Computer won't POST :temper:

[Femto]

I am building a computer for my dad. It has these components:

AMD Athlon FX-55
Epox EP-9NPA+ Ultra
512mb x 2 DDR400
Antec 350-watt PSU
BFG 7600GT PCIe

Plus all of that other stuff.

Here's the problem. It won't frickin post. Originally I had it running with the exception of an X300SE just for some games for a friend who was coming to play GTA. I had a different chipset cooler on it, and it was running out of case.

Then I took it down and rebuilt it in a case for my dad. It wouldn't POST inside the case, I would press the power button by using the little switches on the motherboard and it would turn on for about 15 seconds, then just turn off.

The motherboard has a diagnostic LED display which would display 'FF' the instant it would shut off, which meant that it was attempting to initialize the boot phase.

Now, I thought it might have been shorting out do to a standoff gone awry or something, so I took it out and placed it on a box and it would POST. I thought, "Problem Fixed, just place it back in the case.". So I did, except it wouldn't POST again, so I took it back out, and then it would never POST again. I started smelling to see if something had burned out, and I noticed a very faint burning, smoky smell, but I just thought it was general hardware usage smell.

THEN, I noticed that the chipset cooler was not on all the way! One of the little plastic clips which goes into the hole in the motherboard and then spreads out on the other side was popping up, and it was broken. Oh noes! I thought maybe the chipset was overheating and shutting down before it had the chance to do anything. So I re-attached the cooler, pressing down on the both sides to make sure I had excellent pressure and contact, then pressed the power button. Still NO GO.

I tried swapping Video Cards, double checking the CPU/HSF contact, swapping around memory sticks, tried a different PSU, unplugged all hard drives and optical drives, reset the CMOS, NOTHING!

It's driving me insane, I don't know what is wrong with it.
Help would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks!

Edit: Too angry to notice that emotes don't work in the title. I am an idiot. Argh.

 

[Nebulous]

Did you try adding paper to the standoff's like washers? Maybe the standoff's is touching something thus shorting the mobo out. I used black tape as washers.

 

[Femto]

Did you try it outside the case? I'll bet something is shorting out the mobo inside the case.

Yeah, I have. It worked once, then I put it back inside the case, and it didn't work. Then I tried it outside again, and it never posted again.

 

[jmsanders2]

Does anything happen at all when you flip it on? Fans turn on then off quickly or anything? Try a seperate power outlet at all?

I had one individual connector stretched once on a 24 pin plug, but if you tried two psu's it would be highly unlikely this is the case. Make sure they are firmly seated on the mobo.

Otherwise, if it isn't the psu, next is the mobo and I would check with Epox or google any known issues with the board (on initial search I didn't find much).

 

[Femto]

Does anything happen at all when you flip it on? Fans turn on then off quickly or anything? Try a seperate power outlet at all?

I had one individual connector stretched once on a 24 pin plug, but if you tried two psu's it would be highly unlikely this is the case. Make sure they are firmly seated on the mobo.

Otherwise, if it isn't the psu, next is the mobo and I would check with Epox or google any known issues with the board (on initial search I didn't find much).

Yes, when I power it on everything lights up, fans spinning, just like a normal POST, except it doesn't post. I'll try a different outlet.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[jmsanders2]

This is getting beyond my knowledge of troubleshooting and I'm not an AMD buff, unfortunently.

If it were me, I would do a (another) complete teardown and barebones rebuild out of the case to see if anything is different, just to make sure. Single out what it might be. Sounds to me like mobo from what you've described, and if it is, get on the phone with Epox and tell them all you've done. You might have to rma.

Maybe someone else here has a theory...

 

[Femto]

This is getting beyond my knowledge of troubleshooting and I'm not an AMD buff, unfortunently.

If it were me, I would do a (another) complete teardown and barebones rebuild out of the case to see if anything is different, just to make sure. Single out what it might be. Sounds to me like mobo from what you've described, and if it is, get on the phone with Epox and tell them all you've done. You might have to rma.

Maybe someone else here has a theory...

Yeah, I just did a teardown a few minutes ago, cleaned up chipset with alcohol, re-set heatsinks, blew out slots, everything. Even tried a different monitor. Absolutely nothing.

I think I'll just pick up something cheap on the net for a replacement until I have enough time to deal with ePox.

Thanks