[Bluehub]

Okay. Recently I had some serious issues with my machine. No power when I tried to turn it on, random shut downs before that.

I bought a new power supply, video card, and motherboard. I'm 100% new to this computer building business but I sat down and tried my best. I slowly unplugged and unlatched everything, made a map on a notepad where everything went. Ultimately, I got the machine to turn on! :laugh: :laugh:

Now for the trouble. I'm currently running a: ABIT AA8XE 925XE motherboard with a P4 processor. At first the heatsink fan wasn't spinning when I turned the machine on. I got into the bios and set them to optimized and the fan began spinning then the computer quickly turned off. I turned it back on.. went to bios, check the temperature and I believe it said 85 degrees.. I barely got a chance to look at it but I believe next to it the bios was set to shut down at 85 degrees as well. I heard a 'click click click' sound before it went off.

Anyway. I'm trying desperately to save my RAID0 drives. It's how the machine came and I've been busting my balls trying to unravel the mysteries behind getting back on my feet and getting the drives working. From my understanding I need the EXACT same motherboard for it to recognize the raid drives. The 'boot' screen is different as it doesn't display the my computer's manufactuerer logo but it does say ABIT now and the motherboards look exactly the same..

Here are my questions.

1. I think I should have cleaned off the old artic silver from the heatsink and processor which is why it's overheating. Did I screw up and the processor is done forever?

2. When I swap the silver and try again do I need to do anything special for it to recognize my RAID drives? Someone told me I may need the raid drive floppys.. but I read if I reinstall the RAID drivers I will lose all my data.

Please help! I'll do anything to get into Windows for 30mins so I can use Nortons Ghost on my installation.

Windows XP Professional
ABIT AA8XE 925XE Motherboard
P4 3.8GHZJ 1MB 800FSB LGA775 Processor
PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 510-SLI ATX12V 510W Power Supply
eVGA 256-P2-N516 Geforce 7800GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card

Going to sleep, when I wake I'm going to buy some Artic Silver and learn how to apply it. Read you need Isopropyl Alcohol as pure as you can get it.. best I can do is 70%. :normal: Gut wrenching..

 

[dai]

http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm
it is the chipset on the m/b that needs to be the same
redo the paste first and see where you are at before trying anything else
you may find it boots up and you can run your m/b setup disk
so post back when you have redone the paste and seen if it boots
the 510w looks a bit on the lightside for that system

 

[Bluehub]

What do you mean by 'chipset' on the motherboard that needs to be the same? Not to sound ignorant just not sure what you mean, got me a bit worried here :sigh:

Also, I bought the motherboard off Ebay as it was the only place that had it. I don't have a setup disk. Do I need it? If so, what should I do?

And about the power supply, any suggestions? I'm out of cash but at least I can know what to get if I have trouble. I just need her to boot up..

Thank you for replying!

 

[dai]

the chipset is the chips on the m/b that control everything
just do the paste and see where your at

 

[Bluehub]

I added the thermal paste, put the processor back in and the heatsink ontop. Booted it back up and now I have no video, oddly.

I tried removing the video card and memory and then booting up again but I got no beeping sound at all from the motherboard.

I then tried resetting the CMOS via the jumpers. Do I need the motherboard power connected when resetting the CMOS? I had it off.

Anyway, I can turn the machine on.. all the fans are spinning, even the video card's fan and the fans on the chassis wall.

I just bought this dang motherboard and I'm running out of time. Any suggestions?

 

[dai]

check you have connected the aux power plug to the m/b and the video card if required
you reset the cmos with the power cord removed

 

[Bluehub]

I have two power cables connected to the motherboard. From this picture below it is the top right and bottom.

The video card only has one power cable which is plugged up. I'm really stumped. Thank you for replying.

 

[dai]

reseat the video card

 

[Bluehub]

Tried this as well, several times with no results unfortunately.

If it is the processor, how would I know? Would the motherboard beep without the processor working properly?

 

[dai]

test the cpu in another computer
or rma the m/b before it is to late to do it

 

[Bluehub]

Okay, thank you again for the replies. I'll consider my issue resolved as it's either the processor or the motherboard.

If anyone does come along with the knowledge of whether or not I should be getting video if the processor is dead and or if a new motherboard with no settings will also error beep if it doesn't detect vital parts (i.e. Processor..) I would really appreciate the insight.

Thank you again.

 

[dai]

we don't consider anything resolved unless there is a successful outcome
i have asked someone else to come in on thread to see if they can suggest anything

 

[linderman]

Hello Blue:



first off I would like to say there are literally tens of things that could be effecting your set-up. You must understand we are at a disadvantage with not having the unit in front of us to "see" what the situtation looks like.

What make and model PSU are you using with this adventure ??

do you have access to another machine of similar generation that works so we can swap parts.

All techs & tech shops no matter how tech savy they are, depend on swapping known working parts until they achieve a working machine.

Now mind you, experience and discussion can eliminate some of the more less likely cures, but fact remains, troubleshooting remains a game of parts swapping.

Now there are several things and methods that I would proceed down.

Number one, I would totally strip everything you have assembled out of the case so we may examine for burnt marks, close inspection for over heated motherboard connectors etc and we need to eliminate the possiblity of case shorting.

I have built hordes of machines and to this day; I NEVER assemble "untested" or unverified parts into a machine build. I bench test all pieces before final assembly.

I would proceed as follows:

A) remove all parts from the case you have assembled thus far until they are broken down into pieces in the same manner as when you bought them.

B) place the motherboard on top of the motherboard box. Examine the bottom of the board carefully, then inspoect the cpu socket carefully, then inspect the motherboard connector and cpu power conenctor. All of this is lookign for any signs of heat or foriegn debris.

C) install the cpu only into the cpu socket on the motherboard. Make sure all former thermal grease has been removed. Closely inspect the cpu for bent pins.

D) apply thin coating of thermal grease to cpu and install heat sink & cpu fan, connect cpu fan to motherboard cpu fan header connector. If the grease oozes out from the cpu abundantly; you have applied too much, this also will heat the cpu !

E) install the video card (can you install this video card in another machine ??? to verify ) if not, can you go to local PC shop and buy a very old PCI slot video card, they will cost about $5.00 these are awesome for ruling out video related problems with more complex cards.

F) install ONE stick only of memory, you will need to check your motherboard to verify which slot is the correct one to populate for single stick operation; this step is critical. have you gone to the ram manufacturers website to verify the model number of your ram is compatible with your board ??????

G) connect PSU to the motherboard 20 or 24 pin connector. Connect the four pin CPU power, dont confuse this four pin power plug with the detachable 20 plus four main board connector. we see this many times!
the proper cpu four pin adapter will have yellow wires in the plug.

H) connect the monitor to the video card; does the video card needs its own extra power plug ? I dont think you stated which video card you are using; make and model

I) make sure the switch on the PSU is in the power on position; now take a small precision or small flat blade screw driver and briefly touch the TWO pins that normally are occupied by the case switch, you should have have to make this touch for about 2 seconds then pull away the screw driver.

we are looking for bios screen only at this stage of testing ; or listening for any beep codes, you can connect the mini case speaker to the motherboard connector for that if its easy to remove from the case ? Do not connect any hard drives or optical drives or other devices until we have succesfully achieved the bios screen. Then and only then we can add one device at a time until all compnents are verified to work outside the case in palin inpection view.

to answer your question about beep codes above; the motherboard does not always activate the beep codes when their are problems; in fact, I have found them soooooo useless and undependable I pay them no mind whatsoever, unless they are consistant like the no memory beep, or no video card beep but I dont rely on them!

upon start-up of the system does the cpu fan spin, does it stay spinning ??

does the video card fan spin ??? does it stay spinning ?



post back with your results ?

 

[Bluehub]

Thank you so much for replying, both of you. I'm going to go piece by piece and follow the instructions above. I understand it is very difficult to 'diagnose' the problem across the internet but I still appreciate every reply and all effort.

I'll try this all over a few days so I can write down the suggestions and make a proper checklist. Thank you once more.

 

[Bluehub]

Update: Back up and running! Thank you again for all the help.

 

[dai]

good news

 

[linderman]

what did you have to do to resolve your issues?????????

 

[Bluehub]

Was such a headache I honestly don't remember! Something to do with my processor being damaged and testing my RAM against my motherboard until I got beeps.

Ahh well, it's all good. Appreciate all the support! ray: ray: ray: