new user needs HELP!

[SharpHint]

Hello TechIMO'ers. I'm a first time user here and I stumbled upon the site after looking frantically for days for answers to my dumb computer!(Ok, maybe its the computer operator who's dumb )

Anyway, I consider myself a bit knowledged when it comes to computers. I build them from scratch all the time and I know some minor technical things but when you get into more details, I lose my savyness(is that even a word?) I dont' know anything about clock speeds and all that jargon, I just know how to put everything together and make some minor repairs lol.

Now on to my question. I read a SIMILAR post on here about what i'm asking about but it wasn't the answer to my question.

Basically, I moved my mobo and all my components(minus the power supply) to a new tower I purchased. The new tower has a 350w PS and the one I am using now is a 200w and I just bought a Radeon 9200 128mb card so I wanted to get some more fps out of it by giving it more power(the 200w doesn't give it full potential) After moving it to the new tower, I couldn't get the computer to turn on(this isn't my question, but if anyone has ideas for that one too i'll take em )

After much dissapointment, I moved everything back into the tower with the 200w PS. I hooked everything back up and turned it on. I got no video and just a series of beeps. I know the monitor works, and I also know that the new video card(ATI Radeon 9200 128mb) and another video card I tried(Voodoo 3 2600) both work. I asked a friend of mine what he thought it could be, he told me to make sure my memory was in securely and that my processor was in securely. I checked and both were. I tried everything I could think of, disconnecting this here and that there, and only leaving this in. I get the same beep sequence every time. From what i've learned, I think it has something to do with the BIOS but I don't know anything about BIOS or what the beep sequences mean. I don't know if it will help but the beep sequence is 1 longer beep followed by 3 short beeps. I did notice one thing, when I unhooked my slave HDD and only had my master in, it would beep once like it would when booting, and not have the sequence after it, but then between 30 seconds and a minute later, the same beep sequence started again.

I know this is a long message but i have been trying everything under the sun for 3 days and to no avail. I know you are probably going to ask me what type of mobo I have, and that I cannot answer. I THINK its a Intel. The computer i'm tinkering with currently was a comp given to me by my bro-in-law and he built it custom. It has a 300mhz Pentium II, equipped with the biggest heat-sink i've ever seen I might add .

I don't know what the board is and after looking all over it for some clue I cannot find any manufacturer information or anything. Although I do find Intel printed here and there on certain chips(but I understand the manf. company is on the board itself not on the chips)

If anyone can help you would be my hero
Also, if there is more information you need to help me out, I'll be glad to give it to you if I can help.

Thanks,
Vince, Mr. Thinks He Knows What He's Doing With Computers

[JohnE.]

Give this a try: Mobo ID Tools

[SharpHint]

Thanks for the tip but I don't get any video when turning the computer on so I can't look for the BIOS. Is there any way to get some sort of information right on the board to search for?

Vince

[beppodmime]

Would this happen to be an OEM computer like a Gateway or a Dell or something? err nevermind, just re-read post.

What you're going to want to do is remove and reseat the CPU, RAM and video card first off, post beeps and no video are usually a result of improperly seating of these three components. After that, make sure all power connections are solid. Try booting with no hard drives or extra peripherals connected first, just the CPU, RAM and video. If it still doesn't post, it's one of those three things. If it does, add components one at a time until it doesn't post. You may also want to make sure the memory is in the right slot or slots, some mobos require the memory slots to be filled in a particular order. Make sure the first stick is in slot one. If you are using more than one stick of RAM, try booting with only one, and then the other if that doesn't work.

I think that should get you started, and maybe help you narrow it down.

[SharpHint]

Well the tower is a Gateway tower but my bro-in-law built it custom, and I know hes not one to use Gateway or Dell products, he prefers to do things himself hehe. I think he just had the tower lying around and used it.

Vince

[JohnE.]

I'd also mention resetting the CMOS but as we don't know which mobo it is yet, locating the correct jumpers would be difficult

[SharpHint]

Not being too technical myself, I dont even know what CMOS are and how I would go about resetting them lol

Vince

[SharpHint]

Thanks Beppo, i'm gonna go try that now and let ya know how it turns out.

Vince

[Bovon]

What beppodmime has suggested is very good.. that is pretty well how I test a setup in the beginning. Out of the box (either new or the tower "box") I place the motherboard on a soft item on the workbench (dining-room table, usually LOL). With ONLY RAM and a cheap (yup, there is a reason) video card inserted...and the power supply connected, I short the two pins on the motherboard where the case switch connects...with a small screw driver or some other small metal object to turn on the PSU...the short does not remain there..just a touch and remove is all that is necessary to get the PSU going. With the monitor connected, you should get a screen.

RAM is quite often the main reason for failure..it is very difficult in some boards to seat the modules (without a hammer) You must not "help" the latch tabs on each end of the module(s)..you press the ram down in its socket until those tabs latch themselves. It is very important to install the RAM while the motherboard is out on a book or something solid..the circuit traces in a motherboard are very fine, and will break with just a little flexing of the motherboard if it is not supported good in the ram socket area.

No keyboard or any drives are needed to just test the motherboard.

One huge problem when installing motherboards in a case is... shorting out something on the back side of the motherboard. It is easy to do, some cases have metal stand-offs pre-stamped in the case backplate. Many times, these are too large in diameter where the motherboard attach's.. and touch a circuit trace near the hole for the screw.. I have had to place a small piece of plastic tape over the holes on the board (or on the standoffs) to prevent the motherboard from shorting...and screw thru the tape.

If the board will work out side of the case, but not when installed in the case..look for a shorted condition somewhere.

[SharpHint]

Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions, especially what Beppo suggested. I tried just booting with the RAM vid card and the processor in. It still beeps, I tried the RAM and vid card in another computer and they both work so I know it can't be that. Friend of mine suspected that my cpu was fried and I am pretty sure thats what the problem is. I'm not going to fix it tho, its 5 years old so its probably about time it died lol. Next week i'm ordering a mobo combo to add to the new computer. I am ordering a ASUS mobo with a 2.2ghz processor then i'm going to get 256(or 512)mb ddr ram but haven't decided yet.

I will still need everyones expert help though. This will be the first time i'm assembling a computer right from scratch. I think my biggest problem is the wires from the tower(power switch, leds and all) to to mobo because I can never seem to get them to work right lol. If anyone has any tips for me to use before I put everything together and find out I did something wrong(as I usually do) they would be much appreciated. I also never worked with a computer with front side USB ports, and this new tower I bought has them so can someone please tell me how this will be different then regular installation? Also i'm thinking of working on some type of Linux setup on the new computer. My question about that is, can I have a computer with Linux and Windows XP capabilities at the same time? I'm pretty sure I can but I am just checking.

Thanks again,
Vince