Solved Not sure on POST error..one long (i thnik, 3 short) then another long

Built 2 computers before and havent had this headache.

New ASUS P9X79 pro and a x79 platform processor. I have the recommended brand, type of RAM.

Just completed everything (well much earlier today) . When I power on, it shots off very momentarily, turns back on, flashed a bunch of codes going through its routine. Then I hear one slightly longer beep, followed by 3 shorter ones, then followed after a pause, by a different sounding in tone beep, sometimes its 2 beeps.

The MB manual says for one long and 3 short indicates VGA not recognized, for 4 a hardware fault.

All the fans are spinning to include the video card. Computer stays powered on but nothing on screen. Boot device LED and VGA led is lit. I dont know if that's good or bad as the MB manual only signifies on board LEDs enhance the experience or something useless. I did find out it's bad if the memory led stays on. No memory LED or CPU led on, although they do flash when turning computer on.

Code on boaed is A2 inicating IDE detection, also its stopped at AE legacy boot event before. It runs through lots of codes very rapidly before settling on one and providing the beeps.

I've looked for shorts and made sure the memory and video card were seated properly. Even looked to see if I could tighten the H80 Corsair CPU cooler.

I did try and put in a new video card and the fan would not spin, put the old card back in and fan spins.

Any ideas--- maybe I should unseat the cooler, cpu and ram and reseat ...

After that I will be at a loss.

Clarify please:

Then I hear one slightly longer beep, followed by 3 shorter ones, then followed after a pause, by a different sounding in tone beep, sometimes its 2 beeps.

Click to expand...

I get you're hearing 1 long 3 short, but what are you saying after that?

On my motherboard the LEDs are a bad sign, I'll assume your's works the same way, but checking in the manual for sure wouldn't hurt. On mine they will blink at the press of the power button, then go dim quickly, that's normal.

Sounds like a VGA issue from what I can understand so far. The Boot Device LED could be lighting up out of necessity due to the POST not being sucessful, given the VGA I would believe gets picked first, and the HDD is what would come after.

I don't follow this:

Code on boaed is A2 inicating IDE detection, also its stopped at AE legacy boot event before.

Click to expand...

Have you tried putting the graphics card in a different PCI-E slot?

on the beep codes..after a long a 3 short, there is a slight delay and then gives 2 more beeps but they are a different tone or pitch. That is not covered in the manual.

The board has an LED code readout and thats the code it stops on IDE detect or legacy boot event.

The graphics card is in the recommended slot, but I will move it and see if there's a difference..

I really hope tgis turns out to not be a CPU or mobo problem as both are fairly expensive.

Yeah, read the manual regarding what slot supports what speed (x1 x4 x16) and be sure to plug it into the x16 slot. I don't know anything about PCIe 2.1 capabilities, but I doubt that would have anything issues with the board.

*Delay'd*

What kind of graphics card is installed?

ASUS says the board supports PCIe 2.0 and 3.0, doesn't mention 2.1. If that's the case, maybe there's a conflict.

If you checked and the CPU is supported, I don't see why that would be the issue.

*Edit*

Even if there's an IDE (HDD) boot issue, you should still be able to see something on your monitor. I'd like to think of that as a seperate problem. Also, hows the wattage on your PSU?

It,s a HIS 5770 I think---but I also tried with a newer 6770...on that one the fans dont spin up, thus I put my other card in. Ok moving to a different pciex16 slot doesn't help.

You think?. . . any way to find out for sure? Does it have a label somewhere on the card itself, perhaps? Your invoice from where you bought it?

The 6770 says it uses a "PCI Express® 2.1 x16 bus interface", not sure if that 2.1 would mess up on a board that supports 2.0 and 3.0, don't know enough about it, but don't see why it would.

Stupid question, you are powering it directly with the 6 pin connector(s) from you PSU, right? Also your PSU is surely stronger than or equal to 450 watts?

It is a 5770---yes on the connector--I think--the fan on the card runs. The PSU is a brand new XFX 1250 platinum certified and fully modular. It has been sort of a pain to figure the connectors out as some connectors have extra pin modules...but the difficult ones seem to only want to plug in in one spot.

Since the sytem remains running---just POST not complete and can see nothing on monitor, does that mean CPU and RAM could be ruled out ?

The card should have one or two 6 pin (HIS website says 6 pin) connectors on its side. Those are definitely plugged in, right? Sometimes they'll have a 6 pin with 2 extra pins on the side, ignore the extra 2 if that's the case.

I'd think that the CPU and RAM could be ruled out, yes.

yup its a 6 pin with 2 extra----it is plugged in and fan spinning. i am seeing this is a problem for lots..

Well this is one of the rare times I give up. I finally found a BIOS update available for this card that supports add on cards.... a feature of the board is supposed to be power standby usb bios flash. DL the bios, inserted the USB in the correct port, pressed the bios flash button and watched the USB device blink once and nothing. The tutorial vids look like it would be a one to two minute process. So no progress. Wasted all day on this. ugh. I guess I will get my old asus set up and install it in the new case and call it a weekend.

So I moved the old mother board, cpu, ram etc to the new case and new power supply and lo and behold------argh--- a beep followed by 3 quick ones--- vga not detected ...

even though the fan is spinning on the card I must be doing something very wrong with this xfx modular power supply. oh i got a migraine. time to put it up til tomorrow.

moved some power cables on the psu--still no good.

Below is the standard diagnostic procedure for this situation. It is very helpful to read, know, and understand the beep codes for your motherboard before you begin.

Give this a try:

New System Failure Diagnostic

Basic diagnostic procedure is to uninstall the entire build and start over. Some people do this out of the case by placing the motherboard on an anti-static surface. (I strongly suggest to do this in your case) This eliminates the possibility that there is a short circuit between the motherboard and the case through the connection posts (stand-offs). A standoff in the wrong location or a sloppy job will cause a short.

The Test (power off, power cord unplugged):

• Disconnect everything externally connected except the mouse and keyboard (printers, USB devices, etc). If you are not using a wired mouse and keyboard see if you can borrow one. The wireless device is just another component you have to deal with.
• Disconnect the power and data cables from all the drives inside the computer (Hard drives, DVD/CD drives, etc).
• Remove all the cards installed in the expansion slots (PCI/PCI-e) including the video card. (Be careful handling them and place them on a non conductive surface while testing).
• Remove all the RAM sticks (same rules as above).
• You are now dealing with just the motherboard, processor, and power supply.
  

Now connect the power cord and turn the PC on.

• The motherboard should start beeping. You should get a beep code that tells you there is no memory. This is good, it means the processor is functioning and the motherboard is good so far.
• Now add one stick of memory in Slot A1 and power on. More beeping: "no video card" beep code. This is good.
• Then add the video card and connect it to the monitor. You should get no beeping and you should see the BIOS start screens, ending with the message that there is no boot device.
• If you get no video then switch the one memory stick installed for another one and test.
• If you do get video then start adding components back, one at a time, until the system fails to boot. The last component you added is then the problem component.

Let us know what you find.

On a whim I got out my ancient Readon 2600XT graphics card. I now have a boot screen. Argh. I wonder...now I will switch back to the new board/cpu etc and this card and build outside the case and see if it fires up. Is it possible I destroyed 2 boards if I had the electrical somehow wrong hooking up the PSU ? (But remember the fan was spinning on the 5770 but not the newer series 6000) So confused. I dont think it should matter which of my 3 monitors be hooked up and to what port for VGA to detect ? 2 are DVI and one is a Display port adaptor.

TVEblen posts wisdom, heh.

Does the Radeon 2600XT have to receive power from the PSU directly?

I don't see how you're mixing up your PSU; does the manual for it say something particular about which slots to use with regard to what hardware you're plugging it into? I don't think the monitor would give you a POST beep code; you should be able to start it without a monitor attached and it shouldn't give you a beep code. . . right?

ok built using the new gear outside the case but used the older 2600 xt graphics card . Fired right up. So for some reason the board is not recognizing the later graphics cards. Either possibly I need a BIOS update or I damaged rthe cards somehow.....but I dont think so.. hmm I hate the thought of buying yet another 120 dollar board...

i tried usb flash the bios yesterday and followed toe on lone video for the process but my USB stick only flased maybe 5 seconds not the minute plus it seemed to take in the video..

edit---oh yeah the 2600 does not have a separate power connector--solely works off the slot.

the 5770 fan actually spins whether the power connector is used or not. Just not being detected.

Well you want to have the power connectors connected for sure. I see a corrolary between the PSU being used to power the card and the card not being recognized, due to the older non PSU-powered card worked, and the newer card(s?) that require direct PSU power did not work. Hm.

Yeah trying a BIOS update couldn't hurt, unless you do it wrong, heh.

Brilliant minds in here, please!