K8V SE - Will not POST on 'cold' boot

[Richard]

Hi

Just upgraded to an ASUS K8V SE m/b with AMD64 2800+ CPU + 512Mb Crucial
3200 RAM + Hightech Radeon 9550 256Mb graphics. (400W PSU)

When I switch it on from cold it won't POST first time. All lights come on
and hard drive starts but then it hangs - no beep - no display. Reset the
PSU on/off switch and then it boots/POSTs fine. Emailed ASUS - they advised
me to check connections or PSU may be faulty.

Checked connections - fine - no probs.
Bought a new (albeit cheap) Magna 500W PSU (+3.3V = 28A; +5V = 40A; +12V =
17A; -5V = 0.5A; +5Vsb = 2.0A) and it won't POST at ALL - just hangs (all
fans/lights are on). Won't even POST with the reset PSU on/off trick. Even
stripped it back to hard drive and CDRW only - still didn't work. Useless!

So have I now got 2 dodgy PSUs or is this m/board faulty? Need to know what
to return to supplier.

If it's the PSUs - can anyone recommend a readily available PSU that WILL
work with the K8V SE board?

Any advice appreciated.

Cheers,

Richard

 

[Tom S]

Hi

Just upgraded to an ASUS K8V SE m/b with AMD64 2800+ CPU + 512Mb Crucial
3200 RAM + Hightech Radeon 9550 256Mb graphics. (400W PSU)

When I switch it on from cold it won't POST first time. All lights come on
and hard drive starts but then it hangs - no beep - no display. Reset the
PSU on/off switch and then it boots/POSTs fine. Emailed ASUS - they advised
me to check connections or PSU may be faulty.

Checked connections - fine - no probs.
Bought a new (albeit cheap) Magna 500W PSU (+3.3V = 28A; +5V = 40A; +12V =
17A; -5V = 0.5A; +5Vsb = 2.0A) and it won't POST at ALL - just hangs (all
fans/lights are on). Won't even POST with the reset PSU on/off trick. Even
stripped it back to hard drive and CDRW only - still didn't work. Useless!

So have I now got 2 dodgy PSUs or is this m/board faulty? Need to know what
to return to supplier.

If it's the PSUs - can anyone recommend a readily available PSU that WILL
work with the K8V SE board?

Does it POST if you put the other PS back in? If so, get yourself a _good_
PS! Tom's Hardware Guide recommended Antec (as well as some others) and
I've had good results with them. I used to have similar problems when I
bought cheap cases that included a gyppo PS. Not any more!

Tom S

 

[Noozer]

Hi

Just upgraded to an ASUS K8V SE m/b with AMD64 2800+ CPU + 512Mb Crucial
3200 RAM + Hightech Radeon 9550 256Mb graphics. (400W PSU)

When I switch it on from cold it won't POST first time. All lights come on
and hard drive starts but then it hangs - no beep - no display. Reset the
PSU on/off switch and then it boots/POSTs fine. Emailed ASUS - they advised
me to check connections or PSU may be faulty.

I find that it's more often the mainboard than the PSU when this happens.

Try reducing the load on the PSU and see if anything changes. Also make sure
that all the power connections are tight.

 

[NoNoBadDog!]

AMD recommends a PUS with a rating of 24AMPS on the 12 volt rail. Yours is
quite a bit below that spec. I am using an Antec TruePower 550 watt Server
PSU. It has 32 Amps on the 12 volt rail. I am running 6 HDD and 2 Opticals
on this rig. PSU does not even break a sweat.

Bobby

 

[Richard]

Yes it does POST when I put the old 400W PSU back in - but still not from
'cold' - only from 'stand-by' power. I have disconnected modem, floppy,
case fan, DVD-R and all backplates and it gives the same result. Someone
else has also recommended Antec - might be the one to try. I was just
concerned that I might have a faulty mainboard, didn't want to waste more
time and money on another PSU unnecessarily.

 

[Richard]

I have disconnected modem, floppy, case fan, DVD-R and all backplates and it
still gives the same result.
I'm sure all connections are good - checked them again against the manual.
Why do you think it is the mainboard at fault? Once it POSTs and boots into
Windows it seems fine. Although I did have it hanging on one boot up into
Windows but that seems to be an isolated occurance.

 

[Noozer]

Faulty capacitors... or something else getting ready to completely fail.

I once "repaired" a system like this by soldering a large capacitor across
the reset button. It would delay the PC for a hair and allow the
voltages/mainboard to stabilize before the PC would start to POST. Twas a
long time ago though.

Even a cheap, crappy PSU should boot a system with minimal peripherals as
long as it's rated as compatible with the CPU.

 

[Tom S]

Faulty capacitors... or something else getting ready to completely fail.

I once "repaired" a system like this by soldering a large capacitor across
the reset button. It would delay the PC for a hair and allow the
voltages/mainboard to stabilize before the PC would start to POST.

I suspect that the problem with cheap power supplies is that the voltages
don't come up in the proper sequence. They seem to run OK once you finally
get the machine up and running, but have trouble getting to that point.

Tom S

 

[Chris Hill]

Hi

Just upgraded to an ASUS K8V SE m/b with AMD64 2800+ CPU + 512Mb Crucial
3200 RAM + Hightech Radeon 9550 256Mb graphics. (400W PSU)

When I switch it on from cold it won't POST first time. All lights come on
and hard drive starts but then it hangs - no beep - no display. Reset the
PSU on/off switch and then it boots/POSTs fine. Emailed ASUS - they advised
me to check connections or PSU may be faulty.

It could be:
power supply, mainboard, or (you may think I'm nuts but...) video
card. I replaced most of a system a couple of years ago trying to
solve a problem like that; it turned out to be a cheap generic ati
video card I'd bought. I replaced just about everything else before I
found it.

 

[George Carr]

It could be:
power supply, mainboard, or (you may think I'm nuts but...) video
card. I replaced most of a system a couple of years ago trying to
solve a problem like that; it turned out to be a cheap generic ati
video card I'd bought. I replaced just about everything else before I
found it.

Would have to agree about the Vid card,have seen this happen a number of
times.I would Try another vid card before i would do anything else

 

[Marc]

Would have to agree about the Vid card,have seen this happen a number of
times.I would Try another vid card before i would do anything else

Hi,

I've got the same pb with my K8VSEDX and AMD64 3000+. The solution was
to use a good power supply (should be the startup current needed by the
CPU/Motherboard).
The first PSU was an Enermax 350W, changed for (? don't remember) 380W PSU.

I tried this with 3 different motherboards, and now (since 6 monthes) no
such problem.

Plug an HP on the internal sound card to ear for a message (something
like "CPU init failed").

Regards,

Marc.

 

[jb]

Hi

Just upgraded to an ASUS K8V SE m/b with AMD64 2800+ CPU + 512Mb Crucial
3200 RAM + Hightech Radeon 9550 256Mb graphics. (400W PSU)

When I switch it on from cold it won't POST first time. All lights come on
and hard drive starts but then it hangs - no beep - no display. Reset the
PSU on/off switch and then it boots/POSTs fine. Emailed ASUS - they advised
me to check connections or PSU may be faulty.

Similar problem (only the board led would come on). By
pressing the start button and the power supply switch at exactly the
same it would start (???). Upon reading the other messages for this I
changed out the power supply from a Silverstone 400 to an Antec 350
Phantom - ending a problem that had been annoying me for months.