bootup problems PLEASE HELP ASAP

[dskyze]

Just built a computer and I can't bootup--Here are the facts:

*when I turn power on-- all fans work (case, powersupply, cpu, agp card, and mb chip)
*no display or bios beeps
*The power led illuminates and I see a light on my hard drive
*For some reason my cd rom won't eject tray as if it has no power however even if I switch plug from hard drive to cd-rom--still nothing happens.
*The cpu never gets hot
*power stays on

My own diagnosis:
So basically the only thing you hear when you turn on the power is the fans. Judging by what I show above, if there is no POST, no warning beeps, my motherboard is gone. It's quite possible too, because it was a b__H to get the fan on my athlon and trying to force it may have cracked it--although I don't see anything.

Opinions...HELP!!

--dskyze

[GroundZero3]

had a computer that did that. turns out i was shipped a bad cpu. take your cpu to a friends and see if you get the same results

JaYisn

[MaxVal]

Don't know what’s up with that CD-ROM...
No post or error beeps (with good speaker connected), indicates CPU is not running. Usually this is caused by MB problem, CPU, or PS.
Make sure the heatsink fan is connected to the proper header.
Is the PS of sufficient amperage for the Athlon?
Sorry, but there is no magic that anyone can say for sure what the trouble is. You have to find it by process of elimination, then by substitution with known good parts. Hardest part is getting your hands on test donor organs!
Make it as simple as possible. Remove all but the video card. No disks are needed to see a post screen.
Is the monitor working? Recheck all jumper configurations on the board.
Try discharging CMOS

Wish I could be of more help...

MAX

[Bovon]

Hmmm, the tray on the cd drive not working kinda bothers me...I think all you need is power to a cd drive, no ribbon connected to operate the tray in and out...correct somebody?...

[piyopiyo13]

Yes, that's true. The CD-ROM drive should be able to eject even if there's no IDE cable attached. All it needs is power. A few questions:

1) Have you tried clearing CMOS yet? My last computer for some reason booted the first time I started it up, and I had to adjust some slave/master settings so I turned it off again, but it wouldn't boot anymore after that. I cleared CMOS, and for some reason everything started working again. Clear CMOS with a jumper or by removing the battery.

2) Does the CD-ROM make any noise at all when you turn on your computer? Normally you will hear a whooshing noise or at least a series of clicks coming from the CD-ROM. If not, I'm leaning towards a busted CD-ROM.

3) What's your power supply wattage? Athlons will not boot if there's insufficient power.

4) Have you tried testing the individual components of your computer in a friend's motherboard? Start out by testing the RAM, the CPU and the video card. If those three things work in his machine, then I'd lean towards a bad mobo.

Good luck!

[dskyze]

The ps is pentium 4 approved or rated..whatever you call it. The fan is definitely on correct way but like I said it was a real pain to get it on. The fan was one that came boxed with the Athlon t-bird. It's a 1.4GHz FSB266. The clips were hard to get locked down. It seemed you had to apply alot of pressure on both the board and the cpu to get the clip to lockdown.

Also if the processor doesn't get warm is that an indication that the processor is bad or mobo is bad? Or in this case could it be either one.

I still think that cdrom not pwering up seems strange--it worked in the pc I took it out of.

Also note that the symptoms I described was the same as when the very first time I put the pc together and turned it on as it is now. My friend was telling me he had a similar experience except that on the first couple of bootups he was getting a bios beep. Then after that he had the same symptoms. He put the cpu in another mobo and it didn't work. He clearly had a cpu problem because he put the fan on backwards.
--dskyze

[SPEEDO]

That's all you need is a little crack on one of the corners and it's bye bye CPU look it over real good!

Oh and BTW welcome to sysopt. dskyze

SPEEDO

[dskyze]

K will do Speedo and Thanks and I appreciate all the advice i've been gettin from everyone.

[ticktack]

But has it been solved?

[dskyze]

Hello yall!! It's been resolved. First of all I never got to mention this. . but if I tried to clear the CMOS by moving the jumper for some reason it wouldn't power up at all.

Now on to how was it resolved..well it turns out I brought into a repair shop and they told me screws underneath the processor and mb had shortcircuited the board (didn't fry it ..thank goodness.) Not sure if it was really "screws" but I had put in all the metal studs that was given to me that came with the case I put it in each available hole. I haven't had a chance to look but perhaps a couple of studs were under the processor section of the mb. Sure enough it's been working since..including my cd-rom.(strange). I've put together 4 machines from scratch before--never experienced this problem.

-dskyze

p.s. thanks for everyone's response..great forum.