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**PrairieDawg** · 04-18-2011, 06:53 PM

Re: ASRock 870 EXTREME3 & no picture on monitor...

A few ideas that you have probably already tried. Try with one stick of RAM. Double check all power connectors ... do you have all necessary power lines plugged into motherboard? Is extra power required to be connected directly to that video card? Is monitor know good?

**Kyle______** · 04-19-2011, 05:25 AM

Re: ASRock 870 EXTREME3 & no picture on monitor...

Thank you for your input PrairieDawg.

In answer to your question, "Yes," the monitor I'm using is working fine, as is the new DVI-D cable that I'm now using. For testing, I unplug all USB/ethernet/power supply devices, and then I hook up the new computer system to the old monitor.

I've merged together an online friend's two detailed and comprehensive testing recommendations into one, with my responses for what I accomplished written in red font, and if there's any related commentary by me it'll be either in the dark red or dark purple font.

Please scrutinize the results, and feel free to pass along your recommendations to me. And thank you in advance!

TESTING PROCEDURES
make sure all power connectors to mainboard from powersupply are plugged in.
Done, and all were in place.

remove all front switch cables from mainboard. use screwdriver to short power pins. see if it boots.
See next entry below.

remove bios battery after removing power from power supply. turn it sideways and use the battery to short the 2 connectors. This will reset the bios. put the battery back, test.
Done. Used motherboard's Start button, yet no picture on monitor. I pressed the CLR_CMOS button at the back of the case, pressed the Reset button on the motherboard, and then shutdown system.

unplug all sata, ide and power connectors for everything but the mainboard, and video card. (That includes any fans)

All you want is mainboard, video, ram and of course power supply for testing. That includes removing any pci sound cards or devices.

That narrows it down as to post, that is all you need. (post as in show the intial screen where it has memory count and processor or the mainboard manufacturers cover screen. if it were to post then it's a component. if not, it's one of the 3.
Done. Used motherboard's Start button, yet no picture on monitor. I pressed the CLR_CMOS button at the back of the case, pressed the Reset button on the motherboard, and then shutdown system.

Next, try the ram as i said 1 stick at a time.
Take all the ram out. Start with 1 stick. Try in 1st slot. if no post, try 2nd stick, 3rd ect. then move slot. It is possible also 1 memory card not seated can stop the whole boot.
if that doesn't work then probably not the ram.
Done. Used motherboard's Start button, yet no picture on monitor. I pressed the CLR_CMOS button at the back of the case, pressed the Reset button on the motherboard, and then shutdown system. I'd like to add that if having one stick of RAM "not seated" can cause the whole system not to boot up, then isn't it possible that even just one faulty stick of RAM, seated properly, could also cause the system to not boot properly? How can I tell for a certainty whether it's a bad seating or a faulty stick of RAM that's potentially causing the problem?

then your down to video, processor, mainboard and power supply. From their ask a friend if he has a pci express card you can borrow for a night to test. any card will do just to post. if it posts then its your vid card. if it doesn't your down to mainboard and power supply.
After going through this process, it looks like one (or more?) of the three is defective, yes? I'm hoping that I can secure a PCI-based graphics card tonight, but am unsure of what the odds will be for something like that.

Also as stated the beep codes would help us narrow it down even faster.
Now this is interesting: I kept the motherboard's speaker plugged in. There wasn't a single beep the entire time that I was doing the testing, and that included a lot of start ups. What does this mean, as it beeped twice when all of the other devices were plugged in? I'm quite sure that I had it seated properly after removing all of the other cables and chords.

Take the processor out. Look for bent pins on mainboard or processor if that one has them. put it back. try to boot. (Reseating can help sometimes)
Won't try until a friend's graphics card won't get the system to POST.

**fishlips** · 04-20-2011, 01:07 AM

Re: ASRock 870 EXTREME3 & no picture on monitor...

I usually find two beeps means bad video card or dirty/bad connection, try re-seating or spray slot out with contact cleaner, or bad memory, re-seat or clean slots, try different memory timings in your BIOS, another trick that may help is try 'load optimised defaults' from bios and restart. good luck bro.

**Kyle______** · 04-20-2011, 12:49 PM

Re: ASRock 870 EXTREME3 & no picture on monitor...

Thanks for your input fishlips. I looked inside the slots, and being brand new, they looked perfectly clean to me. I've reseated the RAM several times, and there's no way for me to adjust the BIOS without being able to look at a monitor that's not receiving a picture from the computer case.

I used a friend's WORKING GeForce 8600GT 256MB PCI Express graphics card, and there was no picture generated on the monitor after its installation, so I assume that means that my HIS Radeon graphics card is working properly, yes?

And now the "big" discovery...
I think that I finally found THE CULPRIT that's been plaguing me!

I added one device at a time. A major pain in the butt, but a method I'll be MOST pleased with if it results in a positive outcome. To speed things up, I did NOT have my monitor hooked up to the graphics card (I can only place the case on the ground for the monitor hookup; it was a lot faster for me to go monitor-free, and just keep the case on the worktable. Also note that I cleared the CMOSbefore each and every additional change indicated in the table below.

Here's my One Part Added At A Time checklist. Each part is listed in the order that it was installed in.

Part Installed Motherboard Beeps? Dr. Debug LED #
HIS Radeon graphics card None None
Rear case fan None None
AC'97-Front case panel audio switch None None
Power Switch/HDD LED/Reset System panel head None None
USB-Front case panel None None
SATA port-Front case panel None None
Top case fan None None
Front case fan None None
Seagate Barracuda 320 GB hard drive None None
SATA connection to optical drive (this device does not yet have power) None None
Lightscribe Optical Drive (power now connected) YES, two short & rapid beeps None?

One might wonder why it is that I did the Lightscribe Optical Drive in two steps, and the only reason why I did that was because ALL of the other device-hookups produced no sounds, and I wanted to "tightly corner" the Lightscribe device just to better ensure and detail it should it prompt a beep. Here's a listing for the Lightscribe Optical Device: Lightscribe product description link .

So, the question is now this: what is the significance of the 2 short beeps finally sounding out when the Lightscribe is fully connected, and why did the Dr. Debug LED system NOT display a code after the beeping?

Is it safe to assume that the Lightscribe is the faulty device, or does the motherboard have a malfunction in handling said device, or is it the AMD Phenom II processor that's faulty when the device is plugged in, or...?

I need a short break from doing this. So I haven't yet bothered to plug it into the monitor to see if it results in anything different, but then I can't imagine how the consequences would be any different if I did.

Are there any additional tests that you would like me to run, or did my methodology prove something (hopefully) conclusive?

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ASRock 870 EXTREME3 & no picture on monitor...

ASRock 870 EXTREME3 & no picture on monitor...

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