What do you do with an inert computer?

fivemack · 2013-05-21, 19:40

I have just built myself a machine with an FM2-A75IA-E53 motherboard and an A4-4000 processor, basically to be an NFS server and replace the stack of USB hard drives I have lying around the house.

I've assembled board + CPU + one stick DDR3/1600 RAM + PSU, turned it on, and the fans start turning, a blue light comes on on the front, but there is no beep and no output from the VGA or HDMI ports; not even the lights on the network ports come on.

What do I do next? I've disconnected everything from the board except the front-panel connectors and the power, and checked that the FM2-A75IA-E53 supports the A4-4000 processor.

kracker · 2013-05-21, 19:48

Is the power supply fine and connected?

chappy · 2013-05-21, 20:03

try jumping around the start switch.

Also make sure all components are fully seated. (bad ram-stick could cause the issue).

if you feel lucky (or unlucky) check that all the pins on the cpu are straight and seated--hold off on this if you can. nothing worse in computer building than the crunch sound of a cpu breaking.

remove the cmos battery then replace. (or sometimes there's a jumper you can remove and replace) this resets the cmos which doesn't sound like your problem but won't hurt.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/13208...le.html?page=2

I notice you don't mention a drive being attached, shouldn't be the problem as you should be able to get to the bios etc.

questions: Is there evidence of power on the motherboard? other than the front powerswitch LED.

Do you have a multimeter that you can check the voltages on the powersupply with? even a cheap one will be accurate enough.

do you have a second stick of ram to try? Or at least try placing it in the third slot and see if the MB slot is defective. (correction you only have two memory slots.)

You should have two power cables to the motherboard and a cpu fan connected.

Sorry if this is a bit sophomoric, I promise you anything silly you forget to do in a build has been done by every other builder at least once.

fivemack · 2013-05-21, 20:11

There's no evidence of power on the motherboard - attached USB mouse doesn't light up, for example.

However, if I take the RAM stick out, it does bleep three times, which confirms that quite a bit of the system is active.

I suspect that the motherboard supports the A4-4000 processor only with a new BIOS, and that I need to install a supported CPU to be able to flash the BIOS. It's a little annoying that a supported CPU will cost me more than the A4-4000; I suppose it will have acceptable ebay resale value. My floor will be covered with computer bits until Thursday.

paulunderwood · 2013-05-21, 20:40

Do you have a 4 pin power lead snugly plugged into the 4 pin power socket on the mainboard? A silly question, as you have most likely followed the manual.

fivemack · 2013-05-21, 20:54

I've checked and re-seated both power cables (the 20+4 ATX block and the 4-pin 12V) several times; the A4-5300 should arrive on Thursday and hopefully that will work in the motherboard. Don't know whether I'm better off using it as the processor or using it to reflash the BIOS so that the other processor works :)

xilman · 2013-05-22, 06:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by fivemack

What do I do next?

Boat anchor
Paperweight
Fish tank
...

You have to imagine the cartoon drawings of each application.

kladner · 2013-05-22, 14:01

1) Put it in the longboat till it's sober.

2) Put it in the scuppers with a hose-pipe on it.

3) Make it turn to at shining bright work.

4) Give it a taste of the bo'sun's (boatswain) rope end.

5) Pull out the plug and wet it all over.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drunken_Sailor

fivemack · 2013-05-25, 18:47

Swapping in an A4-5300 produced an entirely functional computer; it's not terribly fast (10% faster per-core at NFS sieving than my 1.9GHz Opterons), but it seems to work adequately as a fileserver.

My supplier refuses to accept returns of CPUs that have been fitted - apparently it's too much effort to reapply the heatsink goop - so I'll have to resell on ebay. Or here: anyone want an A4-4000 CPU?

chalsall · 2013-05-25, 18:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by fivemack

Or here: anyone want an A4-4000 CPU?

Be moral. Write it off the books as a loss.

2013-05-21, 19:40	#1
fivemack (loop (#_fork)) Feb 2006 Cambridge, England 6453₁₀ Posts	What do you do with an inert computer? I have just built myself a machine with an FM2-A75IA-E53 motherboard and an A4-4000 processor, basically to be an NFS server and replace the stack of USB hard drives I have lying around the house. I've assembled board + CPU + one stick DDR3/1600 RAM + PSU, turned it on, and the fans start turning, a blue light comes on on the front, but there is no beep and no output from the VGA or HDMI ports; not even the lights on the network ports come on. What do I do next? I've disconnected everything from the board except the front-panel connectors and the power, and checked that the FM2-A75IA-E53 supports the A4-4000 processor. Last fiddled with by fivemack on 2013-05-21 at 19:43

2013-05-21, 20:11	#4
fivemack (loop (#_fork)) Feb 2006 Cambridge, England 3³·239 Posts	There's no evidence of power on the motherboard - attached USB mouse doesn't light up, for example. However, if I take the RAM stick out, it does bleep three times, which confirms that quite a bit of the system is active. I suspect that the motherboard supports the A4-4000 processor only with a new BIOS, and that I need to install a supported CPU to be able to flash the BIOS. It's a little annoying that a supported CPU will cost me more than the A4-4000; I suppose it will have acceptable ebay resale value. My floor will be covered with computer bits until Thursday. Last fiddled with by fivemack on 2013-05-21 at 20:17

2013-05-22, 14:01	#8
kladner "Kieren" Jul 2011 In My Own Galaxy! 23656₈ Posts	What do you do with a drunken computer? 1) Put it in the longboat till it's sober. 2) Put it in the scuppers with a hose-pipe on it. 3) Make it turn to at shining bright work. 4) Give it a taste of the bo'sun's (boatswain) rope end. 5) Pull out the plug and wet it all over. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drunken_Sailor

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2013-05-21, 19:48	#2
kracker "Mr. Meeseeks" Jan 2012 California, USA 3²×241 Posts	Is the power supply fine and connected?

2013-05-21, 20:03	#3
chappy "Jeff" Feb 2012 St. Louis, Missouri, USA 13×89 Posts	try jumping around the start switch. Also make sure all components are fully seated. (bad ram-stick could cause the issue). if you feel lucky (or unlucky) check that all the pins on the cpu are straight and seated--hold off on this if you can. nothing worse in computer building than the crunch sound of a cpu breaking. remove the cmos battery then replace. (or sometimes there's a jumper you can remove and replace) this resets the cmos which doesn't sound like your problem but won't hurt. http://www.pcworld.com/article/13208...le.html?page=2 I notice you don't mention a drive being attached, shouldn't be the problem as you should be able to get to the bios etc. questions: Is there evidence of power on the motherboard? other than the front powerswitch LED. Do you have a multimeter that you can check the voltages on the powersupply with? even a cheap one will be accurate enough. do you have a second stick of ram to try? Or at least try placing it in the third slot and see if the MB slot is defective. (correction you only have two memory slots.) You should have two power cables to the motherboard and a cpu fan connected. Sorry if this is a bit sophomoric, I promise you anything silly you forget to do in a build has been done by every other builder at least once.

2013-05-21, 20:40	#5
paulunderwood Sep 2002 Database er0rr 23·179 Posts	Do you have a 4 pin power lead snugly plugged into the 4 pin power socket on the mainboard? A silly question, as you have most likely followed the manual.

2013-05-21, 20:54	#6
fivemack (loop (#_fork)) Feb 2006 Cambridge, England 1935₁₆ Posts	I've checked and re-seated both power cables (the 20+4 ATX block and the 4-pin 12V) several times; the A4-5300 should arrive on Thursday and hopefully that will work in the motherboard. Don't know whether I'm better off using it as the processor or using it to reflash the BIOS so that the other processor works :)

2013-05-25, 18:47	#9
fivemack (loop (#_fork)) Feb 2006 Cambridge, England 3³·239 Posts	Swapping in an A4-5300 produced an entirely functional computer; it's not terribly fast (10% faster per-core at NFS sieving than my 1.9GHz Opterons), but it seems to work adequately as a fileserver. My supplier refuses to accept returns of CPUs that have been fitted - apparently it's too much effort to reapply the heatsink goop - so I'll have to resell on ebay. Or here: anyone want an A4-4000 CPU?