Mainboard not Posting

RVFmal

RVFmal

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Problem with an MSI 945GM3-F mainboard not posting at all.

Have tried reseating memory, CPU, Wireless Card, resetting BIOS etc, but it will not post at all. No beeps, no nothing.

Aside from the above, what can it be? Have another board doing the same thing intermittently.

Probably has nothing to do with it, but both PC's are running Vista Home (I know, I know).

CPU is Intel Core 2 Duo 4200.
 
Have you tried taking out the cmos' battery for 1 minute to reset the bios' settings?
 
Praeses said:
Have you tried taking out the cmos' battery for 1 minute to reset the bios' settings?
Click to expand...
I took it out, but not for a minute. I also tried resetting with the jumpers.
 
Yeah, try disconnecting everything you don't need and if you have two or more memory modules try using one at a time and in different banks.
 
NoRulez said:
Sounds like a power issue... Check PSU plugs and if possible test PSU on another PC.
Also try disconnecting peripherals like floppy & CD/DVD.
Click to expand...

Tried that too to no avail. There is definitely power to the board and peripherals as the fans start running, DVD drive light goes on as does the light for the power switch.

Tried disconnecting HDD, DVD drive, and card reader.

Reseated memory (only 1 module)
 
I've had a similar issue with a few motherboards - turned out they were shorting on the metal case mounts - I removed the motherboard from the case, hooked everything up one by one outside of the case and checked everything - worked fine.

I went down to the local hardware and grabbed some cardboard fibre washers (very thin 6mm washers with 2.5-3mm holes), and placed them between the case motherboard mounts and the board - worked great and no problems since.
 
RVFmal said:
Tried that too to no avail. There is definitely power to the board and peripherals as the fans start running, DVD drive light goes on as does the light for the power switch.

Tried disconnecting HDD, DVD drive, and card reader.

Reseated memory (only 1 module)
Click to expand...

But just to be sure perhaps you could post your PSU type/specs? Bad PSU's have all the symptoms you posted (for both systems) and just because the devices come on doesn't mean there isn't a problem.

If the specs of the other system is exactly the same I would almost certainly say it's a PSU problem seeing as the intermittent behavior your taking about is a PSU that's over taxed and on it's way out, when it does finally give in it will do 1 of 2 things: Either

A) pop/boom and then won't work anymore or

B) The system will suddenly turn of with no explanation, in which case the system will power on again and everything will work or it fried something other than itself and the system will appear to be working but something did break, the all the lights coming on and everything but the system not posting for example.

Both cases have happend to me, one on a cheap PSU where it did B the other on a Thermaltake ButterFly 480W where it did option A both cases fried something

Either case there's a high chance your motherboard is fried. And if it's not the power your motherboard is probably fried/broken anyway :( Is it still in warranty?
 
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Thanks for the input guys.

The PC is a pre-built Proline unit ( so everything is still under warranty so will be taking them in to be repaired under warranty.

For interest sake the PSU is a ISO-P400LPP
 
RVFmal said:
Thanks for the input guys.

The PC is a pre-built Proline unit ( so everything is still under warranty so will be taking them in to be repaired under warranty.

For interest sake the PSU is a ISO-P400LPP
Click to expand...

LOL Proline, say no more. It's probably the PSU tho.
 
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Heh.

I had exactly the same problem with the same Mobo, with an E6400 CPU. I probably had to send it back 5 or six times. It would either not post at all, or if it would start up, the processor would be running at half the speed (even with Speedstep disable).

They eventually just replaced the mobo, cpu and psu in the end. Lucky for me all's fine now.

Looks like the 945GM3-F is just a crap board.
 
Compl33t said:
Heh.

I had exactly the same problem with the same Mobo, with an E6400 CPU. I probably had to send it back 5 or six times. It would either not post at all, or if it would start up, the processor would be running at half the speed (even with Speedstep disable).

They eventually just replaced the mobo, cpu and psu in the end. Lucky for me all's fine now.

Looks like the 945GM3-F is just a crap board.
Click to expand...

Yeah that or the Proline PSU sucks big time. MSI(seeing as their a Tier 1 motherboard supplier) has a bit more of a reputation than Proline...
 
Gnome said:
Yeah that or the Proline PSU sucks big time. MSI(seeing as their a Tier 1 motherboard supplier) has a bit more of a reputation than Proline...
Click to expand...

I second the decision on the P/S. People don't understand how important the quality of the Power supply is. People always want the best MB/RAM/Video etc. and they just want a cheap case, but the cheap case price includes the power supply. CPU/RAM etc run at very high frequencies and if you have dodgy powersupply you can have lots of peculiar problems.

But if it is still under warrantee, take it back it is there problem.:D
Don't tell them you did this/that and the other, because they might bump your warrantee claim.
:cool:
 
Took them in today. Will see what the outcome is.

Have purchased many Proline's and must admit that this is the first time that I have had problems of any sort.

Warranty seal was broken, but only due to the fact that I had to install wireless PCi cards which I purchased from them as well which they knew about.
 
Update.

Took PC's to Pinnacle and lo and behold it seems Murphy works there.

Both PC's started up perfectly when they benchtested them and the same when I went there to collect.

When I got them back to the office we tested them and they started up first time. Left them to run for about 30 to 45 minutes, shut down and then attempted to restart. And, it seems Murphy popped around for a visit.

The ruddy things wouldn't post!!!!!!

So back to Pinnacle tomorrow.
 
RVFmal said:
Update.

Took PC's to Pinnacle and lo and behold it seems Murphy works there.

Both PC's started up perfectly when they benchtested them and the same when I went there to collect.

When I got them back to the office we tested them and they started up first time. Left them to run for about 30 to 45 minutes, shut down and then attempted to restart. And, it seems Murphy popped around for a visit.

The ruddy things wouldn't post!!!!!!

So back to Pinnacle tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Can 100% guarantee it's the Power Supply, classic behavior...

If you can pressure them into testing the PSU (that is if they have the knowledge and equipment to do it), the only other way to force the problem is to run a program like 3DMark on loop till the PSU just gives up, but the PC might start up if you unplug it and leave it for a while then plug it in again and press the power button, if it doesn't work rinse and repeat with a 45 seconds interval between unplugging the PSU cable and pressing the power button. Eventually the PC will start up again.
 
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Are you using PS2 mouse and keyboards or USB? If PS2, are they plugged into the right socket, just thought I'd mention it - my wife decided to clean her PC a while back and plugged the mouse into the keyboard socket and vice-versa for the keyboard - the PC would not boot/post when the keyboard was not present. Just a thought...
 
Power Problems

Gnome said:
Can 100% guarantee it's the Power Supply, classic behavior...

If you can pressure them into testing the PSU (that is if they have the knowledge and equipment to do it), the only other way to force the problem is to run a program like 3DMark on loop till the PSU just gives up, but the PC might start up if you unplug it and leave it for a while then plug it in again and press the power button, if it doesn't work rinse and repeat with a 45 seconds interval between unplugging the PSU cable and pressing the power button. Eventually the PC will start up again.
Click to expand...

Nobody but nobody has the tools or test equipment to test power supplies. AFAIK

The only way out is to replace the power supply and run tests for a week. Does this problme occur when the PC is cold, early morning power-up?
Do you have proper grounding on the plugs at home where your PC get's it's power from. I suggest that you plug the PC into another powerpoint, but plug it in directly into the wall socket not via an adaptor. These adaptor's tends to loose connection on the earth point.
You can nowadays get a power plug that have indicators that shows the state of the wiring at any point where you plug the power into, very good tool to have.
:cool:
 
Thanks for all the replies.

Took the PC's back this morning to Pinnacle where they again tested them at the front work benches. Both started perfectly first time, but showed the problem on the restart. So they replaced the MoBo's and the PSU's.

Hopefully the problem will not reoccur.
 
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