Newly built PC not switching on

[vin3e]

Dear all,

Had some trouble putting this PC together. It's only a couple days old and when it went to sleep and next morning it wouldnt turn on anymore.

I've previously had problems with the case wiring but when I opened it up this time and switched them around, it still wouldnt work.

Any ideas what might cause this? Only several hours ago it was working. Should I build it all again and only connect the cpu, ram mobo and psu?

This is the first computer i've ever built so dont rule out anything.

Many thanks guys.

[DKT27]

Moved to Technology Talk.

Any beeps? :)

[vin3e]

Not even a beep, nothing powers on except the GFX light. Not even the CPU fan.

[vin3e]

I can see all of you guests who havent logged in! Quick sign in/up and reply :D

[dcs18]

01.) Disconnect all external power to the system through switches

02.) Ensure electrical switch-off of all cables

03.) Ensure physical separation of all mentioned stuff at point # 02.) at both ends

04.) Ensure separation of all external media & peripherals like extra/secondary internal HDD, external HDDs & FlashDrives, WLL Modems, Routers >>---> absolutely all peripherals

05.) If you know how to reset the CMOS - do it or just leave it alone

06.) Hold down the Power button of the dead system for a full minute

07.) Wait for 15 minutes

08.) Reconnect all cables - do not reconnect any of the peripherals mentioned at point # 4

09.) Switch back the electrical power units

10.) Power on the system through the power button

11.) Don't attempt to put the system to sleep again until you reconfigure it correctly.

12.) This is just a workaround to get your system back on it's feet (am not feeling well, tonight - hope somebody else helps you.)

[cruelsister]

What motherboard are you using?

[jimbojet2011]

Sounds like some short circuit ;-(

Be careful with it

Just take all out of it and build it on the table with just mainboar, cpu and some ram ( and power ofcourse )

Good luck Bro

And reset your bios!

[Dodel]

Anyhow, I've come accross this many times when I've built my own rigs, and I've always gone back to a blank canvas (ie strip everything back) remove all hardware, CPU, CMOS, memory, Gfx card et cetera, and then just try connecting the CPU, Thermal paste & Heatsink (with fan!), and the PSU, along with the power switch (I just use a flat head screw driver and touch the two contacts together, yes I can fry the mobo, but hey I'm an very old hat). Give that a boot up and see what gives, your CPU fan should spin up at least.

If nothing at this point, your looking at testing the PSU, CPU & Mobo only (Hence why we removed all other components) Clearly thes 3 components are dependent on you being able to test them in another PC, or if you have another PSU lying about try booting with that.

On a side note I'd also try just swapping the reset and pwr buttons around incase the button has just become faulty (does happen), also make sure you've seated the mobo correctly so you can eleminate a fault to earth.

You can also open up most PSU's if you think it's faulty, and check inside. Most have a 0.2a glass fuse, which when replaced (becasue it's blown) solves your issue (again I woudln't recommend this unless you do KNOW what your doing!)

If it does spin up, then replace each component a bit at a time and boot again, see if it fails at all, you'll either get lucky and all works fine (it could just have been a seating issue with the hardware.) Or you'll find your culprit.

OH, remember to put the CMOS battery back in, I've done that a few times, and had to remove the gfx card to get back in (effiin mini towers!)

EDIT : Can I ask what you mean by GFX light ?

Regards

Dodel

[DKT27]

EDIT : Can I ask what you mean by GFX light ?

Probably he meant graphics card light. Meaning, if the graphics card has external power cord, then, the power is not reaching the motherboard. In other words, he probably needs to remove / insert the motherboard wires.

[Dodel]

EDIT : Can I ask what you mean by GFX light ?

Probably he meant graphics card light. Meaning, if the graphics card has external power cord, then, the power is not reaching the motherboard. In other words, he probably needs to remove / insert the motherboard wires.

Ah alas, I don't have the luxury of affording a GFX card with the extra bells and whistles attached :), thanks for clearing that up!.

Regards

Dodel

[cruelsister]

I really feel for the OP as I just built a new machine and just submitted an RMA for the Mboard today. So that you can sympathize withe me It was a Z77 Exteme4 by Asrock with a Xeon 1240V2. I had a Samsung 840 as main boot and installed Win8 (with StartisBack, of course). From power on to desktop was about 12 seconds- loved everything.

Then about a week later I started up the computer and the thing reset almost immediately. Took everything apart and went into troubleshoot mode- constant resets. Finally I got a Code 55 memory error on all slots except 1. Thinking that all the problems could be because of incompatible RAM (a stretch, I know; but I wanted to cover all bases), I ordered and just received "approved" RAM. Installed again and got same error code on all slots except 1- but even then the darn thing reset after a few seconds. I will say that the power on button on the MB itself along with the error codes did help (but sadly not enough to avoid an RMA).

I suppose the moral of the story is that some motherboards need a little seasoning before they fail.

[Airstream_Bill]

01.) Disconnect all external power to the system through switches

02.) Ensure electrical switch-off of all cables

03.) Ensure physical separation of all mentioned stuff at point # 02.) at both ends

04.) Ensure separation of all external media & peripherals like extra/secondary internal HDD, external HDDs & FlashDrives, WLL Modems, Routers >>---> absolutely all peripherals

05.) If you know how to reset the CMOS - do it or just leave it alone

06.) Hold down the Power button of the dead system for a full minute

07.) Wait for 15 minutes

08.) Reconnect all cables - do not reconnect any of the peripherals mentioned at point # 4

09.) Switch back the electrical power units

10.) Power on the system through the power button

11.) Don't attempt to put the system to sleep again until you reconfigure it correctly.

12.) This is just a workaround to get your system back on it's feet (am not feeling well, tonight - hope somebody else helps you.)

Hope you get to feeling better soon.

[oZ.]

Sounds like some short circuit ;-(

Be careful with it

Just take all out of it and build it on the table with just mainboar, cpu and some ram ( and power ofcourse )

Good luck Bro

And reset your bios!

ya if he built it properly. that would be only reason =\

[dcs18]

Hope you get to feeling better soon.

Thanks Bill - yeah, certainly feeling better. :D

[vin3e]

Sounds like some short circuit ;-(

Be careful with it

Just take all out of it and build it on the table with just mainboar, cpu and some ram ( and power ofcourse )

Good luck Bro

And reset your bios!

It works when its out of the box! But when I put it back in it doesnt.

I've tried installing parts 1 by 1 and it all works but when I get to sitting it upright, it stops again D:

Is it something to do with the case?

Also I have to switch the Power and Reset button wiring because i think the power wire is faulty.

[vin3e]

Thanks ALL.

I really really appreciate all of your help. Im sorry I havent been able to respond immediately because of work.

I love you all.

[dcs18]

It works when its out of the box! But when I put it back in it doesnt.

I've tried installing parts 1 by 1 and it all works but when I get to sitting it upright, it stops again D:

Is it something to do with the case?

Be careful about that - the Motherboard could possibly be shorting against the metallic chassis of the case (I generally use insulation even if my case is clear.)

[cruelsister]

Vin- Please help us out! What motherboard do you have?

[vin3e]

Vin- Please help us out! What motherboard do you have?

Sorry! The mobo I have is a Gigabyte GA-970A-D3 Socket AM3+ 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard.

No idea what any of it means!!

[vin3e]

Sorry also quick question. There is a usb 2.0 wire from my case and I have plugged that into a slot that says f_usb3 so I'm assuming it means front panel usb 3.0 or am I wrong?

The firt USB slot is red and usb2 and 3 slots are blue. The USB3.0 doesnt seem to work. Also Both the case and mobo says it supports usb3. Am I confusing my wires?

Kind regards,

[cruelsister]

Regarding the USB issue- I'm assuming you are using the USB connectors on the center edge of your board (left of where you will plug in the speaker connection to your case). All 3 of the USB connections are USB2 (they are just numbered USB1, USB2, USB3). But i would use the F/USB1F connectors- they could be termed "default". Just make sure that you know where pin 1 is.

You should have 9 pins in a box- Pin1 is the top right pin. Although many cases will have different markings on the USB plugs, what you want to do is put the pin PWR1 in pin 1, plug PWR2 in pin2 (which is right below Pin1), The Neg1 pin goes next to PWR1, Neg2 below that. Plus1 goes next to Neg1, Plus2 goes below it, and GRD1 and GRD2 fill up slots 7 and 8. Pin9 Lower left will be empty.

Note that it does not seem that your motherboard has pins for USB3- The only USB3 slot that you have (2 of them) are back panel slots and not pins on the MB.

Also, someone suggested that you clear your CMOS. A good idea! To do this:

1). Unplug the computer.

2). Remove the Battery (found between your Video card slots). Leave it out for 60 seconds.

3). put the battery back, plug power cord back in and start.

4). can you get into the BIOS screen?

Apology in advance if I was confusing!

Megan

[vin3e]

Regarding the USB issue- I'm assuming you are using the USB connectors on the center edge of your board (left of where you will plug in the speaker connection to your case). All 3 of the USB connections are USB2 (they are just numbered USB1, USB2, USB3). But i would use the F/USB1F connectors- they could be termed "default". Just make sure that you know where pin 1 is.

You should have 9 pins in a box- Pin1 is the top right pin. Although many cases will have different markings on the USB plugs, what you want to do is put the pin PWR1 in pin 1, plug PWR2 in pin2 (which is right below Pin1), The Neg1 pin goes next to PWR1, Neg2 below that. Plus1 goes next to Neg1, Plus2 goes below it, and GRD1 and GRD2 fill up slots 7 and 8. Pin9 Lower left will be empty.

Note that it does not seem that your motherboard has pins for USB3- The only USB3 slot that you have (2 of them) are back panel slots and not pins on the MB.

Also, someone suggested that you clear your CMOS. A good idea! To do this:

1). Unplug the computer.

2). Remove the Battery (found between your Video card slots). Leave it out for 60 seconds.

3). put the battery back, plug power cord back in and start.

4). can you get into the BIOS screen?

Apology in advance if I was confusing!

Megan

No! Kudos to you for going so far to help a poor little tech newbie like me!

I will reset the cmos when I get home, I will need to take a little more time to digest the other info re the USB when I get home tonight.

Many thanks sister!