Built new system - won't boot at all - * SOLVED *

[ChampionSound]

Ok, I postphoned starting building my brand new DAW, but I finally found some time and started this week, but I already have major problems. After I conneced everything and tried to turn it on, the PC just seems dead. No BIOS beeps, no running fans, no screen.. I tried to remove some peripheral devices like the memory modules, videocard, harddisks USB and DVD drives (except the processor) to see if it would boot up then, but still no fans start spinning, nothing.
Also removing the CMOS battery for 10 minutes didn't help anything.

I noticed 2 things though,
- the green SMD LED on the motherboard lights up as soon as I switch on the power supply at the back of the computer, so assume that the board gets its power.
- the power LED next to the power button at the front of the case starts blinking as soon as I press the power button once. Even with most of the peripheral devices removed.

And besides the main power cable, the motherboard is also connected with the extra 2x2pin connector (12V rail) from the power supply so I didn't forget that...

My setup:

Antec Performance One P182 case
Intel DP35DP
Intel E8500
Asus 8600GT Silent 512MB
Corsair TwinX C5 DDR2 PC6400 2 x 2GB (1.8V)
Be Quiet Dark Power Pro 550W
Western Digital 320GB SATA II
Western Digital 500GB SATA II
NEC DVD burner SATA
3 x 6 DSP Scope Project cards
2 x LG 22" screens

Could it be that my motherboard or my power supply is DOA (Dead on Arrival)? Or are there some other things I can check?

After trying to solve this mystery for more than 5 hours I'm very fustrated now and don't know what to do.
Any ideas?

Cheers, Darcy

[garyb]

are you sure you got the case cables(led and switch) connected properly?

i might try a different power supply, just to be sure. it's possible to get doa parts, but not super likely.

the green led on the board should light, but the case power led should not blink. it should be steady. the hd led might blink....

[ChampionSound]

Hi Gary,

Thanks for your reply. Yes I think I have to remove the power supply from my old PC to doublecheck.
I checked the case cables a lot of times to be sure I connected the right cables at the right place.
I hope it's te power supply then. I'll check this tomorrow, because I have a very long working day today.
I'll keep you posted.

Thanks so far!

cheers, Darcy

[the19thbear]

i had kind of the same problem... though fans went on etc, but no boot up.. i returned the MB, got a new one and it worked..
Good luck!

[next to nothing]

"Also removing the CMOS battery for 10 minutes didn't help anything."

Did you try actually reset the bios? usually done by short circuiting 2 points on the mobo or moving a dipswitch. Info is found in the mobos manual.

And you know what? last time this happened to a guy i built a computer for, i got a rude awakening. He had problems for ages with the pc, it just kept resetting, and we occationally had to reset his bios to get it up and running again. he DID have a crappy mobo, so we built him a new PC with new cpu, gpu, mobo, powersupply,ram etc, and it still kept crashing!

well,, the problem (after tons of searching) were a bit suprising: it was the mouse all the time. a standard, old fashion PS2 mouse with a small defect in the cable. So much for so little.

[garyb]

excellent point!

[ChampionSound]

Hi,

Yes I also thought of that and tried the three possible jumpersettings on the mobo for the bios: Normal, configuration and recovery -> no luck...
I also tried to start with no keyboard and mouse connected -> no luck.

Got to go to work now, I'll try the PSU tomorrow and I'll report back.

Thanks so far guys!

cheers

[ScofieldKid]

Just some wild guesses...

1) bad system chassis switch? You might be able to make the reset switch act as the power switch as something to try.

2) bad video card? if you have a spare card, I would slam it in there to test...

[garyb]

all worth checking.

[Neutron]

Be Quiet Dark Power Pro 550W

who?

I would suspect that first.

[ChampionSound]

Just some wild guesses...

1) bad system chassis switch? You might be able to make the reset switch act as the power switch as something to try.

2) bad video card? if you have a spare card, I would slam it in there to test...

Hi,

I already did that, to make the reset switch act as a power switch and vice versa, but the problem remained.

I also tried to boot up the PC without any video card, still nothing.

Buuuuut, I hooked up another 350W AOpen PSU and, yes the fans started spinning and the power button just did what it has to do. So it probably is a defective PSU. I mean this one. I haven't formatted the new HDD's yet, but tomorrow I will continue setting up everything, and I will call the shop and/or the manufacturers where I bought the PSU to claim my warranty

To be continued...

[garyb]

ok, getting somewhere now...

[ChampionSound]

Ok this is quite embarrassing, but I'll tell you anyway what the problem was.

After two or three day trying to get the PC to work, I neatly put the PSU back in it's original package to return it to the shop where I bought it. I already sent them an e-mail that I got a DOA PSU, as I tested the PC with an old PCU and that worked. So they said I should download the RMA form from their website and return the PSU with the filled in form.
Then I came to the bright idea to search for some user reviews of this PSU to look if there are more people with problems. Well, everybody had nothing but very positive reviews about this brand, Be Quiet! (I can imagine your reaction Neutron, funny name indeed )
But is practicly noiseless indeed.
Anyway, in one of the reviews I saw an illustrated pic of someone, and there I discovered that I mounted the PSU upside down compared to this guy!
So the next day, just before I was going to the postoffice to return the PSU, I thought I give it just one more try to mount the PSU the other way around. And guess what, it worked! I really didn't know that a PSU could not be working when mounted upside down
It's really misleading, because the text on the back of the PSU once it's correctly installed, is upside down. I'm glad I gave it one more shot, because the shop charges an extra 30 euro research/administration fee if it appears to be that the PSU does work.
I'm very happy to see my new DAW coming to life now. As I said the 120mm fan of the PSU is almost noiseless, incredible! I have 4 additional 120mm case fans inside my Antec P182 case and the case is very quiet. I already installed the bios drivers, video drivers, scope drivers and scope 4.5 (hopefully V5 soon). And I disabled all USB controllers which were sharing IRQs with my three 6DSP cards, all good now.

The next thing which I have to solve is that my new installed Brainworx BX Digital doestn't accept my registration key provided by Ralf to be successfully registrated. I already sent him a mail and I'm sure he can work it out for me.

[Neutron]

any PSU should work in any orientation. there is not really any "upside down"
you just install it in a way that fits the case and gets the most airflow through the fan.

maybe the first time the cable was not connected positively or something like that.
not working when "upside down" would indicate something is loose in there.

I think im going to make a new brand of quiet PC parts called "STFU"

[ChampionSound]

Haha, yeah nice brand name. STFU! by Neutron

The funny thing is, I'm sure connected it in the same way, there are only two cables, the 24pin main cable and the additional 4pin 12V cable are the most importantant connections to get the PC powered up in the first place. Hard to go wrong there.
Then the fan connectors are directly connected to the PSU, not the MB. This is nice, because when you shut down the PC, the case fans wil keep spinning for about 2 minutes to suck out the remaining heat.

But to be honest, I'm also thinking it could be something else although I'm sure the connections were the same as before.
Anyway I'm glad it works again!

[garyb]