[Suikoden]

Hello,
I just got a new motherboard, MSI P4M800, because I needed it to get my new Sata hard drive working. I'm having massive problems with it though. First, I got it working and installed the OS and it worked for 2 days with 2 conditions. First condition was that the computer had to be sideways, if I put it up vertically the power wouldnt work at all, nothing would start up, not even power supply, so it had to be placed down sideways. THe second condition was that everytime I screwed in the motherboard, the power would work but nothing would boot up, just a blank screen, only when I unscrewed the the motherboard from the case it would boot up, anyways it was working for 2 days untill this morning, where once again the power would turn on but nothing would boot up, just a blank screen. I know its not my video card because I tried it on my other computer, could it be that the motherboard is bad? or something not connected well? I tried reconnecting everything about 10x, tightly, including the processor, but nothing, power still works but nothing boots up. THe case Im using is metal, also new, a 250g Sata Hard drive, 9800 Radeon Pro video card, and a intel p4 processor, any clues what the problem could be? could be the processor?

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Welcome to G2G Suikoden

It sounds like something is shorting out the board.
I suggest you strip everything out of the case (remember to disconnect the power from the PSU to the motherboard before doing anything else).
Wear an anti-static strap if you can. If you don't have one, then touch a metal surface to discharge your static before touching anything inside the computer. Also be very careful about how you handle the components - remember never to touch any of the copper contacts, hold the cards by the edges & place the components on a suitable surface (such as paper or card, not on a carpet!)

You can leave the drives in the case providing they don't obstruct the removal of the motherboard. Also, leave the cpu, heatsink & fan in the motherboard. Once you have stripped it all out, check for any bits of metal on the mounting plate inside the case, that may be coming in contact with the motherboard. Also check the position of the metal spacers (stand-offs) in the case. If you have any spacers that do not line up exactly with a screw hole on the motherboard, then they must be removed.

Let me know what happens before you re-assemble everything.

[Samm]

Welcome to G2G Suikoden

It sounds like something is shorting out the board.
I suggest you strip everything out of the case (remember to disconnect the power from the PSU to the motherboard before doing anything else).
Wear an anti-static strap if you can. If you don't have one, then touch a metal surface to discharge your static before touching anything inside the computer. Also be very careful about how you handle the components - remember never to touch any of the copper contacts, hold the cards by the edges & place the components on a suitable surface (such as paper or card, not on a carpet!)

You can leave the drives in the case providing they don't obstruct the removal of the motherboard. Also, leave the cpu, heatsink & fan in the motherboard. Once you have stripped it all out, check for any bits of metal on the mounting plate inside the case, that may be coming in contact with the motherboard. Also check the position of the metal spacers (stand-offs) in the case. If you have any spacers that do not line up exactly with a screw hole on the motherboard, then they must be removed.

Let me know what happens before you re-assemble everything.

[Suikoden]

Thanks for the reply Samm,
I just performed those steps on a cardboard, plugging in only the hardware thats needed to boot, still no visual of any kind, the power problem seem to be a bad cable, the computer starts up now, including the cpu fan, but still no visual, I know its not the video card because I tried my other video card that works, think something is wrong with the motherboard? Its odd that it worked for 2 days though, then randomly stopped booting up. There was no bits of medals inside in the the case that I saw.
-Suikoden

[Samm]

OK, try this :

Keep the motherboard out of the case, on cardboard. You should have just the cpu, heatsink+fan, ram & video connected.

Disconnect the PSU from the board. Place the clear cmos jumper over pins 2-3 for about 10 secs then return to pins 1-2.
If you have more than one ram module, then remove all the modules except one.
Remove the video card & then re-insert it into the slot. Make sure you press it in firmly & evenly & lock it in place with the plastic clip.

You should have no pci cards inserted & no drive cabling at all connected to the board, but leave the power connected to the optical drive(s).

Make sure you have the case (system) speaker connected correctly, then reconnect the main ATX power connector & the 4 pin ATX12V power connector to the motherboard.

Power the system on again & see whats happens. Do you get any beeps? If nothing happens, swap the ram module or try the module in the other ram slot. If still nothing, remove all ram modules & try again. This time you should hear several beeps.

[Suikoden]

Hello again,
okay I just performed that, no beeps at all, still no boot, I also tried it on my old motherboard that use to work, same thing, no beeps, no boot or anything now. Could it be that i fried something?

[Leroy Lim]

Did u take note of anti static procedures before touching the motherboard? A little static can fry your motherboard without you knowing.

[Suikoden]

Is there anyway to check the motherboard fried for sure? The red light on it when power is plugged in still turns on.

[Samm]

Which red light? Is it on the actual motherboard or on the case?

Did you try removing all the ram modules & booting? If so did you get any beeps then?