Need Help with First Boot

[mgo]

Background: Things were going relatively well until the first boot step. When hooking up the power switch (on FP101) I inadvertently put it in backwards - not understanding the color coding of the wires (I now believe while = positive polarity) and the little notch on the back.

Specs:
Abit NF7-S v.2
Lian Li P60 case
SilenX 400W iXtrema PSU
Corsair Value Select (2 x 512)
Plain chocolate ice cream also (sorry, I initally forgot to include in my first edit)

Problem: When I push the power switch on the front panel, the green LED comes on intermittently like a car trying to start but not catching. When I release the switch button, end of story. I've tried holding it down for an extended length of time but doesn't work.
Thougts? Is it FUBAR or do I have any hope?

TIA.

 

[gnumantsc]

Sounds like maybe the motherboard is touching the case and creating a short.

Did you make sure you put the CPU on fan correctly as well since it could be the cause of overheating.

 

[mgo]

Good thoughts, but I am testing outside the case and the cpu fan is properly attached.

 

[mechBgon]

Could you edit your first post with your full specs so we know what-all you've got. Include the brand and model of the power supply, the memory modules and your favorite ice cream.

Here's something to start off with:

• Is the motherboard on standoffs like it should be (there's even a genuine Lian-Li mobo tray pictured there). I would assume so, since I don't see how anyone could fit a mobo on a Lian-Li without the standoffs, but hey.
• Did you plug in your ATX12V cable?
• You don't need to worry about the polarity of the case's power-button wire, it will work regardless of its orientation.
• Check your heatsink installation against the third and fourth photos here.
• Another two causes of short circuits are: mis-plugged front USB ports (unplug the case's front USB if it has any) and the springy finger things on the I/O shield getting into the USB or network jacks.

Good luck


(favorite ice cream: plain Chocolate )

 

[mgo]

Motherboard is outside of case on cardboard box- so not on standoffs

ATX12V cable - forgot it initially, but corrected that issue

Polarity orientation - I hate it when the user's manual makes you worry needlessly.

Checked heatsink installation and it appears that I did it correctly

USB has not been plugged in yet.

The finger things are not yet an issue.


P.S. I loved you guide and tried to follow it, but everything is new and a learning experience.

 

[mechBgon]

Is that a retail-boxed CPU and you're using the included heatsink? Sometimes the phase-change patch is covered by a plastic coverslip that needs peeling off, rather than that big plastic tray like the one in my pictures. If that were not removed, then you'd get a rapid temperature spike on the CPU and it would shut the motherboard off almost instantly. I did it myself once, and felt a little dumb when I took the heatsink off and HEY, there's that plastic slip DUUUH!

Also, check your power supply's voltage switch on the rear and make sure it's set for the right wall voltage (115 or 230) for where you live. If you have another decent power supply, you might want to test with that too.

Moving right along... what video card are you running in that system, is it one of the kind that needs a power cable from the power supply to operate? Is it fully bottomed-out into the slot, both layers of contacts? New AGP slots can be stiff and fake you out sometimes.

 

[mgo]

I've checked the video card which is a Roswell 9600 and the CPU heat sink/fan. I'd applied Artic Silver 5 using a credit card and there are now five bare patches - the four "feet" and directly over CPU.

Could this be a bad MB?

 

[mgo]

New wrinkle. It started but stopped after about 30 seconds.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: mgo
New wrinkle. It started but stopped after about 30 seconds.

What heatsink/fan unit are you using?

 

[mgo]

Swiftech MCX462-V heatsink with SilenX fan

 

[RealityTime]

1. obtain hammer
2. attempt boot
3. on boot failure, wield hammer
4. scream hai-yah
5. strike machine parts vigorously with hammer
6. now possess a certainty as to the boot-up problem

:beer:

 

[mgo]

Thank you that felt so good. Now on to discover the problem(s). I will not give up, I will build a computer. It just may take me a very long time.

 

[RealityTime]

Originally posted by: mgo
Thank you that felt so good. Now on to discover the problem(s). I will not give up, I will build a computer. It just may take me a very long time.

seriously I would try disconnecting the floppy, mb, cd-rom drives. All drives. Try to boot than, does it work ? If not, leave all the drives unplugged try booting with just one stick of ram in, does it work ? If not, leave all drives unplugged still and try booting with the other stick of ram alone, does it work ? If not make sure the one stick of ram is plugged into dimm1 whichever that is. Make sure all the wires are snugly into the mb. Make sure your reset wire is on correctly. If your motherboard has a dip switch for resetting the bios, check the manual for the procedure to that and try that. Always try from a barebones start though, no drives, one ram stick. and continue from there if it works adding in components. Also if none of that works, try removing the heatsink and re-install the cpu, make sure its snug and in properly and re-apply heatsink. make sure any expansion cards, vid card, sound card etc are firmly and correctly placed in the slots.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: mgo
Swiftech MCX462-V heatsink with SilenX fan

The Abit NF7 series do have a feature where they won't run if the CPU fan is not sending an adequately-high RPM signal. Your fan runs at low RPMs. You can disable the Shutdown when CPUFAN Fail feature in the board's BIOS, in the PC Health Status section, but first... gotta get there So drag out any faster-running, RPM-signalling 3-pin fan and plug that into the CPUFAN header to fake it, so you can go into the BIOS and make this change.

*crosses fingers*

 

[RealityTime]

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Originally posted by: mgo
Swiftech MCX462-V heatsink with SilenX fan

The Abit NF7 series do have a feature where they won't run if the CPU fan is not sending an adequately-high RPM signal. Your fan runs at low RPMs. You can disable the Shutdown when CPUFAN Fail feature in the board's BIOS, in the PC Health Status section, but first... gotta get there So drag out any faster-running, RPM-signalling 3-pin fan and plug that into the CPUFAN header to fake it, so you can go into the BIOS and make this change.

*crosses fingers*

its not a good idea to power on the system with the cpu fan not running!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

can you plug the cpu fan into an alternate spot for a fan on the mb to keep it powered ?

 

[Tripleshot]

can you plug the cpu fan into an alternate spot for a fan on the mb to keep it powered ?

Yes

 

[Tripleshot]

And put the mobo in the case and secure it with proper fastners. You may need the mobo grounded properly to get itto work. And next time, buy asus, you won't have these problems then.

You can reset your bios by following instructions in the manual. That will aslo give you a frtesh start if settings were wrong in your first attempts.

 

[mgo]

Thank you mech Bgon! Thank you, thank you.

I changed out the fan over the heatsink and have a successful first book.

And I thank you guys for noting to keep a fan running on the CPU - what I did was to do a quick check with the running fan over the disabled fan over the heatsink.

bless you all.

 

[mechBgon]