fan not spinning, HELP PLEASE

SonGoku · Post by **SonGoku** » Tue Nov 16, 2004 2:30 pm

So I'm a little stuck here. I just got a EPIA M1000N board and a Morex 3688 case. Dunno what could be wrong. But neither the CPU fan or the system fan is spinning when I turn on the system!?!??

When I power up the system the make like a little twist, as if they where gonna start spinning, but then that all. What could be wrong?? There is power to the system because the power LED is turned on.

The 3688 case only has 1 power plug. So I connected that one to the 2.5" HD. For the CD drive I've used a 5.25" just for installing the OS. Since I'm a power plug short I've connected the 5.25 CD drive to a power plug on my existing computer. But I won't see that this setup could be causing the problem!?!??

I noticed a little burned like smell when I tried powering the system on. But I only had power to it for 10 sek. or so. And when I tried again a little afterwards the same thing happened with the little twist of the fans so hopefully I haven't damaged the board!?!??

I'm stuck and can't see what I possibly could have done wrong so help is needed and appreciated.

threevok · Post by **threevok** » Tue Nov 16, 2004 3:03 pm

Is the fan in the power supply spinning?

Post by **MikeC** » Tue Nov 16, 2004 3:23 pm

Basic troubleshooting calls for all the drives to be disconnected, use just one stick of mem (there's only 1 slot, right?) , no PCI devices. Unplug the AC, reset the CMOS & then try and get the board to post. If it will do that, go into the BIOS & check all the settings, save, power down, connect one drive & try again, and so on.

Basically you need to start with the bare min to try and identify the source of the problem. It could be the PSU... impossible to tell right now.

SonGoku · Post by **SonGoku** » Tue Nov 16, 2004 3:40 pm

threevok>> there's no fan in the PSU.

MikeC>> Yup only 1 slot for memory. I've no PCI conencted, so that's not a problem. So I unplugged the power and reset the CMOS. Same problem

the fans just make a little twist and then that's it, they stay turned off!? This is weird!! Got any other ideas??

I think that this somehow a power related problem!?

Post by **MikeC** » Tue Nov 16, 2004 4:00 pm

Well there are only 2 possibilities, really -- mboard or PSU. Have to rul;e out one or the other. Do you have another spare ATX PSU to try?

SonGoku · Post by **SonGoku** » Tue Nov 16, 2004 10:27 pm

Yes I have a old kabinet in the basement with a 300 watt PSU in it. I'll give it a try when I come home from work today. Also I could try to use the external PSU from my laptop. It's at work though, so I'll just check if it's a 12V/5A like the one coming with the case. Actually I'll try taking the one that came with the case with me to work and check it on the laptop. Just to rule out the PSU or if it's the internal DC-DC converter.

SonGoku · Post by **SonGoku** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 10:10 am

OK tried another PSU with no result. But then I thought I would just try the original PSU that came with the morex 3688 case again but without the RAM stick plugged in the mobo. In other words only the mobo was connected. The result was both fans started spinning fine!? So I put the RAM stick in again and again the fans didn't start.

Now I've just came back from a friends house, he was kind enough to lend me a stick of 512 MB PC2700 RAM. I thought that the RAM I purchased was defect somehow. Plugged in the new RAM and again the fans didn't work. So It can't be the RAM. The problem must be with the mobo. What could be wrong?? A defect RAM slot??? Is that possible??

My original stick of RAM is 512 MB 266 MHz DDR PC2100 DIMM CL2.5 from Kingston. This RAM should work withthe EPIA M1000N.

Jan Kivar · Post by **Jan Kivar** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 7:36 am

How is the motherboard mounted? Are there any extra studs in the case which could short out the motherboard? Try the motherboard outside the case.

Cheers,

Jan

SonGoku · Post by **SonGoku** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 1:25 pm

I tried taking out the mob from the case and placed it on some antistatic material. Then it worked. So I mounted the board bag in the case again it worked. But it made a beep sound every 2-3 sec. The I mounted everything, disk, optical drive, keyboard, mouse, and monitor and powered on the system. It didn't post on screen and still the beep sound every 2-3 sec. This sounds to me as the board can't detect the RAM.

I tried the RAM in another machine and it worked fine. So it must be an error on the board. So I called the shop and they agreed it sounded like a defect board. So I RMA'ed and anulled the purchase of the board (we have a law tat says everything you order from the net you can regret it for 14 days and get your money back ) the board and ordered a new one at the same time. Hope to get it soon, so that I can finish assembling my first mini-ITX project. I'll let you know how it goes!! Thanks for all the help and good ideas so far

SonGoku · Post by **SonGoku** » Mon Nov 22, 2004 3:30 am

Got the new mobo and now everything works

So it must have been a defect motherboard.