How To Get Your Motherboard To Power Up

Often times a novice installer will conclude that there is a problem with their new motherboard if there is no response on the first boot attempt. It is important to realize that sometimes things do not work on the first try, then do not give up.

If you are not receiving any signs of power when you first hit the switch on the front of your case, the problem could be many things. The first thing to check may seem obvious, but any technician will tell you that it happens far too often. Check to ensure that the master on and off switch on the back of your power supply is set to the on position. This can be a very time consuming mistake so always check it first. No matter how great a troubleshooter you are, if your motherboard is not getting power it will not function.

Secondly, ensure that both the ATX Connector and ATX 12V connectors are plugged into the motherboard securely. The ATX connector is a 20-pin or 24-pin connector depending on your motherboard and the ATX 12V is a 4-pin connector. Both of these come directly from the power supply. In cases in which it is required, the ATX 12V connector will provide additional power required by a newer processor for proper operation. Without it, your processor will probably not start up and your system may seem unresponsive. Most new AMD and Intel motherboards require the added power so when shopping for a power supply it's a good idea to make sure it is ATX12V or P4 ready.

Next, ensure that you have set the Clear-CMOS jumper correctly to the normal position. Some motherboard manufacturers set the Clear-CMOS jumper to clear while shipping to conserve battery life. The problem with this is that a motherboard cannot function with the CMOS set to clear. Other manufacturers simply leave the setting on normal to avoid the installation issue with users who do not know about it. What this means is that you never really know what has been set and should check the jumpers. For information on this, reference your motherboard manual to obtain the correct configuration. If the Clear-CMOS jumper is indeed set to clear, switch it to Normal before proceeding.

After ensuring that your power supply is properly connected to your motherboard and the jumpers are set, make sure that the power switch cable is plugged in correctly. The power switch on the front of your computer connects to your motherboard via a cable leading from the front of the chassis. This cable must be properly attached to the corresponding power switch pins as illustrated in your motherboard manual. It is very easy to plug this cable in incorrectly or to mix up pin assignments, so be very careful with this. Always reference the location and pins you are plugging into with the picture in your manual. With ATX power the on and off switching mechanism is vital, without a proper on signal received, your power supply will not trigger. Thus properly plugging in the switch becomes very important.

If you still have not gotten a response, check to make sure that you are not shorting out the motherboard. Ensure that the board is in no way touching the case chassis and that no metal touching the bottom of the motherboard is touching the chassis panel. Without properly attached spacers a motherboard could be shorted out and will fail to function. Also make sure that each spacer is correctly aligned with a hold on the motherboard. Some times stray spacers the are not aligned with a hole can create a path for current to flow and short out the board.

If none of the methods help you with your problem, you may want to look at compatibility issues with the components you are looking to install or possible failure issues with other critical components. If you know all of your devices to be functional there could be a problem with the motherboard itself. Before determining that, however, read the motherboard manual all the way through to see if there are any necessary steps that you skipped.

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