Troubleshooting
Now that you are done assembling the hardware, what will you do in case the screen shows a black screen or if the computer is not posting? What does a "Hard drive not detected" and a "RAM not detected" message mean? Knowing how to troubleshoot these issues are crucial when building your own customized PC.
The computer is not posting (black screen, no beep)
Something is wrong with the power connection. Recheck all the cables outside. The cord is plugged to the wall and power supply the power switch on the back of the power supply is on “1” or “on” ?
If no, then don’t worry we all forgot to plug a new piece of equipment at one point or another. Try to power the computer again.If it is still not working then check the power connector inside. Remember to unplug the power cord first and touch the steel frame of the case before touching anything else. Recheck all the connectors. Unplug them and replug them if necessary. Retry … if it still doesn’t work then the next step is to check the CPU.
Take the heatsink out slowly.
WARNING FOR AMD CPU. While you are removing the heatsink twist at while pulling on it to avoid the CPU to come with the heatsink and in doing so potentially destroying or bending pins.
Open the lever and take the CPU out. If AMD check the pins and put it back if they are fine. If they are not try to use a very small flat heat screwdriver to unbend them. If too many are bent try to have a pro look at it. Put everything back in place as shown in the previous chapters.
Your computer should boot…If it doesn’t after all those steps, go back with the CPU and motherboard and power supply to the store you purchased them from to find out which one is defective.
The computer is not posting (black screen, some beep)
Get the motherboard manual and go to the troubleshooting section. Here, you should have the meaning off those beeps. It should tell you what is wrong (memory is not in place or the video card is not put in correctly). Once you have located it, the problem should be easy to fix -always unplug the power cord.
Hard drive not detected
It usually means that the hard drive is not detected. Try unplugging and replugging the cables to fix the problem. Most hard drives should be almost silent if your hard drive has a high pitch repetitive sound (wiiii tic tic …wiiiii tic tic …) then chances are that your hard drive is dead. Take it the store you bought it from to have a replacement.
RAM not detected
This error message usually means one of the memory bank is in improperly, so check to make sure that the locks are secure. It is very unlikely that a non-detected memory bank can be a dead memory bank. Usually damaged memory banks will be detected normally, but will render the system unstable. To check for the RAM integrity, we will use a small software to test it (memtest86 +) before installing.
This little troubleshooting guide is not an exhaustive list of potential problems. It's only purpose is to give you solutions to common problems. If your computer is still not working, let a professional take a look at it.
