computer wont boot up ?!?!?!?

[s2cmpugh]

here is the story, first i have an asus MB a7n266-vm w/ an amd athlon 2100XP processor and running xp-pro. My original heatsink/fan on the cpu was making noise (guessing bad bearing). so i decided to replace it w/ the volcano 9. i take off the old heat sink, and i install the new, BUT i didnt use the thermal paste at first, i used this thin pad thing it had. well i put everything back together, and the computer will run for 3 sec. then shut off. during that 3sec. only fans NO harddrive lighty or anything. so i take it off and then i add the paste on and now the computer runs all the time BUT still NO harddrive activity. it just sits there now. HOWEVER, on occasion after i hit the restet button a few times or something i get this beeping. its a high tone followed by a low tone. and it repeats. BUT it does NOT do this all the time.

PLZZZ HELP ME..... and i hope this isnt going to cost much.

P.S. i did also update the bios the day before.

thanks

[dafanman]

s2cmpugh
Sounds like you need to pull the hsf and cpu.
Did you scrape and clean off the thermal pad before adding paste?

Anyway clean proc and hsf real good with isopropyl alcohol, apply paste properly and in the correct ammt, reseat hsf, make sure and plug in the fan and try again.

[nukes]

You may have cracked the core on the chip. Pull the CPU and examine it for ANY signs of damage. Even a small scratch is enough to kill the CPU. Classic problem with people replacing heatsinks.
The inactivity seems to point towards dead CPU as well, as what you describe are the normal symptoms.
Did you connect the fan to a molex connector, or to the motherboard. I had a Volcano 7+ and that could fry a boards power regulators i you plugged it into the mobo for power. Hence they provided this wire to stick it on a HD power cable. Did you have something like this?

[s2cmpugh]

well, im not sure what to look for on the cpu, but i did put on the old heatsink and fan, and still nothing happeend........

so u guys think i need a new processor

and what do i check on the processor??

also do u think my MB is ok??

[tchang]

You might want to take everything out and reconnect again to see when u took the sink out, u might accidently unplug the wires or something got loose, wish you luck

[s2cmpugh]

done all that man, checked all connections, removed processor like 3 times and reinstalled the old heat sink. id hate to think its not the processor, or the mother board, who do i know what it exactly is??

thanks
Cris

[XuLander]

Just last week, my sister inlaw brought her AMD system to me, she said she would power it up and she could hear a fan running but that was all it would do,
I disconnected mine and went to plug the ac cord into her PS and noticed the little red voltage switch was in the 230 volt position, I switched it back to 115 Volts and proceeded to power up, the System booted with no prob and she hasnt had any trouble sense.

I personaly have never had the ballz to try running a pc with the switch on 230 volts, but am wondering if you might have posibly switched it by accident whilst turning the ps on and off, worth a try I guess

[s2cmpugh]

nope its set to 115

[John Prophet]

There really is only one way to check stuff like this. You have to sort of strip it down to just the motherboard...cpu/heatsink...vid card..one stick of ram..power supply.

In other words take out all the pci cards..unhook the ide cables etc.

See if it boots like that.

If not, maybe try setting the bios to its default values.

[s2cmpugh]

when i put it together, i dont think i messed w/ the default settings of the bios... but ill check, would removing the processor mess up anything??