Help! Newbie w/ pc probs...1st build attempt.

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kawzman2

New Member

Joined

Oct 13, 2003

• Oct 13, 2003

• #1

I just put a new system together last night but it will not boot. I turn the power on and all that happens is that the montior displays an aray of colors in the form of broken bars with some hashed and some flashing or blinking. The all my fans are running; powersupply, case, heatsink and video card. This is my 1st build. Any suggestions. Please HELP! Here are my system specs...

-Asus Motherboard A7N8X Deluxe
-AMD ATHLON XP 2500+ "Barton" 333 FSB PROCESSOR CPU
-Thermalright SLK-947-U
-Thermaltake SMART CASE FAN II
-CORSAIR MEMORY XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series, (Twin Pack) 1GB(2 x 512MB) 2x(64MX64) TWINX1024-3200C2 PRO Matched Pair
-ATI RADEON 9700 PRO 128MB 8X AGP DVI/TV
-Antec 1080AMG Case-1080AMG Performance Plus ATX Tower

Cheers,
Kawzman

 

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Gerfey

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Joined

Mar 28, 2003

Location

Calgary, Alberta

• Oct 13, 2003

• #2

Couple questions. So if it isn't booting, is it also not posting? Do you get any sort of beep when you turn it on?

 

Maxvla

Senior Member

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Joined

Jun 26, 2002

Location

OKC

• Oct 13, 2003

• #3

ouch. sounds like a video problem.

double check make sure the video card is seated in the slot all the way in. check the bios for any video settings that look suspect.

other than that it might be a dead card. can you try the card in the rig you are typing on right now?

also make sure you have the power connector plugged into the 9700pro.

 

Mr. $T$

Member

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Joined

Sep 15, 2001

• Oct 13, 2003

• #4

yes it really does sound like a video card problem, as stated above are there any Beeps involved, if yes there should only be one this is called the post beep and is a singe quick BEEP! that states the computer's main parts are in proper booting order.

Make sure the card is completely seated in the AGP slot, because sometimes the little white clip on the end gets in the way of the card being fully seated.

 

don256us

Uber Folding Senior

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Joined

Jul 17, 2003

• Oct 14, 2003

• #5

I too would like to know if you get a beep. Make sure that you do have a system speaker. If there is a malfunctioning CPU, or RAM, and sometimes video card, the codes you get from the speaker (Beep codes) can go a long way to help.

I built a new system too. I got a refurbished BIOstar Nforce2 Ultra chipset. When I hit the power, fans would spin but that's all. After changing everything out, I determined that it was a dead board.

I would suggest looking in your manual and reset the CMOS. That is, if you are not posting.

It seems to me that the color bars on the monitor might be the "No usable signal" that many monitors produce when the machine is not sending video to the monitor.

 

OP

K

kawzman2

New Member

Joined

Oct 13, 2003

• Oct 14, 2003

• Thread Starter
• #6

No beeps at all, definitely not posting. At first i assumed off the bat that it was the video card, but there were no beeps. Regardless of a video card failure, i would still here the system booting up. I will triple check to make sure all the wiring is properly connected/routed. The jumper was in the appropriate setting for FSB 333.

Cheers,
Aaron

 

Maxvla

Senior Member

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Joined

Jun 26, 2002

Location

OKC

• Oct 14, 2003

• #7

try the video card in another system if possible.

 

OP

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kawzman2

New Member

Joined

Oct 13, 2003

• Oct 14, 2003

• Thread Starter
• #8

can the video card prevent posting and booting?

 

The_Jizzler

Member

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Joined

Feb 7, 2003

• Oct 14, 2003

• #9

yea, it can do weird things. remember, vid card is one of the big 3 pieces absolutely needed to make a computer work.

 

OP

K

kawzman2

New Member

Joined

Oct 13, 2003

• Oct 14, 2003

• Thread Starter
• #10

i slipped the video card into a pc at work, works just fine. i double checked all the pin settings and connections...all good. since my pc isn't even posting, it has to the mobo. i am contacting newegg and asus to see what they have to say. a replacement mobo seems likely. I can't think of anything else to try. any suggestions?

 

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Gerfey

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Joined

Mar 28, 2003

Location

Calgary, Alberta

• Oct 14, 2003

• #11

Try leaving everything disconnected except the power and try to boot it. If you don't get some kind of beep, then the motherboard is gone.

 

don256us

Uber Folding Senior

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Joined

Jul 17, 2003

• Oct 15, 2003

• #12

kawzman2 said:

i slipped the video card into a pc at work, works just fine. i double checked all the pin settings and connections...all good. since my pc isn't even posting, it has to the mobo. i am contacting newegg and asus to see what they have to say. a replacement mobo seems likely. I can't think of anything else to try. any suggestions?

Click to expand...

My board (BioStar) is on its way back to Newegg also. It too would not boot as you describe. I think you have the source of your trouble. Good luck.

 

Kawzman

Member

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Joined

Sep 26, 2003

Location

San Diego, CA

• Oct 16, 2003

• #13

thanks a lot for all of the input. gerfey, i did what u recommended & successfully got it to post. I connected the rest piece by piece and got her up and running today. had to do an xp repair cause she wouldn't recognize the os. flashed the bios w/ the latest version w/ no prob. i've got her overclocked to 3200+ & she's running like a dream. i've got to read up more on overclocking before i do much more. thanks again for all the input!

 

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Gerfey

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Joined

Mar 28, 2003

Location

Calgary, Alberta

• Oct 16, 2003

• #14

Glad to hear it!