I got a brad new Asrock 945gcm-s, I mounted it and assemled all the goodies and it won't even post! The board is getting power because the fans are going. I even tried cleaning the chip and socket, hooking up only the minimal to run it and still no go. What am I doing wrong or missing? I'm thinking about taking a shotgun to it.
By fans you mean CPU fan, etc? Can you tell if your HDD is running any? Are you getting any video input to your screen? You know, the basic stuff...
The power button on the monitor will change from yellow to green just before post, this is not happening. I have started it with minimal resorses. The CPU, heatsink/fan, fan blowing out in back of the case, and 1 module of 2GB DDR2 PC 4200. Still nothing. I know the board is getting power because the fans fire up. I haven't heard the gentle grunting and grinding of the HD.
Hello m8, Have you tried alternative memory PC4200 seems slow for a new board. Just checked on asrocks site for you, it says Supports Dual Channel DDR2 667/533. Try and borrow some to test if you can, its no point buying some if it does`nt cure your problem. Another option ......... if you are using your PSU from an old machine is it powering the board ok. The 12volt line seems ok as you get fans working, borrow and try another to be sure. Hope this helps
I'll try the memory idea. I have a fairly new 700w PSU. I don't see what could be wrong with it. I have an Nvidia GeForce 7200 PCI-E card that I've tried as well as the onboard video.
I took everything out and put it back in. Went with just CPU (P4 3.4GB), Heatsink/fan, case fan, HD with the OS, and one module of memory. This time I got 3 beeps which tells me bad memory. I swapped it out with the other stick, and got 3 beeps again. This tells me that it doesn't like my RAM. It's difficult to borrow any because I live out in the sticks. I just have to wait and get some more. Will a board that thakes DDR2 533/677 run on 400?
I should emphisize to myself the R in RTFM. The memory this board takes in unbuffered, non-ECC. And the sticks I have are buffered.
Buffered RAM is usually only for server applications, since its slower and more expensive that unbuffered RAM. Because of this, pretty much all (if not all) personal computers use unbuffered RAM and the chipsets don't support the use of buffered RAM. That would be the reason why you cannot boot with the sticks you have, they are clearly the wrong type! When you do get the new sticks, make sure you do not pay too much for them. If you see DDR2-800 RAM for the same price or cheaper than 667 or 533, don't be afraid to buy it since they are designed to be backwards compatible (with default timings for 800, 667 and 533 built in). Ensure the voltage is the standard 1.8V, as some DDR2 modules used higher voltages because they were faster than the normal modules around at that time.
I just happend to have a stick of DDR2 PC6400. I dropped it in and it works! I had forgotten that memory is backward compatable.
I got the PC to boot properly, but now it freezes. Sometimes just after post, sometimes not until I open an app.