DFI LANPARTY NF4 ULTRA - D no posting

gloriashm

I have been trying to get my server to post for a week unsucessfully. I have built many systems in the past without encountering a problem I could not fix. I am lost! I have tried everything from applying the process of elimination (Removing each device to pinpoint problem device), checked all the connections, switched ram and display cards, jumped the cmos, placed
ram only in slot 2 & 4 and then only slot 2, etc. However, I am not clear on the necessity of having all "FOUR" power
connectors attached. Is this any different from the power attachments on previous motherboards? If so, which connectors are
crucial as the manual is not specific on this. Any help offered would be greatly apprecicated. My system specs are as follows:


Motherboard: DFI LANPARTY NF4 ULTRA - D


Processor : AMD 64 3000+ Venice


Display : NVIDIA MX400 PCI 32 MEGS (UPGRADE LATER)

PSU : ANTEC TRUE BLUE 2.0 480W WITH A NATIVE 24 PIN CONNECTOR

RAM : CORSAIR VS512MB400 512 x 2

HARDRIVES : MAXTOR 160 ATA 133, MAXTOR 40 ATA 100, IBM DESKSTAR 80 ATA 100

cASE : Thermaltake XASER, Armor Series VA8000BWS Black Aluminum/Steel ATX Full Tower

lemonlime

Hi Gloriashm,

Does the mainboard give you a post-beep code? or does it simply just sit there idle, with no apparent activity? Do your fans spin?

I'd strongly recommend you connect all power connectors to the board. Or at the very minimum, skip the floppy style connector, and stick with the molex near the chipset fan. DFI does recommend keeping all of them connected..

Secondly, stick with only one dimm in the orange slot closest to the CPU socket for now.

Pull out the cmos battery for about 15-30 minutes, and then re-insert.

Disconnect all of your hard drives for now.

gloriashm

lemonlime wrote:

Hi Gloriashm,

Does the mainboard give you a post-beep code? or does it simply just sit there idle, with no apparent activity? Do your fans spin?

I'd strongly recommend you connect all power connectors to the board. Or at the very minimum, skip the floppy style connector, and stick with the molex near the chipset fan. DFI does recommend keeping all of them connected..

Secondly, stick with only one dimm in the orange slot closest to the CPU socket for now.

Pull out the cmos battery for about 15-30 minutes, and then re-insert.

Disconnect all of your hard drives for now.

I was able to resolve the problem by connection the four pin power connector. In the past this was not required for motherboards. Thanks for your advice....hopefully all will go well from this point on.

lemonlime

gloriashm wrote:

I was able to resolve the problem by connection the four pin power connector. In the past this was not required for motherboards. Thanks for your advice....hopefully all will go well from this point on.

Good stuff! Hope you enjoy the board.. it's a fun one to tweak.

Mt_Goat

gloriashm wrote:

I was able to resolve the problem by connection the four pin power connector. In the past this was not required for motherboards. Thanks for your advice....hopefully all will go well from this point on.

Yes, the square 4 pin powers the CPU on most newer boards (both AMD and Intel).

lemonlime wrote:

Good stuff! Hope you enjoy the board.. it's a fun one to tweak.

I second that. I currently have 3 in operation.

nanahachi

gloriashm, mtgoat, I've got a question:

strangely, when I plug in that 4-pin connector into my nF4 Ultra-D, my system WON'T startup. it will only power on if I only have the 24-pin connector plugged in. I actually posted about it here, but just spotted this thread on the exact issue.

I really am confused b/c I was under the impression that this 4pin did power the CPU...

I want to update/check the BIOS on my system, but as i noted in that other thread, I currently have no way to see what's going on b/c either my vid card is defective, or something is going on such that my monitor (i've tried diff monitors and both the VGA and DVI connections) is just staying black.

Mt_Goat

nanahachi
I take it you have the proper connection pluged in on your vid card???
Have you moved any jumpers on th board itself?
What PSU are you running?

I haven't run into this problem of the board posting without the 4 pin and does not post with it attached.

Yes, you are correct about it powering the CPU.
It sounds more like wrong jumper config than anything.

nanahachi

thanks for the reply mtgoat,
1) there is no place to plug any power connectors into my vid card
2) I have moved jumpers on the mobo as per the DFI manual and other's suggestions. I am actually in the middle of clearing the CMOS now as suggested here: http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showpost.php?p=127704&postcount=24
3) My PSU just might be a problem: Seasonic S12-500. i need to do a lot more reading, but it seems like these may not be a good match.

I will try to update this post soon.

many thanks

gloriashm

If your video card model is evGa 7800gtx, then there is a six pin power connector on the back end of the card. See display at newegg.com

nanahachi wrote:

thanks for the reply mtgoat,
1) there is no place to plug any power connectors into my vid card
2) I have moved jumpers on the mobo as per the DFI manual and other's suggestions. I am actually in the middle of clearing the CMOS now as suggested here: http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showpost.php?p=127704&postcount=24
3) My PSU just might be a problem: Seasonic S12-500. i need to do a lot more reading, but it seems like these may not be a good match.

I will try to update this post soon.

many thanks

nanahachi

sorry, i should have mentioned it earlier: i have the leadtek px6800tdh
pictured here: http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/14-122-207-02.JPG

there are no power connectors on the vid card itself.

so confused about why i'm getting no video thanks though everyone

gloriashm

If you could get your hands on a regular pci card that may help you to pinpoint the problem. Also, unplug everything except for what you need to post, including your front end connectors (Only attached the cable for the power switch) and of course the four power connectors. Make sure you are attaching the correct power cables from the power supply to the motherboard. Reseat your cpu, and make sure it is seated correctly and that there is nothing attached to thermal paste on the cpu. If you can, try testing your ram, video card, and cpu on another machine.

nanahachi wrote:

sorry, i should have mentioned it earlier: i have the leadtek px6800tdh
pictured here: http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/14-122-207-02.JPG

there are no power connectors on the vid card itself.

so confused about why i'm getting no video thanks though everyone

Mt_Goat

My mistake on the vid card. I misread and thought it was a 6800GT. Do you have any other ram to try? It seems memory and PSU's are the 2 biggies with these boards.

ryko

dfi-street.com

i think i saw a thread over there about incompatibilities with seasonic psus...

nanahachi

thanks everyone.

yesterday i was able to stop by a Bestbuy and picked up a PCI vid card (as gloriashm mentioned above) and an Antec PSU.

When I plugged in the vid card last night: still, no video

When I opened the box for the Antec NeoPower 480 (an Open Box, which was the only >400w PSU they had in stock), i found that all the detachable cables had been stolen. Only the hardwired 24pin and separate 4pin 12v were on hand. So, I tried it anyway, first using both connectors: mobo wouldnt power up. Then I tried just the 24 pin, and it powered up, fans spun, but still no video :bawling:

Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like that 4pin 12V power connector for the CPU is bad.

So, I've set up an RMA on the mobo with Newegg, unless I can find the problem sometime today. I am going to unplug everything and start from scratch, and replug everything in all over again...i can only hope that works.

I may RMA that Seasonic PSU also, although after doing a lot of reading yesterday, the A-list of PSUs that are proven to work with DFI boards are less appealing/have less utility than this great Seasonic PSU.

Still, I don't really know what to do next.

thanks for all of your help

TheLostSwede

nanahachi wrote:

thanks everyone.

yesterday i was able to stop by a Bestbuy and picked up a PCI vid card (as gloriashm mentioned above) and an Antec PSU.

When I plugged in the vid card last night: still, no video

When I opened the box for the Antec NeoPower 480 (an Open Box, which was the only >400w PSU they had in stock), i found that all the detachable cables had been stolen. Only the hardwired 24pin and separate 4pin 12v were on hand. So, I tried it anyway, first using both connectors: mobo wouldnt power up. Then I tried just the 24 pin, and it powered up, fans spun, but still no video :bawling:

Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like that 4pin 12V power connector for the CPU is bad.

So, I've set up an RMA on the mobo with Newegg, unless I can find the problem sometime today. I am going to unplug everything and start from scratch, and replug everything in all over again...i can only hope that works.

I may RMA that Seasonic PSU also, although after doing a lot of reading yesterday, the A-list of PSUs that are proven to work with DFI boards are less appealing/have less utility than this great Seasonic PSU.

Still, I don't really know what to do next.

thanks for all of your help

Nanahachi,

Do you have both the molex and the floppyconnector connected on the board as well? I always try to have both connected. The 4-pin connector..does the psu have 2 similar or is it only one that have 4 pins?