Topic: DFI Mainboard

[RGraves]

Hey all!

      Well, I finally took the plunge.  Bought a new case (Thermaltake XaserIII), mainboard (DFI PS83-BC/BL), a P4 2.4ghz processor w/HTT, and new RAM to compliment(DDR400, set of 2 256mb DIMMs).  =)  Oh, ya, and a coolerMaster IHC-L71 CPU fan as well.  Nice jump from my current P3 733mhz CPU, no?

      So I get everything set up, happy as clam.  Plug it all in and... nothing.  I hear fans running (barely  ) and I see the power LED come on, as well as the front panel LED.  Yay.  No monitor signal.  Time to dive back into the case, check it out.  I couldnt find anything that could popssibly be the problem.  So I unplug all of my chips, and throw in my old PCI VooDoo3 (I was wondering if my GeForce2 had AGP 2x, which is not compatible with my mobo) and still nothing.  So I turn it on to see if the mobo is getting proper power... it has its LEDs on, and the CPU fan is running (almost noislessly  )  But alas, no signal.

      I figure either I'm doing something wrong, OR either my mobo or CDU is dead.  I checked the RAM already, its happy as clam.  The only thing I can think of is the cases USB cables.  The X3 comes with 2 USB ports on the top of the box, I plugged them into the mobo, and may not have done it right (the mobo had a set of pins that was 2 deep and about 5 wide, i looked at the PCI USB ports it came with and they were set up for that right away, while the box's USB cables ended in a one deep line of pins, that was 5 wide.  I'm not sure if that can really hurt the system or not....  I hope not.  =P  Never experienced something like that before.  Anyway, thanks in advance, everyone!

-Robert

[Adept]

Hi RGraves

Have a look at the jumper that clears the CMOS settings.

If it is enabled the mobo will not boot.

[RGraves]

Well, I took a look a the mobo, and sure enough, its Clerar CMOS Jumper was still at default setting (normal)... Thanks for the idea though.  =)

Also, moderators, I just took a longer look around (friend sent me a link directly to this forum, sorry =( ) and this post is in the wrong section.  Sorry about that, I suppose you will want to move it.  ^^;;;

-Robert

[Simon]

Moved as requested.    Robert!    

[Sandra]

So does that mean that its still not starting up Robert ?

[RGraves]

Ya, still no monitor signal anyway.  Also, I noticed that even though the "RAM Standby LED" (supposedly used to tell whoever has dived into the case that the mobo still has power lol) was on, the PCI Standby LED was not on (I think it has the same function... not sure though, the mainboard manual was not clear on this part =/)

Thanks all =)

-Robert

[Sandra]

Are you getting any POST beeps or anything else to point us in the rightdirection ?
I assume that you are using XP if not let us know which OS please as well  

[RGraves]

No, that's the really odd part.  At first I checked the RAM since I wasn't getting any beeps.  I'm getting almost no report back from the mobo at all.  Just the CPU fan spinning and a single red LED =/

[Sandra]

Have you checked for this Robert ?

Why can?t my system boot up when I enable CPU fan protection?

 
 Answer :
 
Please check whether your CPU fan has been connected to "CPU FAN" header on motherboard and make sure that you have properly applied thermal paste and there's no gap between CPU and heatsink.

If you enable the CPU fan protection, you should connect either fan power connector or fan speed detection connector to "CPU FAN" header on motherboard. If there's no any connection at "CPU FAN" header, the system will take it as no running at CPU fan and will not boot up in order to protect the CPU. Normally, high-level CPU Cooler set for enthusiasts should be connected the power connector to PSU (Power supply unit) directly. This kind of high-level cooler set always provides fan speed detection connector with single yellow wiring. You can connect it to the "CPU FAN" header on motherboard . The system will work normally. If you don' t like to connect this speed detection connector, please disable the CPU fan protection feature under the BIOS setting menu "PC Health Status".
 

[RGraves]

Well, yes.  The CPU fan is plugged in, so I don't think that should be a problem.  Even still, if that was a problem, I should be able to get into the BIOS, in order to disable it, as it sais.

-Robert

[Simon]

I've just had a look round the web, and found quite a few responses to this problem being:

a) to check that the RAM is seated correctly, or to try in another slot, (or it could be a bad stick of RAM)

b) to check that the gphx card is seated correctly

c) to check that your PSU is giving out the correct voltage (but it didn't say how to do that!)

Don't know if that will be of any use - hope it might help.  

[RGraves]

PSU voltage is an interesting question, but I don't know how to test something like that.  I have repeatedly consulted the manual for RAM positioning, and it should be fine, as well as seated correctly.  Same for the gphx card.  I just checked them and it seems they were both locked in pretty well.

[Sandra]

I havent seen the actual board or manual Robert but the way I read it was that there was an alternate fan connection and if you were connected to those pins and the BIOS is probably set to CPU protection by default that would then cut the CPU out as that articles states.
Maybe I have misread it  

[Sandra]

The PSU voltage should be easy enough to check with a multimeter into the power lead sockets. :doggie:

[Sandra]

 the PCI Standby LED was not on (I think it has the same function... not sure though, the mainboard manual was not clear on this part =/)

I downloaded the manual and had a quick look Robert and have attached a pic of what I think is the part you say it didnt make clear in yours.
In this one it says if it isnt lit(assuming I am on the same LED) then its pointing to the CPU or Memory not being properly installed