PC POSTs, but no image

[iklalter]

Hey guys,

 

so I built a PC for my dad the other day. I ordered all components off amazon, the first motherboard I got was clearly dead. No POST whatsoever. So I ordered a new motherboard, which arrived a few days later (Part list down below). Luckily I tested it again before building in the case, because although the system POSTed this time, I got no image or any signal on my monitor (I tested a few ones which normally, I also tested VGA and DVI output). Alright, so i decided to put an old GTX 750 into the system which I got laying around. Still no image. So I gathered a motherboard speaker, which didn't output any sound when starting the system (of course I tried reversing the connections). After a lot of googling and desperately trying to reseat all components, I still get no image at all. I am pretty sure the power supply is working, I bridged it (paperclip method) and everything seems to be working fine, Also, I guess the system wouldn't even POST if something would have been wrong with the psu all the time. I also read that a possible reason would be missconfigured RAM. So I took one stick of RAM out of my system and tested it. Still nothing. I even unplugged the CMOS Battery for an hour.

 

I am desperate guys. Did I really get another faulty mainboard?! Because rumour has it that Intel CPUs are basically never dead when new. (like 0.01% or sth).

 

I don't know what to do about my problem, although I am quite an experienced PC builder...

 

Please help me! 

 

Components:

Spoiler

ASUS H170I-Plus D3

Intel i3-6320

Fractal Design Node 202 + Integra 450W PSU

Crucial Ballistix 8GB DDR3 RAM

 

Components I tested the system with:

HyperX Savage DDR3 8GB

MSI Nvidia Geforce GTX 750

 

[Godlygamer23]

When you state the system POSTs, can you be more specific? Since you have a motherboard speaker, what beeps emit from there?

[iklalter]

Just now, Godlygamer23 said:

When you state the system POSTs, can you be more specific? Since you have a motherboard speaker, what beeps emit from there?

when the PSU switch is on, a green LED lights up on the board.

When powering the system up, fans spin but the speaker doesn't do anything (I don't actually know if it really works, I got it from a friend working in a pc store)

Unfortunately I have no other way to tell what the system is doing, I am considering to buy a POST card)

[Godlygamer23]

Just now, iklalter said:

when the PSU switch is on, a green LED lights up on the board.

When powering the system up, fans spin but the speaker doesn't do anything (I don't actually know if it really works, I got it from a friend working in a pc store)

Unfortunately I have no other way to tell what the system is doing, I am considering to buy a POST card)

The green light on the motherboard means nothing. It just tells you the board is getting power. If the speaker is not emitting any noise, I'm questioning the fact that it's POSTing or that it may not function. If you are getting no image, that tells me you are not POSTing, or the cable doesn't work.

[iklalter]

Just now, Godlygamer23 said:

The green light on the motherboard means nothing. It just tells you the board is getting power. If the speaker is not emitting any noise, I'm questioning the fact that it's POSTing or that it may not function. If you are getting no image, that tells me you are not POSTing, or the cable doesn't work.

Alright, that may be a missunderstanding from my point. Sorry for that.

[iklalter]

3 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

or the cable doesn't work

Which cable are you refering to?

[Godlygamer23]

Just now, iklalter said:

Which cable are you refering to?

The display cable.

[iklalter]

Just now, Godlygamer23 said:

The display cable.

No, both cables I tested are working, The only thing I could try is to connect HDMI or DisplayPort - but I doubt this will change anything.

[Godlygamer23]

1 minute ago, iklalter said:

No, both cables I tested are working, The only thing I could try is to connect HDMI or DisplayPort - but I doubt this will change anything.

Which slot did you test the RAM in for both instances(since you used two different types)?

[iklalter]

1 minute ago, Godlygamer23 said:

Which slot did you test the RAM in for both instances(since you used two different types)?

I tested both sticks individually, certainly in the main slot. I also tried the secondary one just to make sure.

 

[Gonio]

Are all PSU power cables connected to mobo including 4 pin?

[Godlygamer23]

2 minutes ago, iklalter said:

I tested both sticks individually, certainly in the main slot. I also tried the secondary one just to make sure.

Another question I must ask is if the CPU is functional, and yes you may believe that the chances are super duper low, and they might be, but that cannot be ruled out.

[iklalter]

4 minutes ago, Gonio said:

Are all PSU power cables connected to mobo including 4 pin?

yes they are.

[iklalter]

4 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

Another question I must ask is if the CPU is functional, and yes you may believe that the chances are super duper low, and they might be, but that cannot be ruled out.

I can't tell unfortunately. I have no H170 or Z170 mobo lying around, and I highly doubt this is the case. But I was told I'd get some beep code if this was the case...

[Godlygamer23]

1 minute ago, iklalter said:

I can't tell unfortunately. I have no H170 or Z170 mobo lying around, and I highly doubt this is the case. But I was told I'd get some beep code if this was the case...

Can you move the RAM over to the other slot?

[iklalter]

Just now, Godlygamer23 said:

Can you move the RAM over to the other slot?

Yes, I already did that.

[Naeaes]

53 minutes ago, iklalter said:

when the PSU switch is on, a green LED lights up on the board.

When powering the system up, fans spin but the speaker doesn't do anything (I don't actually know if it really works, I got it from a friend working in a pc store)

Unfortunately I have no other way to tell what the system is doing, I am considering to buy a POST card)

All this means it's not POSTing. Electric motors and LEDs and whatnot run on sheer electricity. If the PSU is fine, which it seems to be, you'll always have your fans spinning and LEDs lit. Don't believe me? Try it without RAM or without CPU.

Anyhoo, one short beep indicates POST is 100% fine. A series of long and short beeps means POST is somewhat fine. (it might beep for things like no keyboard which isn't related to POSTing per se) After POST has passed checking the crucial HW, you'll also have the control over your num/caps/scroll lock LEDs. I mean, usually numlock lights up regardless, but after POST has passed, you can turn it on/off. You just need a KB with those LEDs, doens't matter if it's PS/2 or USB. 

 

Don't go out buying more stuff. Your HW might be 100% working, just incompatible (for the time being).

For instance, are you 100% certain your RAM is compatible? The RAM manufacturer or the motherboard manufacturer or both have stated so? I mean, Officially the board supports DDR3L but you're saying you have DDR3.

Or do you know your BIOS supports the CPU? According to Asus.com, you need BIOS version 0403, which while not at all new release, is't the original factory BIOS. 

The money you'd waste on more HW, or worse yet, HW you only have use for troubleshooting, you could use to have a pro with a stock full of comparable HW take a crack at it. There's no shame in taking it to a shop if only to have something simple done like getting the BIOS updated.

 

Tl;Dr: If you want just an educated guess, the more likely scenario is the RAM in my mind.

[iklalter]

32 minutes ago, Naeaes said:

All this means it's not POSTing. Electric motors and LEDs and whatnot run on sheer electricity. If the PSU is fine, which it seems to be, you'll always have your fans spinning and LEDs lit. Don't believe me? Try it without RAM or without CPU.

Anyhoo, one short beep indicates POST is 100% fine. A series of long and short beeps means POST is somewhat fine. (it might beep for things like no keyboard which isn't related to POSTing per se) After POST has passed checking the crucial HW, you'll also have the control over your num/caps/scroll lock LEDs. I mean, usually numlock lights up regardless, but after POST has passed, you can turn it on/off. You just need a KB with those LEDs, doens't matter if it's PS/2 or USB. 

 

Don't go out buying more stuff. Your HW might be 100% working, just incompatible (for the time being).

For instance, are you 100% certain your RAM is compatible? The RAM manufacturer or the motherboard manufacturer or both have stated so? I mean, Officially the board supports DDR3L but you're saying you have DDR3.

Or do you know your BIOS supports the CPU? According to Asus.com, you need BIOS version 0403, which while not at all new release, is't the original factory BIOS. 

The money you'd waste on more HW, or worse yet, HW you only have use for troubleshooting, you could use to have a pro with a stock full of comparable HW take a crack at it. There's no shame in taking it to a shop if only to have something simple done like getting the BIOS updated.

 

Tl;Dr: If you want just an educated guess, the more likely scenario is the RAM in my mind.

Thanks for your detailed answer dude!

 

Alright, so firstly i was quite sure that the spinning and the LEDs were because of the power supply - thanks for confirming that.

The speaker is doing nothing. So i guess I don't even have a POST then.

 

About the compatibility. I know that both RAM Sticks I tested work with the board. The only thing I don't know is the BIOS version of the board. But I am quite sure that this is not causing the problem because these things normally ship with the newest version, and as far as I know there were more than just this one update. Do you know where I could possibly find out what BIOS version I have?

 

[iklalter]

6 hours ago, Godlygamer23 said:

Can you move the RAM over to the other slot?

Just asking, how should I go on about the situation? I can exchange pretty much every component for a new one, I'd just like to have an idea of a good guess. Should I exchange the mainboard for a new one, exchange the CPU or just go on about finding out if it is just an old BIOS version which is blocking my PC from starting?

 

[Naeaes]

6 hours ago, iklalter said:

Thanks for your detailed answer dude!

 

Alright, so firstly i was quite sure that the spinning and the LEDs were because of the power supply - thanks for confirming that.

The speaker is doing nothing. So i guess I don't even have a POST then.

 

About the compatibility. I know that both RAM Sticks I tested work with the board. The only thing I don't know is the BIOS version of the board. But I am quite sure that this is not causing the problem because these things normally ship with the newest version, and as far as I know there were more than just this one update. Do you know where I could possibly find out what BIOS version I have?

 

I believe Asus boards have it printed on a label somewhere. It should look something like this: https://www.asus.com/support/images/upload/6ef8f27e-0f13-4aea-aaa0-0348cba7d00a.jpg A bar code and a long set of characters the bios version is the separate four digits at the right, in the picture it's 0218. But the label can be anywhere and they change it's place. It can be on the underside of the board or on the side of a PCI-E slot or something tupid like that. An there's several labels too. But just the one should be like this, narrow with a long number that's like the part number or a serial number and the separate four digits at the right. Hope you find it without much effort.

[Mr_NightRyder]

What about the onboard video?  Could be something as simple as the motherboard not seeing the graphics card.

[kirashi]

15 minutes ago, Mr_NightRyder said:

What about the onboard video?  Could be something as simple as the motherboard not seeing the graphics card.

Was just going to suggest this.

 

@iklalter, please try removing all components from your system, except for the following:

• power supply
• ONE (1) stick of RAM, in slot A1/#1
• CPU
• heatsink

Connect your monitor to the on-board graphics and attempt to boot the system.

Make sure your monitor is set to the correct input.

Also, test that the monitor works with another computer.

Get back to us with the results.

[iklalter]

On 1.10.2016 at 11:40 PM, kirashi said:

Was just going to suggest this.

 

@iklalter, please try removing all components from your system, except for the following:

• power supply
• ONE (1) stick of RAM, in slot A1/#1
• CPU
• heatsink

Connect your monitor to the on-board graphics and attempt to boot the system.

Make sure your monitor is set to the correct input.

Also, test that the monitor works with another computer.

Get back to us with the results.

Already did that, that's why I even tried putting in the GPU (It is intended to run with onboard graphics). I had a similar issue with my build which was fixed by plugging in a gpu.

 

Unfortunately that doesn't work either....

[iklalter]

On 1.10.2016 at 11:16 PM, Naeaes said:

I believe Asus boards have it printed on a label somewhere. It should look something like this: https://www.asus.com/support/images/upload/6ef8f27e-0f13-4aea-aaa0-0348cba7d00a.jpg A bar code and a long set of characters the bios version is the separate four digits at the right, in the picture it's 0218. But the label can be anywhere and they change it's place. It can be on the underside of the board or on the side of a PCI-E slot or something tupid like that. An there's several labels too. But just the one should be like this, narrow with a long number that's like the part number or a serial number and the separate four digits at the right. Hope you find it without much effort.

Alright, I looked up the BIOS version and my CPU should be supported. I'll end up just exchanging the MB and then see how it turns out next time.

Thanks for the help, if i run into issues, I will keep this post updated.