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Can't pin down the problem...

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Dec 25, 2004
Alright since this is my first post I will throw my specs up on this computer I'm building.

Processor : Amd 64 3000+
Motherboard : DFI Lanparty UT NF3 250GB
Videocard : Powercolor Radeon 9800 256MB (not pro)
Ram : 2x256 patriot memory 3200-XBL technology 2-2-2-5-1T
(for testing I used an old 2700 ramstick that is oc overclocked to do 3200 speed)
Harddrives : Western Digital SATA 7200 RPM Caviar Drive 40GB X2
Combodrive : Rosewill DvD player CD-RW burner
Powersupply : Either Turbolink switching power supply 420 watts or
Antec 430 Watts Truepower
Heatsink : Artic Cooling Silencer 64 Ultra

Those are my basic stats.

Here's the deal...
I had it all put together and when I powered up all the fans would run (even the videocard fan)except for the heatsink fan that is attatched to the heatsink that is connected to the cpu fan connection at the top of the board. I have lights on the motherboard on the standby as well as the DIMM power light. When I press power everything spins up(short of the heatsink fan) for about a second then all off though the motherboard lights stay on. I don't get a signal on the monitor either. Also if I press the power on after the first time I don't even get any fans to spin up. I have to turn power off the power supply, wait until the lights on the motherboard go off and then turn the power supply back on to get the fans to spin for a second again.

I've wrote DFI engineers about this and this is what they told me to do verbatim.

(My email)

Hey, I just need verification that I should RMA this board. I have the
DFI NF3-250GB socket 754. I am building a new computer and here's the
deal. I tested the power supply with a 42 range multimeter and all the
voltages are in specifications. When I apply power to the motherboard
the led that denotes power to the ram comes on as well as the led that
denotes the standby power. Now when I hit the switch all the fans run
for about a second except for the cpu fan that is connected to the cpu
fan connector on the motherboard. Pressing the power switch a second or
more times won't even spin the fans. I have to turn off the power supply
and then wait until the motherboard lights go off to turn the power
supply back on. I've tried connecting the cpu fan onto the secondary as
well as the chassis connection on the motherboard and the fan will spin
for a split second before shutting down again. Subsequent presses on any
other motherboard fan connections won't spin any fans after that unless
I powerdown and power up the motherboard again. It seems to me that
there is something wrong with the cpu fan connector and that there is a
safety on the motherboard that prevents boot up unless there is a cpu
fan connected. I have a fan on it but it just doesn't seem to be getting
any voltage or something. If you have any ideas you could throw at me I
would very much appreciate it even if I have to go through with an RMA.
Thank You,

(DFI TECH)

*Special attention to power supply size/brand and memory. It certainly sounds like a motherboard to case short or overcurrent protection tripping in under powered power supply. *
** *Suggest removal of motherboard and assemble outside the case on insulated surface. Cpu/HSF; one stick of memory in slot furtherest from the cpu and the 20pin ATX connector and th 4pin power connector ( : : ) hooked up below the cpu left lower side and the video card. If bootup occurs enter the bios with "DELETE" key held down and right side of bios menu choose "load optimized defaults" > YES > Save and exit or reboot. Suggest during the removal of mother board to mini-assemble out of case that you remove the battery and also jumper the cmos jumper to the clear position. Of course reverse this before you try to start the board up out of the case. *
** *Let us know. *
** *Sincerely, *

(My reply to them after I tried their instructions)

Ok, here's what I've done. I've followed your instructions exactly to the T. I set the CMOS jumper to clear and took out the battery. I took out one stick and left the other in on the far side of the processor (dimm slot 3). I had only the 9800 plugged in with the power supply, the 12v 4 pin molex connector and the motherboard molex connector connected to the motherboard. I took the motherboard out of the case and left it on the neoprene sheet that came with the motherboard. I had the monitor connected to the video card as well. I reset the CMOS jumper and batter then powered on the system and I got the same results as before. Here's where I decided to play around. I tried out the video card in another computer and it started it up no problem. I took my 9700 pro out of my computer and put it into this motherboard and when I tried to crank it up I got this. . . Everything came on but I still could not reach the bios. I did post but no bios. I got the motherboard error of One Long Beep followed by Two maybe three very quick beeps (what does that mean?) but at least the processor heatsink fan was running, but still no signal to the monitor. I thought I'd be cute and reinstalled the 9800 back into the motherboard and I got the same results as my first query. All this was outside of the case of course. What else can I do?
Thank You for your help in this so far,

Here's what I've done aside from doing "exactly" as those instructions without reaching post of course.

Tried running without putting power to the video card and got a message on screen saying that I haven't plugged it up.

Tried a 9700 pro on the system and all the fans ran, it got through post and gave me an error of 1 long beep and 2 or 3 short, the short ones are so quick I couldn't tell. Does anyone have information on the error codes?

tried the 9800 in another system and works fine.

tried a different ramstick mentioned above in dimm3 and same issue as above in my stats.

plugged the heatsink fan into another fan slot, this time the fan would spin up for a second with the 9800 plugged up and same story.

RMA"D the board and bought another board while waiting on the RMA"D board to come back so new board

Cleared the cmos after hooking the basics up(processor;videocard;heatsink;one stick of ram;4-pin molex;20-pin molex)

Bought the Antec 430 Truepower supply to try it since the new board was doing the exact same thing....The Antec shows the exact same issue.

got no reply from my return email from last week so I appended that with this yesterday.

(Me)

I wrote this letter the last time and got no response to it the second time explaining what I have done so far but I've gone further now. I RMA'd the board since I got no response. I got the new board in today and got the exact same issue so I assumed that it was in fact the power supply. Went and bought me an Antec Truepower 430 watt power supply and am still getting the same issue. Also, I'm sure that if I put the 9700 pro on this new board that I would get the one long beep followed by the 2 short beeps. I tried booting with a stick of 2700 ram and still the same issue. This is a new board and am getting the rma'd one back soon. What are the post codes for this board and what can I do.
Thanks and please help me,

Please forgive me if my emails sound cross but I try to come across just stating facts. I'm adding the emails so that maybe it will come across from more than one explanation and to show what I've tried so far. This is my first 64 bit system build and have read that these are some of the best motherboard out there to date. By next week I'm going to have 2 of these boards and since the first one was like this and I've already RMA'D that board and got the second one doing the same thing I can only assume that the third one will give me the same issue. As of tonight if I can't figure this out and since I can't test the processor on another motherboard since I don't have another 754 slot motherboard... I'm going to have to buy another processor just to see if that's the issue (I'll be needing one anyways now that I'll have 2 of these boards). I also don't have any other videocards to try with this. My wits are at my limit with this short of waiting on another processor. Any fresh ideas would be greatly greatly appreciated. If I've forgotten to mention anything just ask, I'll be checking on this from around 6:00 to 12:00 every day probably every 5 to 10 minutes until I can get this up lol. Thanks.
 
Figured it out

Hi, figured it out. Seems that there is some kind of issue using plain 9800's in this motherboard. A 9700 pro works fine but a 3 year newer 9800 don't...go figure. Anyways that's a new issue if someone can figure that one out.
 
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