[randyallencoleman]

Hello all, as everyone else, i love linux, so much, that when my laptop begin making weird noises and when i found out the fan bearing was broke or breaking, that i decided to buy all new parts in order to make my own desktop for linux only, along with puppy linux or any other fast distro i could find out there, but when i recieved the parts for the new computer, (480W 20+4 Pin Switching Power Supply "PSilence, Serial ATA Adapter, Support ATX 20&24 Pin", BIOSTAR Mainboard For Intel Processor P4M890-M7 TE "LGA775/FSB 1066MHz, PCI-Ex16/SATA, DDRII-533, P4M890 IGP Chipset", Pentium 4, 525MB of RAM, and 37gb of harddrive space, along with 2 fans to help keep it cool), i connected them along with the case and the power switch controls (hdd led etc) it would come on for a few seconds and display a black screen and then power off, then thinking it was maybe just the video onboard thing i tryed an external video card and it displayed i believe the Nvidia video version and i think the word Bios and then powered off after a little bit longer so thinking that maybe since the motherboard had 24pins for the power supply and a 4pin power supply i then bought a 20 to 24 adapter thinking it would work then, but still, the same thing and when i took the external video card off and tryed the onboard one again, same blank screen for a few seconds, any help please? and sorry if this is not the right spot for this thread. thank you!

[IsaacKuo]

How experienced are you at building computer systems? It sounds like perhaps you are a novice, or maybe even this is your first build. The key to troubleshooting a new build is to minimize the number of components involved. That means trying to boot up with only the mobo, PSU, CPU, one stick of RAM, and video card (if necessary). The only peripherals you want to connect at first are a keyboard and monitor.

A few things which could cause your symptoms include:

1) Something isn't connected well and needs to be reseated (possibly RAM)

2) Poor CPU heatsink installation. If the CPU is overheating, it could trigger an automatic shutdown. If you're a novice builder, you might have made a mistake.

3) Bad RAM. Bad RAM can cause all sorts of bizarre and hard to diagnose symptoms--and no, the pre-boot RAM test does not do a good job at detecting bad RAM.

4) Bad on/off switch/wiring. This can be a very frustrating cause of failure because it's one of the last things you think of checking. Doubtful since this is a brand new build, but worth checking since it can cause the symptoms you describe. If you're skilled/experienced, you can directly power the machine on with the tip of a flathead screwdriver across the mobo headers. If not, you can try using the case's reset switch instead of the power switch. It's highly unlikely both switches will be messed up.

5) Bad PSU. A bad PSU can shut down arbitrarily. A good PSU may do an automatic shutdown almost immediately if it detects a short circuit, or it may do an automatic shutdown after a while if it overheats. But what you describe takes too long to be the former and is too quick for the latter. Since this PSU is brand new, it probably isn't bad.

6) Bad mobo. A bad mobo can cause difficult to diagnose symptoms. I'd bet against this cause since your mobo is brand new, but mobo failures are one of the most common ways a computer "dies".

[randyallencoleman]

thank you for the quick reply and useful information, i will try it with the bare minimum as u described and give another reply brb im trying it right now

[randyallencoleman]

i timed it from start to finish it comes on for 15secs by my watch with only the psu, cpu, one stick of ram, and monitor (onboard), any way to test if its the psu or ram or cpu etc?

[randyallencoleman]

i timed it from start to finish it comes on for 15secs by my watch with only the psu, cpu, one stick of ram, and monitor (onboard), any way to test if its the psu or ram or cpu etc?, and yes i am a novice at building computers because this is my first computer that i have built note i am only 19

[valan]

Try with a different stick of ram. If the problem goes away, you know then that it's that specific stick of ram giving the troubles.

[IsaacKuo]

Another thing you can try is to put the stick of RAM into a different slot, if that's the only stick you have. It's not very common for this to make a difference in newer motherboards, but you never know...

As for the other things, I'm not an expert on troubleshooting them. I use spare hardware and start with a working system (just the basics). Then I swap in one component at a time to confirm that component is good.

But this method only works if you've got a spare working computer with similar hardware (same ram type, CPU slot, etc).

[randyallencoleman]

yea ty for the advice but i mean, i dont have another psu and cpu of that type so i cant : ( and it does have2slots for ram and i tryed both slots but yea only 1stick of ram : (

[jayd512]

One other thing you might try is to boot without any RAM at all. You don't really have to have RAM installed on a computer to boot it... it'll just take a while, and may help eliminate one more possibility.
Also, try to boot without any peripherals at all attached (no monitor, keyboard, etc.) This way, we'll know if the power supply is giving enough juice. (I know it's a long shot... but it's worth a try.)

[Debian Linux Geek]

Originally Posted by jayd512

One other thing you might try is to boot without any RAM at all. You don't really have to have RAM installed on a computer to boot it...

Yes you do it wont even past post without RAM.