[conspire] (forw) Re: A Request

[Rick Moen]

Diagnosis is actually pretty much the same no matter what the
technology, but a lot of people have difficulty with the basics,
I've noticed.

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

Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2011 19:13:50 -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 back home with the machine.  Don't worry about repeating yourself;
sometimes I have to hear something a few times before it clicks.  I'm
still fairly new with computers so what would make perfect sense to
someone else may not make perfect sense to me.  Like I tell my students
sometimes, I've forgotten what it's like to be a beginner so
occasionally I have to be reminded  :)

I agree that there are too many variables which makes it more difficult
to isolate the problem part.  Normally in the past assembly has gone ok
and it's been the programming that's given me trouble.  This time
there's a problem with the assembly so I view it as a chance to learn.  

I disassembled everything and tried again.  The motherboard still lights
up and the fans spin, but I get no video.  I was correct in that this
case has no speaker in it so I get no beeps; or if there is a speaker
it's well hidden and probably not conneted.  I was confused earlier when
you mentioned a motherboard beep, and I wondered if they now came with a
tiny speaker installed on them.  Not having the manual in front of me at
the time, I couldn't check.  I'm afraid that was me taking things too
literally  :)  

I borrowed a monitor from another machine and hooked it up, bypassing
the KVM switch.  I still don't see a POST screen when I boot.  I also
checked that I had the correct RAM slot, and I have a 4GB stick set into
slot A1 (as opposed to slots A2, B1 or B2).  I do notice that there is
an LED located near the RAM slots that blinks.  It appears to be a test
light, according to the manual.  It is supposed to light if there is a
problem; however, this one blinks rather than stays lit as the manual
suggests it would if there was a problem.  I'm wondering if the RAM
could be the culprit?

Just for reference, the motherboard that I am using is the ASUS
M4A88T-M.  The processor is an AMD 255e Dual Core 2.9GHz.  RAM is
Crucial 4GB DDR3 - 1333.  The CPU came without a heat sink, so I did
pick up a very nice low-profile one from Akasa with a quiet fan.  I
installed a rear case fan from Silenx too, which also runs very quietly
while moving a decent volume of air.  I think it will be a good system
when I get it up and running; quiet and power-efficient.

So that's where I'm sitting right now.  The next step would be......?

Dave

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

Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2011 01:20:13 -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):

> I disassembled everything and tried again.  The motherboard still
> lights up and the fans spin, but I get no video. 

Logically, it's either misconfiguration (jumpering, wire connectors to
the various case switches) or a defective primary part, where 'primary'
means CPU or motherboard or stick of RAM or PSU.  You said you
'disassembled everything' but didn't specifcally say you'd followed my
suggestion of unmounting motherboard and PSU from the case and put the
motherboard onto a large sheet of cardboard for testing purposes.

As to 'this case has no speaker in it so I get no beeps', you should
consult the manual for your motherboard about how it reports POST
errors.  There is normally a pair of pins on the motherboard to connect
to a speaker, specifically so you can know what is wrong in cases where
the motherboard is unable to produce video, e.g., via 'beep codes' whose
pattern you can look up in the manual to see what specifically the
system is complaining about.  If there is such a feature (pins to
connect to a speaker), then, hey, dunno about you, but I'd go grab a
PC-type speaker and connect it to the motherboard, at least long enough
to do hardware diagnosis.

> I also checked that I had the correct RAM slot, and I have a 4GB stick
> set into slot A1 (as opposed to slots A2, B1 or B2). 

Again, you're the guy with the motherboard manual.  Have you looked up
what it says about banking / interleaving?  Have you looked up which
sockets should get RAM first, and whether you need to fill two at a time
(for interleaving)?  

Have you ensured that you purchased the correct sort of RAM?  Check the
specifications.

Have you purchased the correct CPU?  Check the specifications.

> The motherboard that I am using is the ASUS M4A88T-M.  The processor
> is an AMD 255e Dual Core 2.9GHz.

ASUS specs say 'AMD AM3 Phenom II/AthlonII/Sempron 100 Series Processors'
(http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3/M4A88TMUSB3/#specifications).

In attempting to verify that your CPU is one of those, I keep hitting a
small anomaly:  The AMD Athlon II Dual Core processor released at 2.9
GHz clock rates was the model 'Athlon II X2 245', not the 255, which is
3.1 GHz.  You do probably have a compatible CPU, but I just note that
oddity in passing -- and also stress that, any time you build your own
PC from parts, ensuring compatibility's part of the job you volunteered
for.

You have the motherboard manual, right?  PDF (zipped) is downloadable
from http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3/M4A88TMUSB3/#download .
I assume you've already at least skim-read it, right?  If you haven't,
you should.

Page 1-11 says the four RAM slots each accept DDR3 24-pin SDRAM DIMMs,
unbuffered either non-ECC or ECC, in per-stick sizes up to 4 GB.  Page
1-15 _seems_ to suggest that a single DIMM (unaccompanied by a second
one) can be inserted into any slot, and will then be decoded as
single-channel (non-interleaved).  

Page 1-25 mentions that there's a 4-pin connector available (including 2
grounds pins to connect to a case's PC speaker, 'allowing you to hear
system beeps and warnings'.

You say your case doesn't have one of those PC speakers.  OK.  In your
shoes, I think I'd make a point of going and finding one of those cheap
junky PC speakers just for use during diagnosis, at any of the usual
places: Halted Specialty Company, Action Computer & Surplus, Weird Stuff
Warehouse, etc.

> I do notice that there is an LED located near the RAM slots that
> blinks.  It appears to be a test light, according to the manual.  It
> is supposed to light if there is a problem; however, this one blinks
> rather than stays lit as the manual suggests it would if there was a
> problem.  

Page 1-28 talks extensively about the purpose of that DRAM_LED, and the 
purpose of the related MemOK! switch.  I _strongly_ suggest you read
that section carefully.  (I'm suspecting you probably have not read the
motherboard manual.  Do that.)


> I'm wondering if the RAM could be the culprit?

Of course RAM could be the culprit.  Basic logic already told you that,
right?

By the way, I assume that, after you disassembled the parts, put the
motherboard on a nice little non-conductive piece of cardboard, and
connected up to the motherboard a single stick of RAM, the CPU, the PSU
(likewise not attached to the case), the various relevant wires to case
switches (etc.), and a VGA cable to a nearby monitor, and connected AC &
switched the unit on to see if you get video, you _also_ repeated that
same test with each of your other sticks of RAM.

Why?  Because it's rather unlikely that the RAM sticks you purchased are
_all_ bad.  So, you check with each of them.

By the way:

> RAM is Crucial 4GB DDR3 - 1333. 

I might be missing something, but I don't see that listed in the
compatibility lists on pages 1-13 and 1-14.  

If you cannot get either a beep (given a PC speaker, which you should
get) or video, and you've checked everything relevant in the ASUS
motherboard manual, you might have no choice but to take the parts back
to the vendor.  

> The CPU came without a heat sink, so I did pick up a very nice
> low-profile one from Akasa with a quiet fan.  I installed a rear case
> fan from Silenx too, wh ich also runs very quietly while moving a
> decent volume of air. 

I don't know Akasa or Silenx.  If you're asking my opinion, I've already
listed the manufacturers whose fans and other cooling gear I favour.

I'm afraid you really need to do the rest on your own, Dave.  Good luck
to you on that.


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