[conspire] (forw) Re: A Request

[Rick Moen]

----- Forwarded message from Dave Pearce <daveryu at yahoo.com> -----

Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2011 15:17:08 -0700 (PDT)
From: Dave Pearce <daveryu at yahoo.com>
To: rick at linuxmafia.com
Subject: Re: A Request
X-Mailer: YahooMailClassic/14.0.3 YahooMailWebService/0.8.112.307740

Hi Rick,

I'm not at home at the moment, so I'm going from memory.  The case and
CPU fans did spin up.  There were also lights on the motherboard.  Off
the top of my head I cannot recall if there were beeps or not.

I might mention that I connected with a KMV switch to use the monitor
and such.  Would that make a difference?  The bare parts were as
follows:

Motherboard (mounted in the case)
Power Supply (also already mounted)
1 stick of RAM (4GB)
Processor & Cooler
Hard drive (as yet unmounted)

There is not yet an optical drive.  I didn't build with one in mind,
intending this to be a peripheral system.  I "borrowed" from my main
machine to run the Ubuntu install disk (verified as a good copy).  The
case has no speaker in it that I could see.  I will re-check everything
when I get back home (study sessions are painful but necessary).
Another thought; if it turns out tha tthere is no speaker in the case,
is there one always on the motherboard, or is there an alternative that
I can use to get a POST beep?

I really appreciate the help.  The more I learn, the better I'll be able
to help others and also troubleshoot when I have problems.

Dave

----- End forwarded message -----
----- Forwarded message from Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com> -----

Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2011 15:41:38 -0700
From: Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com>
To: Dave Pearce <daveryu at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: A Request
Organization: If you lived here, you'd be $HOME already.

Quoting Dave Pearce (daveryu at yahoo.com):

> The case and CPU fans did spin up.   There were also lights on the
> motherboard.  Off the top of my head I cannot recall if there were
> beeps or not.

That's mildly encouraging, I guess.  One of your basic underlying
problems is, as I think you'll agree, that you have too many suspects /
too many variables:  Some part is preventing video or beeping, and you
need to isolate what is the problem component (and/or just make the
problem vanish).  

At the risk of repeating myself:  Disassemble your new system (and yes,
I really do mean remove the motherboard from the case), then put togther
-- still outside the case, with the motherboard on a large, flat piece
of cardboard -- the absolute minimum set of parts required to get a
motherboard beep.  Or to get video.  Either will do.

The point is that, when you're in a situation made difficult by too many
suspects / too many variables, find a way to reduce variables for
diagnostic purposes.  Build up the 'known good' subsystems from the bare
minimum, adding one part at a time after you get minimal functionality
and thus a known-good minimal assembly capable of producing either video
or a POST beep.

By the way, you need to take care to put the RAM into the correct RAM
sockets.  The lack of video could be caused by something as simple as 
having started populating RAM from the highest sockets rather than the
lowest ones.  That would be consistent with the symptoms you report
(lights and fans operational but no video).

> I might mention that I connected with a KMV switch to use the monitor
> and such.  Would that make a difference?

Of course yes, in the sense that it's an extra variable.  You're trying
to figure out why you're not getting video, and the signal path goes
through a KVM switch that may or may not be permitting the signal
through, which thus is an unnecessary additional variable that is
complicating your diagnosis.  So, for heaven's sake, remove it from the
chain while performing diagnosis.

> Another thought; if it turns out tha tthere is no speaker in the case,
> is there one always on the motherboard, or is there an alternative
> that I can use to get a POST beep?

You're asking me?  You're the one with the motherboard manual.  ;->


Next time, I hope you'll not be so incautious as to just throw
everything together and toggle the power switch.


----- End forwarded message -----