OK, I"m stumped-boot problem

[Bug Mekanic]

well, I have an XP1900 and XP2000 Cpu and 2X512 SDRAM PC133 memory. I'ma actually looking at anither ECS board so my win xp install won't freak out like it did when I went from my epox socket 7 to the ecs board. Really, I want the best for the money spent kinda thing

[DocPC]

That being the case, try a K7SEM or a K7AMA.

[NooNoo]

You really wanna go ecs again?

Its not so much the board as the chipset you need to match...

[Rkring1]

One quick question , did you build it out of the case as NooNoo suggested ? I didn't see any response to her question , main reason for asking is I just did a ECS K7SEM today that would show no signs of life until I took it out of the case and now it boots fine.Apparently a grounding problem which caused the problem , but i couldn't pin it down.................however... works now !

[Raffaz]

I know you have probably tried this but is your jumper for the CMOS in the right position and not in reset position?

[Bug Mekanic]

Maybe I'm stupid for buying another ECS board, but money is tight right now and I'm getting ready to deploy to the mid east in a few days and would love to figure this out...

OK, here's where I'm at.

Bought the same exact mobo, installed it, and same deal--black screen, not turning monitor on. I've just tried building the computer out of the case with no joy, same deal. I've swapped CPU''s with an AMD XP2100, same deal, I've swapped PSU's and also memory..same deal. The only thing I haven't swapped is the monitor, but it works with my other system. I get no beeps, even with the memory pulled out, or even with the cpu pulled out, I've tried agp and pci video cards in it that work in my other system. I am so stumped I'm starting to grow bark and woodpeckers are circling my head!

Now I had assumed that my first cpu was bad (the xp 1900) so I bought a new one and installed it in the first board. Now, If the mobo was bad (first one), could it have cooked my new cpu, and now with it in my new mobo, I get the same sysmptoms?? I've run out of money and ideas. So far, I now have enough parts to build another computer, but as it is, neither of them would work...any ideas?


BTW, I've tried clearing the cmos, and even replacing the battery...also, I get NO lights on the keyboard either when attempting to boot. The HDD light comes on steady as well as the floppy light. The cpu fan comes on fine (plugged into the mobo) so I know it's getting juice.

[NooNoo]

BTW, I've tried clearing the cmos, and even replacing the battery...also, I get NO lights on the keyboard either when attempting to boot. The HDD light comes on steady as well as the floppy light. The cpu fan comes on fine (plugged into the mobo) so I know it's getting juice.

ECS boards will not boot if the floppy or the ide cables are on backwards

Remove the cables will it boot without a floppy AND ide ?

[Bug Mekanic]

Tried booting with only a cpu and video card. No floppy or ide connected...no luck.

[Rkring1]

Grasping at straws here ....when you built it out of the case , how did you start it ? Did you hook the switch cable or just momentarily short the start switch pins ? Try it out of the case w/ a PCI video card , CPU and memory only , don't use the case switch or LEDs , no drives at all. Another thought that comes to mind is the SDRAM speed , use PC133 , according to ECS the processor bus and CPU bus speed must be = or greater. Is there any possibility there was an extra stand off in the case that shorted to the back of the MB ?

Sorry , just looked back further and saw you are using PC133

[Bug Mekanic]

I started the power by shorting the pins on the mobo, no switches or leds hooked up. The ram is pc 133. I've tried pc 100 too. I've inspected the case and no risers seemed to be touching anything. Built outside the case and still no luck. If the cpu was bad, what would it do? Shouldn't it still boot to post and give me a cpu error?

[NooNoo]

Nope, if the cpu is bad there is nothing to process...

[Rkring1]

You mention your other PC , can it handle either of these processors to test them ?

[Bug Mekanic]

No. Unfortunately they are both socket 7 systems. Is this the only way to troubleshoot a bad proc?

[Rkring1]

Its the only way I know of , may be others , but I am not aware of them. There are critters called "post cards" that run in a motherboard slot and indicate problems by a series of lights , but I don't know if they will indicate a faulty CPU.

[Rkring1]

OK , grasping at straws again , but..............have you been using the same electrical outlet and/or surge protector to do alll this from ? I had one job that nearly drove me nuts until I found that the AC outlet was not delivering full power.Try hooking up to a different circuit and don't use your surge protector.