GA-EP43-DS3 problems with booting.

[Mister 4]

Hi there, I'm new. That's the formalities out of the way.

Recently got myself a new computer, and after building it, and checking everything about three times, I plugged it in an it won't even boot.

Specs.

GA-EP43-DS3
Intel Core 2 Q6600/2.4Ghz processor
4 x 1gig Corsair DDR2 8500C5D RAM
Gigabyte GF280GTX 1G DDR3 graphics card

It's using an OCZ GameXStream 1010W PSU, and it's all in a Coolermaster Cosmos S 1100 case.

When I flick the switch on the PSU to turn the computer on, the lights on the front panel flicker (except for the power light, which stays constant), as do all the case fans, and the CPU fan. They're flickering about once a second.

The four phase LEDs also flicker in time with this. 1 & 2 are green, 3 is amber, and 4 is red.

Can anyone help me?

[mxcrowe]

Re: GA-EP43-DS3 problems with booting.

Are you sure the CPU is seated properly? You might have to remove it and check the pins. Do you have the secondary power plug attached to the graphics card (assuming it requires same)? Try booting with one stick of RAM.

[Shauntx]

Re: GA-EP43-DS3 problems with booting.

Hi there, I'm new. That's the formalities out of the way.

Recently got myself a new computer, and after building it, and checking everything about three times, I plugged it in an it won't even boot.

Specs.

GA-EP43-DS3
Intel Core 2 Q6600/2.4Ghz processor
4 x 1gig Corsair DDR2 8500C5D RAM
Gigabyte GF280GTX 1G DDR3 graphics card

It's using an OCZ GameXStream 1010W PSU, and it's all in a Coolermaster Cosmos S 1100 case.

When I flick the switch on the PSU to turn the computer on, the lights on the front panel flicker (except for the power light, which stays constant), as do all the case fans, and the CPU fan. They're flickering about once a second.

The four phase LEDs also flicker in time with this. 1 & 2 are green, 3 is amber, and 4 is red.

Can anyone help me?

Again I think you need to take the CPU off and check the pins because I'm letting you know 1st had that if you did bend the pins it will do that exactly as mine did. But took some tweasers and corrected the 3 pins that bent and its been smooth sailing since. Total time took about 3-4 hours because I wanted to make sure everything was perfect and not a pin out of place. If you did bend one make sure that you have good lighting when trying to correct it because the pin you think you bent might not be the one that you are grabbing.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: GA-EP43-DS3 problems with booting.

And yes, please try to start the system with 1 stick of ram in slot one. And check the above mentioned for sure as well

If no luck, try everything out of your case. Like on a cardboard box or something else that is not metal. Only plug in the essentials to see if you can load the BIOS. That would be ONLY CPU/Fan, One stick of ram in slot one, and your GFX card. Nothing else

[Mister 4]

Re: GA-EP43-DS3 problems with booting.

Ok... after wrestling it out of the case and trying a very minimal boot, it does boot up this time. The load on the CPU shoots right up (all four of the phase LEDs are on), but it gets past POST fine and then refuses to go any further past the "Veryifying DMI..." part because of the lack of any drives...

So... suggestions? I mean... I like the whole post-modern look of running the board outside of the case while having it plugged into the case, but the preceding sentence was soaked with sarcasm.

Do I just try to now plug everything back in and see if it works now that it's at least booted once?

[mxcrowe]

Re: GA-EP43-DS3 problems with booting.

The logical next step would be to connect the HD and get into the BIOS.

[Mister 4]

Re: GA-EP43-DS3 problems with booting.

Ok. Now everything is in the case and it's booting fine and I can access the BIOS. Hooray. It is showing the SATA DVD drive and the SATA HDD as being on IDE channels though. Is this normal? This is the first time I've built a computer without any IDE devices.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: GA-EP43-DS3 problems with booting.

Yes, that is normal for your drives unless you are using AHCI or RAID, which you would need to setup. Be sure if your HD has a Jumper to remove it, those are sometimes on drives to limit speeds

So sounds like you either had something not fully connected, or a short somewhere.

Glad to see you are fully installed and working now.

Please post back if you need help with anything

[Mister 4]

Re: GA-EP43-DS3 problems with booting.

Thanks for all the help :)

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: GA-EP43-DS3 problems with booting.

Anytime