shuts down immediately

[JClark]

Hello Group,

The system: Supermicro P4SC8, Intel P4, on board SCSI

The Problem: Power up produces one BIOS beep, then system shuts down.

The Background: It was running fine. I installed new memory. Ran fine.
Installed another SCSI hard drive, set the jumpers appropriately.
About this time it started doing funny things, making some high
pitched noises, like fan bearing or somthing in a HD. Of course I
reverted to baseline, replacing the memory with the old version,
removing the new HD. I was going to go into setup and restore
defaults, but then it just started shutting down. Can't even get to
the BIOS.
Of course, I've checked all the connections to the MB and looked for
shorts. I even replaced the power supply, just to be sure.
Looking bad, huh?
Dead MB or CPU?
Any way to check it out further?
Any advice appreciated.
With thanks.

Jack

 

[Noozer]

Hello Group,

The system: Supermicro P4SC8, Intel P4, on board SCSI

The Problem: Power up produces one BIOS beep, then system shuts down.

The Background: It was running fine. I installed new memory. Ran fine.
Installed another SCSI hard drive, set the jumpers appropriately.
About this time it started doing funny things, making some high
pitched noises,

Just a guess, but the whine could have been the PSU complaining about the
extra load. Could have pushed it over the edge and caused it to fail.

 

[JClark]

Just a guess, but the whine could have been the PSU complaining about the
extra load. Could have pushed it over the edge and caused it to fail.

Actually, the problem came after I changed the power supply. I wasn't
very clear in my chronology. The system got no power at all after
installing the memory, so I changed the PSU and it ran fine for a
while. Then when trying to get the extra SCSI HD working and jumpers
set correctly, the above scenario started.
Now I'm stuck.
SCSI boards aren't so easy to come by, so I may have to buy a new MB
and CPU and get a SCSI card to get my system up and running.
Does this seem like my best course?
Is there anything else I can do to test the current "dead" system?

Thanks very much for reply.

Jack

 

[kony]

Actually, the problem came after I changed the power supply. I wasn't
very clear in my chronology. The system got no power at all after
installing the memory, so I changed the PSU and it ran fine for a
while. Then when trying to get the extra SCSI HD working and jumpers
set correctly, the above scenario started.
Now I'm stuck.
SCSI boards aren't so easy to come by, so I may have to buy a new MB
and CPU and get a SCSI card to get my system up and running.
Does this seem like my best course?
Is there anything else I can do to test the current "dead" system?

Strip it down to bare essentials (_ONLY_ the CPU, 1 memory
module, heatsink/fan and video) unplugging both power and
data cables to everything else, then clear CMOS with AC
power disconnected.

Why did you change the power supply? Try the old one again.
Check either PSU with a multimeter. Reinspect the internals
- cards, cables, connectors, etc just in case something was
disturbed during prior installations and reconfigurations.

 

[JClark]

Why did you change the power supply?

Before I got into the other troubles, I found the power dead. Changing
the PSU immediately solved the issue. then I started getting into the
troubles outlined in the original post.

I have done most of the suggested things, but I didn't clear CMOS.
I'll do so this morning and report back.

I've pretty much resolved to change the MB/processor. If I replace
with an identical MB, I should be able to avoid reinstalling OS and
programs, right?

Many thanks for input.

Jack

 

[kony]

Before I got into the other troubles, I found the power dead. Changing
the PSU immediately solved the issue. then I started getting into the
troubles outlined in the original post.

OK, assuming you are aware that some potential short in the
system could make the PSU appear dead until removed from the
shorted condition or that it was rectified (and AC power
then disconnected for a few minutes before retrying it).

I have done most of the suggested things, but I didn't clear CMOS.
I'll do so this morning and report back.

I've pretty much resolved to change the MB/processor. If I replace
with an identical MB, I should be able to avoid reinstalling OS and
programs, right?

Yes, an identical motherboard wil allow that, or one with
the same chipset or close enough will usually allow booting
windows far enough to plug-n-play anything that is
different. The primary concern is usually the drive
controller which is now typically integral to the
southbridge, but in your case SCSI so you would want the
same SCSI chipset controller.

 

[JClark]

OK, assuming you are aware that some potential short in the
system could make the PSU appear dead until removed from the
shorted condition or that it was rectified (and AC power
then disconnected for a few minutes before retrying it).



Yes, an identical motherboard wil allow that, or one with
the same chipset or close enough will usually allow booting
windows far enough to plug-n-play anything that is
different. The primary concern is usually the drive
controller which is now typically integral to the
southbridge, but in your case SCSI so you would want the
same SCSI chipset controller.

Kony,
Thanks again for your helpful suggestions. My new MB and CPU should
arrive tomorrow and I'll try to get this back together before my wife
returns from out of town! (It's her computer.)

Jack