[clue-tech] I just bought a motherboard, CPU and memory and something is DOA

[Dennis J Perkins]

On Sat, 2009-07-18 at 09:05 -0600, AGSCalabrese wrote:
> The CPU is a dual-core socket 775 2.5 GHz Pentium
> The memory is two sticks of 1GB DDR2 PC2-5300
> The motherboard is a Gigabyte GA G31M ES2L
> 
> I bought them at MicroCenter.
> I installed the CPU and the memory and a speaker and plugged in a  
> monitor.
> 
> Results:   No display on monitor, no beeps from the speaker.
> The power switch starts the fan.  At first I could also turn the fan  
> off by pressing the power switch for 5 seconds.  No longer.
> 
> I am looking for some help whereby I drop by and try my parts in  
> someone's system.
> 
> Best
> Gus S. Calabrese
> _______________________________________________
If you can wait a week (I doubt I could. :) ), you could bring your
computer to the InstallFest.

The memory is probably not at fault since you don't even see the BIOS
boot information.  

I'm assuming that the monitor works and is connected to the computer.

Since this is a new board, you should have a 24-pin cable and another
12V connector (8 pins?) plugged into the motherboard.

If you have a power supply with a 120/240 switch, make sure it is set to
120.

Since the fan runs when you turn on the power, you have the power switch
connected correctly.  Can you measure the voltages on the power supply?

Is the CPU inserted correctly, that is, is pin 1 in the right spot?
This might seem obvious, but I have seen them put in wrong.

Altho power supplies do fail and I have heard of them being dead on
arrival, I have never seen a new one that did not work.  I would suspect
the motherboard before I suspect the CPU, based on experience.
Companies occasionally release bad batches of motherboards.


I hope you took precautions when handling the electronic parts.  I once
saw someone who claimed to work in IT sit down on carpet, lay the parts
on the carpet, and proceed to assemble a computer.  I didn't see him
turn power on, so I have no idea if it worked.  The protection networks
on chips make them more resistant to static electricity, but common
sense should make you not want to press your luck.  I think this guy
happened to fall into an IT job (probably got an MSCE) but lacked the
training and understanding for handling exposed electronics.