mysteriously doesn't POST - out of ideas

Here are my settings
A7N8X-VM/400 motherboard
ATI Radeon 7000 64mb agb video card
512 MB of DDR
any other details needed can be provided

This is a weird problem. I was trying to install a second hard drive
into my previously perfect working computer when the damn thing didn't
POST next time I started Now when the motherboard starts up the
keyboard doesn't light up and nothing is shown on the screen. THe fans
and everything is fine and I swear I hear the hard drive spinning but
nothing shows on the screen. I am sure its not the power supply.

These are the things that I have tried:
resetted the CMOS
took out the video and hard drive living me with on ly the essentials

also of note:
I did have this same exact problem before but the ONLY THING I did was
repadily turn the power on and off and after a while and it would work
fine. But now that doesn't work anymore

Video card is part of the essentials, hehe. Unhook or take out everything
except the board, psu, cpu, memory and video. Those are all you need to
POST. See what happens. If you have a LED light on your motherboard, see
if it lights up or not. When my board died I was lucky enough to have the
dead light help me out

"hdneto17" wrote in message
oups.com...
Here are my settings
A7N8X-VM/400 motherboard
ATI Radeon 7000 64mb agb video card
512 MB of DDR
any other details needed can be provided

This is a weird problem. I was trying to install a second hard drive
into my previously perfect working computer when the damn thing didn't
POST next time I started Now when the motherboard starts up the
keyboard doesn't light up and nothing is shown on the screen. THe fans
and everything is fine and I swear I hear the hard drive spinning but
nothing shows on the screen. I am sure its not the power supply.

These are the things that I have tried:
resetted the CMOS
took out the video and hard drive living me with on ly the essentials

also of note:
I did have this same exact problem before but the ONLY THING I did was
repadily turn the power on and off and after a while and it would work
fine. But now that doesn't work anymore

You have'nt caught any switches that sets the FSB by any chance. I had
a similar problem the other day.

The computor would boot but kept getting a disc error as though the
HDD was duff, after trying several things and trying a known good HDD
the problem still persisted.

The bios settings was correct but yet a bios reboot cured the problem
so I hit the idea of checking the bios battery, this was down to 2.5V
with a digital test meter. Never measure these batteries with a
analogue meter or they will soon be 'flat'.

I always remove the mobo's multi-pin power lead as well when
re-booting bios and ensured that it had set to it's default setting
etc.

Have you configured the linking pins on the HDD for master/slave/
cable connect or whatever?

One idea is to disconnect all the drives including the HDD then
re-boot where you should get the bios POST beep, then try connecting
the HDD first and then try again and so on till all drives are
connected.

Sounds silly I know but it's quite easy to unseat a PCI card

Dunno if any of these helps, you may well have tried them all.

Davy

In article .com,
"hdneto17" wrote:

Here are my settings
A7N8X-VM/400 motherboard
ATI Radeon 7000 64mb agb video card
512 MB of DDR
any other details needed can be provided

This is a weird problem. I was trying to install a second hard drive
into my previously perfect working computer when the damn thing didn't
POST next time I started Now when the motherboard starts up the
keyboard doesn't light up and nothing is shown on the screen. THe fans
and everything is fine and I swear I hear the hard drive spinning but
nothing shows on the screen. I am sure its not the power supply.

These are the things that I have tried:
resetted the CMOS
took out the video and hard drive living me with on ly the essentials

also of note:
I did have this same exact problem before but the ONLY THING I did was
repadily turn the power on and off and after a while and it would work
fine. But now that doesn't work anymore

Are you sure this doesn't have something to do with your
hard drive changes ? Try disconnecting all drives, and see
if the board will POST.

The second test you can try, is remove the memory. If the
processor is able to run, it will execute the BIOS and it
will generate beep codes on the speaker inside your
computer case. Hearing the beep code for missing memory,
is proof the processor is still working. If it won't do
that, then either the processor is fried, or the +5V on the
power supply is bad or low. (The A7N8X family has no 2x2
ATX12V power connector, and power conversion for the
CPU Vcore uses +5V.)

With the power switched off on the back of the computer,
you can also pull and reinsert the 20 pin main power
connector. Examine the pins and plastic for burn marks.
Make sure the connector is fully seated and the plastic
latch is engaged. A bad connection at the power connector
will eventually fry the connector and ruin it. These boards
draw lots of +5V - my A7N8X-E deaws 16 amps from +5V when
running Prime95, so you want to make sure the power
connector is firmly in place.

Paul

Thanks for the help!

I tried many of the things you guys suggested.
I removed the ram and the motherboard made sounds so I think that
eliminates the fried CPU.
I took out the video card(now I'm using the built-in video) and still
nothing so I don't think its anything with the video card

I really doubt if its the hard drive because it worked before the
problem occurred. (I put in the original hard drive, it worked for one
boot, I shutdown, I booted again and then the problem started.) By the
way doesn't the motherboard POST regardless of the hard drive?

When I installed the hard drive I was VERY careful not to touch the
motherboard and I didn't mess with the power so I don't think thats it.
Before when I had the same problem, but I moved the CPU heating sink a
little bit and then it worked. I don't know if this means anything
because it was very minor moves(kind of just nudged it.)

Whatever the problem is I doubt if its anything drastic because before
when I had the same problem I just waited and messed around with the
keyboard connector(pretty random I know) and then it would magically
just start POSTING. The only difference between now and then was before
the keyboard would at least light up when I pressed the num lock. Now
it won't do anything. Maybe that points to the right direction.

Thanks again guys

Yes, it will POST with or without a hard drive. You might have a faulty
keyboard port or a dying keyboard. If you have another keyboard try using
it. Or, go into BIOS and disable the requirement for a keyboard to be
present, then shutdown, disconnect the keyboard, and see if it'll boot
multiple times without trouble.

"hdneto17" wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks for the help!

I tried many of the things you guys suggested.
I removed the ram and the motherboard made sounds so I think that
eliminates the fried CPU.
I took out the video card(now I'm using the built-in video) and still
nothing so I don't think its anything with the video card

I really doubt if its the hard drive because it worked before the
problem occurred. (I put in the original hard drive, it worked for one
boot, I shutdown, I booted again and then the problem started.) By the
way doesn't the motherboard POST regardless of the hard drive?

When I installed the hard drive I was VERY careful not to touch the
motherboard and I didn't mess with the power so I don't think thats it.
Before when I had the same problem, but I moved the CPU heating sink a
little bit and then it worked. I don't know if this means anything
because it was very minor moves(kind of just nudged it.)

Whatever the problem is I doubt if its anything drastic because before
when I had the same problem I just waited and messed around with the
keyboard connector(pretty random I know) and then it would magically
just start POSTING. The only difference between now and then was before
the keyboard would at least light up when I pressed the num lock. Now
it won't do anything. Maybe that points to the right direction.

Thanks again guys

How can you I go to the BIOS without it posting?
By I'll try another keyboard.
Is a faulty keyboard port a big problem?

My bad, I read the "I put in the original hard drive, it worked for one
boot..." and forgot the "I shutdown, I booted again and then the problem
started," hehe sorry.

It can happen, that's why USB keyboards were invented . Anyway, try
booting with no keyboard at all anyway, see what happens.

"hdneto17" wrote in message
oups.com...
How can you I go to the BIOS without it posting?
By I'll try another keyboard.
Is a faulty keyboard port a big problem?

Nah, keyboard, new keyboard, or no keyboard doesn't seem any match for
the computer's misbehavior.

I really don't think its the actual keyboard thats the problem, I was
just saying that does the lighting up of the keyboard(CAPS, NUM....)
matter or say anything about the system?

Worth a shot, a faulty port or keyboard could stop a computer from clearing
POST. That's why when you do a POST test you unhook everything not only
inside, but outside (except the 5 required internal components: board, psu,
video card, ram, cpu).

Weird, it'll give you error beeps if you take out the ram, but won't give
error beeps for whatever the hell is causing this or for lack of keyboard.
When your system was down to just the five required components, did you get
the normal one beep?

"hdneto17" wrote in message
oups.com...
Nah, keyboard, new keyboard, or no keyboard doesn't seem any match for
the computer's misbehavior.

I really don't think its the actual keyboard thats the problem, I was
just saying that does the lighting up of the keyboard(CAPS, NUM....)
matter or say anything about the system?