Asus A7V8x-x; No Power Oddity

[Jody]

Built an a7v8x-x system (win xp, 2400+ cpu) for a client, his very first
computer..Everything installs great, no problems..

Updated drivers/bios from asus website.

He takes it home, runs it for an hour, shuts it down, tries to restart
it...no post. No activity.
I think heat issues can be ruled out as i definitely had the machine running
longer, working harder than he did.

Tries again in the morning, no post. No activity.
I tell him to try somewhere else in the household, still no post.

Brings it back to my office, and of course, starts up just fine like twenty
times in a row.

At a loss, i replace the power supply with a nice enermax one.

Client reports the same problem. He even took it to his neighbours with no
success(claimed no post, no activity)..

I don't see RAM causing this..and i don't see that two bad power supplies in
a row are the culprit either..

I'm thinking motherboard, but I've never seen a motherboard behave like this
either. The motherboard led (on the motherboard itself, not the front of the
case) does come on when plugged in apparently. Any thoughts?

Maybe it's just because it's morning, but i'm stuck..
Thanks,
jody

 

[Phil]

Built an a7v8x-x system (win xp, 2400+ cpu) for a client, his very first
computer..Everything installs great, no problems..

Updated drivers/bios from asus website.

He takes it home, runs it for an hour, shuts it down, tries to restart
it...no post. No activity.
I think heat issues can be ruled out as i definitely had the machine running
longer, working harder than he did.

Tries again in the morning, no post. No activity.
I tell him to try somewhere else in the household, still no post.

Brings it back to my office, and of course, starts up just fine like twenty
times in a row.

At a loss, i replace the power supply with a nice enermax one.

Client reports the same problem. He even took it to his neighbours with no
success(claimed no post, no activity)..

I don't see RAM causing this..and i don't see that two bad power supplies in
a row are the culprit either..

I'm thinking motherboard, but I've never seen a motherboard behave like this
either. The motherboard led (on the motherboard itself, not the front of the
case) does come on when plugged in apparently. Any thoughts?

Maybe it's just because it's morning, but i'm stuck..
Thanks,
jody

Blame the client?

Did they plug it all in etc at their home by themselves? If so go round
there and make sure they haven't done accidently left something unplugged or
something.

 

[Paul]

Blame the client?

Did they plug it all in etc at their home by themselves? If so go round
there and make sure they haven't done accidently left something unplugged or
something.

Low line voltage ?

Are all peripherals on the user's computer plugged into the
same power strip ? It is possible if there are wiring problems
and there is a ground potential difference somewhere, that it
is upsetting the motherboard, so that it doesn't recognize the
power button.

Have the user try the computer with no monitor or other external
peripheral devices connected. It is OK to leave the keyboard
and mouse connected, as they get power from the computer. See
if it will boot up that way. Shut down and add an externally
powered peripheral. If it fails to boot, then the issue is
between the last added peripheral and the computer.

It is not that this is likely to be the issue, it's the only
thing I can think of.

HTH,
Paul

 

[Jody]

Blame the client?
it is possible
More likely there is a 'triangle' of some bad sort in Peterborough(canada)

Low line voltage ?

Different city. Impossible to check that, however, his friends house has the
same problem with the same computer.

Are all peripherals on the user's computer plugged into the
same power strip ?

No. I'm told no peripherals other than mouse/kb. Should have mentioned that
in my previous post.
Different locations in the same house with minimal hardware (no scanners
etc).

Shut down and add an externally powered peripheral. If it fails to boot, then the issue is
between the last added peripheral and the computer.

Don't think it's peripheral related, but that's a good idea. I've seen a
printer prevent a system from booting up before.
I'm having him bring it in, and plug it in, turn it on himself..See what he
might be doing.
Apparently, he's tried a couple times with mixed results.

Thanks for the replies
jody

 

[tony]

ever check the cpu temp and make sure the cpu fan is running all the time ?
I had that happen once and the pc was acting the same way as yours. After
like 20 mins, would not post all cause of a faulty cpu fan.

Later Tony

 

[Jody]

ever check the cpu temp and make sure the cpu fan is running all the time ?
I had that happen once and the pc was acting the same way as yours. After
like 20 mins, would not post all cause of a faulty cpu fan.

Later Tony

Possible. It'll be one of the things i check. I'm pretty sure i saw the fan
moving though when checking before it went out.
However, if that is the case, i'm sure the cpu must be fried now.
We'll see in a day or two.

Thanks,
jo