README: How to respond to a no POST or no power up situation

[MG2R]

my pc has no problem posting and stuff but when I put the pc to sleep when I try to wake it back up it just shuts down and I have to press the power button on my pc

 

to turn it back on. This only happens when I put the pc to sleep. I've tried switching around the sata connectors on my motherboard around but that didn't do

 

anything. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks

Hi there, welcome to the forums!

 

This thread isn't meant to post your PC issues in. Please create a new thread to ask about your problem. That way, the forum doesn't get cluttered as much.

 

 

Thanks!

[squid4fl]

Hi,

 

i recently found this big flowchart for troubleshooting pc problems. Might be helpful for some of you

 

edit: you might have to click "full resolution" to be able to read anything

[Bloodbath91n]

A big thanks to the OP from a newbie for this help thread. Havent built a pc yet about to start in a few days but its good to know if there is a problem i have lots of good info and recources here to utilize. 

[Abhiwar]

Wonderful Post . I faced some issue with my Old PSU recently and when I plugged it directly into wall point 90% issue resolved and PC worked great . 

So before taking everything apart first step should be to by pass all UPS/powerstrips and connect PSU to wall directly just for testing 

[Engineerd]

I know this is an older post but I ran into this just recently.

 

I was having trouble with a Asus Maximus VIII Formula not posting outside of the case. On board LEDs would light and cycle but the CPU cooler would not spin and the MB would not post. Come to find out it wasn't grounded enough to turn on. Installing the PSU and the MB in the case let the MB post.

 

Just thought that adding a step with a continuity check with a multimeter on the MB screw holes or installing it in the case could help other people.

[Coldfuson]

On 9/3/2016 at 2:44 PM, Engineerd said:

I know this is an older post but I ran into this just recently.

 

I was having trouble with a Asus Maximus VIII Formula not posting outside of the case. On board LEDs would light and cycle but the CPU cooler would not spin and the MB would not post. Come to find out it wasn't grounded enough to turn on. Installing the PSU and the MB in the case let the MB post.

 

Just thought that adding a step with a continuity check with a multimeter on the MB screw holes or installing it in the case could help other people.

You shouldn't ever have to ground a motherboard through any other means than the ground on the 24 pin connector. In damn near every build guide, it is suggested you do a test bench build on top of the motherboard box. You probably had a loose connection on your 8 pin or something that was corrected when you unplugged everything and plugged it back in when you put it in your case. 

[thedivision1]

On 8/3/2013 at 9:11 AM, MG2R said:

REMINDER: this thread is not to ask questions about your PC. Please create a NEW thread if you still have issues after going through this thread.

 

So, you've put together your brand new, shining rig. You plug in the power cord and push the button. Nothing happens. What now? The answer depends on what is happening:

 

 

The machine doesn't do anything. No beeps, LEDs or spinning fans.

1. Check if your power cable is firmly plugged in on both ends (you would be surprised how many issues this resolves)
2. Check if the power supply (PSU) has a button to cut the power to the machine. Check if this button is in the position denoted with ON or I
3. Check if EVERY power cable is plugged in securely, reseat if necessary.
4. Check if the power button is installed correctly (consult your motherboard manual)
5. Try shorting out the pins you connect the power button to manually. If this powers on your system, you have a faulty power button.
6. Check with a device of which you know that it works if the power outlet you're using is actually providing power.

If this hasn't solved the problem, check if your PSU isn't dead. To do this, you can follow these steps:

1. Unplug your power cord and/or flip the switch on the back of the PSU in the position denoted with OFF or 0
2. Unplug every connector coming from your PSU (this is very important)
3. Using a bent paperclip, short out the green wire on the 24 pin header with any of the black wires, like so.
4. If you have a PSU that shuts down its fan under low load, or a PSU that is fanless, connect something small like a hard drive to it.
5. Plug in your power cord and/or flip the switch on the back of the PSU in the position denoted with ON or I

If the PSU does NOT power on (the fan/hard drive you connected should start spinning) after following these steps, your PSU is in all likelyhood defective. Request an RMA.

If the PSU DOES power on, then the problem is most likely your motherboard.

 

 

The machine does power up, but my screen remains black (no POST).

1. Make sure your BIOS version is compatible with the CPU generation you're trying to run in your motherboard, you can consult the manual or the manufacturer's website about this.
2. Check if EVERY power cable is connected. Auxiliary power connectors included.
3. Make sure the cable coming from your monitor is attached securely to the graphics card. Also make sure it is securely attached to the monitor itself.
4. Make sure your PSU is powerful enough to power your complete system.
5. Make sure your monitor works by testing it on a different computer.
6. If you have both a dedicated GPU and an iGPU, try your monitor on both the outputs on the graphics cards as well as on the motherboard.
7. Make sure all connectors and cables are plugged in securely, reseat if necessary.
8. Make sure your RAM, CPU and GPU are plugged in securely, reseat if necessary.
9. If the motherboard you're using has debug LEDs, check the error code and consult the motherboard manual to see what it means.
10. If you have a debug speaker connected to the motherboard, note the beep sequence and consult the motherboard manual or this thread to see what it means.
11. Try clearing your CMOS.
12. Try booting your computer with only a motherboard, CPU and one stick of RAM attached (if you don't have an iGPU, plug in your GPU as well ).
13. Make sure your GPU works (if you have a dedicated one), try it in another computer.
14. Make sure your RAM works, try it another computer.
15. Make sure the RAM is compatible with your CPU and your motherboard.

 

If the PC still doesn't POST after this, create a new thread and, as explained here, post IN FULL DETAIL about your problem. Make sure you include the following:

1. System configuration
2. Troubleshooting steps you already did
3. Any additional information that may be relevant.

 

Lastly, if you find any mistakes/grammatical errors, inaccuracies or missing steps in this post, please do post them in a comment so I can fix it.

 

 

PS: @TheXDS has posted how you can do some more in depth checking of the internal circuitry of you PSU. The only thing you need is a multimeter or potentiometer (if you're oldschool :D). You can find his post at http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/42440-readme-how-to-respond-to-a-no-post-or-no-power-up-situation/?p=4561958

ASRock H110M‑ITX LGA 1151 Intel H110

i5 7600k

radeon graphics card 

750 corsair modular power supply 

Anarchy ram 

all of those should work right 

[thedivision1]

It boots up for a sec then shuts down and boots up and stays running

[thedivision1]

But I still get no post screen

[MG2R]

On 2/15/2017 at 4:44 PM, thedivision1 said:

ASRock H110M‑ITX LGA 1151 Intel H110

i5 7600k

radeon graphics card 

750 corsair modular power supply 

Anarchy ram 

all of those should work right 

 

On 2/15/2017 at 4:45 PM, thedivision1 said:

It boots up for a sec then shuts down and boots up and stays running

 

On 2/15/2017 at 4:45 PM, thedivision1 said:

But I still get no post screen

Literally the first line of this thread is the following:

 

REMINDER: this thread is not to ask questions about your PC. Please create a NEW thread if you still have issues after going through this thread.

 

Please create a new thread in the troubleshooting section if you are having a problem with your computer.

 

Also per the original post in this thread:

Quote

 

If the PC still doesn't POST after this, create a new thread and, as explained here, post IN FULL DETAIL about your problem. Make sure you include the following:

1. System configuration
2. Troubleshooting steps you already did
3. Any additional information that may be relevant.

 

[RadiatingLight]

On ‎6‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 10:02 AM, squid4fl said:

Hi,

 

i recently found this big flowchart for troubleshooting pc problems. Might be helpful for some of you

 

edit: you might have to click "full resolution" to be able to read anything

Holy balls what an informative chart.

[Flashie]

On 2013-8-3 at 4:11 PM, MG2R said:

The machine doesn't do anything. No beeps, LEDs or spinning fans.

1. Check if your power cable is firmly plugged in on both ends (you would be surprised how many issues this resolves)

I feel really really poopy now...
Nothing worked after pulling out GPU, RAM, CPU, Cooler, Fans, HDD's, Disk Drives, Power connections inside,
Tried #1 on the list and guess what...

 

EDIT!!! 

turns out that it was not the power cable that was causing the posting problems. It was one very moody dimm that it had in there. Popped in one from my test rig and bam the pc was working straight off on the first boot. Guess I got some ram shopping to do 

[dogwitch]

figure out why a  testing system. i had working stop after installing some sata drives. i bump off the power nub  connector from board...... god i hate the tiny little thing.

[tjknejrnbtkjw4bk5jbwkejb]

I'd suggest adding to the post that the RAM should click into place and you should not be able to see the golden pins. That can be a problem for many newcomers, like me.

[KevinFumbles]

Just wanted to put my 2 cents into this thread. I had an issue where it seemed like my PC POSTed fine, but I didn't get a video signal, even to my BIOS screen. Turns out you can't just get an HDMI to VGA cable and plug the VGA end to the PC and the HDMI end to the monitor. If you want more info, Converting VGA to HDMI - Rich Murphy covers it fantastically. Basically, the two are not 100% compatible. So make sure that if this applies to you, you get an actual VGA to HDMI converter and not just some cable that goes 1-way...

[pequla]

On 8/3/2013 at 4:11 PM, MG2R said:

If this hasn't solved the problem, check if your PSU isn't dead. To do this, you can follow these steps:

1. Unplug your power cord and/or flip the switch on the back of the PSU in the position denoted with OFF or 0
2. Unplug every connector coming from your PSU (this is very important)
3. Using a bent paperclip, short out the green wire on the 24 pin header with any of the black wires, like so.
4. If you have a PSU that shuts down its fan under low load, or a PSU that is fanless, connect something small like a hard drive to it.
5. Plug in your power cord and/or flip the switch on the back of the PSU in the position denoted with ON or I

If the PSU does NOT power on (the fan/hard drive you connected should start spinning) after following these steps, your PSU is in all likelyhood defective. Request an RMA.

If the PSU DOES power on, then the problem is most likely your motherboard.

I use a multimeter to mesure the voltages, if the fan spins it is also possible that the trafos dont output the right voltage, put the negative termianl on any black wire and the positive on yellow, red and orange, yellow one should have OVER 12V , the red one should have OVER 5V and the orange one should be OVER 3.3V, also check if you have OVER 6.8V when you pt positive on red wire and negative on yellow one

[GT1uk]

PC stop working! no Post beeps.

 

I had a major issue 2 days ago. Switch pc on all booted well. Left it for an hour (went to pub for Sunday roast) dont have power save/hibernate/ screen stitch off and such. Came back and screens off but pc fans and g/cards still running as normal. Tried wake up from keyboard......nothing.. tried reset button.....nothing... tried hold power off.....nothing. Switched pc off via switch on psu. Switched back on. No post beeps! Fans start (m/board and gpu and case) nothing else. Tried replacing cmos battery, cmos reset using jumper. Still nothing. Having a asus rampage 3 extreme (yeah old i know) luck for me this board has a set of LEDs which light when an issue with start up. Checked, CPU light lite? First thought CPU failed or m/board died. Disheartened (my baby i built 10 years ago, specs below) thinking its had it or needs investment to fix. 

 

Following day i put the build on the operating table for inspection. LOL. First unplugged all power/reset buttons. Nothing. Unplugged all hard drives ssd drives and dvd drive (yes i have a DVD rom drive! Lol.  I have physical copies of games)  Unplugged GPU. After doing this the Q leds (4 leds on the mother board to indicate an issue with either dram, cpu, vga, boot device) indicated dram an issue. Removed all 4Gb (24Gb initially) sticks except 1 x in the primary slot. Powered up and for the first time i got post beeps and looking at the Led`s stated vga (gpu missing). Put the gpu back in and still got post beeps and was able to get to bios screen for the first time. 

 

From then on in slowly put back in all remaining rams sticks back in 1 by 1 and all is well. System working as it was before the issue.

 

No idea what the cause was but it is working as it was before. 

 

Would like to know any input to what caused this issue.

 

Thought i would post this if anyone has a similar issue.

 

My sad pc specs;

 

asus rampage 3 extreme 

i7 930 2.8Gb o/c @ 4.0Gb (1st gen i7) 4 physical cores)

24Gb ballistic (6 x 4Gb ram) 1600mhz

asus Gtx 1080 Strix

wd 650GB hard drive master drive

Samsung spinpiont 250Gb hard drive

wd 250Gb SSd

850w Corsair AX850 psu

1 x dvd rom drive

Antec 1200 case.

Duel boot win xp 64 and win 7 (main) os

 

All is well now but a strange issue. hope these steps may help someone else with a similar issue. If someone could point to what may have caused the issue would help.

 

Ps: i know its old and the cpu is really outdated but its done me very well for 10 years.(only upgraded the GPU from a ASUS 5970 to the ASUS gtx 1080 2 years ago)

 

Cheers guys

 

 

[Dr_badwolf]

On 8/3/2013 at 10:11 AM, MG2R said:

REMINDER: this thread is not to ask questions about your PC. Please create a NEW thread if you still have issues after going through this thread.

 

So, you've put together your brand new, shining rig. You plug in the power cord and push the button. Nothing happens. What now? The answer depends on what is happening:

 

 

The machine doesn't do anything. No beeps, LEDs or spinning fans.

1. Check if your power cable is firmly plugged in on both ends (you would be surprised how many issues this resolves)
2. Check if the power supply (PSU) has a button to cut the power to the machine. Check if this button is in the position denoted with ON or I
3. Check if EVERY power cable is plugged in securely, reseat if necessary.
4. Check if the power button is installed correctly (consult your motherboard manual)
5. Try shorting out the pins you connect the power button to manually. If this powers on your system, you have a faulty power button.
6. Check with a device of which you know that it works if the power outlet you're using is actually providing power.

If this hasn't solved the problem, check if your PSU isn't dead. To do this, you can follow these steps:

1. Unplug your power cord and/or flip the switch on the back of the PSU in the position denoted with OFF or 0
2. Unplug every connector coming from your PSU (this is very important)
3. Using a bent paperclip, short out the green wire on the 24 pin header with any of the black wires, like so.
4. If you have a PSU that shuts down its fan under low load, or a PSU that is fanless, connect something small like a hard drive to it.
5. Plug in your power cord and/or flip the switch on the back of the PSU in the position denoted with ON or I

If the PSU does NOT power on (the fan/hard drive you connected should start spinning) after following these steps, your PSU is in all likelyhood defective. Request an RMA.

If the PSU DOES power on, then the problem is most likely your motherboard.

 

 

The machine does power up, but my screen remains black (no POST).

1. Make sure your BIOS version is compatible with the CPU generation you're trying to run in your motherboard, you can consult the manual or the manufacturer's website about this.
2. Check if EVERY power cable is connected. Auxiliary power connectors included.
3. Make sure the cable coming from your monitor is attached securely to the graphics card. Also make sure it is securely attached to the monitor itself.
4. Make sure your PSU is powerful enough to power your complete system.
5. Make sure your monitor works by testing it on a different computer.
6. If you have both a dedicated GPU and an iGPU, try your monitor on both the outputs on the graphics cards as well as on the motherboard.
7. Make sure all connectors and cables are plugged in securely, reseat if necessary.
8. Make sure your RAM, CPU and GPU are plugged in securely, reseat if necessary.
9. If the motherboard you're using has debug LEDs, check the error code and consult the motherboard manual to see what it means.
10. If you have a debug speaker connected to the motherboard, note the beep sequence and consult the motherboard manual or this thread to see what it means.
11. Try clearing your CMOS.
12. Try booting your computer with only a motherboard, CPU and one stick of RAM attached (if you don't have an iGPU, plug in your GPU as well ).
13. Make sure your GPU works (if you have a dedicated one), try it in another computer.
14. Make sure your RAM works, try it another computer.
15. Make sure the RAM is compatible with your CPU and your motherboard.

 

If the PC still doesn't POST after this, create a new thread and, as explained here, post IN FULL DETAIL about your problem. Make sure you include the following:

1. System configuration
2. Troubleshooting steps you already did
3. Any additional information that may be relevant.

 

Lastly, if you find any mistakes/grammatical errors, inaccuracies or missing steps in this post, please do post them in a comment so I can fix it.

 

 

PS: @TheXDS has posted how you can do some more in depth checking of the internal circuitry of you PSU. The only thing you need is a multimeter or potentiometer (if you're oldschool :D). You can find his post at http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/42440-readme-how-to-respond-to-a-no-post-or-no-power-up-situation/?p=4561958

1.) Is monitor plugged in? (yes) ---> 
2.) Cold boot 3 minutes off and unplug everything extra like USB, a new fan, extra disks, etc (fails?) ---->
3.) reset bios (soft first, then hard, then USB STICK Bios fallback: put bios on fat32, put in usb, press bios (nope?) -->
4.)  pull all but 1 RAM stick. (nope) --->
5.) Pull GPU, use onboard (nope) --->
6.) cycle ram sticks. Each one, each slot. (nope) --->
7.) pull GPU, use onboard. Or swap GPU, even old one (nope) --->
8.) CPU or PSU or MB

[Dokicasilenovsky]

my friend pc didnt want to turn on all lights were on but windows didnt boot up we change all our spec to see in which one was problem but now my pc have same problem it worked about 2 hours ago it would be great for quick respond his pc doesnt work eather

[MG2R]

On 6/12/2021 at 9:06 PM, Dokicasilenovsky said:

my friend pc didnt want to turn on all lights were on but windows didnt boot up we change all our spec to see in which one was problem but now my pc have same problem it worked about 2 hours ago it would be great for quick respond his pc doesnt work eather

Literally the first line in

this thread:

Quote

REMINDER: this thread is not to ask questions about your PC. Please create a NEW thread if you still have issues after going through this thread.

[Dr_badwolf]

With great respect, I have to say: I do not agree with this list.
I believe it to be excessive for a [no-power] situation...

[MG2R]

On 8/10/2021 at 12:31 AM, Dr_badwolf said:

With great respect, I have to say: I do not agree with this list.
I believe it to be excessive for a [no-power] situation...

Well, this post is designed to be exhaustive. If you run through the entire post following all steps carefully, you should either have a POST-ing computer, or a very solid indication of what component is causing issues. If someone runs through this list and does not have either of those, the list of troubleshooting steps should be expanded upon.

[jcdutton]

One minor addition to the troubleshooting tips.

I have a Gigabyte Aorus Pro X399 Motherboard.

In some situations is fails to power on. No lights, nothing. PSU is perfectly fine. To anyone, it looks like a totally dead Motherboard.

If I removed all PSU cables from the MB, including the GPU ones.

I removed the CMOS battery.

Cleared the CMOS.

Motherboard burst into life again.

Note: Just pressing the CMOS clear button on its own, without all the cable unplugging, did not help.

 

So, in summary, add the "CMOS clear" step to the "The machine doesn't do anything. No beeps, LEDs or spinning fans." section.

 

[Guest]

On 8/3/2013 at 11:11 AM, MG2R said:

REMINDER: this thread is not to ask questions about your PC. Please create a NEW thread if you still have issues after going through this thread.

 

So, you've put together your brand new, shining rig. You plug in the power cord and push the button. Nothing happens. What now? The answer depends on what is happening:

 

 

The machine doesn't do anything. No beeps, LEDs or spinning fans.

1. Check if your power cable is firmly plugged in on both ends (you would be surprised how many issues this resolves)
2. Check if the power supply (PSU) has a button to cut the power to the machine. Check if this button is in the position denoted with ON or I
3. Check if EVERY power cable is plugged in securely, reseat if necessary.
4. Check if the power button is installed correctly (consult your motherboard manual)
5. Try shorting out the pins you connect the power button to manually. If this powers on your system, you have a faulty power button.
6. Check with a device of which you know that it works if the power outlet you're using is actually providing power.

If this hasn't solved the problem, check if your PSU isn't dead. To do this, you can follow these steps:

1. Unplug your power cord and/or flip the switch on the back of the PSU in the position denoted with OFF or 0
2. Unplug every connector coming from your PSU (this is very important)
3. Using a bent paperclip, short out the green wire on the 24 pin header with any of the black wires, like so.
4. If you have a PSU that shuts down its fan under low load, or a PSU that is fanless, connect something small like a hard drive to it.
5. Plug in your power cord and/or flip the switch on the back of the PSU in the position denoted with ON or I

If the PSU does NOT power on (the fan/hard drive you connected should start spinning) after following these steps, your PSU is in all likelyhood defective. Request an RMA.

If the PSU DOES power on, then the problem is most likely your motherboard.

 

 

The machine does power up, but my screen remains black (no POST).

1. Make sure your BIOS version is compatible with the CPU generation you're trying to run in your motherboard, you can consult the manual or the manufacturer's website about this.
2. Check if EVERY power cable is connected. Auxiliary power connectors included.
3. Make sure the cable coming from your monitor is attached securely to the graphics card. Also make sure it is securely attached to the monitor itself.
4. Make sure your PSU is powerful enough to power your complete system.
5. Make sure your monitor works by testing it on a different computer.
6. If you have both a dedicated GPU and an iGPU, try your monitor on both the outputs on the graphics cards as well as on the motherboard.
7. Make sure all connectors and cables are plugged in securely, reseat if necessary.
8. Make sure your RAM, CPU and GPU are plugged in securely, reseat if necessary.
9. If the motherboard you're using has debug LEDs, check the error code and consult the motherboard manual to see what it means.
10. If you have a debug speaker connected to the motherboard, note the beep sequence and consult the motherboard manual or this thread to see what it means.
11. Try clearing your CMOS.
12. Try booting your computer with only a motherboard, CPU and one stick of RAM attached (if you don't have an iGPU, plug in your GPU as well ).
13. Make sure your GPU works (if you have a dedicated one), try it in another computer.
14. Make sure your RAM works, try it another computer.
15. Make sure the RAM is compatible with your CPU and your motherboard.

 

If the PC still doesn't POST after this, create a new thread and, as explained here, post IN FULL DETAIL about your problem. Make sure you include the following:

1. System configuration
2. Troubleshooting steps you already did
3. Any additional information that may be relevant.

 

Lastly, if you find any mistakes/grammatical errors, inaccuracies or missing steps in this post, please do post them in a comment so I can fix it.

 

 

PS: @TheXDS has posted how you can do some more in depth checking of the internal circuitry of you PSU. The only thing you need is a multimeter or potentiometer (if you're oldschool :D). You can find his post at http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/42440-readme-how-to-respond-to-a-no-post-or-no-power-up-situation/?p=4561958

You could include "replace the cmos battery with a new cmos battery"  lack of cmos battery power is cause of a no post situation.  Motherboards seem to ship with dead batteries.

[MG2R]

On 3/16/2022 at 8:19 PM, Stephen7 said:

You could include "replace the cmos battery with a new cmos battery"  lack of cmos battery power is cause of a no post situation.  Motherboards seem to ship with dead batteries.

Interesting. I've never heard of this being a problem. In principle the battery should not be needed to boot the system. Its only job is supposed to be to keep the BIOS settings saved and the on-board RTC ticking so you don't lose time when the system is off. Your system should be able to boot even with no battery installed as far as I know.