Steenamaroo
...
Oh don't misunderstand me - My meter gets daily use and I'm not even a 'real' tech...just a hobbyist.
I can't think of any time I've used it with/relating to a computer though.
New Computer Build Not Working
- Thread starter dachay2tnr
- Start date
Oh don't misunderstand me - My meter gets daily use and I'm not even a 'real' tech...just a hobbyist.
I can't think of any time I've used it with/relating to a computer though.
dachay2tnr
One Hit Wonder
I am going to do that. Breadboard build or bench build, or whatever.fingersandkeyz said:
There is no internal speaker, but this thread helped me discover there are led's which I believe serve the same purpose. Four of them - memory, VGA, CPU, and Boot Devices. I don't recall seeing any of them lit, but they're pretty small so possibly I overlooked them.
It has onboard graphics, so I'm going to test it with just mobo, dram, cpu, and psu. Fingers crossed, but I won't get to this until next week.
I did pull the mobo. No scorched parts. The only thing unusual was several of the case standoffs came out with the screws. I don't think it's anything to be concerned with, and they're easy to put back in.
Back at you all later. Thanks.
Last edited:
arcaxis
Well-known member
It's been a few years since I had this problem, so my recollection is sort of foggy.
I had a PC that developed a problem where the fans would spin up momentarily when the power on button was pushed, but not start the boot process. It was related to "Power Good Signal" and "Soft Power" in the link below. The CPU wasn't sending a signal back to the power supply to latch it on which was somehow related to the Power Good signal timing. Might be able to probe the connectors (green and/or gray wire I think) with a voltmeter to see what the voltage does.
PCGuide - Ref - Power Supply - Functions
Bought one of these and it helped troubleshoot the problem...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsjxZzYTtuk
COOLMAX PS-228 Network/ PC Service Tools - Newegg.com Cheaper at Amazon I think
Also had an issue with a different PC of starting a boot, but failing with error code beeps indicating a memory problem. Removed the memory, cleaned the contacts with cotton swab with DeOxit. It's been OK since.
I had a PC that developed a problem where the fans would spin up momentarily when the power on button was pushed, but not start the boot process. It was related to "Power Good Signal" and "Soft Power" in the link below. The CPU wasn't sending a signal back to the power supply to latch it on which was somehow related to the Power Good signal timing. Might be able to probe the connectors (green and/or gray wire I think) with a voltmeter to see what the voltage does.
PCGuide - Ref - Power Supply - Functions
Bought one of these and it helped troubleshoot the problem...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsjxZzYTtuk
COOLMAX PS-228 Network/ PC Service Tools - Newegg.com Cheaper at Amazon I think
Also had an issue with a different PC of starting a boot, but failing with error code beeps indicating a memory problem. Removed the memory, cleaned the contacts with cotton swab with DeOxit. It's been OK since.
dachay2tnr
One Hit Wonder
SOLVED
Thanks for all the help, gentlemen. Turns out it was a bad CPU. It was pretty much the only thing left. Memory had been checked. A different PSU was tried. Motherboard was replaced (sorry Amazon, I guess the first one was probably OK).
Got the new cpu last night. Did a breadboard this morning outside the case with just cpu, mobo, memory and psu. Booted right up.
Little by little I started adding in the other components, but there were no other issues. Just finished installing Windows.
Happy camper today. Didn't really need a $650 end table.
Thanks for all the help, gentlemen. Turns out it was a bad CPU. It was pretty much the only thing left. Memory had been checked. A different PSU was tried. Motherboard was replaced (sorry Amazon, I guess the first one was probably OK).
Got the new cpu last night. Did a breadboard this morning outside the case with just cpu, mobo, memory and psu. Booted right up.
Little by little I started adding in the other components, but there were no other issues. Just finished installing Windows.
Happy camper today. Didn't really need a $650 end table.
Last edited:
Mickster
Well-known member
A shot in the dark.........but all was well until you put the covers on. Perhaps you shorted a wire / cable....etc at that point and it is still shorted. Then removing the covers would not correct the problem. You could have done it with the covers or your fingers or whatever so some point to point trouble shooting might work. I'm guessing you already did that but your problem does seem like a dead short somewhere. So many possible culprits.
dachay2tnr
One Hit Wonder
Err, guess you didn't read the above post. Bad cpu.
Steenamaroo
...
Glad you found the issue man, even if it wasn't straight forward. I hope it didn't cost you any more than it should have.
I do wonder even more if the CPU over heated.
I know other people said that won't happen or whatever, but I've done it. OK, years ago..but I've done it.
Also, I recently had a malfunctioning CPU - it was running between 70+90 degrees
I ended replacing it....no need to give you the full story but in the process I learned that a could lightly touch the heatsink, seemingly not enough to move it, and observer a 5-10 degree core temperature rise!
TL/DR? CPU coolers are real finicky.
That said, it could just have been a dud from the factory, just waiting to be cooked.
I do wonder even more if the CPU over heated.
I know other people said that won't happen or whatever, but I've done it. OK, years ago..but I've done it.
Also, I recently had a malfunctioning CPU - it was running between 70+90 degrees
I ended replacing it....no need to give you the full story but in the process I learned that a could lightly touch the heatsink, seemingly not enough to move it, and observer a 5-10 degree core temperature rise!
TL/DR? CPU coolers are real finicky.
That said, it could just have been a dud from the factory, just waiting to be cooked.
Steenamaroo
...
They're suppose to, but fire up any chip without a cooler and see how that thermal shutdown goes.
dachay2tnr
One Hit Wonder
Yeah, I'm using the stock fan. It's an i5, not overclocked, and nothing very sophisticated. Should be fine to run Sonar.
The main reason for the upgrade is my old 'puter would not run anything newer than XP, and the newer versions of Sonar need at least Win 7.
dachay2tnr
One Hit Wonder
Fortunately I was able to exchange the mobo and cpu at no additional cost. In hindsight, the mobo was probably ok, but seemed a more likely culprit than the CPU.Glad you found the issue man, even if it wasn't straight forward. I hope it didn't cost you any more than it should have.
That said, it could just have been a dud from the factory, just waiting to be cooked.
Pretty sure I didn't do anything to the CPU. But I still find it odd that I got one boot from it. Not sure about the static electricity concern, as nothing internal was touched after the first boot. Simply put the covers back on the case, and it wouldn't boot again.
Chili
Site Moderator
They're suppose to, but fire up any chip without a cooler and see how that thermal shutdown goes.
I've not put one to the test before.
Right, I remember now. (didn't reread the thread)
I ruined a mobo once by dropping in a cpu ever-so-slightly out of true and bent some pins. Newegg wouldn't refund the money and I had to buy a new mobo.
Glad to hear you're up and running.
dachay2tnr
One Hit Wonder
I was expecting to have issues trying to return this stuff, but both Amazon (motherboard) and Jet.com (cpu) took them back no problem. I guess it helped that I wasn't looking for credit, just a replacement. But I have the feeling they would have accepted it either way.
I bought parts for this build from Jet, Amazon, and Newegg. Just dumb luck the mobo and cpu were from different vendors. Returning both to the same place might have raised some eyebrows.
BroKen_H
Re-member
I had one of those stories with Amazon last year. Bought a pack of patch cables. Never got them. Said they were delivered, but never showed up. Contacted them and two days later they showed up. No charge. Come Christmas, lo and behold, my wife had wrapped them up as a present...I didn't order them because I didn't need them. 
She didn't want to say anything because she wanted them to be a surprise??? 
Anyway, I had a dickens of a time getting them to charge me for the first set. Had to write like 6 e-mails and get on a live chat in the end to get them to charge me for the second set.
She didn't want to say anything because she wanted them to be a surprise??? Anyway, I had a dickens of a time getting them to charge me for the first set. Had to write like 6 e-mails and get on a live chat in the end to get them to charge me for the second set.FingerzAndKeyz
Member
I've had things like that happen a lot, some Amazon as well as with other vendors. With how some companies do that swap from UPS to USPS once the package gets into the delivery zip code (to save shipping costs for the vendor), what you think is coming UPS ends up in your mail box.
My mailbox is on the street and sometimes the mailman doesn't want to get out of his vehicle and walk the 25 feet up to my door, so he prefers to stuff the package into my mailbox. I've also been not so politely told by the postal people that they value the safety of their drivers and won't go onto property where they don't feel safe. I have a fenced in back yard and I guess they just assume there's a big mean dog?
I have a large mailbox, but even with that, some packages end up sticking out to the point the door can't be closed. They shouldn't do that but how can you fight the USPS? The problem is that because my mailbox is on the street, people can drive by, see these packages sticking out, decide to slow down and take the package, assuming it must be something of value. I'm sure they decide that later, keeping or pitching in the trash, once they are safe at home.
The problem is, USPS says they delivered the package, but when I get home and check my mail, I say I never received it. Because I trust the government not to lie to me (OK, call me stupid), I can only assume someone drove by and stole my package. I lost two packages that way, but because I never received them, the vendor credited my costs. They had no problem doing that at all, so I can only guess this isn't uncommon.
I once got a car part from a vendor in China. I didn't know how long it would take, but after a month of no package, I told them I would prefer they just credit my card and I'd get the part from another vendor. A week later, the first part arrived in my mail box. So, because I didn't need too parts, I contacted the China vendor and asked if they wanted me to send it back or if they wanted to recharge me, because I actually did receive it. They said I could keep the part, saying they appreciated an honest customer. Also, it could have been lost in the return, and I'm sure they knew that. The total cost of the part was only about $10, and it took nearly two months to arrive!
Another time, I purchased an mp3 player. It was defective from the beginning and the vendor credited my account. They failed to give me an RMA, so I asked them if they wanted the defective player back. They said I could keep it, or trash it. It would cost too much for them to ship it back. This makes me wonder if some people get things for free by using either of these stories. Both times, I could have lied and got the packages as well as the mp3 player for free. Personally, I wouldn't do that, but I'm sure there are people out there who would.
Back to the CPU burning up, I think you have to go back quite a few years to when they didn't have heat syncs to burn one up. I could be wrong, but when they started getting faster and faster, they almost had to include thermal protection. I have an old Dell computer that I use to run a camera system in my studio. It has no thermal grease between chip and heat sync, because that was before they started doing that. The heat sync fan stopped working and the processor shut itself down because of overheating.
I couldn't tell what the error message said when it shut down, so I turned it on again, just so I could read it. Of course, it shut down again, but I was able to read those scary words PROCESSOR OVER HEATING that time. I panicked, thinking I had maybe damaged the processor by turning it on a second time. After finding the problem and fixing the heat sync fan, I fired it up again. It works great. The thermal shut down saved my ass twice, in about 20 minutes time.
Sorry for the long tail. I'm glad you found the problem. Building your own computers can be fun...most of the time.
Chili
Site Moderator
Me too.
I bought a DVD movie as a gift, received it, hid it until christmas and forgot about it. One week before christmas, I called Amazon saying I never received it, because I forgot I hid the first one (duh!!). They sent another. After Christmas, I found the first one and tried to send it back but they couldn't get it right and they wanted to send me a third. After a few calls and emails, I gave up.
dachay2tnr
One Hit Wonder
Not to beat this horse any further, but I'm finding something interesting with this setup. The mobo has 4 warning led lights on it. Dram, cpu, vga, and boot device. When I was having the problem, none of these lights came on. I believe they are supposed to come on and stay on if there is a problem.
Anyway, with the new cpu, when you push start, the cpu fan comes on for a brief moment, and then stops. Then each warning light, one by one, comes on and shuts off. Once it's gone through all 4 lights, the cpu fan comes back on, and the computer boots. The whole process takes a few seconds.
I'm guessing that this is "normal" and everything is simply being tested before the computer is allowed to boot. Memory test... Ok. CPU test... Ok. Etc. Weird though that fan stops, and the power light on the case goes out during this period.
The funny thing is this pause is exactly like what I was getting when I was having the problem. Except at that point none if the warning lights came on, and the case fans weren't working, and it never booted. Now, the case fans continue to work during this test period, and it boots fine afterwards.
I'm not going to worry about it, as I think I know what's going on, and it's working fine otherwise. Doesn't do it on a restart, just a cold boot.
Anyway, with the new cpu, when you push start, the cpu fan comes on for a brief moment, and then stops. Then each warning light, one by one, comes on and shuts off. Once it's gone through all 4 lights, the cpu fan comes back on, and the computer boots. The whole process takes a few seconds.
I'm guessing that this is "normal" and everything is simply being tested before the computer is allowed to boot. Memory test... Ok. CPU test... Ok. Etc. Weird though that fan stops, and the power light on the case goes out during this period.
The funny thing is this pause is exactly like what I was getting when I was having the problem. Except at that point none if the warning lights came on, and the case fans weren't working, and it never booted. Now, the case fans continue to work during this test period, and it boots fine afterwards.
I'm not going to worry about it, as I think I know what's going on, and it's working fine otherwise. Doesn't do it on a restart, just a cold boot.