help

[Jeslek]

I'm building a computer for my dad, and I have some issues. I got an Abit KD7 motherboard, 256MB RAM, a 300 W PSU, and an AMD 1800+ CPU. The video card is a TNT PCI.

I installed everything, and then installed Windows. I patched it up, and then it was 2am so I decided to go to bed. I shut it down and went to bed. The next morning I planned on installing Office, but for some reason when I powered it up I just got a long beep, repeated every 5 or so seconds.

The memory IS good. I tried it in a different computer.

The CPU IS good. When the memory and video card checked out I RMAd the CPU. I got a new one today and it is still not working. :/ Same beep code.

I've tried plugging and unplugging the hard disk, the wires to the motherboard, and so on... No go. Is it the motherboard? Do I need to unscrew it and RMA it? :/

Thanks.

 

[Justintime]

Try clearing CMOS, failing that, take the board out and try it then, could be something shorting.

 

[Jeslek]

Oh I've cleared the CMOS a number of times. What bugs me is that it ran just fine, installed Windows, powered down, went to bed, got up, powered up, and it didn't work...

Hmm, shorting? Like where? On the underside?

 

[Justintime]

yup, could be a bad board. Try it out of case first.

 

[Jeslek]

So how can a board go bad over night?

 

[Justintime]

prolly was dying from the min you first put it on.

 

[Bubba]

It could be your psu. I have a 400 watt psu that couldn't supply enough current to power up an xp2000. It worked great on a 1700. Try a different psu to see what happens.

 

[Justintime]

good point! is it a generic psu?

 

[Bubba]

Also, is the cpu a Palomino? It will use more current than a tbred.

 

[Justintime]

good point again, you're on a roll

 

[Jeslek]

It is probably a palomino. It is an XP 1800+. The powersupply is EnergyMax 300 Watt one. If itsn't enough, how did I manage to install Windows and patch it up??

 

[PT]

Luck. I'm guessing you tried reseating the vid card too, didn't you?

Also what bios is on there, there's a few sites out there that will tell you what those beeps mean, but it's very dependent on which bios you have.

 

[Jeslek]

I tried the video card in several PCI slots.

The BIOS is an Award one... the only one that doesn't use beeps to identify problems. They have only one beep (1 long, 3 short) for a video error, and I'm not getting that. All the other beep codes they say are "probably memory related." Very exact. Bah.

 

[Justintime]