PC Won't POST

[cougr]

I built a computer for a friend of mine 2-3 weeks ago, and had it up and running with no problems. I thoroughly benchmarked and stress tested it. Once I was satisfied I packed it up and shipped it to my cousin.

He just received it yesterday, hooked everything up, and the machine would turn on for 10 seconds, then just shut off. During this time, the fans and everything spins, so it doesn't seem to be insufficient power.

After walking him through some steps over the phone, its seems that the RTC jumper was on the 'clear' pins, and not the 'default'. How that happened during shipping, I don't have a clue (maybe I should play the lottery with odds like that). After putting them onto the right pins, the machine atleast showed some signs of life, by starting the bootup sequence, but then shut itself down.

Each time it shuts down and you start it back up again it seems to turn itself off sooner than the first time, but after letting it sit for a while it will stay on for 10-20 seconds, and then shut down again. It does not stay on long enough for you to be able to enter the BIOS.

At the moment it looks like he will have to ship it back to me to figure out whats going on. Does anyone have any idea or anything as to what the cause/solution might be???

Thanks in advance.

 

[LiLithTecH]

Things get bumped and pounded during transit.

By RTC you mean REALTIMECLOCK?
Some motherboards (still) have seperate jumpers for the RTC and the CMOS.

Did you try clearing the CMOS?
Remember to disconnect the power and leave it clear for 10 minutes....

 

[mechBgon]

Post some spec information for starters

 

[cougr]

Yes, he cleared the CMOS by removing the battery and switching the jumper. That is when he saw the jumper was on the wrong pins.

System Info:
Asus P5AD2-E Premium
Pentium 4 540 (3.2Ghz) LGA 775
Corsair TWIN2X1024-4300C3PRO (1GB)
WD 74GB 10k RPM HDD
Asus Geforce 6600GT
Creative Audigy2
NEC DVD/RW 3500A (I think thats the correct model)
I am using a Zalman CNPS7700-AlCu for CPU cooling.
and a Thermaltake Tsunami for the case.


As I'm sure you can understand, my friend pays $1200 to build a new machine, and when he gets it, it doesn't start, is very frustrating. So I would like to be able to get it resolved ASAP. I would like to be able to do it over the phone, but if it involves removing the mobo from the case or anything like that he would have to ship it back.

 

[mechBgon]

I'd have him check the CPU heatsink for proper seating, and firmly press on the cards and memory to ensure that they're all still seated, since the case flexing in shipping could work them out of their slots (cards, anyway).

 

[cougr]

Yup, the heatsink was on tight, and he said he reseated all the cards.