New build - New problem

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Hi
I've got a problem I've never come across and I can't seem to find a solution.

I've just built a computer for a friend. New case + psu (400w), new ECS NF4 motherboard (no onbaord gfx), AMD64 3200+ cpu and 512mb Ram. I've used all drives and a Radeon 9200SE gfx card from his old PC.

For some reason it will only boot with the vga cable disconnected. Once the hdd is running I can connect the cable and its fine. I can shutdown Windows but can't restart as I have to disconnect the vga again. It just hangs before POST with the vga cable connected.

9200SE was apparently working fine on the old computer and I've tried a different monitor + cable to rule that out. I've also tried with the DVD drive (x2) power disconnected in case theres not enough to start the system. Also I don't know if its related but the restart button on the front of the case does not work even though I have confirmed it is connected correctly.

I have recently built another computer using the same case, psu, motherboard and cpu and it works fine. The only differences being between the 2 systems is that the working one has the hdd connected via sata, the gfx are pci-e and there is only one DVD drive.

I need to give a working computer back tomorrow so any suggestions would be apprerciated. My first attempt will be to try my pci-e card to see if its the 9200SE at fault.

 

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Are you saying that this motherboard has a 16XPCI-E *and* AGP? If so - most unusual!

I suspect you will need to go into the BIOS and tell it to boot using the PCI or AGP slot (whichever the card is in).

Harry.

 

Thanks for quick replies

The 9200SE in question is standard PCI not AGP. My card which works is a X300 in PCI-E. I'm 99% sure that swapping the cards will work but if it does then I'm baffled as to why the 9200 doesn't work.

I haven't had a chance to swap cards yet. Only posted question 5 minutes ago. Need to wait for other half to get home first so I can pass our daughter over. Little fingers like going in open computers lol. Should be in next 10 minutes or so.

 

At 9 months old

Anyway's I've swapped the gfx cards and it made no difference so I changed them back. I then removed power and data cables from all drives inc hdd and removed the extra usb ports which are on a PCI card so the only components under test were psu, motherboard, cpu and graphics card. I press the power button and get the 'insert system disk' error which is expected. I press power to turn off then on again and it fails to post. It seems to be completely random as to whether the system will post or not although it seems more likely to work if the vga cable is disconnected at the time of pressing the power button (strange). I have idential cpu and motherboard in my working computer and am toying with the idea of swapping cpu's to see if it helps but don't know if its worth the risk of damaging it. Not sure what else to try.

 

No beeps as no speaker in pc or connection on board for one.
Looking at BIOS updates now, nothing seems directly related but I'll give it a go.

 

This may be the indicator that the MOBO is not a happy bunny. If the reset button isn't working properly then something is wrong with the MOBO and maybe the other seemingly unrelated issues you are having are in fact traceable to a faulty motherboard.

Hopefully a BIOS flash will help

Pete

 

have you tried different RAM? My PC which also uses an NFORCE 4 board suffers from lots of problems with Maxtor SATA2 drives. Another problem I've endured is no monitor output when the computers booting up, but the monitor kicks in as soon as Windows reaches the login screen. Tried various BIOS updates with no luck, only way to make sure the PC boots up correctly with VGA output during the BIOS/Boot process is to leave it off for 30 seconds and switch it back on.

 

BIOS update seems to have fixed it. The restart button still doesn't work but I think thats a mechanical issue rather than motherboard. If it wasn't half 1 in the morning I'd try shorting to terminals on the motherboard to confirm but with my eyes as heavy as they are I'd probably hit something else and cause more problems. I've tried booting 10 times and each has been successful so I fairly convinced its ok although I still don't know exactly what the problem was.

Thanks for all

Slam: just posted at same time as you. RAM was next on my list to try although I didn't think it would stop post althogether.

 

Glad you got it sorted out mate, RAM would have been the next logical step. How out of date was the boards BIOS?

 

Unsure

The latest update was 27th March but I forgot to note the original BIOS date.

Link to site http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWeb/Produc...ID=1&TypeID=31&DetailID=493&MenuID=16&LanID=8
Can't see the original date there either.

(Nice board for under £40)

 

As it's a PCI/PCI-E motherboard, there may have been a setting to boot a graphics card in one or the other of these. The BIOS update may have reset this setting and got it working.

 

The BIOS does have that option and I did try it but it didn't make any difference. It did seem odd that it would work provided the vga cable was disconnected at power up and then connected whilst the computer began to boot.