Newly built PC won't POST or anything
 

So I built this computer for my brother. The total cost was a little over $300. I posted about it a couple weeks ago here:
http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthr...ghlight=%24300

Here are the specs:
Motherboard w/ CPU $74.00
Syntax SV266AD 5xPCI 1xAGP(4x) 2xUSB ATX 266FSB -with cpu - ATHLON XP 2200+,1.8GHZ w/ Heatsink Fan

Memory $50.88
512 MB PC2700 Micron

Hard Drive $67.49
Seagate 80 GB IDE

CD-RW $34.98
Lite-On 52x24x52 IDE

Floppy $12.98
Sony 1.44 internal

Video Card $69.00
PowerColors ATI Radeon 9600SE

Case and Power Supply $17.00
400 W Power Supply and Metal Case

Total $326.33

I had to buy the Syntax mobo instead of the PC Chips one due to stock issues at the place I bought it from, whatever, no problem.

Anyways, I put this thing together. The processor was already installed. I had to install the heat sink/fan myself. So I put some thermal paste on the core and put on the fan. Everything else installed fine. When I go to power the system up, there is no POST, no beeps, no lights but seemingly everything has power...the fan, the CD-ROM drive, keyboard, mouse. I then reseated everything and tried again, no luck. Then I disconnected all floppy, IDE, and USB connectors to the motherboard. Tried powering up, no luck. The case is a cheap one, and was missing a screw or two, so the motherboard is not screwed in at two points. Therefore, is the motherboard not grounded well because of this? I didn't wear an ESD strap during this, but I was sure to ground myself at regular intervals.

What do you think? Is the mobo bad? Is the processor core cracked? Any ideas on a plan of action. I am going to try the RAM on another computer to see if that may be the problem for starters.

is the speaker plugged in?

so you can hear beeps.

other wise, reseat the proc, check the power cables.

Could be the RAM. Try reseating it or trying it in another computer as you mentioned.

Make sure your power supply is set to the right voltages.

Clear the Cmos

Check Memory, VGA Card.

Just try it with minimal hardward, known working hardware if you can borrow a friends ram and video card.

One quick question.

You said the cpu was already installed? Did you buy it from ebay or from a friend.

Thanks for the quick repsonses!

To answer some of your questions:

The speaker cable is connected. I reseated the cpu carefully, but still nothing. I tried the RAM in another computer and it is good. The power supply is set to the correct voltage, I cleared the CMOS. I tried the video card in another computer and it is good as well. I tried known good RAM in the new computer, no luck. I disconnected all USB connections, IDE connections, floppy connection to the motherboard during all these tests.

The cpu was already put in the socket by the vendor. I paid the $4 or so to have them alledgedly test the mobo and cpu before shipping.

Right now, it is looking like I am going to send back both the mobo and the processor for an RMA.

does the board suport the 2200+?

i dont just mean FSB wise, does the stock board work with a 2200 or does it need to be flashed.

oh and remove the board check for shorts and replace it.

Make sure nothing metal is touching the motherboard.

Ditto, that was my problem when I built my first pc.

Ok, I just completely rebuilt everything. I checked the motherboard and the area on the case where the motherboard sits for any debris that could short stuff out. I didn't see any debris, but I did carefully brush it off. But to my surprise, when I powered it up again, voila, it finally gets to the POST and runs BIOS. Everything checks out OK except the hard drive though. I screwed around with the IDE cables and shit, but it doesn't not detect the hard drive correctly. I will test another cable and stuff and test another drive to see if the mobo IDE circuitry is cool. One thing I am wondering is that there are a total of 7 screws that attach the board to the case. Unfortunately I only have 4 screws that are long enough to do the job. There may be some grounding issues? Any circuitry near where a screw is supposed to be may need the nearby area of the ground plane to have a direct connection to chassis ground.

Despite these new issues, at least it seems like I'm getting somewhere :)

Thanks for the suggestions

I don't think there would be any grounding issues... though I suppose anything's possible.

As for your hard drive, I've seen this happen time and time again (not saying YOU did it necessarily, but it happens a lot). Did you set your jumpers correctly? Make sure to look at the drive and find where it says how to set the jumpers, and set it to the "single drive" position. If there is no position for that, use "master." Under no circumstances use "cable select." Every time I've seen someone try that (myself included) it hasn't worked. I haven't heard any sufficient explanation for WHY that is, but that doesn't make much difference. It just doesn't work.

If that's not your problem, sorry. I can't think of anything else off hand.

Well, now I think the HD is bad. I tried a known good HD in the computer and BIOS detected it, it booted the OS, everything was fine. I will probably try to see if another computer's BIOS can detect the bad drive, just to make sure. I did check all jumper settings, and even tried the HD with the jumper in master mode. By the way I have always used cable select for my HD jumper setting and never had any problems.

I'd still fuck around with the jumper settings. I've also never had good experiences with Cable Select, but it looks like you've tried Master as well. Some motherboards will not accept a HDD unless they're Primary Slave...I'd try setting the jumper for that and connecting it on the middle connector (Slave).

-Lasereth

Again, thanks for the tips.

Well, I did fuck around with the jumper settings and cables and stuff some more as Lasereth suggestion but no dice. So, I just got another hard drive on Sunday and everything looked pretty good. One odd thing is that when I connected the hard drive I couldn't get into the CMOS setup by hitting delete, BIOS did detect everything though. Pretty weird. So of course I decided to fuck around with the motherboard mounting screws some more when I mounted the new hard drive, and low and behold no POST or anything again. Now today I powered up the system with the motherboard not screwed in or connected to chassis at all (which I should have done long ago!). It worked flawlessly. I connected all components, FDD, HDD, CD-RW, etc. and it worked flawlessly as well. So, it appears the case ground is screwy and may be facilitating such phenomena as cross-talk or other EMI related issues. Who knows. I am going to try another case. All I know is I ended up with one bad hard drive and one screwy case.

EDIT: Everything is working fine now, again thanks for the tips