No video signal from new Asus motherboard

[M40]

I am setting up a new ASUS M4A785T-M board and can't boot my OS because the bios is set wrong; I can't change the bios because I'm not getting a video signal. I'm using a VGA monitor/cable which I've verified are working with another laptop. The board puts out no video signal (as indicated by the monitor flashing the on/off light). I'm wondering if the board defaults to the more modern DVI format, or if I have a faulty card. Does anyone know if it defaults to DVI, or if there is any way I can get video to my VGA monitor?

 

[Ritwik7]

Do you hear any beeps from the mobo when you turn on the power?

 

[M40]

Nope, just power supply and CPU fans.

 

[mailpup]

You don't happen to be using a 140W Phenom II CPU are you? The motherboard supports up to a 125W CPU.

 

[Tmagic650]

Have you tried pulling out the CMOS battery, to reset the motherboards bios

 

[M40]

No, it's an 80W processor. I don't believe the power supply is a problem. It's 465W, which should be plenty (using the onboard graphics card), and I have nothing plugged into the board (hard drive and DVD are disconnected). Also, the board requires a minimum of 15A on the +12V line, the PS puts out 26A.

 

[M40]

At your suggestion I tried pulling the battery and it made no difference. I'm just building this so I haven't made any changes to the BIOS. That's what I'm trying to do! Because I need to set the boot location.

 

[Tmagic650]

Defective motherboard?

 

[M40]

My understanding is that there should be a flash screen for the board manufacturer no matter what else is going on. So I think so. I would like to try using the DVI video output to see if anything is coming out of it to see if it's just the VGA port. I think I'm taking it back to the store to get them to trouble shoot it!

Thanks for your suggestions!

 

[dpatch]

What was the outcome? I'm having the exact same problem.

 

[Tmagic650]

dpatch,
have you tried the suggestions given here. Like removing the CMOS battery. Do you have the ASUS M4A785T-M board too? If not, you can't have the exact same problem, can you...

 

[dpatch]

Yes, I have the M4A785T-M CSM board. I had tried removing the CMOS battery. I'm using a 45W (x3 405e) processor and have plenty of power.

I connected a speaker and discovered that I got a beep code when no DIMM was installed, but no beeps when the memory was present. It turns out I had installed registered memory. I expect unregistered memory will fix it, and I'm just waiting for it to come in.

 

[Tmagic650]

Yes, those ASUS boards are picky about memory types. I use un-buffered or unregistered memory in all my motherboards. I try very hard to stay away from ASUS myself, as I repair computers for a living

 

[dpatch]

Yes, it was the registered memory that was the problem. With 2 sticks of unregistered DRAM it booted fine. I understand now that most motherboards are not compatible with both registered and unregistered memory, so I can't blame the board. I picked it because other people had experience using the same chipsets with Solaris (sata, audio, nic, etc.).

 

[Tmagic650]

Glad you got it working. It is always wise to carefully check and follow a motherboards memory specs... Often, there is a bios update available, when a new motherboard is installed