single flash then no phase LEDs - GA-EP45-UD3R

[mistrowl]

Hallo

I got home today to a wonky PC. all the lights were on but there was no signal to the monitors and I couldn't get it to wake up, reboot or boot, no matter what I did. I've been troubleshooting it all evening and have reached the point where I'm trying to get it to POST.

I know the PSU is fine, since I just cannibalized it from my Media PC. When I press the power button on the front of the case, all 6 phase LEDs flash and then immediately go out. Nothing happens after that.

All I have installed/connected are the 24 pins for mobo power +4 ATX, video card & power, 1 stick of RAM, keyboard, monitor and CPU. I have cleared CMOS, both via jumpers and battery removal. I've tried 2 different sticks of RAM, each of which were working fine last night. All other hardware is fine, as far as I know.. if it was something *other* than the motherboard, wouldn't it at least POST?

I am hearing no beeps from the speaker.

Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R Rev 1.1, it's maybe a couple years old, tops. Bios is EagleLake 1.06 B8.1120.1 according to my notes. CPU is a Core 2 Duo E7400, socket 775. RAM is Corsair XM2 (CM2X 1024-6400). I have 3 gigs total RAM, 2 1G sticks and 2 512M sticks, right now there's only 1 1G stick installed.

What's my next step?  

[mistrowl]

Further testing has only confused me more.

So it would seem the original PSU is bad. The PSU from the media PC likewise didn't work. When I put the media PSU back into the media PC, the media PC works fine. The original PSU did *not* work in the media PC, leading me to believe it's fried.

In short, does this indicate that *both* the PSU and the motherboard are broken? sigh

[Dark Mantis]

Hi the best thing as you are not sure is to watch this video of how to test your PSU and then try it and post back with the results.

http://www.corsair.com/cinema/movie.aspx?id=1358543

[mistrowl]

  Actually, I already tried the paper clip test on it, and it kinda has me leaning toward bad PSU. Though when I did it, I didn't have a case fan attached, I'll try it again when I get home. It would *barely* seem to start, the fan would nudge maybe .25 of a revolution then nothing would happen. There are also LEDs in this PSU, and they'd flash on then go out. When I flipped the switch back to off, the lights would flicker, the fan would start to spin but then immediately lose power and coast to a stop. This was accompanied by a high-pitched (almost out of hearing range) descending whine. Very quiet, but still audible. All this happens after it's switched off. ??

Even if the PSU was bad though, shouldn't the media PC PSU still have worked in the main PC when I tried it? I know for a fact the media PC PSU is functional, and it should have more than enough watts to at least get the motherboard to show some signs of life.

So far I'm pretty sure the original PSU is bad, but the mediaPC PSU didn't work either, which leads me to think the mobo is bad as well. For what reason would a PSU work in one computer (the media PC is a basic HP factory-assembled jobby, but the PSU is aftermarket) and not the other? Could it be anything *other* than the motherboard?

[Dark Mantis]

It could simply have been that the media centre PSU wasn't powerful enough for you main machine.

[mistrowl]

I dunno, the MPC PSU is 460W, and all I had connected to the mobo was 1 stick of ram, the CPU, and the vid card. Heck, I even tried it with nothing but the CPU installed, and still got nada with either PSU.

Regardless, I've ordered another power supply and we'll see what happens.

[MellwX58]

Hi there, im having the same problem with this board. Tried everything..

I was wondering if your new PSU solved the problem..
Could you plz notify me?


Greetz Mellow

[Dark Mantis]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Would you mind updating your profile which can be found at the top with your location please. It can make it easier to answer if we know where the poster is.

I don't think that the OP will have replaced the PSU yet so I guess that we will all have to wait. If you would like to list your hardware we can see if there is anything we can advise on.

[mistrowl]

Tried the new PSU over the weekend and still got nothing. No post, no lights, no fans spinning.

A paperclip test on the new PSU went okay, so the new PSU seems functional. The same test (redone with a fan attached) on the old PSU was inconclusive.. it would turn the attached cooling fan, but the fans on the PSU itself would not turn, so I'm guessing it's pretty much useless.

I'm proceeding on the assumption that the mobo is totally fried, so I have a new motherboard on the way. If I *still* get nothing, I dunno what I'll try next.

Just out of curiosity, would sitting all day being under-powered by a bad PSU destroy all the components in a PC? Basically, what happened originally is that I shut down my PC on the way out of my house to go to work in the morning. When I got back that night (9 hours later), it was still on, still running, but at what appeared to be greatly reduced power.. all the fans were turning, but not nearly as fast as they usually do. The PC was frozen, no signs of life.. the monitors were getting no signal, etc. I tried to turn it off manually, but the power button did nothing, and the reset button was similarly useless. That was the last time the PC was powered on. I had to flip the switch on the PSU to get it to turn off, and it hasn't run since.

Could my RAM/CPU/Graphics card also all be fried too? What a disaster.

[Dark Mantis]

It's really impossible to tell if anything else is damaged without testing the various components. You have a good start now as you know the PSU is ok. If you want to start testing the rest I am ready.

[mistrowl]

Still nothing. New PSU, new Mobo (ASUS this time, it was all I could afford), same result. All the fans spin for a heartbeat and then nothing. No POST beeps, no POST, no nothing.

I know this thread is pretty much dead since it's no longer a Gigabyte motherboard, but is there a way to see if my CPU/RAM are fried as well without buying new? At this point I'm about ready to start over from scratch.

Thx for the help, wish I had better news. I am well and truly screwed.

[Dark Mantis]

Well I would think that after changing both the motherboard and the  PSU that it must be the processor. Try putting in just one stick of memory and the CPU/heatsink/fan, buzzer and PSU and seeif you can get any response. If  not try a different stick of RAM and boot again. If you get nowhere than it is the CPU that is faulty. Let us know how things pan out.

[mistrowl]

Yup, turns out it was the CPU. Now I get to spend the weekend putting things together and finding out which of the parts I ordered can be returned because the originals actually still function. heh

Well, except that old PSU, it's fried.

Thanks very much for all the help!
J

[Dark Mantis]

Oh well at least we got there in the end. It was a bit of a journey though. This is why we are always banging on about using decent PSUs. They are so important. Often people don't want to accept that it could all be down to the power supply and it can be difficult to change their minds.