I just assembled a PC, a P4P800-VM Asus motherboard, A Pentium 4
2.4GHz 800Mhz FSB, a 512MB PC2700 333MHz Corsair memory Module, and an
Nvidia GeForce Ti4200 128MB DDR and the case is a Raid Max and came
with a 350-watt power supply, I havechecked all connections more than
once when I turn on the power supply the green stanby light comes on
the motherboard.  However when I hitthe power switch the computer wont
boot at all, I think I saw a fan
move for about 2 seconds after two separate attempts.  Any ideas?

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Request for Question Clarification by sycophant-ga on 19 Jul 2003 15:48 PDT

Hi,

Is the PSU starting when you hit power on? Or is it doing nothing?

If it is starting, the most obvious thing I can think to look at,
given your description is the power supply.

Do you have another one you could try? I have occasionally seen the
contacts in the powersupply connector come loose and not connect
properly. The standby light is powered by a different connection than
the main system power.

If you do not have a spare power supply, then I'd suggest you look
closely at the plug from the power supply, to make sure none of the
pins have been worked loose. Also, if you have a multimeter, you could
check the current on all of them (see this ATX pin out diagram:
http://xtronics.com/reference/atx_pinout.htm)

If it's not starting, then it is possible (although somewhat remote)
that the power on signal from the motherboard is not getting to the
powersupply. The easiest way to check this is the see if you can start
the PSU by shorting pins 14 and 15. This should make the PSU start. If
it isn't doing that when it's plugged in to the motherboard, then it
most likely isn't getting the PS-ON signal from the motherboard. This
could mean the motherboard is faulty, or the power switch is faulty.

Good luck, let me know if this yeilds anymore info.

Regards,
Sycophant-ga

In addition to Sycophant's plausible diagnosis, may I suggest the
possibility of inadequate supply of power by your power-source to all
devices linked to your motherboard? Sometimes, 350W transformers may
not provide sufficient energy to be distributed to all installed
devices, in which case you can try replacing your current transformer
with a 400W version.


Good Luck!

Look at the power supply and see if it has a switch to toggle it
between a 120 volt power source and 240 power source.  I had a similar
problem with a power supply until I realized it wasn't switched to the
120 volt position after buying it from a supplier. :-)

Also, disconnect the hard drive/floppy drive.  See if you can test
with a different video card, as that is usually the first device
polled when the system is going through POST.

Good luck...

It is a well known fact that most motherboard manufacturer's ship
their boards with the "clear CMOS" jumper set to clear. If you have
not already, set it to "normal". This would cause exaclty the problems
you describe.

It's the stupid small 4pin 12v power adapter that this motherboard
has.  Read through the documentation again for an extra (required)
4pin plugin.  You may need to get an adapter or a new powersupply that
has this retarded connector built in.

I went through this whole thing until I figured this out.  I'm not to
thrilled that ASUS didn't bother to remedy this by providing an
adapter or something.  Would have only cost them what? 50 cents?

Good luck with the problem!