Shuttle SN25P Not POSTing

[EtherealDragon]

Hello all. I am having a POST issue with my Shuttle SN25P Barebones.

HARDWARE:
Shuttle SN25P
AMD 64 3500+
Corsiar DDR400 XMS 2x 1 Gig
Radeon x1950XT
300GB Seagate 7200.8
Plextor PX-712SA/SW-BL

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What happened:

Computer was running fine up until Wednesday August 2nd. After shutting it down, I was going to try some overclocking (stupid move, cause I jumped in with a large change, not small ones). I went into the BIOS settings, and changed the BUS speed (I think thats what it was) from 200 to 300, and changed the multiplier from 10x to 7x, effectivly a 100 MHz overclock, if I am not mistaken. After the settings were saved, and the system rebooted, it never POSTED. With the Shuttle, the fans run at 100% for about 3 seconds immediatly after powering up, and during POST, they reduce in speed. When starting up, the fans remain at 100% indefinatly, and there is no output from the video card.

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What I have tried:

I have used the clear CMOS jumper on the motherboard, used the clear CMOS button on the back of the case, removed the CMOS battery for almost 24 hours, replaced the CMOS batter with a know good one..... I have reseated everything on the motherboard including the CPU (with new app. of Artic Silver 5), both memory DIMM's, and video card (yes, PSU was unplugged from the wall). (left HDD and optical disconnected at this point, they aren't needed yet). I have tried each memory DIMM alone in both slots, (total of 4 tries.... 2 DIMM's, 2 memory DDR slots). Also, while the PC was apart, I did a visual of all the components to make sure there weren't any blown Caps. on the motherboard, or anything else visually wrong... all good there. Also, I made absolutly sure that the Clear CMOS jumper is in the correct position.

The fans never spin down after startup, and neither DVI port on the video card has output. At this point, I am suspecting that one or more of the following has happened:

1. BIOS settings change fried the BIOS chip
2. BIOS settings change fried the CPU
3. BIOS settings change fried BOTH memory DIMM's

Unfortunatly, this is the only Socket 939 platform that I have, so I am not able to try the CPU in a different rig, or try a spare CPU. (I was planning an upgrade to Dual core, possible an Opteron 165, so I might just order it, and see if there is any change.... well, once I have the money of course.)

I have only had a BIOS issue ONCE, and that was on a PIII Gigabyte motherboard that had DUAL BIOS, so the problem was solved when the backup BIOS flashed the main BIOS, and all was good.
I have a friend with a Socket 754 platform that I am going to use to test the Memory in, hopefully soon....
Anyone have any other ides's with anything at all I can try??

Thanks all
-Zach

 

[btcomm1]

Hmm, well I doubt the change fried your CPU, it's most likely ok. My guess would be however that it's your motherboard that has the problem. It is very weird that changing that screwed it up but I would guess it's your motherboard. I bet everything else is fine in your computer. One thing, you said you left the battery out for 24 hours, did you also have the computer unplugged from the power when you did it? I have a dell that has a dead battery and if I leave it plugged into the power it keeps date and time settings.

 

[EtherealDragon]

I am really hoping that it is the BIOS chip, and not the motherboard. I am not even sure if it is still under warrenty.... July marked the 2 year old point for the PC.

Yes, the PC was unplugged when battery was out. It has pretty much been unplugged since it happened, except for when I did a test run to see if anything resolved the issue. The battery got taken out around 2 or 3 am one morning, and stayed out until I got home from work, about 1 or 1:30ish the next morning.

 

[EtherealDragon]

Anyone else have any input here??

 

[EtherealDragon]

Well, I originally forgot that my media rig uses DDR ram also, so I tested out the XMS one stick at a time to see if they were working, and both are good... machine POST'd no problems (media rig POST'd.... gaming rig is what is troubled.)... Just to try it out, I used the genaric stick of DDR from the media rig, and gaming rig still isn't POSTing... 100% fans, no POST, no monitor output.

 

[btcomm1]

Well, most likely it is your mobo. Could also be your video card, most likely it is not your CPU though.

 

[EtherealDragon]

I know for a fact it isn't the video card.... GPU isn't needed for a computer to POST.... the fans should reduce speed during POST as they normally do wether the GPU is there or not...

I am trying to locate a socket 939 motherboard so I can see if the CPU is still good or not.

 

[EtherealDragon]

Well... the new house has been keeping me REALLY busy, so luckily, I am not missing my computer too much. At least we still have the laptop for internet.

After spending 7 hours unpacking the office crap, and cleaning out the office, I FINALLY got a chance to look at the computer again. It is still not POSTING... and has been unplugged since my last post.

I used a volt meter and tested all of the MOLEX connectors, and also the 2 leads from the PSU that plug into the motherboard. Red wire is right at +5V, and all the yellows re at +12V, and the grounds appear to be good. I am not sure how to measure the +3.3v on this computer, usually it is one of the orange wires plugged into the motherboard on the 20 pin connector, but the only orange from the PSU is on a SATA Power cable.

I am pretty sure either the Motherboard, CPU or BIOS chip is bad... those are the ONLY 3 things that aren't confirmed working at this point.

 

[igibson]

Try to find a 939 chip; buy one test it and pay for the restocking if it doesn't work; or send your box into shuttle and pay for them to fix it are the only options I see.
Not that I have a problem with over clocking, but it always came with the warning that you may damage your components. It looks like you may be the reason that warning exists.