System won't POST.

D

Dykstraflex

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 10, 2006
Messages
156
I just replaced the power supply (see diagnosis thread here). Before it died, the computer worked fine.

Mobo: Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe
CPU: Athlon XP 3200+ Barton @ 2.2 Ghz (Not OC'd)
RAM: 1GB Kingston HyperX dual channel DDR
Power supply: Antec Truepower New 650W (the old one was a Antec Neopower 650W)
Case fans: 4x Sunbeamtech Silent Anodized LED
CPU fan: Some Sanyo Denki thing, somewhat thicker than your standard 80mm
Heatsink: Thermalright SP-97
Thermal paste: Arctic Silver 5
Case: Cooler Master Praetorian

All the fans turn on. The keyboard lights flash when the power switch is pressed. The mobo's standby power LED works. The CD drives do not work, and the hard drive light does not flash. No beep. Does power off correctly.

I've checked all the connections and jumpers repeatedly. I've cleared the CMOS several times, and even tried a different battery.

I suspect a damaged CPU, as I took it out to check for cracks and/or scratches when trying to diagnose the original PSU problem. I may have over tightened the heatsink or something.

The case was very dusty before I put the new PSU in, but I got almost all of it out before I turned it on.

I've been without a working computer for about a month now. Please help. :(
 
Try disconnecting the HDD and the CD drives and if you have one laying around, hook up a 3.5 floppy. Just want to have the minumum connected. The psu might have shorted out one of the drives when it dies and the short is stalling the boot. ???

Best I got right now.

Also, you didn't mention video.
 
cleared the CMOS with jumpers? (some boards need this)

to add to wrangler's suggestions:
try with one stick of RAM (and if it fails, try the other)
pull any expansion cards


if you think its a damaged CPU, got another Socket A to check her out with?
did you use a shim?
 
Video is an XFX 6600GT. The fan doesn't work on it, but I don't run anything that stresses it, and I don't overclock it.

No shim on the CPU. Also, I checked it again, and there are still no cracks or scratches, but a good number of the pins have blackened tips. I don't have a spare.

I'll try disconnecting the drives and changing the RAM (I do have some spare RAM). I'll also try cleaning the CPU pins.
 
Dykstraflex said:
Video is an XFX 6600GT. The fan doesn't work on it, but I don't run anything that stresses it, and I don't overclock it.

No shim on the CPU. Also, I checked it again, and there are still no cracks or scratches, but a good number of the pins have blackened tips. I don't have a spare.

I'll try disconnecting the drives and changing the RAM (I do have some spare RAM). I'll also try cleaning the CPU pins.
Click to expand...

blackened tips, like burned/toasty? thats uh...bad

and try another gfx card or replace the 6600GT's cooler, it can still overheat/cookoff with no fan if the fansink has no dissipation abilities without the fan
 
yah, do a barebone bench test while you're at it. instructions are in the sticky troubleshooting guide.
 
Turns out that the video fan does work after all. The motherboard was giving a false warning.

I cleaned the CPU tips and tested it with all drives unplugged except the floppy. No dice.

I also changed the RAM, and put it in a different slot. Still no luck.

I even tried reversing the case speaker connector. Zilch.

I'm 99% sure that it's either the mobo or the CPU. I'm going to replace both, but the price of an A7N8X-E Deluxe is still pretty high... :(

EDIT: On second thought, I'm going to replace them one at a time to see if I can save some dough.
 
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The CD drive not working sounds more like it's your MB.
Not your cpu.

I'd say your bad PSU knocked out the MB and possibly the CPU along the way. Dying PSUs often take a lot of other parts with them.
 
Dykstraflex said:
How sure are you about that?
Click to expand...
Not %100 :)
It would depend on how your motherboard works. Typically, a dead cpu shouldn't prevent it from operating the cd drive. However, if it has an "everything or nothing" mechanism, then a dead cpu will cause that.

Edit:
Hey another thing to check. Take the heatsink and fan off your cpu, boot the system and let it run for a few minutes. If the cpu is hot when you turn it off, that points more to a bad mobo.
Unfortunately I don't know of any %100 surefire way to tell if it's a bad CPU or MB.
 
I've thought about it, and rather than try and figure out whether it's the CPU or mobo, I'm just going to replace both. I'm both in a hurry and sick of fiddling with it.

Thanks for the help, y'all! :cool:
 
Dykstraflex said:
I've thought about it, and rather than try and figure out whether it's the CPU or mobo, I'm just going to replace both. I'm both in a hurry and sick of fiddling with it.

Thanks for the help, y'all! :cool:
Click to expand...

just as a side question
why not upgrade to something that isn't nearly a decade old in the process? :)

-bob
 
obobski said:
just as a side question
why not upgrade to something that isn't nearly a decade old in the process? :)

-bob
Click to expand...

A decent reason, actually.

I lost my OS installation disk, and even if I had it, it's a pain in the arse re-configuring everything from scratch. All in all, I would prefer to get parts compatible with my current install.
 
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