Comp won't boot

[Aesthir]

This is my first attempt at building a computer. I installed the motherboard, the cpu, the cpu fan/heatsink, the ram and the video card and then I tried booting up to see if it works..
Unfortunetly, it doesn't. > http://www.sysopt.com/forum/frown.gif When I turn the power on, the mother board gets power, the cpu fan starts.. But the computer does not post. Nothing appears on the screen. And yes, the monitor IS connected to the graphis card and plugged in. I have double checked the cables. The computer will not post. Also, the reset button doesn't seem to function (although, I don't know if it SHOULD considering the computer doesn't post) and the power button on the front of the case won't turn the computer off. To turn the computer off I have to turn the power supply off on the back...
Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Specs:
Intel Celeron 400 PPGA
Abit ZM6 Motherboard
64 MB 168 pin DIMMs
Elan Vital T-10 case
Matrox Mystique 220 (in pci slot, not agp)

Thanks for the help.

[Target]

hmmm, no post, no beeps, no nuthin' eh?

Off hand, I'd say start with re-seating the RAM and CPU.

After that, at power-up, press and hold down the insert key. I believe that if the machine will run and the motherboard is good, that will bypass post and allow you to acces the system bios. Keep holding the insert key until it lets you into the bios setup screen. Should not take more than a minute or so. If that works, setup your bios settings accordingly, and then save bios and exit.

[Aesthir]

I tried re-seating the cpu, ram and video card and nothing has changed.

Holding down Insert did nothing as well.

Any other ideas?

[alpha]

Check CPU jumpers. Your reset button won't work unless you conect it to the mobo. Make sure you didn't get heat paste on the CPU pins.

[Aesthir]

This motherboard has no jumpers, the reset switch is connected to the motherboard and I haven't used any heat paste.

[Ygor]

Just a wild stab here... have you checked the cmos jumper?

[NoCtrl]

I'm no expert but . . . you say there is power, but you also say you it won't shut off with the power button, and the reset button does not work. Have you double check to make sure they are connected to the motherboard right?

I only mention this because the connections were shown upside down and backwards in the manual that came with the last ABIT motherboard I used. I followed what was shown on the motherboard itself. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[LostUser]

I had exactly this problem when I installed an Abit BX6 R2 into a new case. When I turned the switch on the power supply, the cpu fan would start but that was it. It turned out that the case screw-things that hold the motherboard away from the case were shorting the motherboard out. One way to test for this is to take out the power supply, motherboard and graphics card and put them on a table. Connect them all up so you have a very very basic configuration and see if it will start booting. That was what worked for me. All I then had to do was check every screw-thing and make sure it lined up with a hole on the motherboard.

Let me know if this helps.

LostUser