Build a computer help!

[nihil]

I have wires that says: PLED (+) PLED (-) RESET BLUE AND WHITE CABLE

The first two operate the lights (LEDs) for the main power switch which should glow one colour for standby and another for power on.

The "reset" operates the smaller reset button on the front of the box. This is sometimes called the "hot reboot" or "restart" button. In the Windows shutdown menu, these are the equivalent of the red and green buttons, although these are physically controlling the power supply rather than programatically controlling the OS.

Go into your BIOS and look at the power management options. Disable all the crap relating to "snooze", "standby", "hibernate" or whatever.......it will only bring you grief in the long run, and on a desktop machine is about as useful as **** on a boar I think that we are all old enough to know how to switch a computer off when we are not using it?

You may also find options for what happens when you press the main power button (set this to on/off, "turn the machine off" or whatever they call it) The other button should be set to "restart"

Now all you have to do is get the little connectors attached to the right pins on the MoBo, and THE RIGHT WAY ROUND! If something isn't working, try it facing the other way.....in my experience they will all have the writing facing the same way, depending on the particular MoBo.

I have the main hdd in the first one and the optical drive in sata 2

Try it in #3 or #4

Does your floptical drive only have a SATA connection?

To get power to the HDD from the PSU, you may need MOLEX to SATA connection cable. Over here these cost £0.70, they will be cheaper in the USA.

CPU:

The heatsink should have come with a cardboard or thick paper template which you align to the heatsink base and apply the paste in an even, thin, coating. Otherwise just coat all of it

Apply about as much as 0.5 of a grain of shortgrain rice (stuff you make puddings with) evenly to the top of the processor(s) chips which should stand up slightly from the body of the processor unit. Then reassemble and you should be good to go.

REMEMBER you can have too much thermal paste as well as too little!

Make sure the CPU fan is spinning...........it usually is a 3 or 4 pin connection on the MoBo. I think you have gotten this right already, as your system seems to be shutting down due to processor overheating?

Yes if you are sill having problems, some pictures might be useful.

Good Luck!

[Computernerd22]

I just applied this thermal paste compound called Freeze. I placed it on the back of the process or that already looked like it had an area for it. Anyways, the cables that are connected to the Power Button on the front of the computer I have; These are the cables running from the case.

1. H.D.D. Lead Red/white color wire
2. +P LED GREEN WIRE
3. -P LEAD WHITE WIRE
POWERSW ORANGE/WHITE WIRE
RESET SW B.UE/WHITE WIRE

I think this might be where my issue is. However, the fans run very quietly and good the system powers right on I insert the P5G41M Series disk and nothing sitting at a black sreen but the system powers on but will not shut off unless you it the switch in the back.

This will be a great system once I can get it up and working. I read the ASUS motherboard manual so #1 for knowledge # 2 knowing how to do it. I am just having an issue with the ASUS motherboard book explaining the how the connections go the chassis that powers on the system other tha that this system is hooked up correctly. All help is greatly appreciated and thank you guys for the replies.


PS; I can not get any image to display on my screen. I had the ASUS screen come up once and the error message saying the system will shutdown in 15 seconds (this was before I APLLIED THE THERMAL PASTE) but now I can not even get into any screen. I used the VGA cable to the back of the motherboard I also used the vga cable connector to the back of the video card and still no image, I know the monitor works because I can hook up my Dell and it pops right up.

[nihil]

OK

1. H.D.D. Lead Red/white color wire
2. +P LED GREEN WIRE
3. -P LED WHITE WIRE
POWER SW ORANGE/WHITE WIRE
RESET SW BLUE/WHITE WIRE

1. I guess you mean HDD LED?

This is the little light that flickers when the HDD is sending/receiving data

2. & 3. These operate your power status lights

The other two operate the actual switching on/off of main power and the Reset button. You must have these connected to the correct pins on the MoBo and the right way round

If you have checked that they are attached to the correct pins, try reversing the connector so the writing faces the other way.

PS; I can not get any image to display on my screen. I had the ASUS screen come up once and the error message saying the system will shutdown in 15 seconds (this was before I APPLIED THE THERMAL PASTE) but now I can not even get into any screen. I used the VGA cable to the back of the motherboard I also used the vga cable connector to the back of the video card and still no image, I know the monitor works because I can hook up my Dell and it pops right up.

Go into BIOS setup and see if onboard VGA is selected/enabled. Try setting it to the alternative or disabling it, depending on how your BIOS handles it, then try connecting via the video card.

I have known cases where if you have both a card and an onboard chipset, nothing will work unless you disable or deselect the onboard chipset, or uninstall the video card.

If that doesn't work, try physically removing the videocard and enabling onboard VGA, then try that connection.



Please let us know how you get on.

[IKnowNot]

When you have problems like this there is only one thing to do ...
Start from scratch!
Disconnect everything and start over. And I mean everything!

When adding or changing anything, unplug the computer!

Check your motherboard mounting. Most cases will have little stamped labels on the post holes for the type motherboard you are using. Make sure you ONLY use the ones labeled for your motherboard type. Having extra posts under the board could fry it. Since you said you used pushpins, they should be only in holes on the board OTHER then the six screw holes listed in the manual. Use screws in these holes for proper grounding, but do not over tighten.

Find the CLRTC jumper on the motherboard. Clear the CMOS by moving the jumper, then replace.
( page 1-22 of the manual? )

Hopefully you did not fry the chip.
Was this a boxed set of processor/ heat sink fan? If so, the fan probably had paste on it already.
( when you took it apart to put that freeze stuff on it, did it have something that looked like label glue on it? That would probably be the factory paste. If it did, did you remove it all before putting on the freeze stuff? Rubbing alcohol works well for removing it.)
If it was perfectly clean you may have fried the chip.
Remember when putting on this paste, a very thin layer is all you need ... do not put too much on!

Be careful installing the heat sink/fan. It must be seated properly. Your motherboard manual shows you how to tighten it down properly. Do not proceed until you are sure it is level and properly seated. Make sure you plug the fan into the correct motherboard cpu/fan pins. Use the diagram in the motherboard manual.

Plug in one memory module ( maybe the 1 gig ) into the memory slot closest to the cpu.
Did you check the Qualified Vendor list to make sure it was compatible? ( a list is in your MB manual )

Plug in the 24 pin EATXPWR and the 4 pin ATX 12v plugs into the board. ( This board requires a minimum 400 watt power supply ... does it meet that? )

Did the case come with an on-board speaker built into the case? If so, find and connect it now. This will help you hear beep codes if it has any.

Your case came with wires for power, etc. Your board is labeled a little differently. Plug in these wires:
+P LED -> PLED+
-P LED -> PLED-
POWER SW ORANGE/WHITE WIRE -> PWR
RESET SW B.UE/WHITE WIRE -> Reset

Again, use the diagram in MB manual to find location. ( possibly page 1-30 )
Verify the location on motherboard ( I use magnifying glass to see these ) Sometimes the pin layout in the manual is a little different then on the board.

Do not plug anything else in. You should have no add-in cards, video or otherwise connected to anything. No hard drives, nothing else.

Hook up a keyboard and monitor ( use on-board video )

Connect plug to power supply and turn on, see what happens. Make sure the LED on motherboard lights, and count any beeps you hear ( if you have case speaker. )

Let us know what happens.
.

[nihil]

the six screw holes listed in the manual. Use screws in these holes for proper grounding, but do not over tighten.

You wouldn't happen to have some small orange washers left over from the assembly would you?

Find the CLRTC jumper on the motherboard. Clear the CMOS by moving the jumper, then replace.
( page 1-22 of the manual? )

Good idea, particularly as you got a MoBo warning to begin with .............. it may need resetting?

Was this a boxed set of processor/ heat sink fan? If so, the fan probably had paste on it already.

That is what I described earlier as a thermal pad/patch. With one of those you should not need thermal paste, but YOU DO HAVE TO REMOVE THE PROTECTIVE LAYER FIRST!!!

Did the case come with an on-board speaker built into the case? If so, find and connect it now. This will help you hear beep codes if it has any.

Otherwise attach a couple of PC speakers via the pale green jack-plug socket and turn them on before booting ............. they will give you the BIOS beep codes where there is no case or onboard speaker.

Plug in one memory module ( maybe the 1 gig ) into the memory slot closest to the cpu.

In the old days we always put the largest closest?

If you have set up a speaker of whatever sort, you will get multiple beeps if it is a memory problem.

Good Luck!

[IKnowNot]

In the old days we always put the largest closest?

This is for testing ... on that motherboard the first mem slot is the one physically closest to the cpu.

Yes, although you did go over much of what I said, with the problem of getting NO screen he really needed to start again.

nihil , in the old days we used solder to piggy-back the chips!
.

[nihil]

on that motherboard the first mem slot is the one physically closest to the cpu.

I must say that I have never seen a MoBo where that was not the case, at least MoBos with 30 or 72 pin memory strips or later, as opposed to onboard chips and riser cards.

I really don't know if the order makes much difference these days, but I still do it out of force of habit My thinking was if I put the 2GB in the first slot it would save me having to swap the two strips around once I got it going.

Certainly, without sound or video he can neither see nor hear what is going on, which doesn't help!.

I would say that the first priority is to get the main power and restart buttons working............that will tell you which way round all the connectors should go. I don't think he has fried the chip if he got a boxed retail processor, or made sure that he bought an approved heatsink/fan combo. It is strange that neither button works.......if it were dud equipment I would really only expect it to affect one of them, assuming that the connectors are the right way round (polarity)?

I suppose static could have been an issue?

CN22 did mention seeing an Asus warning screen the first time he booted it....... that is obviously the BIOS. As he says the fans are spinning OK, I would guess that was temperature driven? I wonder if it has set an indicator that needs resetting?

If there is no BIOS reset jumper switch on the MoBo, I would try removing the 2032 CMOS battery for a few hours with the box disconnected from mains. It doesn't clear passwords but it should still reset the BIOS.

Getting sound and video would then be my next priority.

At this point I am inclined to suspect the case/PSU? if it is a hardware defect, although it would seem that there might have been a temperature issue.

It looks as if we are dealing with more than one problem here, so starting from the beginning is probably the best way to go.

Yes, I remember when you added chips individually.......... back around 1980 I seem to recall?