New System won't start

tomh · Post by **tomh** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 1:58 pm

Hi everyone,

First post here. Been reading for a while getting silently getting advice about what to build to make a silent desktop. I finally purchased all the parts and put them together on the weekend. Only problem is now it does not start. When I turn on power nothing happens at all. No LEDs come on, fan on the power supply doesn't start, case fans don't start, nothing. I was hoping for some advice on where to start looking. My specs are:

Case: P180B
PS: Antec NeoHE 430W
MB: Gigabyte GA-965P-DS4
CPU: E6600
HS: Scythe Ninja
RAM: G.Skill PHU2-2GBHZ
Video: Gigabyte 7600GT SilentPipe
HD: Seagate 7200.10 SATA2 320G
DVD: Pioneer 111D

I don't have a fan on the Ninja, so I guess it might get too hot, but as far a I know that shouldn't stop it starting up. I'd expect it to start, get to hot, then shut down. But I get no indication there is any power at all.

Possibilities I can see with my limited knowledge:
- I felt I had to use too much force to get the ninja on, and may have damaged the board. Still would think something would happen
- When (not so) carefully putting the board in the case I dropped it from about 3-4 cm height and it got temporarily wedged in. This might have damaged some of the traces on the underneath.
- I haven't wired the power switch to the correct pins on the MB. Checked this over and over
- The NeoHE has detachable cables and five spots to plug them in. Are all the spots the same? I'm pretty sure they are, but maybe I plugged them in the wrong spot.
- I'm running the DVD, and the three case fans of one cable, maybe this is to high a current on one cable? Find this hard to believe.
- I'm being hurt by the issue with new efficient power supplies needing 1.0A at start up to turn on. http://www.silentpcreview.com/news652.html This to me sound the most likely, as I don't believe I have built an overly power hungry system. The power supply serial number starts S0601 if that helps.

I hope some kind person can point me in the right direction. This will be the third system I've built over the years, but only the first I've had any problems with. I really feel stupid.

Candor · Post by **Candor** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 2:37 pm

I know you've checked this over and over, but nothing happening at all points to power not getting to the board. I'd check the power switch connections, and if all else fails, try connecting another case's button to your board.

Most parts, while sensitive, are able to withstand reasonable amounts of abuse. So, I'd strike 1 and 2 on your list of possibilities unless you seriously screwed something up (not likely).

The fourth option may be worth looking in to as well, but I don't know much about the NeoHE. You are on the right forum for answers on that though...

Fifth option, try unplugging any unneccesary equipment for boot. Absence of Fans, DVD, Ram, and even hard drive won't stop the thing from starting up.

I think either, A. Something is wrong with the power (either the PSU, the on switch, or the wall socket.) Or the power supply is DOA. This can be tested by replacing the power supply. Or maybe the motherboard's power pins are not sending a signal to the PSU to start up. Try the PSU on another system...

Best of luck, and remember to remove anything that might inhibit boot including extra sticks of ram. Oh, and check to make sure nothing on the board is shorting, like a loose screw, a bit of wire, or a misplaced motherboard stand-off.

Hope this helps you out. Keep us posted!

tomh · Post by **tomh** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 3:35 pm

Thank you very much for you reply. Some excellent suggestions. Especially the switch from another box.

Shall let you know how it goes. So far at least it is super silent ...

saab92x · Post by **saab92x** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 7:05 pm

Sounds like your having different problems than what I experience with my DS3.

In my case the fans would work, but the system would not boot.

Turned out the memory I had purchased wasn't compatible with the MB.

sleepygenius · Post by **sleepygenius** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 9:03 pm

From personal experience, I would double check the switch on the back of the power supply as it is easily overlooked.
Also, try setting the "Clear CMOS" jumper or pressing its respective button. I've had that happen and it worked on an old computer I first put together.

tomh · Post by **tomh** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 1:28 pm

Thanks all for the tips and advice.

Last night I tried pulling different parts out of the system and actually got some LEDs flashing.

- With nothing except for the main 24pin and 4pin ATX power connected, plus the video card, when I press power I get the LEDs around the power and reset byttons come on for a half a second.
- If I plug back in the disk drive, only the LED around the power button comes on for half a second.
- If I plug back in the optical drive, no LEDs come on.
- Whether or not the fans are plugged in makes no difference.

So at least this proves that my power switch and LEDs are wired correctly. To me this sounds like my power supply is pretty much dead and should be replaced. Does that sound believable? (Especially considering the problems the NeoHE seems to have).

bsdie · Post by **bsdie** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 1:45 pm

Sounds plausible that its your PSU.

Candor · Post by **Candor** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:46 pm

Agree that it's probably a PSU problem. Try a new one (obviously). When you do get it running though, it sounds like your rig will be sweet. I hope that happens fast.

tomh · Post by **tomh** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 4:20 pm

Will drop down at lunch time and get a cheapy, and try it tonight. If it works I'll get a replacement supply. If not, I'll swear.

I looking forward to it as well. My father heard I was building a new silent rig and said thanks for all the research, mind if I copy. He ended up with the same except for a Sontata II case, the standard heat sink but a different fan (instead of the Ninja). Claims he can't here it except for the disk when it's been worked hard. Mind you he's 60 so is probably partly death ... So with the P180 with better case insulation, I'm hoping to not hear nothing.

Thanks again for the help.

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 11:49 pm

Mind you he's 60 so is probably partly death

tomh · Post by **tomh** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 1:18 pm

Bit of a freudian slip there.

Well I got the system working yesterday. Turns out that my IQ is only 12. I had the four pin ATX power connector on the wrong way. Could have sworn I checked this over and over. Oh well, all's well that end's well. Probably need to change my screen name now to cover the embarassment.

It seems quiet but not silent, not sure if that's because I was expecting miracles or because I have more to do. The top two case fans seem to be making the noise. Both are running on low. I suppose some quieter fans are in order?

17C ambient. GPU was 40, CPU was 18-20C and system temp was 32C. This is with no fan on the Ninja so pretty happy there. Just curious where is the sensor for "system" temp?

Thanks for the advice. Most happy to get it working, just wish I hadn't made the dumb mistake at first.

stromgald · Post by **stromgald** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 3:58 pm

tomh wrote: 17C ambient. GPU was 40, CPU was 18-20C and system temp was 32C. This is with no fan on the Ninja so pretty happy there. Just curious where is the sensor for "system" temp?

Thanks for the advice. Most happy to get it working, just wish I hadn't made the dumb mistake at first.

System temp is usually somewhere on the motherboard close to the northbridge or southbridge chipset. 32C should be fine. My SFF on hot days tends to crash during gaming when the system temp gets up to 45C. I doubt yours will get that high.

I'd first take out one of the rear/top fans and see if your temperatures are acceptable during load. Nexus, undervolted Yate Loon, or undervolted Papst fans would be quieter than the Antec Tri-Cools.

Mistakes can happen on every build, stupid mistakes are the worst because you never notice them.

tomh · Post by **tomh** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 6:20 pm

Thanks,

Those temps are for idle, so will have to test them at load once I've finished installing. I don't know much, but did get the impression the Tri-cools weren't the quietest, so not overly worried. But it's good to know, there's plenty of room to quieten it some more.