[artificial]

Hi guys. I've been looking around your forums and you guys seem like a knowledgable crowd So Im looking forward to some help or points in the right direction if possible.

First off, I'll give my specs for my PC that isnt working:

PSU: 250W AOpen
Motherboard: ECS K7VZA Socket A 266 MHz
CPU: AMD Athlon 1200/266 MHz, Thermaltake Cooling Fan
RAM : 512mb
HD: New harddrive - Nothing on it. (But, been having problem since my 40GB IBM HD that stopped working)
Had Windows XP on it

My problem:

The other day it just decided not to start up like normal. Normal meaning going through BIOs checks and RAM checks, then proceed to OS - successfully may I add. The other day I started it up normally and the LED light came on saying that power was going through, the fans were spinning (both my video card fan and my PSU fan and my thermaltake CPU fan). The hard drive disc spun I think maybe once because I heard the sound it usually makes. But to no avail, no picture on my monitor, nor the normal beep I hear when I start it up. I switched out the video card and restarted and it didnt help. I've removed the power cord and didnt work.

I read this post: http://www.geekstogo...ems-t28727.html I tried several things off of there before and once again when I read through them. But still nothing, thats why I'm looking forward to some more help if possible!

Also I should mention that it did start up after several pushes of the reset button, but would not load OS. I would get CMOS errors. But like I said, I've reset the CMOs several times...

So basically, if anyone has insight or helpful pointers that I should try, it would be gladly appreciated!

Thanks
artificial

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your PSU could be going out. I had simalar problems with my old gateway 700 gr.

[Longhorns242]

your PSU could be going out. I had simalar problems with my old gateway 700 gr.

[Samm]

Welcome to G2G artificial

Firstly, can you double check the motherboard model number - I don't believe ECS produced a model K7VZA. Could it be the K7VTA you have?

Longhorns242 has a point about the PSU - its possible that its either on its way out, or more likely that its simply under powered. 250W is not really enough for that system. To check whether the power output is an issue, try booting up with everything other than the hard disk (& cpu/hsf/ram/video obviously) disconnected. i.e disconnect the power + ribbon cables from the optical drive, floppy drive & remove any PCI cards you may have. Also disconnect any USB devices.

There are many other possible causes apart from the PSU but lets eliminate this one first.

Bear in mind also, that you often find that if the system is forced to turn off using the power button (as opposed to shutdown normally through Windows), it often won't power up again successfully for a few minutes. It normally best in this situation therefore to wait five minutes before attempting to power on again. Not all systems behave this way but its not uncommon either

[artificial]

I have tried two different PSU's and also tried just loading the motherboard, but I never heard the normal single beep that I was used to hearing.

Also my motherboard is a ECS K7VZA. I have the box and user's manual/guide if you would look a photo... Maybe I'm just reading it wrong.

EDIT: Found this image on the internet. It looks exactly like the one I have, whether or not there are minor differences I cant recognize.

http://www.ocworkben...age007_copy.jpg

Congratulations on purchasing the K7VZA mainboard. The K7VZA is an ATX mainboard that uses a 4-layer printed circuit board and measures...

Thank you for fast responses!

Edited by artificial, 09 August 2006 - 02:06 PM.

[Samm]

Hi
Sorry for slow response this time! Thanks for motherboard info & picture. I'll have another look now & see if i can find the online manual then

[Samm]

OK, found it! Doesnt exist on US site, only global one.

This board uses 168 pin dimms (PC133), right? Can you tell me whether you have single stick of 512MB & whether it is PC100 or PC133
Can you also let me know what size the new hard drive is please

Right, can you try these steps for me. Please follow instructions exactly. You may have tried some of this stuff already but I need you to do it again anyway :

1.Disconnect power lead, discharge your own static by touching a metal surface with one hand for few seconds, then disconnect the main ATX power lead from the motherboard

2. Disconnect all drive ribbon cabling (HDD/CD/floppy) from the motherboard. Disconnect power from drives except for the CD drive

3. Disconnect any internal USB fly cables from board

4. Remove all PCI cards

5. Remove the video card & the memory modules

6. Place the clear cmos jumper in the clear position (pins 2-3). Leave for 30 seconds then return jumper to pins 1-2. Please check it IS on the correct pins as quite a few people get this wrong & it causes the system to not boot (same symptoms as yours!)

7. Make sure the case speaker connector is connected correctly. (This is the 4 pin, 2 wire (red+black) connector - connects to pin 15 (red wire) + pin 18 (black wire) of the front panel header on motherboard)

8. Make sure the soft power switch connector (2 pin, 2 wire) is connected to pins 22+23 of front panel header
(refer to manual for steps 7+ 8 if unclear)

9. Reconnect the main ATX power connector to the motherboard

10. Disconnect all peripherals (keyboard/mouse/USB devices etc) & leave only the power lead connected. Power the system on & listen for beeps. Let me know if you hear any (actual number of beeps is not important at moment)

[artificial]

The ram is PC133. I have two sticks of ram, both being 256MB PC133 DIMM. I believe its 168. Here is a picture I found that is exactly like my Apacers:

http://i5.ebayimg.co.../24/93/9d_1.JPG

I'm sorry but right now I'm a little caught up on school work and such, but thank you for your insight and I'm going to try it as soon as I can. I'll give you the results when I do. I appreciate you're willingness to help me! Haven't found anyone who gives this much information about certain problems!


Edit: Also the drive I bought that I'm trying to use is 250 gigs. My old drive that I had in while the computer stopped working was only a mere 60 gigs. Sorry forgot to add that in.

Edited by artificial, 14 August 2006 - 05:00 PM.

[Longhorns242]

still sounds like ur psu is going out to me. if u can get one from a friend try that or u can go to local bestbuy and get one and try it and if it dosent work just return it.

EDIT:Try to get a PSU that is at least 350Watts

Edited by Longhorns242, 14 August 2006 - 06:19 PM.

[artificial]

Umm... new problem?

I did Samm's instructions and plugged in the motherboard and plugged in the cdrom. The CPU fan turns on when I turn it on, then shuts off... Also the green light flickers. It stays on until I hit the power button, waits two seconds, then flickers off and back on.


EDIT: I went and got a new PSU... I hooked it up and still not working. The speaker is plugged in and I hear just like a continuing whoosh if you get close to the speaker. Also, I'm maybe thinking the motherboard is overheating? It got real warm when I turned it on... Like really warm, along with an odor coming out of the CPU fan...? HELP?!?!

Edited by artificial, 16 August 2006 - 03:20 PM.

[Samm]

Hi

Hmmm, this doesn't sound too good!

Can you clarify what was getting hot? was it the CPU or a particular part of the board or the PSU?

Have you got the CPU fan connected correctly to the motherboard? Have you moved (removed/reinstalled) the heatsink assembly at any point?

Is the new power supply definately suitable for your board?

Also, can you explain what you meant by the whooshing noise. Motherboard speaker should either beep or doing nothing. Are u certain the noise was coming from the speaker?

[artificial]

Hi

Hmmm, this doesn't sound too good!

Can you clarify what was getting hot? was it the CPU or a particular part of the board or the PSU?

Have you got the CPU fan connected correctly to the motherboard? Have you moved (removed/reinstalled) the heatsink assembly at any point?

Is the new power supply definately suitable for your board?

Also, can you explain what you meant by the whooshing noise. Motherboard speaker should either beep or doing nothing. Are u certain the noise was coming from the speaker?

OOPS. I didnt have the CPU fan connected... I just moved it over the part where it was supposed to be connected. I reconnected it now, turned it on. The CPU is on and also the CD-Rom / DVD-Rom is running (It opens and closes).

But the motherboad still gets hot. It gets hot to the touch around the CPU. I don't know if thats normal or not, I never tended to touch the compontents after shutting my computer off or while it was on before...

The whooshing noise was just the speaker. Like the speaker had power but there wasnt any sound coming out. No beeps or nothing. If it wasn't the speaker, then it may have been the PSU fan sound bouncing off the inside of the case?

Edited by artificial, 19 August 2006 - 11:34 AM.