Ok, I have here a Soyo SY-6BA+III motherboard which I got given to me by a friend but i cant seem to get it to boot.. So far I have tried:

 

• Cleared the CMOS
  
• Checked that the ram i am using is the correct type - in this case PC100
  
• Tried the motherboard both in and out of the case
  
• Tried both with all of the hdd, power led, speaker jumpers connected and disconnected (started by shorting the power switch with a screwdriver)
  

 

Now the problem is, it turns on and the processor fan spins around and a little LED which is hard wired to the motherboard goes on but i get no beeping (or speaking as suggested by the Soyo website) to suggest that something is wrong and nothing is displayed on the monitor.

 

The PSU, memory and graphics card are all in good working order because they were taken from this computer that I am using at the moment.

 

Anybody got any ideas as to what I am doing wrong or things I should try next?

 

Thanks, General Error

One of the hardest things to do is troubleshoot a box that don't boot.

I have a tool and software that I use that reads post codes as a box boots. It will tell me exactly where the stop error is. It sounds like the led does basicly the same thing. You should get different sets of numbers as post progresses.

Before I had this I would pull out everything but one stick of good memory, the graphics card, better off with onboard vid here or pci vid, agp cards in older motherboards can be the main cause of boot problems.

Since the cpu fan spins up we can rule out anything power related.

If all your components are good then I would bet you have a dead cpu. It also could be the board. Check the etchings around the heatsink. Due you see any scratches anywhere?

If you do then chances are the board is dead. If the processor is good, tested in another working board, then the board is the problem.

Also make sure you have the jumpers set correctly.

Check the capaciter caps for leakage. This happened to me once. The caps were oozing junk, and were faulty.

 

Also, check the molex connectors for a short. There may be one slipping out of its casing, touching the case. This also happened to me once, and would cause my box not to boot.

 

Your BIOS may also be bad. Try resetting the CMOS and see if that helps. Also, take out the little battery for a day or so, put it back and see if that helps

The lack of the beeps indicates that we're not even getting to the self test (POST). In my experience, this indicates a really deep issue with either the seating of a connector or card, or a physical defect in a component on the motherboard. A quick look at the capacitors and voltage regulators might tell you if you've been handed a bit of a lemon.

Quick thought. Make sure all power connectors are firmly plugged in, and none have come loose from their molex connector. That sometimes does it as well.