Board gets power but no POST

[sm8000]

I picked up a used Socket A board with the caveat that it may be dead, I'm not worried about getting a refund as I'm sure the seller will make right if need be. It came with a Barton 2500+, and one or the other (maybe both?) apparently died after an overclock attempt.

I'm testing it by laying it on its cardboard box, plugging in a spare PSU, and the PWR SW wire from a nearby case. I also have some RAM in it an a video card (both known good). I've even got the SPKR wire from another case plugged into it. I initially tried with the Barton it came with, the board would power up (fans spin) but no beeps and no post.

I've since pulled the battery for about half an hour, with the CMOS jumper in Clear (now back to Normal since reseating the battery). Still no beeps nor post. I'm also trying a spare Duron 1.8 but no luck, and I tried changing the FSB jumper. I even switched from DVI to VGA on my X1600 Pro (with its PSU wire connected) but no difference. Just spinning fans.

Is there anything else I can do to test this? I just want to make sure it's really dead before I request a refund. I'd hate to lose this board if it really can work. I've also tried replacing the CMOS battery, no go.

[Rocketmech]

Some boards with a "soft bios" have a key combo to reset the board in case of a bad OC , but thats not always a guarantee . Some boards use a combination of jumpers and soft bios settings . In either case the manual should give you the info needed to reset the board to factory defaults . You might try disconnecting the power cord , press and hold the power switch for 10 sec. to drain the capacitors , then set the clear cmos jumper and remove the battery overnight . I've heard of removing the cpu and/or ram and then power on for a minute or two without them , then afterwards clear cmos again has helped clear a bad OC . If the board still wont POST , its likely a bad north bridge controller , since you've tried known working components . If you have another board , you should test the cpu also .

[fizur2002]

i also had something very very very similar happen with my LGA775 board. No post and no video but seemed like it was running. I know its a long shot but try booting the board without any memory installed.

[Sterling_Aug]

The old Abit boards would factory reset if you pressed in and held the Insert key until the system booted. I never heard what key worked on the other manufacturers.

[sm8000]

Thanks everyone, I did try with no RAM but didn't get any beeps. I tried a few other things but eventually gave up and got my refund. I think my video card got fried in the test bed though :(