Q: I just finished my first build a computer, but I can not get to boot properly. Everything has the power and Im pretty sure (hoping) that everything is in order. When I turn it on, he runs for a few seconds and then beeps (assumed to be normal). After a few seconds, its a little beep, and then initiates a series of short beeps that varied in pitch. I did not let go very long because Im afraid it could be dangerous to let it run for a while. My first thought was it would be wrong RAM installed, so I consulted the manual and fixed what I was doing wrong. This is not the problem. Im not sure what to do, and I was hoping someone might know what the problem is or what I could do to fix it. My computer consists of the following:
Case: Chen Ming AX-01 Aluminum
Power offer: Turbo Link 420 W power supply (included)
Motherboard: EPoX EP-8RDA + nForce2
Processor: AMD AthlonXP 2400 977 503 Heatsink: Cooler Master HAC-V81 X-Dream (+ Arctic Silver III)
Video map Ti4800SE
Sound Albatron card: Turtle Beach Santa Cruz
Hard Drive: Western Digital 80g (special edition, 8MB cache)
RAM: Crucial PC2700 512mb
CD-ROM: Lite-on 52x
CD-RW: Lite-on drive 52×24x52
Floppy: Panasonic 3 , 5 “drive
– Other parts: Cooler Master Round IDE / floppy cables, Vantec Ultimate Hard Drive Cooler (5) Cool Max Quad LED case fans, PSU mod blue, aluminum heatspreader RAM, Enermax 3.5System Monitor Control Panel , exhaust PCI fan
Anyone that could give any help or suggestions, please post here a reply. It is greatly appreciated and I hope I can get it working without more money to a professional. Thanks a lot.
Best Answer: Flash drive wont work i know that one. Seems like you have tried most everything only thing can you set your bios to defaults then boot from cd drive and make sure no floppy or cd drive or memory card reader is connected.
I had one where it wouldnt boot from the cd till i had all disconnected except the internal dvd drive. Also is the vista disk dvdrom if so make sure ur reader can read dvds
Re:I also have an article on Posting (http://www.dalantech.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=construction&Number=31638&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1), pretty good if you're having a hard time getting the beast to work.
Re:Sorry guy, it was my first post and I wasn't sure where to post it. Thanks again for the help.
Re:and read this (http://www.thetechboard.com/troubleshooting/nopost.php), it has some good tips on troubleshooting bad POSTs
Looks like Marmaduke was right, bad memory. 
Re:from now on post in the motherboard section under 8rda if you want help from people who know what they are talking about;)
Re:Alright, I took a look at the LED and it does show C1. I e-mailed Crucial to see if I can get replacement. Thanks a lot for all the help.
Re:Dont listen to skip? he dont have a 8rda and knows nothing about them!
forget beeps! LMAO
Look @ the diagnostic led on your mobo for the code it is showing? like C would mean replace that generic micron memory!
Re:It appears that your motherboard does not have FOC. The last thing I would do is to boot with everything outside of the case and try to boot. You can start the computer by touching the two pins together with a screwdriver where normally the on switch is attached to.
Re:http://www.dalantech.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=construction&Number=31086&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1=
That is a link to bios beep codes. These can generally be applied to most motherboards. Does your motherboard have a FOC (fan on control feature)? FOC attempts to detect if there is a fan on the processor (hooked into the cpu fan header) and if it can't detect a fan, it automatically turns the system off. I know that holding down the insert key will disable this and you have turn the feature off in the bios.
Re:UPDATE: First off, I looked for beep codes for my motherboard, but had no luck. Next, I took guy's advice and tried to boot it with just the necessities installed. I removed and reinstalled the video card, reseated one of the RAM sticks to slot #2 (instead of #3), and unplugged everything else. It left me with just the motherboard, processor, video card, and RAM installed. Unfortunately, I get the same error. Thanks for all the replies I have thus far and anything else is also appreciated.
Re:It shouldn't make a difference because he is not overclocking at all. Crucial is not crap and if he really does have a bad stick, he could rma it. It doesn't say when he bought the ram so he may have bought it used off the forums or he could have purchased it a while back from crucial.
Re:AMDSKIP..
The guy needs help? why are you bashing me? and confusing him?
Evan Lieb
Senior Hardware Editor
Posts: 715
Joined: Jun 2002
04/01/2003 6:15 PM (NEW!)
This certainly isn't an nForce2 chipset issue. It could be an SPD timing issue or, more likely, Crucial received a bad batch of chips that they then slapped onto a bunch of their PCBs.
In this case, end users are experiencing very poor results with nForce2 boards (for whatever reason) with Crucial's 512MB PC2700 modules, the modules with those bad batch of chips.
Until Crucial gives us a reason to believe otherwise, you probably are going to want to hold off purchasing Crucial 512MB PC2700 memory for another few weeks.
Re:every motherboard manufacturer has beep codes, look them up and see what's wrong.
i've had some strange builds myself where everything looks ok, but no boot.
what i did to fix it was to take it apart, then test it with only the basic stuff, such as the motherboard, cpu, ram, keyboard, and video card.
see if that boots up, never give up!
did u remember to use the gold things that keep the motherboard off the backplate of the case?
also, try flashing the cmos, and/or testing the ram in another computer.
good luck!
Re:Originally posted by: guy
The generic micron ram is a big NO NO (replace)
Don't listen to him, he does not know what he is talking about. Crucial memory works great and many others here will also agree. It is by no means generic.
Re:I'll give you a swift boot!
Sound card: Turtle Beach Santa Cruz
Hard drive: Western Digital 80g (special edition, 8mb cache)
RAM: Crucial pc2700 512mb
The HD should have no jumper on the pins and or set for single drive!
The generic micron ram is a big NO NO (replace)
The sound card? turn off onboard audio in cmos/bios setup
Re:Reseat the video card, ram for first things. If that does not work, only boot with the bare necessities hooked up/installed. You don't need hard drives, cdrom/burner/dvd, sound, network, etc. Just try to get into the bios.
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