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Fellow builders, to me! I need your help (new system woes)

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  • Fellow builders, to me! I need your help (new system woes)

    Might anyone have some insight into this ?

    I just bought a new mobo and parts to make a new system. Everything set up and hooked up, mobo comes on and is receiving power properly, no error beeps from the speaker nor error lights on the board (except one which is unrelated to bootup and wont' turn off no matter what I do), but it won't output a proper signal to the monitor via either the PCIe card or onboard video via HDMI nor VGA (tried a TV and an actual monitor). Monitor stays black (meaning it's getting SOME form of signal) for 30 seconds or so before reverting to bluescreen/no signal mode. Tested RAM, video card, drives, PSU in old system, they're all fine. Drives spin up as if it were POSTing just fine.

    Any ideas? ASUS z97-A mobo.

    Thanks!
    "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
    "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
    "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
    "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
    "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
    "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
    Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
    "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

  • #2
    When you say "but it won't output a proper signal to the monitor via either the PCIe card or onboard video via HDMI nor VGA (tried a TV and an actual monitor)", did you take out the PCIe card when trying the onboard video? You may have a situation where it shuts off the onboard video when it detects an add-in card is present, but the add-in isn't working (either bad, or enough of the onboard is still "live" that it "fights" with the add-in). Have you tried swapping the PCIe card into a known-good system (i.e. a friend's system that uses PCIe) to see if the card itself is good?
    Any fool can piss on the floor. It takes a talented SC to shit on the ceiling.

    Comment


    • #3
      Yup. Put card into another system and it works just fine.

      I also tried both swapping which input the HDMI cable is on (both onboard as well as the geforce card), along with simply removing the geforce and using only onboard. It's a brand-new mobo, so I figured that the default would either be "use onboard only" or "use best video card slot that has something in it, or onboard if not present" -- no luck on any of these. (Natch, I Shut Down and disconnected power between each attempt)

      Also, what's frustrating is that it's sending a signal of some kind to the TV. On this set, if there's no signal at all, it just stays on the "no signal" bluescreen without attempting to display a black background at all. In this case, I get a black background for 15-20ish seconds, followed by the bluescreen. The computer is sending a signal of some sort, just not a usable one, so the TV just gives up after a while.

      Talked to a local comp guru, he has no idea what's going on either, so I may take it to a computer repair shop next week if I can't get it running.

      The only possible thing left I can think of that may be preventing POST (I don't get any text/logo at all, just empty air) could be a RAM issue, but these RAM chips work just fine in the prior system (DDR3, PC1600, g.skill Ripjaws). I have a RAM chip that I ordered with the system that should be in tomorrow (I hope) that I can swap in, in lieu of the ones I'm using -- same spec, just a larger chip/more recent revision. The board has a light-up indicator for "unusable RAM" and an onboard button that can detect and brute-force RAM timings (as in, it goes down a list of possible RAM timings, tests for 30 seconds, then does a cold boot, until it's able to POST and go into the UEFI/BIOS), but it only works when the board is complaining about the RAM...which it isn't. I tried anyway and it doesn't activate.

      Mobo in question: http://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/Z97A/
      Last edited by EricKei; 05-22-2015, 04:06 AM.
      "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
      "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
      "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
      "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
      "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
      "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
      Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
      "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

      Comment


      • #4
        Bad RAM would give you error beeps.. defective mobo is my diagnosis.

        Comment


        • #5
          Shong lot, but could both the monitor and the TV you've tried not support the resolution the mobo puts out during boot/BIOS?

          Friend has a 30" HP monitor that is unusable until the OS wakes up far enough to switch resolution.
          I am not an a**hole. I am a hemorrhoid. I irritate a**holes!
          Procrastination: Forward planning to insure there is something to do tomorrow.
          Derails threads faster than a pocket nuke.

          Comment


          • #6
            Sandman - You may be right. the very thought is something I've been dreading. My last shipment of parts from this set of stuff (including the new RAM) is incoming today or tomorrow, so I'll try those and then set up an exchange if I need to.

            dalesys - 50 inch 1080p LCD TV (hdmi). Also tried it with a widdle 17inch or so monitor (vga). No luck on either. Good thinking, though.
            "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
            "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
            "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
            "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
            "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
            "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
            Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
            "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

            Comment


            • #7
              I ended up calling the local computer store, he gave me a couple things to try, to no avail. Soooooooooo...

              I called ASUS tech support and went down the list of symptoms and troubleshooting items. They ran me through some things, but the issues with the LEDs simply mystified him -- as in, "That shouldn't be possible. If we can't get it working, go ahead and set up an RMA (with NewEgg)." Nothing worked -- no bent pins on the CPU socket, and even pulling the mobo out to test for shorts/grounding issues didn't help. So, an RMA has been set up.

              Thanks for trying, though, guys!

              As a side note -- I looked up some reviews. While ratings are deffo on the positive side, one of the first one-stars to show up talked about DOA RAM slots. All 4 RAM slots appear to be dead on this one, which would explain why the "RAM error" LED fails to illuminate even when there are no ram chips in the system. This last bit was the nail in the coffin for the ASUS tech, that prompted him to go WTF and recommend the RMA.
              Last edited by EricKei; 05-23-2015, 06:59 AM.
              "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
              "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
              "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
              "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
              "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
              "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
              Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
              "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

              Comment


              • #8
                You *do* realize that with HDMI, part of the DRM bullshit is that TVs won't necessarily accept input from a computer, because it doesn't have the right digitial "id" as an authorized device?

                I forget how this is supposed to prevent piracy, but it was pretty convoluted to begin with.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Aye -- But I have used this HDMI cable and video card before on my older rig, with no issues. Also tried VGA to a monitor and the TV, no dice.

                  The one other thing I found that MIGHT be worth trying (just gotta find a flash drive around here I can wipe) is to update the BIOS. It's supposed to work with up to 4th gen i7's out of the box (which I have, a Devil's Canyon type), but needs an update to run 5th gen chips. The ASUS guy even asked me about this. Unlikely to help, but worth a shot. The BIOS updater doesn't even need a RAM chip inserted to run.
                  "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                  "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                  "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                  "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                  "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                  "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                  Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
                  "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

                  Comment

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