Newly built PC with a few problems.

[ftran999]

This is my first time building my own system so bare with me.
The setup: Asus p4c800-e deluxe rev 2.00 motheboard
Antec plus1080amg case
Pentium 4 3.0c processor
1 pair of cosair twinx1024-3700 memory in blue slots
Radeon 9800 pro video card
Western Digital Raptor WD360GD Hard drive in SATA 1
Teac floppy Drive
Toshiba DVD/CD-rom Drive set as master
Sony DRU-510a DVD/RW drive set as slave
both DVD drives attached to primary IDE.
using a Dell Keyboard and mouse and a Dell 17" trinitron
monitor from my current system.

When I press the power button the following happens:
All fans, PSU, CPU, chassis, video card, turn on.
HD starts up, green light on floppy drive lights up, and the 3 green lights
on the KB blinks.

Now for the problems.
There is no display at all on the Monitor. The power light will change from
green to yellow indicating it has gone into sleep mode. Tapping on the KB
or mouse will not wake it up.
Also both DVD drive do not seem to be functioning. That is, the green
lights don't come on and I am unable to open both drawers by pushing the
eject button.

I have tried the following solutions, a few perhaps useless, to no avail:
Removed and reinstalled CPU and the video card. Removed and reattached
Monitor cable. Moved the memory modules from the blue slots to the black
slots. Remove the DVD drives from the Prim. IDE and attached them to the
secondary IDE connector. Removed and reattached the 4 pin wire from the
PSU on both DVD drives.
I did not touch any of the jumpers on the board.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Paul]

This is my first time building my own system so bare with me.
The setup: Asus p4c800-e deluxe rev 2.00 motheboard
Antec plus1080amg case
Pentium 4 3.0c processor
1 pair of cosair twinx1024-3700 memory in blue slots
Radeon 9800 pro video card
Western Digital Raptor WD360GD Hard drive in SATA 1
Teac floppy Drive
Toshiba DVD/CD-rom Drive set as master
Sony DRU-510a DVD/RW drive set as slave
both DVD drives attached to primary IDE.
using a Dell Keyboard and mouse and a Dell 17" trinitron
monitor from my current system.

When I press the power button the following happens:
All fans, PSU, CPU, chassis, video card, turn on.
HD starts up, green light on floppy drive lights up, and the 3 green lights
on the KB blinks.

Now for the problems.
There is no display at all on the Monitor. The power light will change from
green to yellow indicating it has gone into sleep mode. Tapping on the KB
or mouse will not wake it up.
Also both DVD drive do not seem to be functioning. That is, the green
lights don't come on and I am unable to open both drawers by pushing the
eject button.

I have tried the following solutions, a few perhaps useless, to no avail:
Removed and reinstalled CPU and the video card. Removed and reattached
Monitor cable. Moved the memory modules from the blue slots to the black
slots. Remove the DVD drives from the Prim. IDE and attached them to the
secondary IDE connector. Removed and reattached the 4 pin wire from the
PSU on both DVD drives.
I did not touch any of the jumpers on the board.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

The only symptom that spoiled it for me, was the flashing keyboard
lights. I think that only happens if the processor talks to the
keyboard ? I don't think the keyboard controller does that on its
own.

Otherwise, check that the 2x2 ATX 12V cable is connected to the
board. On a P4 board, you need the 20 pin ATX power and the 2x2
pin power, for the processor to be able to start. While you are
at it, make sure the aux power cable is connected to the Radeon.

For debugging, plug in and use the Voice POST. Voice POST is
hard wired to the Lineout connector on the back of the
computer. For Lineout to work, make sure the two jumpers are
on the FP_AUDIO 2x5 header. Listen for a message from "bitchin
betty" while the computer first starts. Amplified speakers or
a stereo are recommended for Lineout.

Voice POST works even with no components in the board. With no
processor, it'll tell you that no processor is installed. You
can start building up a system bit by bit, and the Voice POST
can help you figure out whether the new component is working
or not.

You can also buy a PCI/ISA "POST Card", which is a device with
two seven segment displays on it. The BIOS writes two digit
codes to the display during the boot process, which is an
alternate way of getting a hint as to what is broken.

HTH,
Paul

 

[ftran999]

The only symptom that spoiled it for me, was the flashing keyboard
lights. I think that only happens if the processor talks to the
keyboard ? I don't think the keyboard controller does that on its
own.

Otherwise, check that the 2x2 ATX 12V cable is connected to the
board. On a P4 board, you need the 20 pin ATX power and the 2x2
pin power, for the processor to be able to start. While you are
at it, make sure the aux power cable is connected to the Radeon.

For debugging, plug in and use the Voice POST. Voice POST is
hard wired to the Lineout connector on the back of the
computer. For Lineout to work, make sure the two jumpers are
on the FP_AUDIO 2x5 header. Listen for a message from "bitchin
betty" while the computer first starts. Amplified speakers or
a stereo are recommended for Lineout.

Voice POST works even with no components in the board. With no
processor, it'll tell you that no processor is installed. You
can start building up a system bit by bit, and the Voice POST
can help you figure out whether the new component is working
or not.

You can also buy a PCI/ISA "POST Card", which is a device with
two seven segment displays on it. The BIOS writes two digit
codes to the display during the boot process, which is an
alternate way of getting a hint as to what is broken.

HTH,
Paul

Thanks for your response. I checked out all the connections as you
suggested and they turned out fine.
Then I used the Voice POST as you had suggested. I got a message saying
"System failed CPU test." As suggested in the manual, I check to see if the
CPU was attached properly but that still did not help. I assume this means
I have a bad cpu.
Aslo on the bottom of the heatsink is some grey gunk (for lack of a better
word). I didn't remove it but was I suppose to.
Thanks again for your help.

 

[Paul]

Thanks for your response. I checked out all the connections as you
suggested and they turned out fine.
Then I used the Voice POST as you had suggested. I got a message saying
"System failed CPU test." As suggested in the manual, I check to see if the
CPU was attached properly but that still did not help. I assume this means
I have a bad cpu.
Aslo on the bottom of the heatsink is some grey gunk (for lack of a better
word). I didn't remove it but was I suppose to.

The "System failed CPU test" isn't directly determined by the
Voice POST. It doesn't really know what is happening. The
way it works is, when the power is first applied, the
Voice POST chip starts a timer, and it is up to the CPU
to execute some BIOS code, go down to the Voice POST chip,
and clear the timer. If the CPU doesn't make it to that section
of code, the timer on the Voice POST expires, and the "System
failed CPU test" will be heard on your amplified speakers.
Some people own computers, where the motherboard is perfectly
healthy, and they hear that stupid message during every boot!

The memory test message is triggered in a similar fashion. A
timer is started before the memory test code runs, and
if the CPU doesn't finish the memory test code in time, the
memory failure message comes from the speakers.

The other Voice POST error messages are generated under
supervision of the processor, making them a slightly more
reliable indicator of a problem.

You might pull the motherboard from the case, and assemble it
while it is sitting on an insulator (a piece of cardboard).
Some people have problems when a short develops somewhere in
their install, so the "cardboard test", adding one component
at a time, can help identify what is causing the problem.

The "grey gunk" is thermal grease, and its function is to fill
any air gap that develops between the CPU and the heatsink.
Hobbyists generally clean this off, and apply some fresh
compound on every reassembly. The only problem with reusing
it, is you could get some air bubbles in there. As the P4 has
a heat spreader, the application of thermal grease isn't quite
as critical as it is on an Athlon XP (bare die). Use a minimal
amount of compound - only a tiny bit should squish out when
the heatsink is reassembled.

Based on your DVD drive symptoms, it almost sounds like the
+5V isn't being supplied to them, as generally the +5V powers
the controller board on disk drives, and the +12V powers the
motors and/or actuators. If you own a voltmeter/multimeter, you
might want to check for available power on a drive cable.

HTH,
Paul

 

[Anon]

I have an ATI 9800 Pro AIO. It has a seperate power connector. If yours has
one, did you connect it?

 

[ftran999]

I have an ATI 9800 Pro AIO. It has a seperate power connector. If yours has
one, did you connect it?

I don't have the AIO card but the card I have has a set of wires which
splits into the connectors. One connects to the power supply unit and the
other connects to the power input of the hard drive.

 

[Paul]

I don't have the AIO card but the card I have has a set of wires which
splits into the connectors. One connects to the power supply unit
and the other connects to the power input of the hard drive.

The ATI9800 should connect to its own private drive power
cable. You should not share the same cable with a disk.
Power consumption is claimed to be 5V@10A and 12V@2A or so,
and the 10A number is high enough, that no other loads should
be on the same power cable.

You should also post the make, model number, and power rating
of your power supply, as it is possible one of the rails
is overloaded.

Paul

 

[ftran999]

The ATI9800 should connect to its own private drive power
cable. You should not share the same cable with a disk.
Power consumption is claimed to be 5V@10A and 12V@2A or so,
and the 10A number is high enough, that no other loads should
be on the same power cable.

I was just going by the instructions in the manual which stated: Connect
B to the power supply cable. Connect C to hard drive power connector.

You should also post the make, model number, and power rating
of your power supply, as it is possible one of the rails
is overloaded.

The power supply came installed with the case (Antec plus1080amg). It is
rated at 430 watts.
Anyways, to update everyone, I went to the Asus online support page and
described my problem there. If I can't get the problem resolved that way I
will follow up with a phone call.