DFI NF4 Ultra-D no post

[djskribbles]

I tried to turn my computer on today and it wouldn't post. This board has diagnostic LEDs and it says this in the manual:
4 LED - system start up
3 LED - CPU detected
2 LED - DRAM detected
1 LED - video card detected

What happens with my board, is 3 LEDs are solidly lit with the fourth one flashing (I think my video card fan speed pulses in sync with the LED flashing), then the 3 LEDs are lit, then 2, then 1 followed by a long beep. The fans continue to spin but nothing happens.

I've tried clearing the CMOS and draining the capacitors, and I've also tried 1/2 ram sticks individually in the top orange slot.

Is my video card dead, or is it the motherboard? I don't have any spare parts, nor do I have a computer with a sufficient power supply to test the video card. I do have a video card that is meant for my other PC that's being sent back to me (RMA) that I should be able to test it on. But judging by the behavior of the LEDs and what it says in the manual, what do you guys think?

 

[Grall]

You don't have a mate with a big enough PSU to test your vidcard?

 

[Davros]

you havnt done something as simple as not connecting the psu to the board and card properly
like not coonecting the extra molex connector to the board

 

[djskribbles]

You don't have a mate with a big enough PSU to test your vidcard?

Actually, no unfortunately. All my buddies aren't gamers and the computers I build for them are low powered HTPCs. My brother has a decent PSU, but he has an ancient computer with no PCI-E slot.

you havnt done something as simple as not connecting the psu to the board and card properly
like not coonecting the extra molex connector to the board

I checked all the connections and I tried reseating the video card. The computer has been running fine for close to a year... it just all of a sudden decided not to boot.

I guess I'll just wait until my other video card comes.

 

[djskribbles]

So I got my video card and the computer still won't post, which leads me to believe that it's either the motherboard, or processor (despite what the diagnostic LEDs tell me). Any ideas now?

 

[Silent_Buddha]

I know you tested the memory swapping out single sticks, but that still doesn't rule that out as a possibility. It'd be worth testing out in a friends machine if you get a chance. Likewise testing memory that you know works in that machine.

Even memory slots can very rarely decide to just go tits up. Ran into that a time or two when recycling computers this year. I had decided to try to bring back to life some of them for people working at that location in Japan (not many of them had a computer).

I'm assuming you've already done the first thing you should always do in this case? Unplug everything that isn't required to POST. Including all external USB devices, keyboard, mouse, etc. As well all internal hard drives, optical drives, add-on cards, USB connectors, etc. So you basically just want the video card, CPU, memory and PSU.

It's a bit unfortunate that you don't have working spares that you can swap in.

If you still can't at least POST, then it's impossible to pin it down to any one of those 4 components without testing them individually.

Also, check to make sure nothing is getting shorted anywhere. I've run into a couple situations where problems were causes either by the MB shorting on the case or with a HDD cable where the case had worn away the protective rubber casing and was shorting on the exposed cable. This is why when disconnecting all internal connectors (HDD, USB, Front panel audio etc.) you want to disconnect them from the MB and not say from the HDD.

Regards,
SB

 

[djskribbles]

Thanks.

I've tried booting with the bare essentials (my computer is pretty basic anyway). I've also tried doing a 24 hour cmos clear and drained the capacitors.

I will test the ram in my brother or sister's computer (they're the only ones with S939 systems) and see if it posts. That should narrow it down to the CPU or motherboard. I'm still leaning towards the motherboard because it's the oldest part of this computer (over 5 years old) and I've never had a processor die on me before, and I've probably built close to 20 computers.

edit: just tried booting with the motherboard outside of the case and it didn't boot. Also tried booting without a video card and it shows the same single diagnostic light and beep. Gonna try the CPU and RAM in my bro's computer.

 

[Davros]

the same single diagnostic light

eh?

What happens with my board, is 3 LEDs are solidly lit

 

[djskribbles]

You left out the rest of my post...I continued to say that after the 3 solidly lit LEDs, it eventually goes to a single LED followed by a long beep. When I booted without a video card installed, I got the same diagnostic code (via the LEDs) as I did with my video card installed, but I have confirmed that it's not the video card itself because it showed the same diagnostic code when I installed a video card that I know works fine.

I tested the CPU and RAM in my bro's computer, and both worked fine. That singles out the motherboard (as I suspected). Seeing as the diagnostic LEDs say that it can't find the video card, maybe the PCI-E slot is dead? Regardless, looks like I'll be buying a new processor, RAM and motherboard, and selling whatever works from my S939 setup. I'd rather go this route than to look for a used mobo.

Anyway, thanks for the help.

 

[cody beach]

i will recommend a big mate next time