computer rebuild help

[rodsupply]

bought another computer, used but newer to me, it is a BWC PRODUCTS case with only mb, fans in tact, cd-rom and floppy disc drive. the computer is 2004,don't have alot of info on this unit because unit does not start up. mb is ASRock, GE PRO-M2. it did not have a hd and all the ribbons were gone. attempted to replace the ribbons and hook up all the power wires coming out of power supply. there are  no added features. all original eguip. turned on unit, fans started up, fans come on, monitor started up with green light then quickly went to yellow. tryed to reset but would not do it. also had 2 sticks of 256mb memory. i put hd in it. not sure if hd is good or not. have many older hds, as i have been trying to learn how to work on computers for the last 1.5 years. also i know the monitor is good because i use it all the time. i'm sorry i don't have any more info but would love to figure this out. would appreciate any help i can get. i know this is a challenge.

[DaveLembke]

I would try to boot the system with drives disconnected and unpowered. The first hurdle is to get your system to post and show a quick banner of the BIOS etc known as a splash screen.

Also remove both Ram sticks and only place 1 stick in the minimum to operate in case there is an issue with the sticks operating as a pair and place the stick in DIMM 0

Then try to power this system up... if you get a splash screen then shut it down and add your extra stick of Ram to DIMM2 ( if dual-channel supported and sticks are same) otherwise DIMM 1 and see if it powers up. If so move on and add one more piece of harwdare and repeat until you get to a piece of harwdare that was causing it to fail to boot.

If you get no splash screen when the system is as bare as can be to function but isnt, then you will have to inspect the motherboard for damage, jumpers missing or in wrong position. Be sure that there is a healthy looking CPU stuffed correctly into the socket with no bent or missing pins etc.

Also I had one customer a while back bring me there computer that they got at a yard sale that didnt power that they bought for $20 and upon close examination of the motherboard I pointed out to the customer that the motherboard was shot because someone left the computer out in the rain and the legs on the chips all had electrolysis oxidized lead bridging between the gaps like a white chalky material. He later found out that the guy picked it out of someones trash at the side of the road and tried to make $20 on it when he went to return it to the guy to try to get his $20 back. The guy gave him his $20 back but this system was bad before it even got rained on.

Do you have any past history knowledge of this system as to why it was sold as guts and not a working system? I am hoping you didnt pay much for this system if you bought it site unseen as far as not seeing it boot.

[patio]

Excellent advice above from Dave...

You may want to also try booting it to a floppy....
If you need a bootable one they are FREE @ bootdisk.com...
Doesn't matter what flavor you grab at this point.

[rodsupply]

thanks dave, did not even know anybody anwsered, anwser in junk mail. o'k now to the problem at hand, i don't know of any past history on this computer, i bought it at a thrift store as i don't have a lot of money to invest. i only payed $20.00 for it as well. i buy a lot of older computers  trying to learn and understand them. o'k just disconnected all drives, ribbons and power. however i could not get a splash screen.
i put another new video card in it to see if that would help but to no avail. i could not see anything on the motherboard though. is there a way to test the motherboard? if not i do have some new older mbs i could put in. i just did not want to go through all the trouble. maybe there is something that i am over looking. again thanks for all your help, and would appreciate any other help you could give.

[patio]

You may want to also try booting it to a floppy....
If you need a bootable one they are FREE @ bootdisk.com...
Doesn't matter what flavor you grab at this point.

[rodsupply]

thanks patio, maybe that would work, what do you think about the mb? would another hd do any good? thanks again.

[patio]

If i'm not mistaken ASRock is ASUS' OEM line for manuf.
I run 3 ASUS boards right now with zero issues...

The reason i suggested a bootable floppy is it doesn't need a HDD hooked up and it will tell you if the vid card in fact works or not...

At any rate i'd also try a new or known working HDD anyways to see.

[rodsupply]

Thanks again patio, OK I put a me bootable disk in and to no avail. I also took out the memory to see if I could hear beep, but no beep.
 
I tried unplugging and holding on button for 30 seconds to try and reset as well, to no avail. either. i don't know if i mentioned it or not, but all i have is a black screen. could this be the screen of death? as I have said before I am familar with some computer language , but no expert by any stretch of the imagination. I also have 6 "new" older mbs. I would like for you to tell me what you think of these mbs. They are: 1. Super P4SDA 01181-1
                                 48.33W01.011 Socket MPGA478B

        2.  REV1.2 IBM LBL PN 32P2992
                                FRU PN 49P1599  Socket MPGA478B

        3.  AGP8X
             8XUSB2.0
             M863Gv5.1  DDR333  Socket 462

       4.  CE K7T  TURBO2
             MICRO-STAR N1996 SOCKET 462

Appreciate any help on this matter. Thanks agian.