switching PC parts

[moot]

Was given a spare computer, everything in it but the HDD, which stayed with the previous owner.
A8V deluxe mobo
AMD XP3500
2x 512 of 400DDR
Ati 9800XT
350W PSU

My computer,
Gigabyte 8PE667 Ultra
2x 256 of 266DDR
P.IV 2GHz
X800 pro
Audigy2
420W PSU

was a little slow, so I took my X800, Audigy2, and put them in the new box.  Started the computer with my own winXP HDD only, which gave some errors, "new hardware found", "could not start X" "Could not find Y" etc, so I turned it off, and went and got a new HDD to install winXP on.

Booted with only the virgin HDD plugged, installed, rebooted, and again all the usual "new hardware found" popups appear on logon, which I was going to fix as usual by installing the manufacturer drivers.

First problem:  the sound card is not recognized but detected, but I thought I'd install the mobo stuff first, and do the sound card next boot.    
I do that, reboot, and the sound card isn't even detected anymore (and hasnt since).  Manufacturer driver installation fails because it can't detect it either.
Do the same thing with the onboard AC97 chipset disabled, same result.

Took out the sound card, put it back in the old computer with the old winXP HDD, with the Ati9800 subbing for the X800, to troubleshoot the Audigy..  see if it still works on the old PC as it should.
This PC doesn't start.

Reboot the new PC, and it doesn't start either.

Let em sit overnight, power off and unplugged, and still no joy.  
The old PC monitor idles as though not connected to a video card, while the new monitor doesn't show the "check vga cable" error that seems to go with it being unconnected, yet doesn't come out of idle when the PC starts.

I always grounded myself before touching the parts, never felt any static.

ideas?   All my work is lumped in those HDDs.

[Roscoroo]

one of the biggest causes of that ive found is the mainboard has been bumped there for its now grounding out against the case ... try loosening the mb screws and recentering it .

if worse come to worse float the mainboard (sliding an ani static bag under it works too . ) just to test it.

in my old gamer ive got to leave out one of the screws or it grounds out and doesnt start .

bumping the ram during a hd or component install can cause this too.

[214thCavalier]

A8V ok try removing power plug and manually reset cmos jumper, leave a few minutes then put jumper back to normal run position and power it up. Go into bios and reset all options to suit.

I use an A8v deluxe and a few times bios seems to get corrupted especially if bios updated without manually resetting the cmos jumper.

In fact 2 days ago i had the seemingly dead computer syndrome on boot up cured by doing the above.

Sound card problem, make sure any previous installs are removed in add / remove programs.
Make sure AC97 sound is disabled in bios.
Power off, remove sound card. Power up then shut down.
Refit sound card preferably in a different pci slot, on boot up CANCEL any windows detection of the sound card. Now run your soundblaster install program.
Will both computers start without the audigy installed ?
Its possible you may have fried it statically.

[Ghosth]

When in doubt.

Remove everythng but the video card and the hard drive.

NOTHING else plugged in, or connected.

Now troubleshoot it till you get it to boot.
Once you've got the bugs out of it, start adding parts. One at a time, carefully.
You'll find your problem.

If you never do get it to post & boot, you have a MBoard problem. Shorted out, part failed,  something funky, whatever.

Your work is still ON those harddrives.
You just need to get something back up & running.

[68DevilM]

when in doubt reformat

[38ruk]

Originally posted by Roscoroo
one of the biggest causes of that ive found is the mainboard has been bumped there for its now grounding out against the case ... try loosening the mb screws and recentering it .

if worse come to worse float the mainboard (sliding an ani static bag under it works too . ) just to test it.

in my old gamer ive got to leave out one of the screws or it grounds out and doesnt start .

bumping the ram during a hd or component install can cause this too.

What roo said , ive seen this quite alot , could be a standoff in a bad spot , or its been nudged ... 38

edit , was just remembering skuzzy said there are some issues with via chipsets and sound blasters . dont know if that is your sound issue , but it might be something to look at...

[moot]

I reset the mainboard cmos. Onboard audio says system failed VGA test, which apparently happened regularly but randomly with the previous owner.
He says he'd leave it off for a while, and it'd behave as tho nothing happened.
When I last reconnected the monitor cable to the back of the video card, the monitor came out of idle to display the self test OSD: "Monitor working - check PC and signal cable".

Whatever the problem was, I guess it went from half-broke to completely toast.

Going to reassemble the old box and see what happens.

I really doubt there's anything else wrong, as I always grounded myself each time I'd come back to the box, washed my hands before they'd start to sweat, and put the parts in antistatic bags right away till their next use.



edit:
It would always boot normaly, you could hear the memory check beep, and see the same HDD activity rhythm and timing as when it'd load windows, only the monitor stayed blank.

[moot]

Ros, by float you mean running it sitting over a non-conducive, or something else?

[moot]

Swapped the 9800 back in, and it didn't work.
Left it sitting almost 24h, turned it on and still it didn't work.  Something was still triggering the monitor out of idle into "check signal cable" mode when plugging it into the vid.card while the pc was off.
Turned it on and got the same vga-test error message.

Waited an hour with everything punplugged, turned it on, and it starts normaly.

In my place, would you risk swapping the X800 back in place?

[Siaf__csf]

I bet the previous owner had similar probs and gave the 'spare' box away.

About the sound: why bother? Use built in sound if it works - I havent wasted money on soundcards for years.

/edit duh.. read the rest only now

[Roscoroo]

yes . i ussually slide a anti stat bag under mine when i do that .

failing vga test eh .... hmmmm

does the power supply have enough wattage ???

 wonder if it has a bent wire (connector) in the agp slot ??? ive seen this in ram slots befor.  

or i wonder if they flashed the bios and screwed it up ?

[moot]

It hasn't ever been flashed.
I'll check the bent wires in the AGP slot, but I don't remember seeing anything wrong when I took everything apart and detailed it all.

The PSU is a Turbolink 420W.

The previous owner says the trick to getting the X800 to work (I'd lent it to him a few times) is to put in an old nvidia gforce (which I got with the rest of the stuff) till it boots succesfully, then swap the X800 as soon as it does.

Going to wait a day or two and try it out.

[Roscoroo]

it boots fine w/ a GF installed ??

id guess then it has a chipset conflict or a card voltage difference . does the bios voltage setting for the agp port match the x800's voltage ??  or does it not boot with either ati cards ??

I 'd suggest you do a search over at the amd forums...  http://forums.amd.com/


(Just tossing up more idea's)

[Roscoroo]

i went and gave it a quick look ... i saw the same problem in several a8v's so it could be a defective mb .. looks like u may have to RMA it .

[moot]

Mustn't be too bad: last night I got an itch and put the X800 in.
Everything works without a hitch.

I'll sit on it for a while before trying the Audigy.

I saved the thread and links anyway.
Thanks again