Problem with new built pc :(

[lilrob_uk]

Just attempted to build my 1st pc and everything went well until i switched it on. I have put in the bios thing to make it load from the cdrom 1st so it can install windows but after pressing a button to make it load from cd the pc resets then does nothing? the hard drive led keeps blinking so i thought i'd leave it for a little while incase it was doing something but 20 minutes later the monitor is still on standby and nothing else happening? Does anyone know what im doing wrong?

my specs are:
AMD 64 3400 Newcastle cpu
DFI lanpartyUT motherboard nf3
Geil 1gb ddr 2 x 512
120gb hd
500w psu
Geforce 4 mx 400 graphics card

ANY HELP APPRECIATED!

[handyguy]

Did you set the HD as master & the cdrom as slave?

[lilrob_uk]

i have the hard drive connected to ide primary as master and cdrom connected to secondary as master. also what does all this RAID stuff mean?

[PhilEnfield]

Do both drives show up ok in bios ?

[lilrob_uk]

Do both drives show up ok in bios ?

yes they both show up ok in bios

[skeggs]

hi,

clear bios, for starters m8...

then restart, go into bios .. set cdrom 1st boot

...............disable all other boot options............

[PhilEnfield]

Are you getting any beep codes, when powering up ?

[lilrob_uk]

hi,

clear bios, for starters m8...

then restart, go into bios .. set cdrom 1st boot

...............disable all other boot options............

I dont know how to clear bios? but i did find an option that said load fail-safe options. so i set that and then put cdrom as 1st boot device and disabled all the rest but still exact same problem. it asks me to press any button to load from cd, when i press button it restarts then just hangs there, the dvdrom starts making a funny noise like it cant read the disc. ive tried putting my dvdrw in place of dvdrom but exact same thing it cant read the bloody disc grrrrrrrrr!

wot is going on? its doing my head in!

[lilrob_uk]

no beep codes phil

[polarstar]

i had a simular problem when i built my first pc and could not load
the problem in the end was i had put the ram in the 1st and 2nd slot and could not get it to install windows
in the meantime i checked the little manual that came with the board and noticed that the ram should be in 1st and 3rd slots,by doing this i was able to continue loading windows

[lilrob_uk]

ive tried moving the ram into different slots 1 & 3, 1 & 2 etc. but still same thing, it restarts then just wont read the disc :(

[PhilEnfield]

Double check all your IDE connections at drive end and mobo end, to make sure you haven't got any ribbon cables loose or reversed. Unplug any floppy drive (if present).
Double check jumpers on both drives.
Recheck BIOS for boot sequence .... CD-ROM, HDD and check drive detection settings are on Auto.
Check BIOS Advanced settings and disable any Virus protection, that prevents writes to the Master Boot Record (MBR)
If poss, try different IDE cable(s).

And the silly question .... how certain are you that the Windows disk is good ?

HTH

[polarstar]

it must be a bios setting or when you installed motherboard did you mount it on the the pivets before screwing it down?

[Van Nugent]

hi,

clear bios, for starters m8...

then restart, go into bios .. set cdrom 1st boot

...............disable all other boot options............

Yep, for new builds, you'll need to clear the CMOS first then reset the BIOS settings. The jumper to clear the CMOS is next to the CMOS battery socket. If you're not sure, refer to the mobo's manual for the location of this jumper and how to clear the CMOS. Since you've talked about OC'ing somewhere on this board, you need to know this Clear CMOS jumper :).

[Justwonder]

Could it be the RAM itself with the mobo? I don't know for sure but I have heard from somewhere that Geil RAM has a bad compatibility with some mobo. It doesn't hurt to check it, does it?

[lilrob_uk]

phil will try all that now m8 brb

polar i dont know what u mean by mounting on pivets? i lined the board up with the holes on the case and yes screwed it down. is there something i missed out there?

PS. i didnt mention this earlier but the memory i got is Geil Golden Dragon DDR433 PC3500, the motherboard says it supports upto DDR400 PC3200

what i thought was that even though the ram is ddr433 the motherboard will limit it to only ddr400? is that right? or maybe there is something in bios i need to make this work?

[polarstar]

when i mention pivets i ment the metal spacers which go behind the motherboard then the screws go into these otherwise without them the board can be shorted out

[PhilEnfield]

Yep ... as polarstar says .... it's essential to have the standoffs .... normally these are brass.

[lilrob_uk]

rechecked everything what u mentioned phil and its still the same :bawling:

also cleared the cmos thing.

just done some surfing to see if the memory works with the motherboard and it does. what the hell is wrong with this thing?

[vv132]

go to http://www.dfi-street.com/ its a good forum witht he dfi techies.
Try clearing cmos, puttin one stick of ram in the 1 or 3rd slot. Also take out ur mobo from the case and try it. This mobo gave me several problems and still is

[lilrob_uk]

vv132 will the golden dragon ram work ok even if its pc3500 as the manual says upto pc3200?

[PhilEnfield]

polar i dont know what u mean by mounting on pivets? i lined the board up with the holes on the case and yes screwed it down. is there something i missed out there?

Did you correct this ?

[vv132]

it should work it will just run at 3200, i dunno post ur problem and every sing computer spec on that forum i listed

[Neo]

It might be the RAM, try runing MEMTEST 86. (http://www.memtest86.com/)

[roady]

Any chance that it's a windows XP cd with servicepack 2 slipstreamed that you're trying to install?

If so,try another XP.....some DFI boards can't handle slipstreamed SP2 cd's....

[lilrob_uk]

ok ive managed to install windows ME but when i try to intall xp it does the reset thing. roady i dont know what u mean by slipstreamed. do i need to get hold of an old version of winxp? say from 2003?

[Neo]

Seems like its the CD, if you installed ME I can't see why you can't install XP.

[PhilEnfield]

Seems like its the CD, if you installed ME I can't see why you can't install XP.
Yep agree with Neo .... try another XP CD

[lilrob_uk]

got a m8 coming over l8r with his xp cd, fingers crossed

[lilrob_uk]

didnt work :(

anyone got any other ideas?

[PhilEnfield]

Have you tried with different RAM, just to eliminate this ?

The only other thing you could try is create the XP Boot floppies (6) and see if you can install XP this way.

[scarecrowdr]

I Bet it's your Ram....Not Compatible with your mobo m8....If your mobo says PC3200 DDR 400, then That is what it should be...Not Higher...Unless a Bios Update says otherwise!.....