On the boards that present me with this issue I pull every thing off except the speaker, CPU and HSF. If I get a beep code then I know that the CPU is OK, no beep code its the CPU thats bad. Once and awhile tho it is the M/B.
You may also want to dig around for known working CPU and M/B. Problem with this is shorting one or both components.
Hope this helps
Bill
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I am trying to build a word processing machine, on the cheap, for a friend to use in their new job. For the most part, I've cobbled together a system from left-over parts of previous upgrades, salvaged a few parts from other systems, and bought a few parts here and there (specs below). The trouble I'm having, is the system will not boot at all. I get power to various LEDs like power and HDD, and the CPU and case fans spin, but I never get a signal to the monitor or any beep codes (PC speaker is connected). AFAIK, all the parts work, though I wonder a bit about the CPU since the HSF is a real pain to get on and off and I wonder if I maybe didn't crack the core internally trying to get the HSF off.
Anyway, so far I've tried reseating the video card 2-3 times, switching video cards, swapping in a different RAM module of lower density, disconnecting everything except the video card, HDD, floppy and CD-ROM. I've even tried removing the CPU in case it was bad. All the IDE cables are new, so it's doubtful that they're bad, though I haven't actually been able to test them. The motherboard is used, and I bought it used, so I've never been able to test it either.
I'm looking for suggestions on anything else I can try. I figure that almost no matter what, I should be able to at least get the pre-POST diagnostic display and have access to the CMOS. While I can let this person use one of my old laptops, they would like this system up and going as quickly as possible.
System Specs:
- Duron 600
- 512MB PC133 SDRAM (swapped with a Crucial 128MB PC133 module with no change)
- Elsa TNT2 video card (swapped with a RadeonVE with no change)
- Tyan S2390 Trinity KT motherboard (KT133 chipset - bought used, never tested)
- 4X CD-ROM stolen from another computer where it loaded the Fedora Core 3 setup program
- 100MB IDE Zip drive (salvaged - never tested)
- Floppy drive (salvaged - never tested)
- 350W Antec PSU (bought new)
- 40GB HDD (bought new, unformatted as yet)
- SB16 sound card (bought new - untested)
- 10/100 NIC (some cheap one from NewEgg - bought new - untested)
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