Bare bones build won't power up -- just flashes a couple spots on the mobo

[Howard_Woodard]

Hi all. I'm a long-time Asus mobo user -- built lots of machines on the old P5Q boards -- but first time user of the ASUS ROG Maximus IX Hero LGA1151 DDR4 DP HDMI M.2 USB 3.1 ATX Motherboard. I bought a used one off of eBay and am using the Intel i7-7700K CPU and 2x16GB of Digital Storm DDR4 3000MHz 32GB (2X16GB) DS4U3000316G16 CL 16-18-18 Timing in slots A1 & A2.

I have only the mobo and these components installed and am just trying to get it to power up at this juncture.

When I turn the PSU on it flashes [starting with orange and gradually cycling through other colors] underneath the upper-left logo cover and chipset cover. The start button blinks in sync with that flashing. I get no reaction whatsoever when pushing the start button on the mobo or the start or reset buttons on the case -- just that steady blinking described above. Eventually the blinking stopped and it just stayed a constant green but still wouldn't power up -- no fans.

Has anyone seen this before and perhaps know what it means?

Thanks in advance for whatever help you can offer me.

Howard

[NemesisChild]

What PSU and how old is it? What CPU cooler?

I would pull the CPU and check the socket very closely for bent or broken pins.
Have you tried posting with only one stick of memory in each individual slot?

You could have a short, posting on a cardboard box (outside of the case) is another troubleshooting measure.

[Howard_Woodard]

NemesisChild wrote:
What PSU and how old is it? What CPU cooler?

I would pull the CPU and check the socket very closely for bent or broken pins.
Have you tried posting with only one stick of memory in each individual slot?

You could have a short, posting on a cardboard box (outside of the case) is another troubleshooting measure.

Thanks for your reply. I'm installing it in an existing setup that I built in 2012 -- everything was new at that time - on P5Q-Pro with Quad 9550 CPU and 16GB RAM..

• The PSU is an Ultra X3 600W
  
• Cooler is Zalman RDH9025B
  
• I did inspect the CPU for bent or broken pins but did not find any.
  
• I have tried to power it up with a single stick in each slot but no joy.
  

I've got some non-conductive matting that I use for testing outside the case - I'll try that later this morning.

Btw, shouldn't one, or both, of these fans run when the power switch is closed? Even without CPU & RAM?

[chevell65]

Have you tried clearing the cmos or removing the board battery for awhile?

[Howard_Woodard]

chevell65 wrote:
Have you tried clearing the cmos or removing the board battery for awhile?

I tried clearing CMOS a few times but haven't tried removing the battery. I'll pull and check the battery now.

Btw, as an aside, my Q-Connector on the P5Q-Pro doesn't fit this mobo. When I look online I find only Q-Connectors that look like what I already have. Do you know if they make a Q-Connector for the Maximus IX Hero?

[Nate152]

Hi Howard

A Q-Connector should have came with the motherboard.

You'll want a cpu installed otherwise the motherboard led will give code 00.

When you try to start it, are you getting code 00 with no cpu installed? If you're not getting a code at all this could point to a faulty psu or motherboard.

Double check the 24-pin main power cable is secured.

You could try flashing the bios with bios flashback.

[Howard_Woodard]

Nate152 wrote:
Hi Howard

You'll want a cpu installed otherwise the motherboard led will give code 00.

When you try to start it, are you getting code 00 with no cpu installed? If you're not getting a code at all this could point to a faulty psu or motherboard.

Double check the 24-pin main power cable is secured.

You could try flashing the bios with bios flashback.

Ah, thanks. I was under the impression that I could get the fans to run without a CPU. I'm just trying to confirm that my problem is either the mobo (highly suspected) or the CPU (an unknown as well but looks ok). In fact, the upper right corner is not lighting anything up -- the status LEDs or the two-digit code display. Just the RGB LEDs and the [red] Start button come on when the PSU is turned on and nothing changes from there -- including no beeps from the speaker.

This PSU has run the previous rig just fine. Is there anything special or special type of PSU required for this mobo vs the older boards?

[Nate152]

No code from the motherboard is not a good sign, would try another psu or motherboard if you have access to either.

Could try bios flashback as a last ditch effort.

[Howard_Woodard]

Nate152 wrote:
No code from the motherboard is not a good sign, would try another psu or motherboard if you have access to either.

Could try bios flashback as a last ditch effort.

This is my first entry into this generation of processors and mobos -- my old stuff just ran too good I guess. 🙂 -- so I don't have any spares for anything.

But you may have just provided what I need. Since I'm new to the board I have no idea what "normal" should look like. I thought that I should have had some status LEDs lit along with at least a "00" on the code display but didn't know. I can try another PSU but don't know why -- it was running my other rig just fine and my PSU tester shows all of the voltages present and correct. But I'll try one just in case.

I'll also read up on how to do a BIOS flashback and give that a try too.

Thanks again,

Howard

[Nate152]

It very well could be the board if the psu is testing ok.

Download the latest bios for your motherboard from the ASUS Support Center - https://www.asus.com/us/support/
Format an empty usb flash drive to .FAT32
Extract the bios file to the usb flash drive
Insert the usb flash drive into the ROG connect port
Press and hold the bios flashback button until it starts to flash.
When flashing stops, try starting your pc.