Can't get Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 to POST

[crimedawg]

I've been trolling for a few days trying to find out what could be going wrong to no avail. Here's the issue, hopefully someone out there will have some advice:

My config is as follows:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 w/ stock HS
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3
2 sticks of Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800MHz (CM2X512A-6400)
Also tried 2 sticks of PNY DDR2 512 Optima 533 (D21GX420PT)
Ultra V Series 400W ATX PSU
EVGA e-GeForce 7600GT PCI-e graphics card
Seagate 400GB SATAII HDD

I just can't get the thing to POST so I have no idea what could be causing the problem. I've tried reseating the CPU, heatsink, RAM, vid card. I've tried moving the RAM to different slots (1/3,2/4) and just 1 stick by itself in each of the 4 slots. I tried a different PSU (my older Antec True430) but it only has the 20 pin ATX connector instead of the 24 pin that I have on the Ultra 400W. Anyone have anything else I could try to get this thing going? Thanks so much, this is driving me crazy!

 

[LouPoir]

I would swap the video card and try that. If you've already swapped the P/S and memory, then your down to the motherboard or the video card -


Lou

 

[boomerang]

Do you have ALL the power connectors plugged into your motherboard?

Same with your video card.

Try resetting your CMOS following the procedure in the manual.

Are you certain there is not a short between the motherboard and case? A standoff where it does not belong and /or an EMI spring on your I/O shield stuffed into a port instead of laying on top are common.

I've started putting all new systems on cardboard and starting them up that way. Beats having to remove from the case to troubleshoot. I also run Memtest and the HD makers diagnostic before installing my OS. Again, saves me time in the longrun.

 

[crimedawg]

Thank you guys for your quick responses.

Lou, if the vid card was bad, shouldn't I at least get beeps from the speaker? Or is it possible that a bad vid card would prevent the BIOS from even POSTing? I'll need to look around and see if I can find an old PCI card because this is my first PCI-e.

boomerang, I do have the 24 pin ATX and the 4 pin 12+ cables plugged into the mobo. I don't have any additional power going to the vid card, which I thought was kind of odd in the first place. I took your advice and pulled the mobo out of the case and put it on a hard piece of plastic to avoid any possible shorts. I cleared the CMOS and now I'm getting a power cycle where it will continuously power up and then power down. The mobo has been powering down and back up again once anytime I change something, which I read is normal. But this keeps going on and off until I turn off the hard power on the back of the PSU. I've been only using 1 stick of RAM and switching the slot I place it which gives me varied results. Sometimes I get a continuous beep which the manual says is a DRAM error and sometimes I get no beep. But either way, I do get the continuous power up/power down cycle. I saw that some people fixed this by reseating the CPU and heatsink which I did and got no new results. Again, thanks for your responses. Any other ideas?

 

[boomerang]

You've got a bad motherboard would be my guess. You've run through every troubleshooting step there is.

If you have a PCI video card to try, go for it. I think your results will be the same.

 

[vailr]

If the PSU is lacking the 6-conductor PCIe video card power line, then you'll need to find a replacement PSU which does have that feature.

 

[sfitzp4573]

When you say it won't POST, do you mean that absolutely nothing happens when you attempt to power up?

I had exactly that problem with my Gigabyte 8knxp when I installed it out of the box (and also when changing bios battery). My solution is relative to 8knxp but may work with yours too as they are both from Gigabyte. To fix it, try this ...

1. in the corner diagonally opposite the CPU (ie in bottom right hand corner, assuming CPU is in top left corner) there will be a set of 10 pins, arranged in a 5 column x 2 row setup.

2. With the power connected, use something like a screwdriver to "short out" 2 of the pins (I can't remember which ones, as it's very rare that I need to do this), but you'll hear a small click, and maybe the CPU fan might spin by a few degrees.

3. Then hit the power switch again, and, hopefully, your mobo will burst into life.

Good luck.

Simon.

 

[crimedawg]

The PSU has this connector on it, but where does it plug into? I cannot find anywhere on the vid card that would accept the connection. The manual for the vid card seems to be a general one for a bunch of different cards and says "If your card is equipped with a supplemental power adapter, we strongly advise that it be connected..." So I looked long and hard for someplace to give the card additional power, but didn't see anything. Is it uncommon for a PCI-e 16x card like this to not have a need for additional power? It does have a rather large heatsink fan attached.

 

[crimedawg]

Simon, since the boards are arranged differently, what is the 10-pin set meant for? Are you essentially clearing your CMOS by doing this? What is the set labeled as so I could try to find the same thing on my board? I have 2 pins right next to the CMOS battery for clearing the CMOS. I did this by shorting them with a screwdriver but didn't hear a click. Should the power be plugged in while clearing the CMOS?

 

[CurseTheSky]

#1 - Clear the CMOS via the jumper, and / or removing the battery for 1 minute.

#2 - Strip the motherboard down to the processor. Take out all PCI / PCI-E cards, take out all hard drives, CD drives, floppy drives, etc. Take out the memory, and remove any front panel audio / USB / firewire connections. Assuming the processor is good, the motherboard should beep at you angrily (no memory POST error).

#3 - If it does, place one stick of memory in slot 1 (closest to the processor). It should beep again (no video POST error). If it doesn't, the memory you're using either will not work in the motherboard, or your motherboard is bad. Try using every stick of memory you have available, one at a time, and try multiple slots if needed.

#4 - If it beeps again, connect the video card, and any extra power cables as needed. Connect the monitor and power it on again. I believe it should beep one more time (no keyboard). Connect the keyboard and mouse (PS/2 connections would be best).

If you get stuck at any step, you know where the problem is. If it goes through all of that and STILL won't boot, I would bet on a faulty motherboard or faulty power supply. I realize these tests are a pain and very time consuming, but this is exactly what I had to do to get my A8N-SLI Premium working for the first time.

 

[b315653]

What memory voltage are those sticks? That motherboard likes 1.8 on the memory voltage. When that board first came out people were buying cheap 1.8 memory to get it to post and then going into the BIOS and upping the memory volts.

 

[crimedawg]

b315653, I've heard that too which was why I went to Bestbuy today and picked up 2 sticks of PNY so that I could just get into the BIOS. How can I tell what the voltage is on the RAM? Would it be anywhere on the sticks themselves or just from the Corsair website? I don't know what the voltage of the PNY ones are as well so that could be hurting me.

Curse, thank you for the list of things to try. I did what you told me and I am getting the angry beeps, but now I can't get it to stay powered up. It powers up for about 5 seconds and powers down for about 5 seconds and powers back up again, over and over. I let it go for about a minute and it just kept cycling like this. I took off the heatsink, wiped off the thermal compund that came with the heatsink and put my own thermal paste on. I just use Radioshack brand paste, but I've never had a problem with it before. So i reseated the CPU and heatsink again with nothing else plugged in. I get the quick continuous beeps while it's on for those 5 seconds in between powering down. I worried that if the mobo is bad, I'm stuck with it. I got it from buy.com where they have a 14 day return policy and it's been 15 days. Figures, huh.

 

[crimedawg]

I did just find on the Corsair site that my RAM operates at 1.9V which may be causing me a problem there. I couldn't find anything on the PNY site about the voltage. But if the thing isn't going to stay powered up without RAM, there's got to be something else wrong.

 

[boomerang]

Once you determine it's the motherboard, contact Gigabyte for an RMA. I do not know their warranty policy, but major sellers (as Gigabyte is) will warranty directly, not requiring a purchaser to work through the company they bought it from. They will work off the date of manufacture in some cases or it may be purchase date.

You may want to contact their technical support.

 

[LouPoir]

Sounds like youve tried just about everything -

The 7600GT does not require any additional power adapters - I checked
DDR volt does have some variation - but any of the ones youve tried should at least boot to a screen
The only last thing I never mentioned is you need to confirm that this is not a processor overheat issue. Check the HSF to make sure it is properly mounted -
And again, if you had another video card - even a PCI one
Does sound more and more like a motherboard problem -

 

[crimedawg]

Lou, I was kind of thinking an overheat problem too which is why I reapplied new thermal paste and reseated CPU. But it's still power cycling. I will check again just to make sure the HS is attached correctly. Earlier today when it wasn't power cycling, I did try a PCI vid card and got no results. Looks like I'll just have to go through the hassle of a RMA... ugh.

 

[crimedawg]

Well I was able to RMA through buy.com since the 14 days for a return is from when it was sent to the warehouse, not order date. So we'll see what happens when I get a new one. Thank you all very much for helping me out on this one. This is the first board I've ever got DOA so I guess I had it coming

 

[sfitzp4573]

I've just been checking the motheboard manuals on Gigabyte website - on my 8knxp the bank of connectors is called F_PANEL and is described in detail on page 28 of the English version of the manual.

On your 965p-ds3 there is a connector also called F_PANEL (described on pages 18 and 23) of that mobo's manual.

As a rough guess, when this happened to me, I had to "short" either pins 1 and 2, or maybe 3 and 4. It's one of those things that I didn't write down!

Hope this helps.

Simon

 

[memories2002]

I had the exact same problem with my DS3, turns out my Chieftec server case had a plate meant for server mobos that was shorting with the DS3.

 

[crimedawg]

sfitzp4573, I had boxed it up to RMA but haven't sent it due to my lack of packing tape. Maybe worth a shot of pulling it back out to try that. I have no idea why shorting those pins would work, but what's the worst that could happen? My RMA is approved anyway and if this works, I can have my new PC up now and not have to wait to get a new board.

memories, thanks for your input. I had actually taken the board out of the case and had it resting on a piece of plastic while trying to boot it to rule out a case short and I got nothing new. I've had the case for almost 5 years now running my old P4 system without a problem too.

 

[crimedawg]

No luck on shorting the pins. I even tried a couple other ones on the F_PANEL set since I planned on sending the board back anyway. I'm still getting the power on and off cycle so the board must be defective.

 

[vailr]

What type of CPU cooler are you using?
On my DS3, the stock Intel cooler works fine. Upgraded with one requiring a backplate, and the board wouldn't boot.
Went back to the stock Intel cooler, and it works fine again. So, it's either the 4 metallic screws or the foam pad between the
backplate and the underside of the CPU socket, causing a short of some kind...

 

[Bozo Galora]

the three most important factors in DS3 boot probs is RAM voltage, RAM chip module type, and bios version installed
(and to a lesser degree, the PSU HONEST wattage - If you like the ultra PSU you should get the X-infinity 600-700-800 not the "V")
http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103

I'll bet your new mobo will do the same
to get your system to boot the first time you will need to buy some ultra cheap (loose timings) DDR2 ram, set voltage at 2.0, allow SPD settings, and DO NOT reset cmos after things are going - the mobo bios chip will do that
Then you may add hi-perf RAM before next boot
NEVER add RAM when system off, but PSU still plugged in - all lights must be off.
Since the DS3 doent like some mvidia vidcards under certain bios versions, if you STILL have a prob you may have to install a $25 PCI vidcard to get that all important first boot.

you will have to look at botoom of boot screen to see what bios your mobo shipped with and chnage immediately according to this:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=110460

(Quote)
I just got a DS3 and overall I'm pretty happy with it. I was worried about the board not booting with Gskill HZ memory and my fears were realized when I first tried to boot. So after about the 10th combination of different memory configs, it finally posted for some reason and I was able to set the memory at 2.1v. This is on F6 bios. Right now I've only got it at 8x400, but I haven't had a chance to test it any further. Overall I'm happier with the DS3 than my Badaxe.

 

[MadAmos]

I doubt it is the RAM I am using the same thing and it booted first try and mine was with the f4 BIOS. I would be more concerned about the PSU and would try to beg borrow or steal a known working 400w or more PSU and try that first.

 

[crimedawg]

vailr, I am just using the stock heatsink with Radioshack thermal paste. I figured when I start wanting to OC, I could get something better, but the HS that comes with the CPU should be fine for a non-OC'ed system. It may have been the RAM when I first started trying to boot, but it has gotten to the point where it will not stay powered up. My first instinct was the CPU was overheating so it kept shutting down. So i reseated the CPU with fresh thermal paste which did nothing. I was just booting with the CPU and HS in place--no RAM or vid card, and still get the power on/off cycle. So yeah as some of you are saying, it may be the PSU. I have tried a second PSU which is 430W, but it's ATX connector is only the 20-pin variety, which the mobo manual says is OK. And the 4-pin +12V plug was plugged in as well. That PSU has worked fine for years. Oh well, I actually sent out the mobo via UPS today so hopefully buy.com gets me a replacement soon so I can try again. And Bozo, thanks for the links, the second one seems to be a decent FAQ on the mobo since the Gigabyte one pretty much sucks. Thanks guys, I'll let you know how it turns out with the new one!