GA-EP35-DS4 starts up then does nothing

[Kytael]

hello everyone,

when I turn on my computer, it seems to turn on normally, the 6 phase power lights go on, the fans spin up, etc. and then nothing. nothing appears on my screen(so can't access BIOS), and it just stays that way.

some things of note:

5 of 7 of my fans spin up, the ones that don't spin are my CPU fan, and a fan on my video card cooler that I have plugged into SYS_FAN2. they work normally if plugged into other fan headers, and they appear to receive power(they twitch) for a split second when I turn the computer on or off.

my hard drive accessing LED goes on and never goes off at all.

I don't get any post beeps, but I actually don't remember ever getting any when it worked fine.

my DVD drive beeps when I start the system, and proceeds to spin up and down later

my mouse(USB) LED's light up when the PSU is on but the machine is not

things I've tried:

resetting the CMOS ("long" reset)
reseating the RAM
using a different system HDD
using a different video card (6600 GT)
removing sound card+video card

system specs:
Processor: Q6600 G0 OC'd to 3.0
MoBo: GA-EP35-DS4 (Rev 2.1, Bios F3 I believe)
RAM: Mushkin XP-6400 2x2GB, 4-4-4-12
Graphics: 8800GTS 512, which was OC'd until recently because a lot of my games did not play nicely
HDD: WD 320GB Blue (system drive), WD 1TB Green(data drive)
PSU: Corsair HX520
Sound: Asus Xonar DX

at this point I'm stuck without doing major surgery (TRUE is fun to handle+my lovely cable management will be ruined) but I think the problem is either the motherboard or the power supply, seeing as the fans don't spin up.

so I was wondering if anyone could give a few tips or ideas to solve the proble, or if there's anything specific to the board that I should know (such as lack of POST speaker, because for the life of me I can't find it anywhere.)

[Rewl]

Fans remaining silent at startup is normal for cpu - and sys2 has always been a mystery on this board...it apperas to be paired with the cpu fan management, but in the end isn't...bottom line: it doesn't supply enough voltage (i don't think we will ever see a fix for that);
so just ignore sys2, you can use it for fanspeed monitoring only;

did you try unplugging any sata/ide devices?
permanently lit hdd light seems to point towards a problem there;

[yoshi68]

Re: GA-EP35-DS4 starts up then does nothing

If you don't think you ever had any POST beep even when the PC was fine, first you should get yourself a PC speaker and see if it is failing POST.

Once you get a PC speaker, if you aren't POSTing at all (ie. not beeps at all) remove your RAM and see if you get anything. If you get something, remove all unneccesary connections from mobo (only leave CPU, RAM, power connectors, vid card and front panel power switch and speaker) see if you get anything then. If nothing then you would have one of those main components causing the problem, try other parts (if possible)

[Kytael]

Re: GA-EP35-DS4 starts up then does nothing

If you don't think you ever had any POST beep even when the PC was fine, first you should get yourself a PC speaker and see if it is failing POST.

any old speaker? do you mean stereo, green plug etc. speakers? I had those in and no sound emitted. I have no idea if there's a speaker I should plug into the motherboard itself.

now that I think of it any sort of sound that normally came from the motherboard speaker came from the actual speakers(vista?) so I would assume normal speakers, but I'm using a discrete sound card (Xonar DX) so I wonder if it would use that or the onboard. I just tried listening while speakers plugged into either with and without RAM etc. and there was nothing for either

did you try unplugging any sata/ide devices?
permanently lit hdd light seems to point towards a problem there;

unplugging both my HDD's and my SATA DVD drive from the motherboard results in no change

[Psycho101]

Re: GA-EP35-DS4 starts up then does nothing

There is a header on your board, probably near the pins to connect the power and reset buttons. You plug a small piezoelectric tweeter (little limited range speaker) into the propper headers and the PC will give beep codes depending on its status. A successful boot will be greeted with a single long beep. Any problems will be sounded with a beep code, such as continual long/short beeps or alternating long/short beeps. The meaning of these beeps is covered in your motherboard manual.

Many case manufacturers inclide a speaker with the nuts and bolts required to assemble it, some don't. You can buy one for a few pence/cents from somewhere like Maplins or Radio Shack.

[Kytael]

Re: GA-EP35-DS4 starts up then does nothing

I found it, plugged a speaker in. nothing happens whether RAM is in or out

looks like I'll be getting a new motherboard