Boot-up problem

[electrocheese]

I just built a computer for myself after Christmas. Everything was running very smoothly until Friday afternoon. I came home, and everything was in standby mode. So, I tried to get it out, and nothing happened. I restarted the computer, and nothing at all was happening. No POST test, no BIOS, nothing at all. I've tried everything to get it working, resetting the CMOS, trying different hard drives, even taking out the entire system from it's case multiple times to make sure it wasn't shorting out. I may be doing all of the above wrong, feel free to correct me. Does anyone have any idea why it's doing this, and how to fix it?

My specs are as follows:

AMD Athlon XP 2200+ 266 FSB
Asus A7N8X-X NForce2 Motherboard
XFX GeForce FX 5200 AGP8X 128 MB with Tv-Out
GEIL 512 MB PC-3200 DDRAM
120 Gigabyte Hitachi 7200 RPM Hard Drive
Volcano 7+ Heatsink

 

[electrocheese]

Does anyone have any idea? I really need to get this fixed. Thanks.

 

[Bad_Boy]

yeah my dad is kinda having the same problem now.
computer was working fine, but now he gets no post/bios. but everything still runs...fans/hard drives/drives still run fine. im thinking its the cpu

 

[Ice Czar]

change out the PSU

try it with just a speaker, HSF and CPU
verify the HeatSink Fan is connected to the proper mobo header
(thermal protetion cutout)
go for a beep

are you running a good surge protector? or UPS?
may have had a power event

 

[vanquished]

Ive had this problem right from the start with my a7n8x. I sent it back to the retailer and the only option was to get a new cpu...

 

[electrocheese]

I just bought the system, why should I have to buy a new CPU?

 

[vanquished]

i didn't mean that you have to buy a new one, i meant 'return' it. that solved my problem. another problem could be the little holes where you screw in the motherboard. sometimes if you screw it in too tightly the motherboard could touch the case and when you switch it on, you short circuit it

 

[ST|FFY]

do you hear any beeps or anything?
if you do, then maybe vid card/ monitor?
if you dont, then maybe corrupt bios?

 

[electrocheese]

I tried what Ice Czar said, but I still had no POST test. Does that mean that it's either my PSU or CPU?

 

[Ice Czar]

or mobo or corrupted CMOS


check that your CMOS battery is properly seated
see if you cant borrow a known good PSU
without RAM installed it should be beeping quite alot

 

[electrocheese]

Okay, well, I tried out a friend's PSU, and it still didn't work. So, I guess I've narrowed it down to the motherboard or CPU. Any suggestions?

 

[Ice Czar]

cross part, try the CPU in a compatible board that you know works
or a known good CPU in the mobo or both

once your an enthusiast for a while, youll have a few compatible platforms so its easy, (if you dont switch camps )
till then you have to rely on friends and shops (a good reason to make freinds at shops )