New PC Build: mATX?

Do you get powers to the fans? It could also be a motherboard issues (extremely common.)
 
Nope, no fans... nothing other than the green LED on the motherboard powers up. How do I short the power switch?

It's not the PSU, because I was forced to put my old desktop back together so I could at least check my email and FG and stuff. :rolleyes:

I just don't have any more energy to do trial and error, I got sick of doing it to my old desktop which is why I decided to get a new one... sigh. Not that it would help anyway, like I said I spent many hours trying everything yesterday... unless I think of something new I don't see rejiggering things further helping any.
 
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To short the power switch, just touch a small metal object (paper clip) to the two power pins on the motherboard. That's really all the button on the case does. This troubleshooting technique actually helped me out with a weird case problem on my brother's PC, we later discovered that he has a weird type of switch and needs to press the power button twice to power on/off.
 
Well I hope to hell it's not the case since it was so tough to track down and the only one in town, but at this point solving the issue is top priority I suppose.

Thanks.
 
I have the same case... a bit lower spec...
here's the thread help-me-design-a-new-pc-but-a-bit-different-from-the-rest

When I swapped the stock intel cooler for a thermaltake cooler a while back, I had a similar issue.

I narrowed it down to 2 things, The cooler was touching a small power supply capacitor on the motherboard, After turning the HS round, it seemed better.

I also had a problem with the connectors coming from the case, Something was a bit screwy but I'm not sure what, try inverting the leads coming from the on/off button. It was a while ago, but I seem to remember something about the polarity of the cables coming from the case.

On another note... HOW IN GODS NAME HAVE YOU GOT A GRAPHICS CARD IN THERE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK a SDD would help, but there's fuck all room. My MB had nVidia graphics onboard and luckily this can handle browsing and blu-ray playback with no problem at all on my big TV.

Anyway, hope this helps...
 
Thanks for the tips, I'll give those a try. I suppose you first put in the HSF the right way up, with the Intel logo written properly when looking at the motherboard mounted in the case? I hope that makes sense...

The video card is pretty small, I don't know which one you have. But yeah, my 750GB HDD was a no go. It all did fit in there, but cut up my hands putting the thumbscrews in, and the GPU's fan was literally sitting on top of the HDD which itself was right on top of the SSD. So I took out the HDD (it's from my desktop) to put into an external enclosure later.

The PSU just ruins things though when you slide it in last. It's modular, but it still pretty much takes up any remaining space and the cables are all just forced in there, no cable management is possible. I was going to put all this in pictures but since I got sidetracked and you asked.


Back to my issues, I know this isn't the cause, but the LianLi case has a weird 3-pin connector for the power LED with the middle one being unused. There is only two pins that remain for it on the board, so am I missing something? I don't think that's what's preventing a power up though, I tried the power button connector just by itself all sorts of ways.
 
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I also seem to remember the MB would work fine when not connected in any way to the case (i.e. removed from the backplate), I took the bloody thing apart over 10 times and in the end it worked, still not sure what the real problem was though sorry.

Try starting the PC with the MB out of the case, the cables from the case (PSU and case connectors) should just about reach.

Also make sure the PSU cables that are stuffed in aren't pushing something they shouldn't be.
 
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Why don't you take a high res picture of your MB and connections for us so we can help you with this?
 
Why don't you take a high res picture of your MB and connections for us so we can help you with this?

Because I checked and rechecked all the connections myself, there isn't too many things to connect in this build any way.

I don't have a problem posting a photo for you guys, but it's too late now since I've taken most of the stuff back out.


Does anyone have any input on wiring the front panel? The first row of pins only has one and it's not used, the second row has two pins for the power button, third row has two pins for the reset button and this leaves four pins empty for the power and activity LED... but the LianLi needs 5 pins to connect the two LEDs to the board.

I assume none of that makes sense... if so let me know and I'll try and take a picture tomorrow.
 
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^ I'm not certain but I think from your description you have connected the wrong power and reset button plugs to the System Panel Connection on the Motherboard. Looking at the manual (from the Asus site) and to use your nomenclature .. the first row has one pin, the second row is the Reset and the Power Button Ground, the third row is the Reset Ground and the Power button. That is, the reset and power button connectors should be connected thus:

Row 1: Blank ........................... One Pin (nothing)
Row 2: Power Grd ......................Reset +
Row 3: Power + .........................Reset Grd

Row 4: Power Led -.....................HD Led -
Row 5: Power Led +....................HD Led +

With the LED connectors from the case, I'd look for the + and - and connect them to the appropriate pins on the MB and not worry about the spare plug.
 
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I'm not certain but I think from your description you have connected the wrong power and reset button plugs to the System Panel Connection on the Motherboard. Looking at the manual (from the Asus site) and to use your nomenclature .. the first row has one pin, the second row is the Reset and the Power Button Ground, the third row is the Reset Ground and the Power button. That is, the reset and power button connectors should be connected thus:

Row 1: Blank One Pin (nothing)
Row 2: Power Grd Reset +
Row 3: Power + Reset Grd

Row 4: Power Led - HD Led -
Row 5: Power Led + HD Led +

With the LED connectors from the case, I'd look for the + and - and connect them to the appropriate pins on the MB and not worry about the spare plug.

You're right, I didn't explain the layout properly at all. I knew this but I figured maybe my description was good enough...

The thing is, the power LED on the LianLi case needs three pins, because + is in pin 1 and - is in pin 3, so it needs 3 pins on the motherboard which as you know, since you so kindly looked up the manual, are not there.
 
I even looked up the Lian Li manual, but that is rubbish (nothing about the front connectors at all). So the Power led connector (plug) is 2 wires going into a long plug (with a gap between the + and -)? I don't know why they do these things.

I think I'd leave that until you get the computer running. Once it is working (ie: you don't need to return anything), I'd just cut the plug in between the wires and put them where the MB wants them.
 
I even looked up the Lian Li manual, but that is rubbish (nothing about the front connectors at all). So the Power led connector (plug) is 2 wires going into a long plug (with a gap between the + and -)? I don't know why they do these things.

I think I'd leave that until you get the computer running. Once it is working (ie: you don't need to return anything), I'd just cut the plug in between the wires and put them where the MB wants them.

Yeah, that's exactly what the wire is like.

The LianLi 'manual' is indeed rubbish, just a piece of paper printed on one side. Definitely a disappointment considering LianLi's reputation, all my other cases had a leaflet at least.
 
Here's a photo just for posterity.

Why the heck would LianLi do this? As far as I know all motherboards have a similar arrangement to what I've got, where does this thing plug in?

I'm wondering maybe they just messed up all the wiring or something, I don't know.

https://pic.armedcats.net/s/sh/shawn/2011/04/13/powerled.jpg
 
Holy fuck balls... what was preventing power up was a missing cap on the pins for clearing CMOS.

Posting from my phone, so stay tuned.
 
:facepalm: I should have thought of that, once again, I have personal experience with that problem (was my own damn fault though)..... hope you get it up and running.
 
Who wants to see me destroy a bunch of new computer parts?

This fucking thing has been a nightmare. Replacing the missing cap allowed the machine to power up but then I realized the case had faulty buttons.

So I forgot about wiring the front panel and put everything else back in.

But there is no video signal, onboard or through the Radeon. And FWIW the GPU fan spins at full speed.

I guess the motherboard is probably DOA too. I took both sticks of RAM out and I got no error beeps or anything.
 
Should I go and exchange the motherboatd? At this point I have no ideas left... I should at least see the BIOS logo screen with onboard graphics, right?
 
Looking at the motherboard closely, I see it says rev. 2 whereas the box and my receipt say rev. 3.

I believe rev. 3 is B3. Even though the recall wasn't due to video issues it looks like I got an old board and a box that was tampered with, especially wifh the missing CMOS jumper cap.

So I'm going to drive 80km to exchange it, I hope it works.
 
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Man, this is really not turning out well for you. I hope your mobo pilgrimage pays off.
 
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