.

Next step, modular PSU.
 
Most M/B will boot even without the RPM wire or HSF fan plugged in... "Most" LOL
I hate to see you go through all the trouble to try a different PSU. But Good Luck!
 
Another one here to say put in another PSU. While I didn't go as far down diagnostic wise I had the same symptoms as yours on another build several years ago. Push the button and fans started but no posting, no lights, no noises etc. . . The PSU was pushing out just enough power to get the fans spinning but nothing else.
 
Did a mini bench sort of thing, since the modular PSU was an inch deeper than the Antec PSU (which BTW is an Antec SU-380) and wouldn't fit. I propped the PSU on the case and hooked up the wires and fired it up and... nada.

At this point it's either the mobo or the case. My dough is on the mobo... but I'm not 100%. Doesn't matter, I don't have a replacement for either one. At this point I'm going to try and attack the Dell again, I think I know how to fix the issue I had with it (the infamous XP problem of "I just installed SP3 and now svchost is eating my CPU for lunch!")

EDIT: FWIW the modular is an Ultra ULT-VX600. Also known good.
 
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