Computer won't power up after video card install

[adamsgirl]

Hello group

Power Supply:Codegen 350W
Motherboard:Asrock K7S41GX
Chipset:SiS 741GX + 963L
CPU:AMD Athlon 2400+
RAM:512 MB
Installing:ATI Radeon 9550 256MB

I really hope someone can help me with this, it wont power up at all. No fans, cpu, nothing. The only thing that it has is the green light over the power button stays on, even when it is unplugged. When I went to install the new video card I didn't do anything with the bios or unistalled driver for the onboard before hand, because didnt know I was suppposed to. So I install it, close the case back up and go to turn it on and nothing happens. I removed it and tried to power up w/o it and still nothing. I searched all over for hours and tried every suggestion I could find (reseating video card, checking connections, even clearing the CMOS (which I'm not positive I did right) to no avail... so now I am running out of ideas. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.

[adamsgirl]

BTW this is the first time I've ever even seen a motherboard so please bear that in mind in your answers. Basically you have to talk to me like I'm your 80 year old grandmother. tanks all

[AMD Fanatic]

Is the CMOS jumper back in the correct position (check manual)??

DID you unplug and replug the power supply during the video card install??

[vick1000]

Unplug the computer and press the power button, then place the CMOS jumper in the clear position (see manual), press the power button again and wait a few seconds, place the CMOS jumper back in the normal position and plug the computer back in.

After DL and viewing the manual I see the CMOS jumper is to the right of the CMOS battery and above the floppy connector. What is strange is it show it as a 2 pin jumper, which means that the normal position would be without a jumper, or one end of the jumper hanging off of just one pin.

[Meridian]

1) Have you tried putting the original card back in?

2) Have you tried removing the current card and re-seating it?


My first guess is that the card isn't fully seated and you are shorting a couple of pins. In theory at least you shouldn't have done ny major damage though. If the screw in backplane which secures the card is in place you could also try loosening it a bit, as sometimes that can tilt the card out of position.

But remember: never add or remove hardware with main power going to the motherboard, even if system is shut down. If you've used Windows to shut down then the motherboard is still live (which is why the light is on). Switch off at the mains, but leave plugged in (to keep the earth path intact). If you can't switch off at the mains, then unplug. After switching off or unplugging, always press the pwoer button. This a) makes sure you really have turned the pwoer off, and b) discharges the PSU capacitors.


M

[3dfxrain]

seen this before, looks like the motherboard is dead as a doornail

replace the motherboard

[scrandman]

seen this before, looks like the motherboard is dead as a doornail

replace the motherboard

Erm, possibly not the best suggestion...

BTW this is the first time I've ever even seen a motherboard so please bear that in mind in your answers. Basically you have to talk to me like I'm your 80 year old grandmother. tanks all

First time I looked in on a mobo, ripping it out was the last thing I'd have attempted without some serious research first.

[OmegaMordred]

i had a similar problem..............turned out my PSU broke down, so try connecting a fan right on a power cable to see if it turns or not when u switch on the power supply.......

-M-

[adamsgirl]

After DL and viewing the manual I see the CMOS jumper is to the right of the CMOS battery and above the floppy connector. What is strange is it show it as a 2 pin jumper, which means that the normal position would be without a jumper, or one end of the jumper hanging off of just one pin.

Ok so what do I need to do, the manual says to place something metal on the solder points (I think thats what it was saying) which I didn't, but did help. Is there something else that I had to do?

First time I looked in on a mobo, ripping it out was the last thing I'd have attempted without some serious research first.

Ha Ha Yeh certainly wasn't even entertaining that thought, which is why I would like to try all the suggestions all you nice ppl have before I assume its the motherboard and fork out big bucks to a computer repairman. [/QUOTE]

i had a similar problem..............turned out my PSU broke down, so try connecting a fan right on a power cable to see if it turns or not when u switch on the power supply..........

This I didn't try, how exactly would I do that?


Thank you everyone for your suggestions I will go done them one by one..

[peski]

you could use a volt tester stick it in the the molex plug that would give you a clearer idea of psu. It's weird cause even if bios was completly screwed u'd still get something powering on the mobo, who knows. If u have to change it(mobo) read a little and it's the same as plugging in stereo components with a few precautions.

[Meridian]

Ok so what do I need to do, the manual says to place something metal on the solder points (I think thats what it was saying) which I didn't, but did help. Is there something else that I had to do?

Are you aware that the board needs to be removed from mains power before trying? Unlug the machine and press the power button once to discharge the capacitors, THEN try clearing CMOS. But I don't think this is the issue.


Do the above, then connect the power back up. Watch the CPU fan as you press the power buttin for the first time: does it spin for a second, then stop, or not move at all? Note that once this has happened, further presses of the power button will have no effect.


M

[3dfxrain]

of course, what I said was just a first impression, youre right, with more investigation you can find out more and its probably related, good luck, hopefully it hasnt kicked the bucket and is still able to work

[OmegaMordred]

i suggest u take a fan (its power supply cable) and plug it into a molex running out of your powersupply (this might require an adapter), but on most (or maybe every) psu theres a m'little' connector u can use to directly charge a (case-) fan.

Than power on your computer with the button, even ir mob is dead the fan SHOULD turn even if its for a split second when u power up, the psu send voltage to the molex connectore, and to the main connector to your mobo, if that mobo doesnt reply the pc wont boot, BUT the fan connected DIRECTLY ( NOT and i mean NOT connected through the mobo or on a cpu or gpu fan) to the PSU , SHOULD make a few turns, otherwise your power supply unit has gone to heaven!!!


-M-
ps: u can add me on msn if u want me to help u out further.
omegamordredAThotmail.com........replace AT by @ of ocurse (to avoid crawlers using my mail)

[adamsgirl]

Ok all sorry it took so long to get back, busy day. I had a friend drop by after work and he seems convinced its the power supply being that it doesn't do ANYthing... thinks the psu should still be kicking on even if nothing was plugged into the mobo. He also suggested going from a 350w to a 400w. Anyone disagree?

Anyone have any suggestions as to what to buy?

[alex666]

First of all, start your explanation from scratch, one step at a time. Specify exactly what you did, from uninstalling or disabling your old video card (it was on-board?) to installing the new one, where you purchased your new video card (a reputable dealer?), all that sort of stuff. A very detailed explanation will help others trouble-shoot this better.

The first time I upgraded a video card, it was to replace an on-board video card. This was on the compaq presario 5220. It had on-board video and so I installed a brand-new voodoo3 2000 pci card. Thought I had everything just right, booted up, and all I got was a flashing cursor on my screen. I didn't know what to do; upgrading was new to me at the time, and this was the family computer that my wife depended on, so I took it to a computer shop. They installed the new video card for me, got it working just fine, I brought it home and BOOM, the same damned thing happened, a flashing cursor. I immediately took it back to the computer shop, and it was then that a different tech realized that I had bent one of the pins in my keyboard plug while dissembling my system to put in the new video card, and that when subsequently plugging in the keyboard, it was essentially shorting out the entire system (when they installed the video card for me, they had used a different keyboard, and so there was no problem).

Point: before you do anything, it will help if you carefully describe your steps exactly, because you never know what might be causing the problem. This can keep down some of the more extreme initial suggestions, such as replacing your motherboard (!). Good luck.

marty