Building my first computer (for linux) and need some help.

[tonicardo]

Right now I am building a pc so that I can put linux on it and give it to my dad so he can do some pretty normal stuff such as surf the internet, type, possibly play Wolfenstein enemy territoy every once in awhile. I'm having a little bit of trouble and want to know if anyone can help me.

I have an amd Sempron processor

Foxconn 755A01-6EKRS Socket 754 SiS 755 ATX AMD Motherboard

SAPPHIRE RADEON 9600 128M Radeon 9600 128MB 128-bit DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card

Hard drive with no OS as of yet

Dvd rom drive

756mb ram

The two problems that I face at the moment is that nothing appears on my monitor when I turn on the computer and the second problem is that when I have my ide cable hooked up from my motherboard to either my DVD rom drive and/or hard drive they don't power on. Can anyone help me out on this one?

[twoHats]

These two things together sound like a power supply problem. Does the MB have any leds so you can tell when it's powered? Does the power supply fan spin? What does happen when you turn it on?

Have fun -

[tonicardo]

These two things together sound like a power supply problem. Does the MB have any leds so you can tell when it's powered? Does the power supply fan spin? What does happen when you turn it on?

Have fun -

When I turn on the computer The processor fan goes on. The led lights that are apart of the case that tell the computer is on go on. Also both drives go on unless they're connected to the motherboard. Other then that there are no other signs that I can see that would help me figure that out. I do have an extra power supplle that I could just hook up and try.

[tonicardo]

Still same problem with my other power supply.

So I guess it's something else.

[hilowe]

Also both drives go on unless they're connected to the motherboard.

That almost sounds like you have a DOA motherboard to me.

You don't have a system around that you can plug some of the internals into, do you? I'm thinking like the graphics card, RAM, anything else that might be compatible. I really doubt these are the problems, but we might as well eliminate them as possibilities.

[Shaun Williamson]

For the moment disconnect all your disk drives. You don't need them.
Remove all cards except the video card.
Make sure everything that should be connected to the motherboard e.g the
reset switch etc. is connected properly. Switch on, the computer should
attempt to boot and you should get a beep or beeps through the case
speaker and the bios sign on message should appear on the screen. If none
of this happens then you have made some wrong connections or the video
card is not properly installed in its slot or the memory chips are not properly
installed or there are some jumpers on the motherboard that are not set
correctly or the motherboard is not properly insulated from the case.
Check that the CMOS ram jumper is set correctly. Read the manual very
carefully and slowly. Its possible that you have a defective motherboard
but its also likely that you have overlooked something important especially
if you haven't had much experience in building PCs before.