Boot problem - getting desparate

[richrybi]

Getting close to insanity with this, so any help would be very very much appreciated.
I've recently got some components together to build a new pc at work (more fool me):
Abit KT-7 RAID KT 133 motherboard
Athlon 800
AOpen ATX case
+ The irrelevent junk.

I got the system working but am having numerous problems, the most fundamental of which is that the machine will not boot up when I turn it on. Theres no beep, and the monitor light stays orange..
Turning it off (pressing the power button for 4 seconds) and on again doesnt help, reset doesnt do anything, BUT if I pull out the power cord from the back whilst its still running, and then put it back in and THEN turn it on (within a couple of seconds), it boots up...
Then if I get into windows, restarting through windows is normally ok, but not always. If I enter bios and exit it again, so that it reboots, it invariably goes back to the orange light and nothing else happens, and I have to yank the power cord out again..
I've stripped the system down to just ram + video card and it doesnt help, I've also tried moving the ram dimm (256meg) into a different socket, doesnt help.
Am i right in thinking a bios setting will cure it? Or is it a power supply problem?
From what I gather, an ATX power supply feeds a small amount of current to the system even when powered down, so I guess I'm wiping this when i yank the cord out the back, and this is necessary for a reboot.
I've tried the fail safe bios defaults (doesnt help), and have played around with the power management features (no luck).
Me and my boss are gonna have a big fight if I can get this working soon, so please help if you can!!!

[Ygor]

Are you using a 300 watt power supply? Some 250 watt psu's will work, some won't, at least not right.
I know that sort of problem has been posted here before and I think that's the first thing to check.

[tonym]

rich,

You've indicated that you've tried all the power management/ACPI settings. Are you sure?

For a problem like this, it's *real handy* to keep a notebook with the settings you've tried just to aid with the process of elimination.

This problem sounds like one of three things:

1.) the simplest -- the power switch function is incorrectly set in the BIOS. Make sure this is set to the normal ON/OFF functionality. Disable all the other power management stuff for the time being. If this doesn't work then;

2.) the PSU might be bad. There is circuitry within the power supply to latch it ON and OFF for normal operation. This might be bad in your PSU. If you can rustle one up, try a replacement. If this doesn't work, recheck the power switch-to-motherboard connection -- make sure it's on the correct pins on the header connector. If these things don't work then:

3.) You've got a faulty mobo!

In my experience with problems like this it's usually an oversight (nerves/your boss has you under the gun!!) or a mis-connection (the headers are easily miss connected to).

Double/triple check everything and use the notebook to document the settings that you've tried and I think everything will work out!

Good luck...


Tony

[richrybi]

Thanks for those answers, much appreciated; I'll work through the power management stuff carefully and try and get ahold of another power supply if I can. The one I'm using is 300W btw.
Cheers.
Rich.

[Donkey]

Sounds like a dodgy power supply to me.
had the same problem with a completely different system a while ago and just slipped in a new PSU and everything was happy. I'd give that a go first if you have a spare PSU.

Rod

[richrybi]

Thanks for trying, but its too late, I'm now insane.. bleugfdhdkhlldhdkldlkhdkldhd

Ok, let me pull myself together for a moment..

Havent been able to change the power supply, but have gone through the power management stuff again, didnt seem to be an obvious option to turn it all off though.

The power switch cable was definitely in the right way around (when switched around it was still operational, but still gave the problem), and since I get the non-booting after going into bios & out again (as well as just turning the **** machine on) I guess its unlikely to be related to the switch.

I'm edging towards a motherboard fault.
I'm just about desperate enough now to go into town and get one from my own cash just to test it.
Btw I tried reinstalling windows (wanted to test whether i could get network support - another problem I've been having), and after installing, the machine rebooted (well tried to) just as it was finishing loading up windows 'for the first time'.
Couldnt get it beyond that so I'm reformatting again, this time I'll try it all without the 'fail safe' bios defaults which i tried last time but seem to be 'fail guaranteed' so far..
Interestingly, during windows installation, i've noticed that the bootup fails the first time windows asks me to restart, during the installation process, but the 2nd time it asks me to restart, it succeeds. Yes I've reinstalled windows98 enough to be pretty confident of this pattern! scarey..

Off to type up my resignation letter in a minute, byeee

[tonym]

rich,

One last thing before you're institutionalized!!

I had a problem a while back where flaky things were happening on a newly installed mobo in a system that I was building.

To make a very long (including my institutionialization!!) story very short (no pun intended), the problem was that several of the mouse PC bpard pins -- from the ATX connector) were mashed down and shorting/intermittently connected.

Maybe the same situation holds true for your mobo. It's worth the try to remove the mobo and inspect the backside to see if there are any obvious through-hole soldered pins that are mashed or close to one another. Perhaps in the header connector location to which the ON/OFF switch connects.

I might be worth your while or it might be a goose chase, but either way the mobo has to come out so what's there to lose!!


Good luck...


Tony

[richrybi]

Just got ahold of a different atx power supply - didnt help. Just about to pull out the motherboard, I'll look for dodgy pins like you suggested, if there's none, I'm going shopping!
cheers,
Rich

[senecadan]

Crazy as it sounds try checking the polarity of the LED connections, one or moe of them might be reversed. Had that happen on a system somebody had put together and was having weird stuff happen on powerup.