hey people..

i'm building a small PC/media centre for the living room, but i've run into a weird problem.. the system comprises:

Antec NSK1300 µATX case (http://www.antec.com/uk/productDetails.php?ProdID=00131)
Asus A8N-VM µATX Motherboard (http://uk.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=15&l3=0&model=1127&modelmenu=1)
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Socket 939
512MB Kingston DDR400
13.6Gb Maxtor UATA66 HDD
Asus DRW-1608 DVD±RW (http://uk.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=6&l2=35&l3=0&model=1086&modelmenu=1)

i assembled it last night, connected the peripherals, then finally connected it to the mains.. the green "standby" LED on the motherboard (near the PCI-E slots) came on, signalling that power was being applied.. however, pressing the Power button appeared to do absolutely nothing.. not a sausage.. my first thought was that i had connected the Power button to the wrong pins on the mobo header, but i checked and rechecked it at least 10 times and it was definitely connected as describred in both the manual and as was printed on the board..

does anyone have any idea what might cause a complete failure to power-up like this? at first i thought it must be the PSU, but that can't really be the case as the onboard standyby LED indicates that power is being supplied..

i'm going to raise an RMA and get the case swapped out, but to avoid further delaying the project i thought i'd ask you knowledgeable bunch in case anyone else has come across a problem like this :)

Check the clear CMOS jumper?

Check the clear CMOS jumper?

would that cause behaviour like this? sorry if that's a stupid question.. i've built a few machines before now (although this is my first µATX effort) and never seen an apparent complete lack of power like this!

I've had a few machines do that to me...

Sometimes they ship the mobo with the jumper in the open position, & you have to close it. Sometimes it just needs clearing before it will boot, or it could be something else entirely.

could be the power switch, use a small metal object (like a flat screw driver) and 'short' the 2 'Power' pins on the motherboard, (thats all the switch does) -- if this does nothing, then plug the power switch back on, and unplug it from the mains, press and hold the power button in for 30 seconds to 1 minute, and let go...
plug back in the power cord, and try again...

if this deosnt work, then take out (or rather, disconnect) everything (Hard drive, DVD rom, etc) and try it with JUSt the motherboard/GFX card, CPU and RAM, if this doesnt work still, then your getting closer to your problem, try the gFX card in another machine, and the ram, and CPU etc...

and also try another PSU on the motherboard....

if all fails, then your motherboard is dead ;)

if this deosnt work, then take out (or rather, disconnect) everything (Hard drive, DVD rom, etc) and try it with JUSt the motherboard/GFX card, CPU and RAM, if this doesnt work still, then your getting closer to your problem, try the gFX card in another machine, and the ram, and CPU etc...
yeah, i already did this - still nothing.. tried to boot with nothing but the RAM and CPU (and HSF of course) installed, but still nothing.. as i say, it does absolutely nothing when i press the power button!

of course, you could be right about it being a hardware fault with the actual button, but i doubt it.. i tried connecting the Reset switch connector to the Power switch pins, and pressing that, but still no joy..

and also try another PSU on the motherboard....

if all fails, then your motherboard is dead ;)

this is what i'm thinking.. the power switch has no direct access to the PSU innit, so presumably the PSU will only spring to life if the motherboard tells it to.. ergo, if it's not even getting as far as powering up the PSU, i can only assume the motherboard isn't sending the right signals.. i've still to try steev's cmos suggestion - fingers crossed with that!

Usually though, the Green light on the motherboard, ONLY illuminates when Its passed all the "main" things on the motherboard, and is ready, sort of like a diagnostic, mine has a RED light on it too (which I have NEVER seen on) that if there's a fault, or a short somewhere, and it wont power up, the red light will illuminate..

no go on the CMOS idea :(

the reset jumper is in the correct, default position.. the only other position is to be used when reseting the CMOS settings..

Usually though, the Green light on the motherboard, ONLY illuminates when Its passed all the "main" things on the motherboard, and is ready, sort of like a diagnostic, mine has a RED light on it too (which I have NEVER seen on) that if there's a fault, or a short somewhere, and it wont power up, the red light will illuminate..

this LED is one of the old style "hard coded" green ones - as in the actual acrylic it's made of is green in colour (i.e. it is only able to shine green).. it is the only LED on the board, and the asus manual says that it indicates when the board is in "standby" mode.. it doesn't elaborate any further as to what this entails..

i've got a new case coming tomorrow, hopefully that will solve it.. if not, i can only assume it's the motherboard.. am i right in thinking that, even if (worst case scenario) all the components were fubared (CPU, RAM, etc), as long as everything was installed correctly the PSU should at least power up - even if the system never even got as far as POST?

not always, some mobo's wont allow you to power up if a component is dead, to protect the rest, and the mobo ;)

try this tho, Unplug EVERYTHING, (Keyboard, mouse, etc from the back) Even unplug the PSU, and then the PSU OFF if it has its own switch on the back..

then, press in the power switch, and hold it for 1 minute, after the 1 monite, release the power switch, and plug in ONLY the PSU... and hit the power switch, see what happens ;)

try this tho, Unplug EVERYTHING, (Keyboard, mouse, etc from the back) Even unplug the PSU, and then the PSU OFF if it has its own switch on the back..

then, press in the power switch, and hold it for 1 minute, after the 1 monite, release the power switch, and plug in ONLY the PSU... and hit the power switch, see what happens ;)

what will that do? i've already tried powering it up with nothing at all attached (other than the CPU and RAM; i'm assuming it needs these to even power on?)..

the PSU doesn't have a power switch (one of the rocker ones, like on ATX PSUs).. there is no hard wired switch to it at all - just the "soft" power button on the front, which connects to the power on pin header on the mobo..

what does holding the power button in do - i wouldn't have thought that did anything, especially with the mains unplugged :confused:

dude, ok...

CPU, RAM, GFX, DVD Rom, HDD, etc, all the internals Connected up, and 'working' - NOTHING plugged in the back... Press/hold power button in for 1 minute.... Then release, plug in power cable ONLY, and try to power on...

This is an old trick, that works 70% of the time with pc's in your situation, its called a power cycle... infact, i used it on an AMD 64, 3000+, on an asus mobo just last week and it worked ;)

dude, ok...

CPU, RAM, GFX, DVD Rom, HDD, etc, all the internals Connected up, and 'working' - NOTHING plugged in the back... Press/hold power button in for 1 minute.... Then release, plug in power cable ONLY, and try to power on...

This is an old trick, that works 70% of the time with pc's in your situation, its called a power cycle... infact, i used it on an AMD 64, 3000+, on an asus mobo just last week and it worked ;)

yeah, i understand what you're saying - i'm just confused as to how pressing the soft power button can have any effect when there is no power being applied to the board/system (i.e. the mains cable is disconnected) :confused:

even so, i'll give it a whirl :thumbsup:

Any luck????

Any luck????

nope :(

i'm sure it didn't do anything.. like you said before, all the soft-power button does is bridge the circuit between the two pins on the "power" header - doing this for 60-90 seconds, when no power is being supplied to the board or any of the peripherals, will do absolutely nothing :confused:

a "power cycle," as you mention, usually refers to when a lab tester boots and reboots a platform ~50 times to test resilience..

Try the board out of the case. It may be shorting somewhere on the case. That said, Antec are pretty excellent cases - but you never know.

Try the board out of the case. It may be shorting somewhere on the case. That said, Antec are pretty excellent cases - but you never know.

i can't, unfortunately.. antec do make excellent cases, but they are infamous for making power leads from teh PSU too short.. the NSK1300 is certainly no exception.. i struggled to route the wires with the board in place!

come to think of it, my bedroom PC is housed in an antec SLK3700BQE, and the first one i had of those had a dead PSU! hmm :suspect:

do you have the power supply connected to the 4-pin Auxiliary 12v connector near where the CPU is?

is the cpu fan connected to the dedicated 'CPU fan' header?

aren't you getting any beeps?

nope :(

i'm sure it didn't do anything.. like you said before, all the soft-power button does is bridge the circuit between the two pins on the "power" header - doing this for 60-90 seconds, when no power is being supplied to the board or any of the peripherals, will do absolutely nothing :confused:

a "power cycle," as you mention, usually refers to when a lab tester boots and reboots a platform ~50 times to test resilience..

nah, it basically drains off any excess power from all the capacitors, and de-statics any components etc...

do you have the power supply connected to the 4-pin Auxiliary 12v connector near where the CPU is?
yep..

is the cpu fan connected to the dedicated 'CPU fan' header?
yep..

aren't you getting any beeps?
nope.. i'm getting literally nothing.. when i depress the power button, nothing at all happens.. the PSU fan doesn't even come on.. literally nothing happens.. but the "standby" LED on the motherboard is on, so there is current being supplied to the board from the PSU :confused:

all i could suggest is trying either another PSU on the board, or trying it outside the case... Even if you have to take the PSU out of the case also...

if thats not possible I have a psu I may beable to let you use ;)

all i could suggest is trying either another PSU on the board, or trying it outside the case... Even if you have to take the PSU out of the case also...

if thats not possible I have a psu I may beable to let you use ;)

thanks for the offer - i work in IT so i've got plenty of spares and stuff here at work if i really need to start going down that route..

i got a new case today - decided to go with the antec minuet III instead, as it is roomier and will allow better airflow.. fingers crossed that will solve the problem, but i have to admit i'm a bit pessimistic..

why do you insist on still using Antec when you know yourself of the problems they have, and you have yourself complained about them.. I never liked antec :\ - i ALWAYS buy PSU-less cases now, and a Seperate PSU, much better than an 'all-in' deal.. anyways

good luck, let us know what happens :)

why do you insist on still using Antec when you know yourself of the problems they have, and you have yourself complained about them.. I never liked antec :\ - i ALWAYS buy PSU-less cases now, and a Seperate PSU, much better than an 'all-in' deal.. anyways

good luck, let us know what happens :)

because antec make great cases.. they consistently score highly in all reviews, and they are the quietest cases out-of-the-box.. i am making this system on a budget, and you can't argue with a great looking case, with built-in 300w PSU, and whisper quiet operation for £40 :thumbsup:

fair enough i've been unlucky on two occasions, but it won't put me off their otherwise excellent cases.. the slk3700bqe on my main PC is a joy to work with, and is virtually silent out of the box..

well, i'm posting this from my new PC - turns out it was the original case.. the new minuet worked first time - thank god..

thanks for all the suggestions..