[Chirag64]

Hello,

I've recently installed a new SMPS since my old one was not running very well.

I don't know if the SMPS is causing this or not, but recently, my computer does not start properly. When I press the power button in the CPU, it starts the fans, but the power light does not light up on the CPU. Even pressing the restart button does not help.

I need to switch off the main power and attempt to start my computer again in order to make it work, though it takes atleast 5 attempts to get it started.

I suspect my motherboard is at fault, but I'm no expert at this. Hope you can help me.

[Advertisements]

Hello welcome to GeeksToGo, We will be happy to help you.

We will need some more information

If this is a name brand system:
Make
Model
Operating System
Age of the computer
Memory Total
Hard Drive Size, How much free space



If this is custom then We will need the following:

The CPU brand and model
The Motherboard brand and model
Ram amount and speed
Cd\Dvd rom interface IDE/ SATA
Hard Drive size and free space
Any cards in PCI slots
Any software installed\updated and driver updates done just before problem started
Were you experiencing this before installing SMPS?
Is fan in the PSU in computer running?

All this will help in determining a course of action to best correct the problem you are experiencing.

[rshaffer61]

Hello welcome to GeeksToGo, We will be happy to help you.

We will need some more information

If this is a name brand system:
Make
Model
Operating System
Age of the computer
Memory Total
Hard Drive Size, How much free space



If this is custom then We will need the following:

The CPU brand and model
The Motherboard brand and model
Ram amount and speed
Cd\Dvd rom interface IDE/ SATA
Hard Drive size and free space
Any cards in PCI slots
Any software installed\updated and driver updates done just before problem started
Were you experiencing this before installing SMPS?
Is fan in the PSU in computer running?

All this will help in determining a course of action to best correct the problem you are experiencing.

[Chirag64]

http://www.asrock.co...e...5.0&s=Intel

This is my motherboard

I've a P4 2.4 GHz processor and 2 RAMs of 1GB and 512MB

DVD Writer: TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S222A

Hard Drive size: 80GB, Free Space: 4 GB

Was not experiencing before installing SMPS

PSU is the same as SMPS, right?!?

Computer is almost 4 years old

[rshaffer61]

One problem I see right away. The free space on your drive is dangerously low. The swap file cannot function correctly with less then 10% of free space.

What I would suggest is uninstalling all programs you don't need or don't want anymore through Add/Remove Programs

Do this by going to Start >> Control Panel >> Click Add/Remove Programs >>
Carefully choose the program(s) you don't need >> Click on each Program >> Click Change/Remove >> Follow the Uninstall Instructions >>

You may be prompted to restart your computer, if you have the option, restart later if you have more programs to uninstall >> Restart once you have all the programs you don't need uninstalled. Be careful not to remove anything needed by your computer, some of which you may be unfamiliar with the name,

[Chirag64]

OK, I deleted some files and now I've 6+GB free space, although it didn't help the situation at all.

[rshaffer61]

In order to verify it''s the motherboard then we would have to test the mb.

Disconnect everything from the Motherboard except

* keyboard
* mouse
* video output
* 20+4 powercable
* 4/8 pin 12v wire both coming from the powersupply,
* Cpu fan wire
* power and reset button to the case
*case speaker

Now you should have NOTHING connected to the motherboard except what was listed above.

The goal here is just to test the mobo:

If the computer still will not boot up the please remove the motherboard from the computer along with the power supply

place the motherboard on a piece of card board larger than the motherboard,

this will eliminate a short from the mobo to the case witch could be a possibility

Install the cpu with, 1 stick ram in dimm 1, power supply, video card, case switch and case speaker
Connect ps2 mouse and keyboard along with the monitor
Repeat the above and power on

If the computer now boots into bios you most likely had a case short so make sure when installing the motherboard in the case that you use standoffs and they line up with the mounting holes in the motherboard and none of the standoffs touch anything else on the underside of the board.


Thanks to Cbarnard for these instructions

[Chirag64]

What is

* 20+4 powercable
* 4/8 pin 12v wire both coming from the powersupply,

I am not so good as to know the technical stuff of hardware

[rshaffer61]

You are attempting to have everything disconnected except for the connections needed to start the board
The wires you are asking are the power connectors from the PSu to the motherboard. Nothing but the cpu fan and the motherboard should have power to them once this is ready to turn on. Connect the speaker and the power switch
Attach kb, mouse, monitor and turn system on

[diazed]

Oh, thanks, i have also learned so much here.

[rshaffer61]

Well thank you. I am glad I can teach you a few things during all this. It makes it a joy to help someone who wants to learn and is willing to get in there and try.

[Chirag64]

The only thing i needed to disconnect was my CD ROM and Floppy Drive.

Same problem occurred. I had to make many attempts to start the pc.

[rshaffer61]

Sounds like since the mb is out of the system with only the kb, mouse, video, cpu fan, speaker and power switch connected and it still will not boot. The problem is a bad mb and it's time to replace it. When turning the psu on does the fan in it stay going or is there nothing?
With the mb out of the system then there is no issue with the case maybe shorting the mb. if you would like to keep your existing CPU and memory I would suggest going HERE
and looking at the list of Asrock socket 478 motherboards. If you want to upgrade to a newer cpu, memory and mb I can offer some some suggestions based on what you use the system mainly for. Let me know how you would like to proceed from here.

[Chirag64]

Where i buy the parts, they've stopped selling ASRock motherboards

They only sell ASUS motherboards. Thank you for your help though.

1 question though, can i still use my DVD RW and hard drive, or do i need to buy SATA hard drive and new DVD RW for that?!?

[rshaffer61]

Most new mb still have at least one IDE controller on them so you should be safe to put both hd and cd drive on the same ribbon. Just remember to set hd as master and dvd as slave. That way you will not have any boot issues when you startup.

If the place you buy from has a Asus mb with the 478 socket set then you should be able to use that unless it's the Asrock you want have. The other option is replacing the mb,cpu and fan, memory with a newer model. This will increase your speed and give you more upgrade capability for the future.
If I can help please let me know

Edited by rshaffer61, 01 May 2009 - 02:15 PM.

[Chirag64]

thnx for all d help